Tyler Courtney Shines Bright at Kings

Tyler Courtney in Victory Lane with his crew at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California. (Photo: High Limit Racing Media)

HANFORD, Calif. — After hopping 30 minutes away to Kings Speedway, the High Limit Racing Sprint Cars prepared for the Peter Murphy Classic.

Brad Sweet and Tyler Courtney led the 26-car field to the green flag to kick off the 35-lap race. Sweet got the better start and shot out to the lead with Courtney right behind him. Rico Abreu did not fare as well and felt the pressure from both Justin Sanders and Cole Macedo, both of whom passed him. However, coming off of Turn 4, Abreu was able to grab the position back from Macedo.

On Lap 9, Brent Marks, who was on the bottom, was putting up a valiant fight against Corey Day’s attempts to pass. In a last-ditch effort to get around Marks, Day went higher up the track and got into Sanders, resulting in Sanders contacting the wall, ending his night. As the cars paced around the track under caution, Sanders walked to the cushion, held his arm up as high as he could and gave Day the one-finger salute before walking back to his car.

On the restart, Sweet cruised out to the lead again, but Courtney and Abreu both wanted second. As they went into Turns 1 and 2, Courtney, who was running the top, made contact with Abreu. Courtney managed to keep it on all four wheels and get by Abreu for second. Courtney, still trying to figure out if his car was operating at 100%, was passed on the bottom by Day in Turn 3. 

With 13 laps remaining, Sweet caught up to a pack of lapped cars in front of him. Marks was one of these cars, and he was proving to be an obstacle once again. Sweet went high to pass him and he successfully did so. Day did not fare as well dealing with the lapped cars in second. He could not get around Marks in time, allowing Courtney to pass him on the top to reclaim second. Day finally got by Marks as they shot out of the second turn.

Two laps later, Courtney went to the top as the field raced down the backstretch. The clean air in front gave the top two drivers a ton of momentum, but Courtney prevailed and passed Sweet for the lead going into Turn 3.

Behind them, Day surged into the corner too quickly and hopped the cushion going into Turn 4, getting sideways and then facing the opposite direction, completely spinning out.

With three laps to go in the feature, Abreu passed Sweet for second as they came off the first corner. Abreu went in high but came out low and in front of the “Big Cat” to get the runner-up spot.

Abreu gained a lot of speed in the corner but fell back in the straightaway. Because of that, “Sunshine” won the race on his home turf. Behind Abreu and Sweet were Macedo and James McFadden, who rounded out the top five.

High Limit continues their West Coast swing on Saturday night at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, California.