COURTNEY CLAIMS REDEMPTION ON KOKOMO GP NIGHT ONE

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana………Waiting for redemption is a challenge.  That’s just what Tyler Courtney faced Friday at Kokomo Speedway on night one of the “Kokomo Grand Prix,” featuring the USAC P1 Insurance Midget National Championship.

One month after missing the feature in the season-opener at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, Ill., Courtney was champing at the bit to return to what everyone has become accustomed to at Kokomo since August of last year by getting back to victory lane.

Courtney overcame an appetizing see-saw battle for the lead with the driver who became the star of Du Quoin last month, Logan Seavey.  With one final slider to close the door, an avoidance of lapped traffic mayhem and a late-race restart, Courtney overcame all those obstacles to come through with his fourth-career series win and first of the season.  It’s a long way, figuratively and literally, from the lonely sideline he stood on in the most recent race.

“It was frustrating having to wait a month,” Courtney begins.  “You just have to take those nights.  Unfortunately, you’re going to have those and just hope that everyone else has a night like that at some point, but you have to come back and rebound as best you can.  There hasn’t been any racing lately, so we couldn’t do anything.  Our motto is ‘you’re only as good as your last race,’ so you don’t want to end on missing the show.  “We tried to maximize points tonight, but just came up short in qualifying there.  We were really good in the feature and Tim (Clauson) gave me a really good racecar.  I think we definitely rebounded and showed that we’re still in contention for this thing for the rest of the year.”