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Tarlton endures rough weekend with King of the West

Inside Line Promotions – HANFORD, Calif. (Aug. 7) – Tommy Tarlton usually has high expectations.

They were heightened last weekend when he raced his home tracks with the King of the West Sprint Car Series – the premier 410 tour on the West Coast. And unfortunately, Tarlton’s weekend was marred by a couple of wrecks and a blown engine.

“I’ve had better weekends,” the Easton, Calif., resident said. “I was really, really disappointed.”

Tarlton was running fourth on Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., when he got caught up in an incident on a restart.

“It was one of those double-file restarts where the front row went, didn’t go, then went again,” he said. “I was trying to stay off Tim Kaeding. I had to back off and Brent Kaeding spun me around. It was a racing deal.”

Tarlton had to restart at the back and he put on a show moving through the field. Restarting around 20th, Tarlton moved around the track to work his way back into the top five.

“I ran the top, bottom, everywhere,” he said. “A lot of guys were tight on the bottom and I’d rail the top.

“I came from the back to fourth. Too bad it wasn’t for the win, but I salvaged a decent finish.”

That capped a night when he qualified eighth quickest and won his heat race to earn a trip to the dash. Tarlton started fourth in the dash and finished third, which is where he began the feature.

He was in a similar position on Saturday, minus the charge to the front after an early incident in the feature.

After qualifying sixth and finishing second in his heat race, Tarlton picked up the final position in the dash. He finished seventh to start the main event on the inside of the fourth row.

However, as he was being pushed off for the feature, the power steering line loosened. And when a couple of cars collided on the opening lap, Tarlton had nowhere to go. He was involved in the accident, which broke his right rear shock.

The crew fixed the power steering line and shock, but the engine let go a handful of laps later.

“I was like, ‘What a night,’” Tarlton said. “We were fast. We definitely could have run up front, but it didn’t work out.”

Tarlton is taking this weekend off before returning on Aug. 19 at Ocean Speedway for an Ocean Sprints race. He sits second by only four points in that series.

He will also compete on Aug. 20 at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway with the ASCS Southern California Region, which he leads by 112 points with three races remaining.

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 5 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 1 (3); Dash: 3 (4); Feature: 4 (3).

Aug. 6 – Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 2 (3); Dash: 7 (8); Feature: 22 (7).

SEASON STATS –

30 races, 30 features, 6 wins, 21 top fives, 21 top 10s, 23 top 15s, 27 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Aug. 19 at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., with the Ocean Sprints and Aug. 20 at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., with the ASCS Southern California Region

FAVORITE NUMBER –

70: Percent of Tarlton’s finishes this season have been in the top five.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –

Website: www.tommytarlton.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/tommytarlton21

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001286852863

APPAREL –

Tarlton has black t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats, and white women’s shirts available for purchase at every race he attends. For information on where you can get them, visit http://www.tarltonandson.com/tarlton-racing-schedule.

ON THE AIR –

Tarlton was a guest on the Lucas Oil ASCS Show by Racinboys on May 3. Click on the link below to listen. Tarlton’s interview begins around the 32-minute mark.

http://www.meridix.com/mbp/general/index.php?liveid=Racinboys&recordid=18831

He was also a featured guest on the Dirt Cast podcast on June 29. The link is below:

http://dirtcast.com/2011/06/29/tommy-tarlton-ascs-sprint-cars-ocean-sprints-6-29-11/

Check out the link below to see highlights of Tarlton’s King of the West Sprint Car Series’ win at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., on May 14.

http://vimeo.com/23805799

Here are a couple of videos from Tarlton’s victory and runner-up performance with the King of the West Sprint Car Series at the Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., on July 1-2:

http://vimeo.com/25952465 and http://vimeo.com/25950506

Check out this link to an in-car video of Tarlton winning the B Main at the Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., on July 13:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwxAz8nEgzw&feature=channel_video_title

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino

Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino is a full-service destination that offers a hotel, a casino with slots and table games, multiple restaurants and a spa in one location in Lemoore, Calif. For more information, visit www.tachipalace.com.

“Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino and our race team have been a winning combination since 1997,” Tarlton said. “They’ve got an awesome place near the Hanford and Tulare race tracks. It’s the nicest place to stay for a racer and there’s plenty of parking.”

Tarlton would like to thank his sponsors, including Tarlton and Son, Inc., Corporate America Lending, Bandy & Associates, Sharp Insurance & Bonding, Simpson and BG Products for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors’ return on investment.

To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit www.insidelinepromotions.com.

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