In his first two starts at Carteret County Speedway, Mini Tyrrell has been able to compete for spots at the front of the field and now he’s looking to get his first win on the flat 4/10th-mile track.
Mini qualified on the outside pole during the most recent event at the track and when the green flag dropped he quickly bolted out to the lead from the outside line. Mini would lead the first 11 laps until the caution flag waved and shortly after going back green he would lose the lead. That was only the beginning of a bad ending for the 13-year-old driver.
From there he’d fall to third but looked poised to be in the mix for the lead as the race went on. After getting back to the second position he would slip back to fourth before lap 44 would send him further back through the field as he was trying to get out of the way and get to pit road. Mini’s engine seemed to be letting go and he wanted to get out of the way and to pit road before the engine broke.
“We had a great car tonight,” Mini said following the race. “Brandon (Butler, crew chief) really had us dialed in today. I hate that the engine was tightening up because I think we were still in a position to battle for the win.”
Mini’s day was done but he had learned so much more that he can put into this upcoming weekends twin features.
“We’ve learned a lot these last two races here. Not having a lot of flat track experience in a Late Model, this has really been a new challenge and we’re where we need to be if we can get the car to stay together. The guys who race here are tough and they’re so good on this track that you can be off by a small amount and be out of contention.”
Mini will return this weekend for his third and fourth start on the track as this weekend’s Queen Anne’s Revenge 240 with twin 40-lap Late Model features on tap. The twin format will give Mini two chances to win but changes the strategy given that the race is basically split up into two instead of one 80-lap race as it has been in his other two starts.
“The twins will be interesting,” continued Mini. “We’ve only run the longer races there and even though they had a halfway break, you weren’t racing for the win in the first half of the race. I think it’ll change the way the guy’s race. It’ll be more intense the first 40-laps now than it was before and of course, we’d like to win both. Every racer who shows up wants to win them both though. We’ll see where we’re at with the shorter races and try to get us at least one win.”
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
