AMARILLO, Texas — Even after a stellar seven-race start which saw a win, a pair of runner-up finishes, and a perfect 7-for-7 top-10s propel him to the championship lead, Tanner Thorson still heard what the doubters had to say.
The Rod Gross Motorsports No. 88 team doubled down on Friday night at Route 66 Motor Speedway to further prove they’re a legitimate championship contender with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing.
Scoring his second win of the season in his first attempt at the West Texas oval, Thorson out-dueled Aaron Reutzel in what became an enthralling chase through lapped traffic between two of the most polarizing sprint car drivers in the sport today.
Thorson, of Minden, Nevada, led every lap over the home state hero in Reutzel, but it was a constant cat-and-mouse battle as the No. 87 followed every move the No. 88 made while maneuvering the back markers. The closest Reutzel got was Lap 22 when he barely trailed Thorson by 0.133 seconds at the stripe.
Holding on for the win, Thorson booked a second trip to Whiskey Myers Victory Lane, which pushed his total to four career High Limit wins. His championship advantage now sits at 21 points following the eighth night of the 64-race season.
Reutzel came close to going back-to-back and cashing in on the DURST Dice Roll, but a second-place finish was the fate for the Clute, Texas native. The Ridge & Sons Racing team has now rattled off five podiums through the first eight races as they chase Thorson for the early-season title lead.
Rounding out the podium with a season-best third-place finish was Justin Peck aboard the Rudeen Racing No. 26.
A pair of young guns followed him with Daison Pursley finishing fourth in the Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb No. 9 and Tanner Holmes earning a season-best fifth-place run in the Buch Motorsports No. 13.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 3. 26-Justin Peck[3]; 4. 9-Daison Pursley[8]; 5. 13-Tanner Holmes[5]; 6. 19-Brent Marks[6]; 7. 17GP-Hank Davis[15]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[7]; 9. 55-Kerry Madsen[19]; 10. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[10]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 13. 42-Sye Lynch[12]; 14. 24D-Danny Sams III[14]; 15. 9R-Chase Randall[11]; 16. 6-JJ Hickle[17]; 17. 5-Brenham Crouch[20]; 18. 2J-Zach Blurton[18]; 19. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[21]; 20. 16G-Austyn Gossel[16]; 21. 2B-John Carney II[13]; 22. 11-Rodney Huband[22]
