PELETIER, NC – Tim Allensworth’s surprising runner-up finish in the Solid Rock Carriers 150 on August 11th has boosted the veteran racer’s confidence heading into Sunday’s Moore’s Olde Tyme Barbeque Chicken & Seafood Labor Day Classic at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway.
Allensworth, 40, from Wallace, North Carolina, has struggled in the past at Carteret County Speedway and has never won at the flat, 4/10-mile oval in Peletier, North Carolina. In the Solid Rock Carriers 150, Allensworth put his best performance at Carteret together and battled with eventual race winner Connor Hall for a handful of laps before ultimately settling for a second-place finish.
That runner-up finish has given Allensworth confidence heading into Sunday night’s Labor Day Classic.
“We’re trying to finish on the top spot of the podium on Sunday,” Allensworth said. “With the competition as stiff as it is with the local guys, it’s a challenge, but we’re up to it. We’ve worked really hard on the car, my dad and Mike Darne doing the setups. After that second-place finish, it gives us confidence going into the next race. We’re hoping to get a couple wins before the season.”
Allensworth has raced off-and-on at Carteret County Speedway since 2016 and victory has eluded him each time. A win would be meaningful for Allensworth because of the journey he has endured at the track, and because he would like to see his name on the wall of winners on Carteret County Speedway’s front stretch.
“We’ve been trying for about three or four years now to get a win,” Allensworth explained. “To finally get my name painted on the wall, I always joked with Bobby [Watson] that I’d have to buy him some extra black paint to paint the name Allensworth on the wall.
Allensworth is a former track champion at Coastal Plains Raceway Park in Jacksonville and a former Ohio state champion in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Additionally he has won races at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama.
Each of those tracks, however, are moderately high banked – a stark contrast to Carteret County.
“Carteret County is a very tough place to get around seeing that it’s flat,” Allensworth noted. “We’re accustomed to running much higher banked tracks, so the setup is completely different. It’s been a major learning curve for us.”
Allensworth races in a car prepared by Mike Darne, a former champion at Southern National and at Old Dominion Speedway in Virginia.
Sunday’s Labor Day Classic at Carteret County Speedway will get underway at 7:15pm.
