Mini Tyrrell made his first career start at Carteret County Speedway on Saturday night and after running as high as the second position, he would finish fourth.
Carteret County Speedway is one of the most scenic tracks in the country and the racing on the flat 4/10 mile speed plant is some of the best you’ll find anywhere. Timmy Tyrrell Racing and their young driver made the trip to Swansboro, NC, which is just minutes away from Emerald Isle Beach. It was a long trip to the track from the suburbs of Washington, DC but Tyrrell was eager to get back on the track.
“Carteret is an absolutely beautiful facility,” said Mini of his impressions of the track. “When we got here Friday we got a tour of the track and the layout and how well manicured the facility is was so impressive. It’s a real drivers track without any banking, you really have to get up on the wheel and hit your marks every lap. It was a lot of fun to drive.”
Mini’s race didn’t quite go like he planned. He’s always looking to get in victory lane, just like most every driver on the track, but on this night he had a car capable of at least competing for the win but struggled with a shifting issue on nearly every restart.
“I just couldn’t get the car to go in gear. My crew believes my shifter assembly needs another shim. I really had to work to get the car to change gears on the restarts and that really cost us. Restarts are usually my strong suit and tonight that wasn’t the case. We’ll get it fixed though and hopefully give these guys a run in the next race.”
Mini says he gained a lot of experience for his first time on a flat track in a full-size Late Model Stock Car and hopes he and the team can apply what they learned and have a chance to win when they return.
“We learned a lot as a team about this track. Brandon (Butler, Mini’s crew chief) really got us dialed in for the race and if it wasn’t for the shifting issue we would have had a better finish I think. These guys who race here every week have this place down and we hope we’re even better at the next race.”
Mini will be off from racing this weekend while they prepare to return to Carteret County Speedway on Sunday, May 27th for the Memorial Classic.
Mini is supported by Castrol Edge, PPC Lubricants, Beautiful Bodies Auto Body Shop and Team Racing Virginia. For more information on Mini and the Timmy Tyrrell Racing team check out their website at www.MiniTyrrell.com or click “like” on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MiniTyrrell/ and @minityrrell on Twitter
