ALGER, Wash. — Ending a 29-race dry spell dating back to March, Tanner Thorson made his long-awaited return to Whiskey Myers Victory Lane with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing on Thursday night at Skagit Speedway.
Dominating all 30 laps of the Angel of the Winds Skagit Nationals opener, Thorson launched from the outside pole and quickly took the lead from polesitter Tyler Courtney and never looked back.
Finishing the race on a 24-lap run, Thorson mastered traffic down the stretch and built a lead big enough to never be challenged – crossing the stripe with a 1.553-second margin of victory.
The win was extra special as it marked Thorson’s first High Limit win since JST Motorsports acquired the No. 88 in late July – making Jason & Shantel Tessier the 29th car owners to claim victory with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing, the fourth new team this year.
Thursday’s triumph marked the first win at Skagit Speedway for the Minden, Nevada native in his 10th try. He exits the opening night of Skagit Nationals tied for high-point honors with 385 points.
Following a win on Monday at Douglas County, Aaron Reutzel continued his strong recovery in the PNW with a fourth-to-second drive at Skagit Speedway. He’s tied with Thorson for high point honors and chopped Rico Abreu’s championship lead down to 32 points.
After five-straight High Limit wins at Skagit, Abreu’s incredible streak at the track came to an end as the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 24 finished third-from-fifth.
Closing out the top five were Trey Starks aboard his own No. 55x and Australia’s James McFadden in the Tarlton Racing No.21.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[5]; 4. 55X-Trey Starks[6]; 5. 21-James McFadden[8]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 7. 13-Tanner Holmes[9]; 8. 24D-Danny Sams III[3]; 9. 9-Daison Pursley[23]; 10. 2X-Justin Sanders[12]; 11. 26-Justin Peck[11]; 12. 10-Dominic Gorden[14]; 13. 4-Kasey Kahne[10]; 14. 1C-Colton Heath[7]; 15. 55-Kerry Madsen[16]; 16. 21P-Robbie Price[22]; 17. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[24]; 18. 9R-Chase Randall[19]; 19. 19-Brent Marks[21]; 20. 26R-Levi Hillier[18]; 21. 5-Dominic Scelzi[13]; 22. 2XM-Max Mittry[20]; 23. 91-Chase Goetz[17]; 24. 77A-Levi Klatt[15]
