Tulsa, Oklahoma (1/2/2021)... The Tulsa Shootout brings out the best Micro Sprint drivers in the country. The field gets tougher every year as more and more top drivers from other disciplines enter the event. This year was filled with fantastic racing from the 1st race on Tuesday to the 296th on Saturday night. Brian Carber doubled up and took Golden Drillers home in the Stock Non-Wing and A-Class features. Kris Carroll rolled the bottom to perfection to snag the Outlaw Non-Wing win. Then to top off the night, Mitchel Moles stole the Outlaw Wing A-Main.
**You can check out the article featuring the 600cc Mod, Restrictor, and Jr Sprint features here, https://lvhalbert.wixsite.com/grassrootsracingnews/post/wiggs-keefer-and-mauldin-all-claim-golden-drillers-at-the-tulsa-shootout**
Stock Non-Wing
TJ Smith lead the field to green with USAC National Champion, Tyler Courtney on his outside. Courtney made an early and costly mistake that set him back several spots. Smith didn't stay up front long as Brian Carber took to the bottom and took the lead on lap two.
Christopher Bell started 9th and made his way up to third by the halfway point. Soon after, C-Bell made his way to second after sliding Smith for the position. Bell then set his sights on Carber.
Carber running the top was chased down very quickly from the three-time Chili Bowl Champion. It seemed Bell was going to take the spot with little to no trouble until he made a mistake. Bell went to the bottom in turn three, where he hit the berm wrong and almost spun himself out.
Carber still was not in the clear as C-Bell hunted him back down. Before Bell could make his move, Quinton Benson flipped right in front of the top two with 6 to go.
On the restart, everyone shoots to the top. Bell kept pace with Carber and was getting ready to pounce when he got tight up against the cushion in consecutive laps. This allowed Carber to get away to win his first career Golden Driller.
Thomas Kunsman started 23rd and gained fourteen spots to finish 9th. The Bethlehem, PA native earns hard charger of the race.
Stock Non-Wing A-Main Results (30 Laps):
1. (41C) Brian Carber [3], 2. (21X) Christopher Bell [9], 3. (14) TJ Smith [1], 4. (23M) Kenny Miller [5], 5. (15D) Mason Daugherty [4], 6. (33C) Chase Cabre [12], 7. (56) Jace Park [7], 8. (44P) Aiden Purdue [16], 9. (21K) Thomas Kunsman [23], 10. (4X) Tyler Courtney [2], 11. (21H) Kameron Key [21], 12. (83V) Tim Vaught [19], 13. (99X) Kayleb Bolton [20, 14. (47K) Cory Kelley [6], 15. (54) Trey Gropp [10], 16. (111) Brenham Crouch [22], 17. (22) Curtis Jones [8], 18. (36T) Ty Hulsey [14], 19. (1B) Bryant Wiedeman [18], 20. (3E) Ethan Wicker [13], 21. (20W) Shawn Wicker [24], 22. (17B) Quinton Benson [17], 23. (20) Alex Bright [15], 24. (01W) Buford Weldon [11]
Outlaw Non-Wing
Kris Carroll started on the pole and went straight to the bottom with Alex Bright keeping pace. A gnarly flip by Tyler Courtney brought out a caution around halfway to let the field to regroup.
On the restart, Carroll took off back to the bottom while young Brent Crews, Bright, and Thomas Kunsman battled for second. Crews ripping the top took second until the very end when he jumped the cushion that caused him to finish third.
Kris Carroll had the car setup to perfection on the bottom and would win by over 2.5 seconds. Christopher Bell started dead last and passed eighteen drivers to finish 6th.
Outlaw Non-Wing A-Main Results (30 Laps):
1. (3K) Kris Carroll [1], 2. (41C) Brian Carber [7], 3. (11X) Brent Crews [9], 4. (71K) Daison Pursley [15], 5. (20) Alex Bright [3], 6. (21X) Christopher Bell [24], 7. (21K) Thomas Kunsman [4], 8. (14R) Jake Nail [2], 9. (41) Logan Rumsey [6], 10. (59) Kyle Spence [8], 11. (81) Frank Flud [14], 12. (6W) Colin White [19], 13. (8X) Christ Andrews [ 12], 14. (51T) Kevin Thomas Jr [13], 15. (37) Aiden Purdue [23], 16. (10J) Emerson Axsom [10], 17. (10Z) Zeb Wise [17], 18. (20W) Shawn Wicker [21], 19. (79) Ron Dennis [11], 20. (00) Daniel Shaffer [22], 21. (93) Matt Carr [16], 22. (42) Andy Bishop [5], 23. (10B) Jonathan Beason [20], 24. (4X) Tyler Courtney [18]
A-Class
Brian Carber started on the pole and got a terrific start and built his lead up to a full straight away just eight laps in. Jason McDougal started to close in on Carber as they started to get into lap traffic at the halfway point.
