Billy Tanner Grabs Top-20 In Kentucky |
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Topics: Billy Tanner, Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
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Chris Knight
Stott Classic Racing
May 14, 2007
CheapCaribbean.com Looks Solid In Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
SPARTA, Kentucky (May 10, 2007) - - Stott Classic Racing (SCR) and Billy Tanner considered their debut together a successful one after posting a very respectable 17th place finish in Saturday’s Buckle-Up Kentucky 150.
Tanner, who hasn’t made an ARCA RE/MAX Series start since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway was looking forward to getting back in the saddle and with respected crew chief Corrie Stott at his side, the rookie knew he had nothing to worry about.
Unveiling the No. 07 CheapCaribbean.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo , the team pushed their way up the charts in practice to post a top-20 effort. With a good setup for race conditions, Tanner and his team focused on ARCA SIM Factory qualifying. In time trials, Tanner dug deep but slipped. The mistake didn’t cost the team a racecar but forced a 24th place starting position. No worries, the team made the event, their primary goal heading into Kentucky .
“We’re glad to be in the race,” said Tanner, a successful late model driver from Pennsylvania . “I slipped a little in qualifying, but we still bounced back. I want to thank Corrie Stott and my team for their hard work preparing for this race, I have high hopes for the race.”
At the start of the event, Tanner hovered inside the top-25. Many say if you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t learning. The team made a mistake by selecting the wrong transmission ratio halting their driver on restarts.
On every restart, Tanner was unsuccessful in moving forward and would need green flag racing to move up the field. Luckily, the green flag presented itself for a couple periods of solid racing allowing Tanner to overlook the ratio issue and focus on racing.
Despite never contending for the win, the group quietly worked its way into the top-20 overcoming minor handling woes to collect a top-20 run in the team’s first outing.
Tanner scored his career best finish Saturday night beating his previous best effort of 21st in the ARCA 200 at Daytona in a car fielded by longtime ARCA owner Bob Schacht.
“It was a good night,” said Tanner, a dirt track ace. “We had some problems on the restarts, but that’s a part of the learning process. We know what to do to make it better and we will. We stayed out of trouble, learned a lot, gained some laps and the car is one piece, I really can’t complain.”
He continued, “I’m looking forward to my next challenge at Toledo Speedway. I will be attempting to make my first short track race and I’m looking forward to it.”
For Stott, he also considers the race a success. “I’m really proud of everyone on this team,” he explained. “This was our first race together. We had some ups and downs, but in the end everything was positive. Billy did a great job all weekend long and I’m excited about our remaining 11 races together. He has the talent and I think we’ll turn some heads this season for sure.”
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the first of two events at Toledo Speedway for the running of the Hantz Group 200 presented by Federated Auto Care set for this upcoming Sunday. The track considered hometown turf for the sanction will enjoy live television coverage beginning at 12:00pm on SPEED.
About CheapCaribbean.com and COMM Group
CheapCaribbean.com is owned by COMM Group, Inc (Customer Oriented Marketing and Management Group) which provides wholesale and direct to consumer distribution of vacation packages, resort reservations, and cruises worldwide to Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Mexico , servicing over 250,000 passengers per year.
About Billy Tanner
A fourth generation driver, Billy Tanner IV, 25, hails from Newtown , PA. A veteran dirt specialist, Tanner won several events in 2006 including at Bridgeport and on his home track of New Egypt Speedway in New Egypt, New Jersey . Tanner finished last year sixth in the Race of Champions (ROC) North series, seventh in ROC South, seventh in ROC combined, seventh at New Egypt Speedway, and eighth at Bridgeport . Tanner will run more than a dozen ARCA races in 2007 in hopes of a full season campaign in 2008.
About Stott Classic Racing
Stott Classic Racing has over 50 years of racing heritage and success. Started in 1955, Ramo Stott was an ARCA champ in 1970 and 1971 along with USAC champ in 1975. His sons Corrie and Lance carried on the tradition, with Corrie having 20 years of NASCAR experience. Successfully starting and operating various NASCAR teams, Corrie was a Crew member for Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte and Crew Chief for Sterling Marlin and Jimmy Spencer. Corrie has spent the past 12 years in management positions with Hendrick Motorsports, SABCO, and PPI Motorsports
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MEDIA CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Classic Stott Racing
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: knight849@aol.com