12/9/2016
Tyler Nelson
Nelson's First Turkey Night Showing Earns Good Resul
Nelson's First Turkey Night Showing Earns Good Result
By Jessica Jenkins
On the long drive out to California for his debut in the Turkey Night Grand Prix on Thanksgiving, Tyler Nelson held realistic and strong goals. Making the feature was the first goal, but from there a top ten finish was where he had his sights set at the 1/5th-mile Ventura Raceway.
Faced with a huge field of USAC midget competitors at the Southern California track, he looked to be in good shape while driving for team owner in Cappy Mason. Nelson and the white #47 paced 19th out of 52 in a very strong showing during qualifying. While missing transferring straight to the Feature by seven spots, it lined them up fourth in the first Qualifier. All the Kansas native now had to do was stay in the top four in order make it into the 98-lap feature. When the yellow waved shortly after the green, he restarted from fourth place. He had a rough start on the second attempt but settled into sixth while running up on the very top lane. Following a red flag for a three car incident, the 19 year old restarted from the 7th spot. As the final ten laps clicked off, cars behind him began to gang up on Nelson as he fought the handling of the car.
Finishing 11th in the Qualifier sent him to the Last Chance Qualifier for one more attempt at making the Feature. He lined up 11th of the 16 cars and initially the heavy traffic ahead kept him from gaining positions. However, once he got back to the high side, he began to gain positions over the second half of the race as everyone battled hard in the transfer spots. With just a handful of laps to go, two cars directly in front of him made contact and he took advantage to gain one more spot. When the dust settled, he had claimed seventh, just one position away from advancing to the Feature.
Making the trip all the way from Indiana to California and barely missing the main race would be disappointing for anyone. But with a new team at a new-to-him track, Nelson chose to keep a positive perspective as he reflected back on his first Turkey Night appearance: "I feel like the race went well. We just missed it [the feature] by one. We missed the set up for the Qualifier and that put us behind the 8 ball in the LCQ. The venue is really cool; being able to see the beach from the pits was a trip. I think it was a really cool experience and I can't wait to take part in the event next year and hopefully improve a lot. I would like to thank Cappy Mason, Sherry Mason, Luke, and Mike for allowing me to drive their car and giving me the experience."
Now back in the Midwest, Nelson is preparing for the Junior Knepper 55 at the Southern Illinois Center on December 17 in DuQuoin, IL. He will be racing the #91 for Harris Racing and team owner Jack Harris--who he has plans of racing with more next year. For updates and pictures from DuQuoin, 'like' him on Facebook by searching Tyler Nelson Racing or follow him on Twitter @TylerNelson88. To learn more about this young driver and where he has come from, visit his website at TylerNelsonRacing.com.
Article Credit: Jessica Jenkins
