Tyler Courtney caps Circle City sweep with $10,000 finale win over Rico Abreu
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 21, 2021) – Padding a stretch of success that now includes three victories in his last four FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 starts, “Sunshine” Tyler Courtney represented his hometown fanbase well on Friday evening and steered his Clauson Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink, Turbo, No. 7BC sprint car to another All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation win at Circle City Raceway, officially sweeping the weekend and collecting a total winner’s share equaling $16,000; $6,000 during the Thursday opener and $10,000 during the Friday finale.
In addition, Courtney’s Friday night win allowed the Indianapolis, Indiana-native to take control of the All Star Circuit of Champions points lead, simultaneously extending his Indiana Invasion points standings lead to 12 markers over “Hunter Percent” Hunter Schuerenberg. The Indiana Invasion overall champion will earn a $10,000 bonus.
“This is surreal,” Tyler Courtney said in Circle City victory lane. “These guys make my job so easy. This team gives me the best opportunity to come out here and compete with the best, as well as be at the top of our game. It’s my job to capitalize and right now we are hitting on all eight cylinders. We still have two more races this weekend and a lot more money up for grabs.”
Courtney, who now owns five consecutive top-two finishes with Tony Stewart’s All Stars, was forced to fend off St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu during his route to Circle City victory lane. Starting alongside Abreu on the front row, the top two exchanged positions on two occasions during the 40-lap blockbuster, the first with Abreu sling-shotting around Courtney to take command on lap 14. Eleven laps later, Courtney was back in control, utilizing the bottom groove at the exit of turn four to sneak back by Abreu on lap 25.
Despite the first 22 laps being slowed for five cautions, laps 23 through 40 went non-stop, ultimately creating what would be an exciting duel in traffic between Courtney and Abreu. Although Courtney remained on top until the conclusion, Abreu did his best to get back by the former USAC National Sprint Car champion, pounding the cushion all the way around Circle City’s quarter-mile.
Lapped traffic with ten to go created one last opportunity to Abreu, but despite the attempts, Courtney persevered, eventually extending his lead to just shy of one second by feature’s end. Hunter Schuerenberg would climb eight spots to finish third, followed by Scotty Thiel, and recent high school graduate, Zeb Wise.
“Getting to win in your home city, in front of all of your friends and family, is really cool,” Courtney continued. “To come to a place that is brand new with a lot of unknowns and be this fast says a lot about our team right now. I’m having a blast out here.”
The four-night Indiana takeover will continue on Saturday, May 22, with a visit to Gas City I-69 Speedway. Only the second All Star appearance in Series history, the Saturday night showstopper will award a $6,000 payday. Dale Blaney, the all-time win leader with “America’s Series,” was the first and only All Star to win at Gas City, scoring a victory on September 17, 2004.
Growing into one of the most sought after prizes on the All Star campaign trail, the All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation will conclude on Sunday, May 23, with the third running of the annual Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race at Kokomo Speedway. Like years prior, a $26,000 payday will be awarded to the main event winner.
Conducted at three different tracks during its three year run, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race held its inaugural event in 2019 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The 2020 edition was hosted at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and All Star owner, Tony Stewart, won the first-ever Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race. Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson earned last season’s $26,000 share.
