SOPHIA, NC :: 14-year-old Tyler Ankrum scored his first career Late Model Stock Car win on Monday afternoon with a victory at Caraway Speedway. Ankrum scored the win in the first of two races after qualifying on the pole, something that surprised the California teenager.
“The race was very exciting,” Ankrum said. “I want to thank my crew. We went to South Boston on Saturday night and wrecked and got pretty good damage on that car. They worked all night to get that car ready and I’ve got to hand it to them.”
Ankrum said he was excited about the win because he hasn’t particularly been a good qualifier in races he’s competed in this season at tracks such as Langley Speedway and South Boston Speedway.
“That was very exciting because we know what we can do with the car. The only time we were good was in the second race when we had good tires. We put it together really well that day. I can’t qualify and I put it on the pole. It was a phenomenal day for us.”
In the second race, Ankrum was inverted to eighth and worked his way through the field for a third place finish.
“Inverts come in your favor sometimes and don’t. We won the first race at Caraway and drew an eighth. I had a winning car but made some rookie mistakes but came home in third. I could’ve won that second race but I made a few rookie mistakes that put me in the back of the pack. The leaders had driven away from me when I got there. All in all, we were all very happy. We got our first win, qualified well and got a third place.”
Dillon Bassett scored the win in the second race, but all in all, the story of the day was Tyler Ankrum, a 14-year-old rookie who’s been running at Langley, scoring a surprising win against some of the toughest competition in Late Model Stock Car competition.
