Tyler Courtney won Saturday's Lou Blaney Memorial at Sharon (Chad Warner Photo) (Video Highlights from FloRacing.com)
HARTFORD, Ohio (July 9, 2023) - Mother Nature may have done her best to ruin Sharon Speedway’s 15th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial on Saturday evening, July 8, but not even her persistence could keep the “Sunshine” from dominating action, as Clauson Marshall Racing’s own Tyler Courtney was the eventual $10,000 winner, leading every circuit of the 35-lap contest to clinch his first-ever Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event victory at the eastern Ohio staple.
Courtney, who started third on the main event grid, is now a 22-time winner with “America’s Series,” leading Lane Racing’s Chris Windom, Ransomville winner, Zeb Wise, Vermeer Motorsports’ Kerry Madsen, and local Hall of Famer, Dave Blaney, to the final checkers.
Leading every circuit did not go without a few challenges, as a pair of lap two restarts, as well as cautions on laps 18, 28, and 30 would keep competitors on Courtney’s heels. Despite the momentum shifts, the two-time and defending All Star champion held strong, ultimately boosting his current Series driver and owner championship leads.
As noted, Mother Nature did her best to control action all night at Sharon Speedway, spitting rain drops off and on during the entire preliminary card before opening up completely just prior to the evening’s A-Main. A quick, but heavy downpour forced a delay, but track crews were quick to recover the surface and action resumed.
“I wasn’t sure what to think after that last rain, but hats off to the entire track crew for getting this place back into shape,” Courtney, ace of the NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC, said. “This is a big deal for us, especially with such a big and important week ahead. I’m proud of this entire team. We didn’t have the results we wanted at Ransomville, but to turn around and win such a prestigious event like the Lou Blaney Memorial says so much about their work ethic and refusal to give up.”
ON DECK:
The Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue their 2023 campaign with Lernerville Speedway’s annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup on Tuesday, July 18. The Western Pennsylvania blockbuster will award a $25,000 top prize; the highest paying program on the Series’ July calendar.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. Find subscription here: https://flosports.link/3XJOg5Z
Contingency Awards/Results: Sharon Speedway | July 8, 2023:
Lou Blaney Memorial | $10,000-to-win
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 43
Macri Concrete/Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Zeb Wise | 14.617
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Kerry Madsen | 14.062
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Lee Jacobs
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Parker Price-Miller
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Dave Blaney
Mobil 1 Heat #5 Winner: Zeb Wise
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Dave Blaney
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: J.J. Hickle
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Sye Lynch
Tezos A-Main Winner: Tyler Courtney
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: Conner Morrell (+12)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Carl Bowser
Tezos A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 2. 4-Chris Windom[5]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise[9]; 4. 55-Kerry Madsen[7]; 5. 10-Dave Blaney[1]; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer[11]; 7. 32B-Dale Blaney[6]; 8. 19R-Mark Smith[14]; 9. 9P-Parker Price Miller[4]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson[10]; 11. 97-JJ Hickle[21]; 12. 6-Bob Felmlee[24]; 13. 5K-Adam Kekich[22]; 14. 28M-Conner Morrell[26]; 15. (DNF) 22-Brandon Spithaler[12]; 16. (DNF) 23K-Zeth Sabo[18]; 17. (DNF) 81-Lee Jacobs[8]; 18. (DNF) 3V-Chris Verda[16]; 19. (DNF) 11-Carl Bowser[20]; 20. (DNF) 70-Henry Malcuit[25]; 21. (DNF) 22C-Cole Duncan[19]; 22. (DNF) 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer; 23. (DNF) 23-Darren Pifer[23]; 24. (DNF) 29M-Cole Macedo[2]; 25. (DNF) 12-Darin Gallagher[13]; 26. (DNF) 5D-Jacob Dykstra[15]; 27. (DNS) 1-Nate Dussel LAP LEADERS: Tyler Courtney (1-35)
Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 97-JJ Hickle[1]; 2. 5K-Adam Kekich[4]; 3. 23-Darren Pifer[7]; 4. 6-Bob Felmlee[6]; 5. 29-Sye Lynch[3]; 6. 09-Craig Mintz[11]; 7. 13-Brandon Matus[8]; 8. 33-Brent Matus[12]; 9. 5-Jeremy Weaver[17]; 10. 70-Henry Malcuit[9]; 11. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[15]; 12. 28M-Conner Morrell[13]; 13. 5R-Byron Reed[5]; 14. 7T-Andy McKisson[18]; 15. (DNF) 99-Cameron Nastasi[23]; 16. (DNF) 38-Leyton Wagner[10]; 17. (DNF) 21-Bryan Salisbury[16]; 18. (DNF) 10A-Justin Adams[19]; 19. (DNS) 23Z-Zane DeVault; 20. (DNS) 40-George Hobaugh Jr; 21. (DNS) 2-AJ Flick; 22. (DNS) 11J-David Kalb Jr; 23. (DNS) 11M-Nathen McDowell
Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (6 Laps): 1. 10-Dave Blaney[1]; 2. 29M-Cole Macedo[4]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 4. 9P-Parker Price Miller[6]; 5. 4-Chris Windom[9]; 6. 32B-Dale Blaney[5]; 7. 55-Kerry Madsen[7]; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs[2]; 9. (DNF) 26-Zeb Wise[3]
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[3]; 3. 55-Kerry Madsen[4]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[6]; 5. 5K-Adam Kekich[7]; 6. 38-Leyton Wagner[8]; 7. 23Z-Zane DeVault[5]; 8. 7T-Andy McKisson[9]; 9. 97-JJ Hickle[2]
CSI Shocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Lee Jacobs[6]; 2. 32B-Dale Blaney[1]; 3. 19R-Mark Smith[2]; 4. 23K-Zeth Sabo[3]; 5. 29-Sye Lynch[4]; 6. 70-Henry Malcuit[8]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell[7]; 8. 5-Jeremy Weaver[5]; 9. 99-Cameron Nastasi[9]
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9P-Parker Price Miller[2]; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer[1]; 3. 29M-Cole Macedo[4]; 4. 22C-Cole Duncan[5]; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[7]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[6]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[8]; 8. 10A-Justin Adams[9]; 9. (DNF) 2-AJ Flick[3]
Kistler Racing Products Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Dave Blaney[2]; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler[1]; 3. 5D-Jacob Dykstra[3]; 4. 4-Chris Windom[4]; 5. 23-Darren Pifer[5]; 6. 33-Brent Matus[6]; 7. 21-Bryan Salisbury[7]; 8. (DNS) 11M-Nathen McDowell
Mobil 1 Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Zeb Wise[4]; 2. 12-Darin Gallagher[1]; 3. 3V-Chris Verda[2]; 4. 11-Carl Bowser[6]; 5. 6-Bob Felmlee[5]; 6. 09-Craig Mintz[3]; 7. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[7]; 8. (DNS) 11J-David Kalb Jr
Hercules Tire Qualifying: 1. 55-Kerry Madsen, 00:14.062[1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:14.115[5]; 3. 97-JJ Hickle, 00:14.445[4]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:14.758[3]; 5. 29M-Cole Macedo, 00:14.766[23]; 6. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:14.782[37]; 7. 23Z-Zane DeVault, 00:14.807[7]; 8. 29-Sye Lynch, 00:14.829[10]; 9. 32B-Dale Blaney, 00:14.931[14]; 10. 1-Nate Dussel, 00:14.944[6]; 11. 19R-Mark Smith, 00:14.953[17]; 12. 23K-Zeth Sabo, 00:15.095[13]; 13. 5-Jeremy Weaver, 00:15.103[18]; 14. 81-Lee Jacobs, 00:15.175[11]; 15. 45-Tim Shaffer, 00:15.226[20]; 16. 4-Chris Windom, 00:15.247[31]; 17. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 00:15.255[34]; 18. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:15.346[12]; 19. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:15.382[27]; 20. 10-Dave Blaney, 00:15.386[33]; 21. 2-AJ Flick, 00:15.442[25]; 22. 5K-Adam Kekich, 00:15.454[2]; 23. 22C-Cole Duncan, 00:15.469[21]; 24. 13-Brandon Matus, 00:15.600[24]; 25. 12-Darin Gallagher, 00:15.610[42]; 26. 5R-Byron Reed, 00:15.654[22]; 27. 70-Henry Malcuit, 00:15.691[15]; 28. 40-George Hobaugh Jr, 00:15.693[26]; 29. 5D-Jacob Dykstra, 00:15.715[30]; 30. 38-Leyton Wagner, 00:15.772[8]; 31. 3V-Chris Verda, 00:15.900[36]; 32. 09-Craig Mintz, 00:16.130[43]; 33. 6-Bob Felmlee, 00:16.230[41]; 34. 23-Darren Pifer, 00:16.300[29]; 35. 11-Carl Bowser, 00:16.439[39]; 36. 33-Brent Matus, 00:16.461[32]; 37. 7T-Andy McKisson, 00:16.929[9]; 38. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer, 00:17.005[38]; 39. 99-Cameron Nastasi, 00:17.033[16]; 40. 21-Bryan Salisbury, 00:17.274[35]; 41. 10A-Justin Adams, 00:17.428[19]; 42. (DNS) 11M-Nathen McDowell, 00:59.999; 43. (DNS) 11J-David Kalb Jr, 00:59.999
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions OWNER Standings (As of 7/8):
Clauson Marshall Racing - 2798
Rudeen Racing - 2738
Vermeer Motorsports - 2674
Lane Racing - 2636
Bryan Grove Racing - 2566
Seeling Motorsports - 2486
Bill McCandless Ford - 2394
D3 Motorsports Group - 2184
Premier Motorsports - 2114
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions DRIVER Standings (As of 7/8):
Tyler Courtney - 2798
Chris Windom - 2636
Zeb Wise - 2628
Tim Shaffer - 2566
J.J. Hickle - 2486
Conner Morrell - 2184
Scotty Thiel - 2114
Sye Lynch - 2066
Brent Marks - 1596
Hunter Schuerenberg - 1592
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About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
#Photo: Chad Warner
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com