MARTINSVILLE, VA – Nobody in Southeast Late Model racing has generated as much national exposure as Mini Tyrrell this season and now Tyrrell is hoping to make his first start in a NASCAR-sanctioned race in Saturday night’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
Tyrrell has won races at Shenandoah Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park and spent much of the season racing at the flat surface at Carteret County Speedway. Because he only just turned 14, he has never been able to make a start in a NASCAR-sanctioned race until this weekend. Because of that, his first Late Model Stock Car start against some of the discipline’s elites will come in the biggest race of the season.
“There are a lot of great guys,” Tyrrell told Race22.com. “The best of the best in the business right here. It’s where it’s all at is Martinsville. It’s a special race to me, my first ever NASCAR race because I’m met Jeff Gordon here when I started working with him in pediatric cancer research here. This is the first place we met, and we got pit stall no. 24 so I think that’s pretty cool today.”
Tyrrell is confident about his chances of making the field for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, and potentially having a strong finish as well. Tyrrell has enlisted the help of Brandon Butler, a Late Model Stock Car veteran who has come close to winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on several occasions, so he expects the car will be competitive.
“I got a lot of confidence in our team,” Tyrrell stated. “I feel like we can make the race. We’ll see where we’re at. We qualify tonight but I think we have maybe a top-20 car.”
Tyrrell spent much of the season at the flat Carteret County Speedway, a track where he came close to winning at several times. He feels the flat surface at Carteret has helped prepare him for Martinsville.
“Carteret is a very flat track,” Tyrrell explained. “I think Martinsville is a little more embanked, but Carteret is a very great training device there for this racetrack. It taught me a lot with coordinating the corners. Still trying to learn and figure it out. It’s my first ever time here in a racecar so it’s been pretty cool. We’ll figure it out.”
Tonight’s qualifying session, which begins at 8pm, will set the field for the heat races and lock in the top-two qualifiers. Heat races get underway on Saturday at 3pm.
