TULARE, Calif. — During the Dirt Cup in June, a feeling arose throughout the Skagit Speedway pit area that the pairing of Tyler Courtney and the Works Limited No. 57 machine would be the team to beat as they showed their speed every time on track, and a similar energy has built at the 28th Trophy Cup.
The result at Dirt Cup was Courtney banking $76,000 by winning his Dirt Cup debut, and all indications are he’s the favorite to add Trophy Cup champion to his resumé this week.
Courtney wheeled the car owned by Kevin Kozlowski and wrenched by Paul Silva to Thunderbowl Speedway victory lane after starting Friday’s 30-lap feature ninth. The performance earned the team 278 points, enough to equal Kyle Hirst atop the standings heading into championship Saturday.
For Courtney, whose West Coast winged sprint car experience was extremely limited prior to last year, it’s been enjoyable to compete at such a high level in the crown jewels of an area of the country he’s rarely visited.
“Every time I’ve been in Paul’s car we keep getting better and better,” Courtney said. “At Dirt Cup I was able to get better each night, and here from last night to tonight we got better. It’s a cool car to get to run. Obviously, it comes with a little bit of pressure to make sure you perform, but Kevin is an awesome car owner, and Paul is obviously a hell of a crew chief. To be able to put ourselves in this spot to go into tomorrow and have a legit chance at winning Trophy Cup is awesome.”
Holmes Makes A Statement
With the event format calling for a 12-car invert for the feature lineup, it might’ve been easy to overlook Oregon’s Tanner Holmes as the invert placed him on the front row.
With the likes of Justin Sanders, Corey Day, Courtney, and more behind him, there was no way he could stay at the front of the field, right? Wrong.
Holmes proved he could compete on the biggest stage as he held a top-two position for the duration of the race, even passing one of California’s current best, Justin Sanders, for the lead in the second half.
The 18-year-old was set to hold off Courtney on his way to a prelim victory until a red flag on the final lap set up one last restart. When the green flag flew, Courtney executed a successful slider to take the lead and the win, leaving Holmes a bit disappointed.
“I guess it was better points than what we had yesterday,” Holmes said. “It’s part of the game, so we’ll move onto tomorrow, and tonight is definitely a proud moment for all of us even though it sucks to run second, but we’re running with some of the best.”
Despite the letdown of leading only to run second, Holmes’ showing put everyone on notice that he’s entering the realm of a consistent contender wherever he competes.
Heartbreak for Henry & Sanders
A pair of drivers who appeared headed for top-five finishes which would’ve set them up nicely for Saturday had their evenings derailed.
Justin Sanders led the opening half of the feature before surrendering the top spot to Holmes after a brief battle. As the Aromas, Calif., driver fought to stay within the top-three, he made contact with Tim Kaeding, resulting in Sanders getting upside down.
It marked the second straight night in which Sanders flipped while running within the top-five. Sanders sits 22nd in points heading into Saturday.
Kalib Henry entered the prelim feature as the high point man and had advanced from 12th to fifth before disaster struck on the final lap. Henry clipped an infield tire between turns one and two which sent him into the outside fence and on his lid.
The points implications weren’t as bad for Henry as they were for Sanders, but Henry still did fall to 12th when a top-five finish would’ve slotted him, at the very worst, fifth in the standings.
Bud’s Still Got It
It’s been a trying year for Bud Kaeding, and the struggled persisted into the beginning of his Trophy Cup.
The three-time USAC Silver Crown champion got things turned around Friday night as he put on an absolute show in the second B main, going from 14th to third to transfer to the main event.
Then in the feature, Kaeding roared from dead last (24th) all the way up to sixth. The performance shot him up to 19thin the standings which presents him and the No. 69 team an opportunity to make a decent weekend out of their 2022 Trophy Cup after things looked grim after the heat race on Friday.
“Getting going in the B (main) both nights is a good feeling,” Kaeding said. “I’ve just got to get my head out of my ass and get going in the heat race tomorrow to get us locked into that show and salvage the weekend.”
Variety In The Points
Looking through the top-10 in points heading into championship night provides plenty of variety.
At the very top it’s one of California’s greats who has recently reduced his racing schedule in Kyle Hirst tied with the two-time and defending Tezos All-Star Circuit of Champions titlist, Tyler Courtney.
Behind them it’s another California titan in Shane Golobic, who owns two Trophy Cup titles.
The fourth and fifth spots are fittingly occupied by the talented young duo of Ryan Timms and Corey Day. With the early success both 16-year-olds have enjoyed, comparisons have naturally started, so it’s only right that they sit separated by only two markers.
Sixth place is taken by an Oregon driver in Tanner Holmes, and eighth belongs to another out of state invader in Chase Randall.
Sandwiched in between the pair of young outsiders is a California living legend and three-time Trophy Cup winner, Tim Kaeding, sitting in seventh.
Californian turned traveler, Rico Abreu, is ninth, and local Mitchell Faccinto completes the top-10.