PETERSEN MEDIA: One week removed from a hard-fought charge in Chico, CA, Blake Carrick continued the theme Friday and Saturday night as he came from the ‘B’ both nights and went 20th – 12th on Friday night, and 22nd-11th on Saturday night.
“Both nights we seemed to struggle early, but in the end, we were able to get in the show and pass a lot of cars,” Blake Carrick said. “Thanks to my guys for their hard work despite how grim it looked.”
Friday night the two-night showdown in central, CA kicked off at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, CA for the fourth installment of the Sprint Car Challenge Tour campaign as they took part in the Peter Murphy Classic.
Carrick would get the weekend underway by timing the CVC/Cemex/Interstate Oil backed No. 38B machine in fifth fastest in his qualifying group. Lining up fifth in his heat race, Carrick would slip back to sixth when the race came to life. Unable to race his way back into a transfer, Carrick’s sixth place finish would move him into the ‘B’.
Picking up the win in the semi, Carrick advanced to the Friday night feature event where he would take the green flag from the 20th starting position. On a very slick surface, Carrick would act fast as the track would soon take rubber.
Able to pick up a handful of positions in the opening laps, Carrick would continue to work his way forward as he would accept the checkered flag with a 12th place finish on this night.
Shifting gears on Saturday, the scene shifted to Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA for the final night of the Peter Murphy Classic. Timing in 16th overall in qualifying time trials on Saturday night, Carrick’s seventh place finish in his heat would again force him into the ‘B’.
With a little work to do in the ‘B’ on this night, Carrick would take the green flag from the sixth position. On a very slick Thunderbowl Speedway racing surface, Carrick would again take care of business as he would earn the transfer into the feature event by way of his fourth-place finish.
Mired back in the 11th row for the final 30-lap feature event of the weekend, Carrick would come to life as he worked the high side of the speedway. Able to nearly mimic his charge from Friday night, the Lincoln, CA runner would race his way all the way up to an 11th place finish at the line.
“It was a tough weekend timing in for us,” Carrick said. “We had a ton of speed late in the night, but it is really hard to make up ground against these fields. I’m happy with how we rebounded, but hoping we can get back on track this weekend.”
Blake Carrick would like to thank CVC, Cemex, Interstate Oil, Conti, Harris and Sloan, Emerald, Timberworks Construction, Kaeding Performance, and Arai for their continued support.
ON TAP: Blake Carrick is scheduled to be at Stockton Dirt Track on Saturday night, and Placerville Speedway on Sunday.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-23, Wins-1, Top 5’s-6, Top 10’s-15
STAY CONNECTED: Stay up to speed with Blake Carrick by following him on Twitter @Blake_Carrick21 or @CarrickMotorsp1.