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Contingency Awards/Results: Circle City Raceway – Friday, May 21, 2021
Event: All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation
Entries: 30
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Sam Hafertepe Jr. | 11.518
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Gio Scelzi | 11.450
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Kerry Madsen
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Paul McMahan
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Winner: Rico Abreu
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Carson Short
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Critter Malone
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Tyler Courtney
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Brady Bacon (+11)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi, 11.450; 2. 10-Zeb Wise, 11.453; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 11.459; 4. 14-Kerry Madsen, 11.532; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel, 11.608; 6. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.622; 7. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.635; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 11.646; 9. 13-Justin Peck, 11.669; 10. 8M-TJ Michael, 11.719; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.723; 12. 5-Paul McMahan, 11.729; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 11.733; 14. 4-Cap Henry, 11.744; 15. 11-Ian Madsen, 11.765; 16. 21-Carson Short, 11.798; 17. OO-Thomas Meseraull, 11.862; 18. 21BP-Brinton Marvel, 11.915; 19. 91x-Cale Thomas, 11.923; 20. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson, 11.926; 21. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.927; 22. 22-Ryan Broughton, 11.979; 23. 20G-Noah Gass, 12.048; 24. 7-Critter Malone, 12.055; 25. 69-Brady Bacon, 12.079; 26. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 12.124; 27. 6-Chris Phillips, 12.179; 28. O2-Brandon Long, 12.181; 29. 98-Clinton Boyles, 12.218; 30. 55m-McKenna Haase, 12.239
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 14-Kerry Madsen [3]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 4. 8M-TJ Michael [1]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [5]; 6. 69-Brady Bacon [9]; 7. 21-Carson Short [6]; 8. 91X-Cale Thomas [7]; 9. O2-Brandon Long [10]; 10. 22-Ryan Broughton [8]
Heat #2 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [5]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [3]; 5. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 6. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [7]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass [8]; 8. 98-Clinton Boyles [10]; 9. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [9]; 10. OO-Thomas Meseraull [6]
Heat #3 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 5-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 3. 11-Ian Madsen [5]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 6. 21BP-Brinton Marvel [6]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 8. 7-Critter Malone [8]; 9. 55M-McKenna Haase [10]; 10. 6-Chris Phillips [9]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 3. 5-Paul McMahan [4]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [2]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 6. 10-Zeb Wise [6]; 7. 14-Kerry Madsen [7]; 8. 18-Gio Scelzi [8]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 21-Carson Short [1]; 2. OO-Thomas Meseraull [2]; 3. 20G-Noah Gass [4]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 5. 91X-Cale Thomas [5]; 6. 98-Clinton Boyles [7]; 7. 7-Critter Malone [6]; 8. 55M-McKenna Haase [9]; 9. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [8]; 10. O2-Brandon Long [11]; 11. 22-Ryan Broughton [10]; 12. 6-Chris Phillips [12]
A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [4]; 5. 10-Zeb Wise [6]; 6. 5-Paul McMahan [3]; 7. 69-Brady Bacon [18]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 9. 13-Justin Peck [10]; 10. 4-Cap Henry [12]; 11. 8M-TJ Michael [14]; 12. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [17]; 13. 14-Kerry Madsen [7]; 14. 26-Cory Eliason [9]; 15. OO-Thomas Meseraull [20]; 16. 11-Ian Madsen [13]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [15]; 18. 21-Carson Short [19]; 19. 20G-Noah Gass [21]; 20. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [25]; 21. 98-Clinton Boyles [24]; 22. 91X-Cale Thomas [23]; 23. W20-Greg Wilson [22]; 24. 21BP-Brinton Marvel [16]; 25. 18-Gio Scelzi [8] Lap Leaders: Tyler Courtney (1-13), Rico Abreu (14-24), Tyler Courtney (25-40)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
1. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
2. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
3. East Bay Raceway Park, Florida (February 2, 2021): Donny Schatz (2)
4. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 3, 2021): Logan Schuchart
5. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 4, 2021): Carson Macedo
6. Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (April 3, 2021): Justin Peck
7. Virginia Motor Speedway, Virginia (April 15, 2021): Tony Stewart
8. Williams Grove Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 16, 2021): Kyle Larson
9. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 17, 2021): Logan Wagner
10. Bedford Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 18, 2021): Anthony Macri
11. Sharon Speedway, Pennsylvania (May 1, 2021): Justin Peck (2)
12. Tri-City Raceway Park, Pennsylvania (May 2, 2021): Sam Hafertepe Jr.
13. I-96 Speedway, Michigan (May 14, 2021): Tyler Courtney
14. Dirt Oval at Route 66, Illinois (May 15, 2021): Kyle Reinhardt
15. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 20, 2021): Tyler Courtney (2)
16. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 21, 2021): Tyler Courtney (3)
All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation Points Standings (as of 5/21/21):
1. Tyler Courtney – 300
2. Hunter Schuerenberg – 288
3. Zeb Wise – 282
4. Bill Balog – 274
5. Justin Peck – 270
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of 5/21/21):
1. Tyler Courtney – 1506
2. Ian Madsen – 1488
3. Justin Peck – 1464
4. Hunter Schuerenberg – 1436
5. Zeb Wise – 1430
6. Bill Balog – 1378
7. Cory Eliason – 1370
8. Cap Henry – 1346
9. Paul McMahan – 1308
10. Kyle Reinhardt – 1296
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.
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Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo Credit: Riegle Racing Photography