HARLAN, Iowa — A first-time track produced a first-time winner on Thursday night as round eight of the Roto-Rooter Midweek Series took Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing to Shelby County Speedway.
It turned out to be an epic birthday celebration as 23-year-old Tanner Holmes drove the Buch Motorsports No.13 to his first national sprint car win.
Coming from the fifth-starting spot, the Jacksonville, Oregon native quickly worked his way into third and bided his time behind the lead duo of Brent Marks and Tanner Thorson.
He pounced on Thorson’s Nol. 88 on Lap 10 and promptly made his move on Marks’ #19 two laps later to assume control of the top spot on Lap 12 of 30.
From there, the birthday boy survived a handful of restarts and a run through lap traffic on his way to a 1.106-second margin of victory. A popular win for the social media sensation, the crowd roared as Holmes climbed from his car in Whiskey Myers Victory Lane for the first time.
While Thursday marked Holmes’ first win on the national level, it was the fourth for the Buch Motorsports No.13 – making them the first team in Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing history to win with three different drivers (Justin Peck, Daison Pursley, and now Tanner Holmes).
Behind Holmes with his fifth runner-up finish in the last seven shows was Brent Marks, who led the opening 11 laps at Shelby County.
Completing the podium was Tyler Courtney with a 14th-to-3rd drive in the Clauson-Marshall Racing No. 7BC.
Kerry Madsen and Kyle Larson completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 13-Tanner Holmes[5]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[14]; 4. 55-Kerry Madsen[3]; 5. 57-Kyle Larson[12]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel[9]; 7. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 8. 5-Brenham Crouch[4]; 9. 6-JJ Hickle[10]; 10. 9-Daison Pursley[16]; 11. 24D-Danny Sams III[13]; 12. 21-Brian Brown[22]; 13. 88-Tanner Thorson[1]; 14. 42-Sye Lynch[11]; 15. 17GP-Hank Davis[19]; 16. 11-John Carney II[23]; 17. 25-Jy Corbet[17]; 18. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[20]; 19. 31-Koby Werkmeister[24]; 20. 9R-Chase Randall[18]; 21. 24-Rico Abreu[8]; 22. 26-Justin Peck[6]; 23. 39M-Kasey Kahne[15]; 24. 83-Sam Henderson[21]
