Tyler Courtney Survives Frenzy At Fairbury For Fourth All Star Sprint Series Win Of ’21 Thursday

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – FAIRBURY, IL – For the fourth time of his career – for the fourth time this season – “Sunshine” Tyler Courtney is a FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, securing his fourth check in the victory column in a wire-to-wire display at the almost legendary Fairbury Speedway in Fairbury, Illinois, on Thursday, June 3.

Starting from the pole position by way of dash victory, Courtney’s campaign at the front of the field was far from a cake walk, as the former USAC champion was forced to slice and dice through wave after wave of slower traffic, all before fending off a wild, last-ditch effort slider from the “North Pole Nightmare” Bill Balog.

Adding some extra depth to the stat sheet, the All Star visit to Fairbury, which also featured the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series, was the first appearance by the All Star Circuit of Champions since 1995.

“This has been a great last few weeks for this NOS Energy Drink/Turbo car. The guys have been busting their butts back at the shop to keep this thing fast,” Tyler Courtney said in Fairbury victory lane, driver of the Clauson Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Turbo/No. 7BC sprint car. “I’m having a blast right now. This is a good time of year to get going. We still have three more nights this weekend and a big week next week.”

Although the first five laps were relatively uneventful, a caution on lap six would essentially clump the field back together, eventually leading to an incredible three-car battle in traffic between Courtney, Bill Balog, and West Coast heavy hitter, Rico Abreu.

By lap 13, slower cars were stacked up two and three wide in front of the leaders, and although Courtney was all but stuck, the Indianapolis, Indiana-native was successful in slowly maneuvering through the mess, simultaneously keeping Balog in his back seat with Abreu also in tow. Lap after lap, traffic maintained its relentlessness, not allowing Courtney to find any breathing room, stretching his legs to a near-straightaway command, until lap 25.

Just as Courtney thought his troubles were over, the caution flags would reappear on lap 28 setting up what would be a three-lap dash to the finish. As mentioned, the ensuing restart led to a wicked, turn four slide job attempt by Bill Balog, barely leaving Courtney enough room to get by. Suffice it to say, Courtney squeezed through and held on to secure the $5,000 payday.

Rico Abreu, who got by Balog after his failed slide job attempt, finished second at Fairbury, followed by Balog, Ian Madsen, and Gio Scelzi.

“I should have started a little lower on that last restart,” Courtney said when discussing the last restart and Bill Balog’s slider. “I was expecting it, but he left me just enough room so I had to go for it. We just needed to be a little better on that restart and not give the guy a chance. But we led the lap that counts.”

Venturing north into the Badger State, the All Stars versus IRA weekend will continue with three nights in southern Wisconsin, kicking-off officially on Friday, June 4, at the Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot. Action will move to the Plymouth Dirt Track at Sheboygan County Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 5, followed by a Sunday night visit to Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie on June 6. All three Wisconsin blockbusters will feature $6,000-to-win main events.

Contingency Awards/Results: Fairbury Speedway – Thursday, June 3, 2021
Event: Thursday Night Shootout
Entries: 32
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Bill Balog | 11.584
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Scotty Thiel | 11.310
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Ian Madsen
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Travis Philo
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Parker Price-Miller
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Paul McMahan
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Cap Henry
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Robbie Pribnow
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Tyler Courtney
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Cap Henry (+13)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi, 11.342; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 11.434; 3. 11-Ian Madsen, 11.542; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.579; 5. 68-Dave Uttech, 11.728; 6. 51B-Joe B. Miller, 11.750; 7. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.763; 8. 20R-Robbie Pribnow, 12.152

Group (B)
1. 5-Paul McMahan, 11.553; 2. 4-Cap Henry, 11.689; 3. 5T-Travis Philo, 11.705; 4. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 11.805; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.821; 6. O7-Skylar Gee, 11.929; 7. 3-Austin O’Dell, 12.026; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.183

Group (C)
1. 73-Scotty Thiel, 11.310; 2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 11.499; 3. 13-Spencer Bayston, 11.528; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 11.607; 5. 8M-TJ Michael, 11.637; 6. 39-Jake Blackhurst, 11.781; 7. 23-Russel Borland, 12.092; 8. 29-Brayton Lynch, 12.126

Group (D)
1. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.323; 2. 10-Zeb Wise, 11.435; 3. 19-Parker Price-Miller, 11.563; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.590; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.755; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.799; 7. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 11.809; 8. B11-Mark Brucker, 99.999

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 11-Ian Madsen [2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 4. 51B-Joe B. Miller [6]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [1]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech [5]; 7. 9K-Kyle Schuett [7]; 8. 20R-Robbie Pribnow [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5T-Travis Philo [2]; 2. O7-Skylar Gee [6]; 3. 49-Josh Schneiderman [1]; 4. 5-Paul McMahan [4]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz [8]; 7. 3-Austin O’Dell [7]; 8. 4-Cap Henry [3]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 73-Scotty Thiel [4]; 3. 13-Spencer Bayston [2]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [3]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 6. 39-Jake Blackhurst [6]; 7. 23-Russel Borland [7]; 8. 29-Brayton Lynch [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 19-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 4. 10-Zeb Wise [3]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer [6]; 7. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [7]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 2. 19-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [2]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [4]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 5-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 4. 11-Ian Madsen [5]; 5. 10-Zeb Wise [4]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 4-Cap Henry [1]; 2. 39-Jake Blackhurst [3]; 3. 4K-Kris Spitz [5]; 4. 23-Russel Borland [9]; 5. 20R-Robbie Pribnow [11]; 6. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [7]; 7. 25-Danny Schlafer [4]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech [2]; 9. 9K-Kyle Schuett [6]; 10. 29-Brayton Lynch [10]; 11. 3-Austin O’Dell [8]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 4. 11-Ian Madsen [8]; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi [5]; 6. 73-Scotty Thiel [9]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11]; 8. 4-Cap Henry [21]; 9. 13-Spencer Bayston [13]; 10. 5-Paul McMahan [2]; 11. 26-Cory Eliason [20]; 12. 5T-Travis Philo [7]; 13. 19-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 14. 10-Zeb Wise [10]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 16. O7-Skylar Gee [12]; 17. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [15]; 18. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [17]; 19. 39-Jake Blackhurst [22]; 20. 49-Josh Schneiderman [14]; 21. 23-Russel Borland [24]; 22. 51B-Joe B. Miller [16]; 23. 8M-TJ Michael [18]; 24. 4K-Kris Spitz [23] Lap Leaders: Tyler Courtney (1-30)