Carber had another great start but McDougal found some speed and gain on Carber with just ten laps left. Again into lap traffic the leaders went where the racing picked up.
Side by side Carber and McDougal cross the stripe with just four to go. Out of nowhere "Sunshine", Tyler Courtney decided to join the mix, sneaking underneath McDougal for second.
With the white flag in the air, Carber and "Sunshine" are side by side entering turn one. Carber cuts across Courtney's nose as the two make contact. Carber went back down to the bottom in turns three and four while Courtney went high. The shortest way around proves to be the best way around, and Brian Carber goes onto win his second Golden Driller of the night.
Tyler Courtney gained ten spots to finish second, but the hard charger of the race was Alex Bright, who gained eleven positions to snag a top 10.
A-Class A-Main Results (30 Laps):
1. (41C) Brian Carber [1], 2. (X) Tyler Courtney [12], 3. (73) Jason McDougal [2], 4. (81) Frank Flud [6], 5. (5H) Jake Hagopian [5], 6. (21X) Christopher Bell [3], 7. (888) Hank Davis [4], 8. (71K) Daison Pursley [7], 9. (21T) Caeden Steele [11], 10. (20) Alex Bright [21], 11. (1H) Conner Lee [8], 12. (144) Damon Paul [9], 13. (36A) Chris Andrews [13], 14. (23M) Kenny Miller III [10], 15. (36B) Brady Bacon [15], 16. (5T) Ryan Timms [18], 17. (59) Kyle Spence [20], 18. (33C) Chase Cabre [23], 19. (08) Cannon McIntosh [19], 20. (11X) Brent Crews [22], 21. (25) Maverick Elkins [24], 22. (11A) Jayton Brown [14], 23. (151) Joe B Miller [16], 24. (9) Chase Randall [15]
Outlaw Wing
Millersville, MO native Joe B Miller led the field to green. The bottom was the place to be early with Tulsa Expo Center ace, Jonathan Beason not too far behind Joe B as they reached lap traffic about fifteen laps in.
One lane of racing gave Joe B a difficult time navigating the slower cars. While he had difficulty, Beason, Jason McDougal, and Kevin Thomas Jr closed in.
After a green-flag run of just over 30 laps, the track started to widen out as McDougal was the first to venture to the top. Joe B and Beason started to break away while Mitchel Moles and McDougal battled it out for third. McDougal, still battling Moles, entered turn one up high and hit the cushion wrong. Causing him to spin and ending his chances at a Golden Driller.
On the restart, Beason made his move and shot below Joe B Miller. The two made contact entering the corner. Joe B slipped high and Moles shot the hole that was now open.
The move by Beason was seen as controversial because a driver cannot advance their position before the white line. When Miller crossed the line, Beason had his two front tires in front of Joe B's rear's, therefore the restart by Beason was deemed illegal.
With just four laps to go, officials threw the caution for debris. During the caution, officials sent Beason back to third. Joe B with a failing motor had a poor restart that allowed Moles to get away from the rest of the pack.
Mitchel Moles faced no pressure from Jonathan Beason, and he would go on to win the Outlaw Wing A-Main to end the 36th Annual Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout.
Tyler Courtney had one of the fastest cars all night long in every race he was in, luck did not fall his way. Courtney picked off thirteen drivers to earn himself a podium finish.
Outlaw Wing A-Main Results (55 Laps):
1. (13J) Mitchel Moles [8], 2. (10B) Jonathan Beason [2], 3. (4X) Tyler Courtney [16], 4. (1J) Cody Key [6], 5. (151) Joe B Miller [1], 6. (51T) Kevin Thomas Jr [4], 7. (23M) Kenny Miller [6], 8. (21H) Brady Bacon [13], 9. (1C) Brenham Crouch [12], 10. (73S) Jadon Rogers [5], 11. (73C) Ayrton Gennetten [19], 12. (59) Kyle Spence [22], 13. (10Z) Zeb Wise [18], 14. (34) KJ Snow [17], 15. (71K) Daison Pursley [21], 16. (48T) Tanner Holm [11], 17. (73) Jason McDougal [3], 18. (39) Russ Disinger [23], 19. (81) Frank Flud [10], 20. (10J) Emerson Axsom [9], 21. (2E) Jake Galusha [24], 22. (37) Aiden Purdue [15], 23. (20) Alex Bright [14], 24. (8X) Chris Andrews [20]
-Lucas Halbert
Grassroots Racing News is seeking sponsorship for the 2021 season. You can reach us at grassrootsracingnews@gmail.com or at (618) 599-4210.