August 26, 2023 | By Tyler Altmeyer

Tyler Courtney capitalizes for Mace Thomas Classic triumph at Butler Motor Speedway

QUINCY, Mich. —  It was a prime opportunity for “Sunshine” Tyler Courtney to capitalize, and that’s exactly what the Indianapolis, Indiana, native did, inheriting command on lap 16 of the 30-lap Mace Thomas Classic at Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, Michigan, and never looking back. The victory, a first-ever at the Butler highbanks, ultimately secured the two-time and defending Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 titleholder with his eighth Series triumph of the season, now with 24 in his All Star career. In addition, the victory propelled Clauson Marshall Racing to the top of the All Star owner standings, now in charge by eight markers over Rudeen Racing.

As noted, Courtney took command of the 30-lap contest on lap 16, capitalizing on fellow title contender Zeb Wise’s misfortune. The now former Series point leader and Friday night Tri-City Motor Speedway winner made contact with a lapped car, coming together as the pair battled by the flagstand. The abrupt contact left Wise and Rudeen Racing with a heavily damaged front-end; they were unable to return.

Neptune City, New Jersey’s Kyle Reinhardt, the newest ace of the Bryan Grove Racing No. 45 sprinter, led the first five circuits over Wise, eventually losing command by a turn four slider the following trip.

The “Madman” Kerry Madsen would race home second in the Mace Thomas Classic, followed by Lane Racing’s Chris Windom, J.J. Hickle, and Adam Kekich.

“I think we were honestly catching [Wise] up until that point. I definitely didn’t want to see that happen to him. I want to race him through the end of this championship hunt,” Tyler Courtney, ace of the Clauson Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC, said. “They’ve been really, really good this year, and they’ve forced us to chase them. The big picture is, you don’t want to see that happen, but when it does, you have to capitalize. I’ve come to really cherish these wins and moments like this. This was my first time at Butler, but what an amazing crowd. Hopefully everyone enjoyed that.”

ON DECK:
With the month of August officially in the books, the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will now focus on the month of September, set to kick things off with a doubleheader at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, September 1-2. Dubbed the Attica Ambush, the two-day northwest Ohio invasion will feature two, full programs with Friday’s segment awarding $6,000, followed by Saturday’s Ambush finale awarding $12,000.

For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. Find subscription here: https://flosports.link/3XJOg5Z

Contingency Awards/Results: Butler Motor Speedway | August 26, 2023:
$8,500-to-win | Mace Thomas Classic
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 37
Macri Concrete/Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Tyler Courtney | 12.815
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Tyler Courtney | 12.489 *NTR
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Corbin Gurley
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Scotty Thiel
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Kyle Reinhardt
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: J.J. Hickle
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Bill Balog
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Greg Wilson
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Zeb Wise
Tezos A-Main Winner: Tyler Courtney
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: Chris Windom (+10)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Boston Mead

Tezos A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 2. 55-Kerry Madsen[10]; 3. 4-Chris Windom[13]; 4. 50YR-JJ Hickle[6]; 5. 29-Adam Kekich[3]; 6. 97-Zeth Sabo[11]; 7. 23-Cale Thomas[9]; 8. 12-Corbin Gurley[7]; 9. 28M-Conner Morrell[12]; 10. 70-Kraig Kinser[14]; 11. 73-Scotty Thiel[4]; 12. 7N-Darin Naida[22]; 13. 10JR-Keith Sheffer Jr[18]; 14. 16C-Tylar Rankin[17]; 15. 41-Thomas Schinderle[19]; 16. 17-Reece Saldana[24]; 17. 42M-Boston Mead[20]; 18. (DNF) 42-Sye Lynch[15]; 19. (DNF) 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 20. (DNF) 10BR-Jason Blonde[8]; 21. (DNF) 45-Kyle Reinhardt[2]; 22. (DNF) 27-Trey McGranahan[16]; 23. (DNF) 17B-Bill Balog[21]; 24. (DNF) 35-Stuart Brubaker[23] LAP LEADERS: Kyle Reinhardt (1-5), Zeb Wise (6-15), Tyler Courtney (16-30)

Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 2. 7N-Darin Naida[1]; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[9]; 4. 17-Reece Saldana[2]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson[4]; 6. 3V-Chris Verda[7]; 7. 5E-Bobby Elliott[6]; 8. 4T-Josh Turner[8]; 9. 71M-Caden Englehart[10]; 10. 19-Jett Mann[14]; 11. 87E-Logan Easterday[5]; 12. 1A-Mark Aldrich[12]; 13. 20A-Andy Chehowski[11]; 14. (DNS) 77-Geoff Dodge; 15. (DNS) 7-Alex Aldrich; 16. (DNS) 32-Bryce Lucius; 17. (DNS) 15D-Darel Woolsey

Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (6 Laps): 1. 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 2. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[4]; 3. 29-Adam Kekich[2]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel[7]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 6. 50YR-JJ Hickle[6]; 7. 12-Corbin Gurley[5]; 8. 10BR-Jason Blonde[3]

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Corbin Gurley[1]; 2. 97-Zeth Sabo[3]; 3. 29-Adam Kekich[4]; 4. 27-Trey McGranahan[6]; 5. 41-Thomas Schinderle[5]; 6. 87E-Logan Easterday[10]; 7. 4T-Josh Turner[7]; 8. 20A-Andy Chehowski[8]; 9. (DNF) 7-Alex Aldrich[9]; 10. (DNF) 32-Bryce Lucius[2]

CSI Shocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 73-Scotty Thiel[1]; 2. 23-Cale Thomas[3]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise[4]; 4. 4-Chris Windom[6]; 5. 16C-Tylar Rankin[5]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 7. 17-Reece Saldana[2]; 8. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7]; 9. 19-Jett Mann[9]

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[1]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 3. 28M-Conner Morrell[2]; 4. 70-Kraig Kinser[5]; 5. 10JR-Keith Sheffer Jr[6]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson[7]; 7. 5E-Bobby Elliott[8]; 8. 1A-Mark Aldrich[9]; 9. 77-Geoff Dodge[3]

Mobil 1 Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 50YR-JJ Hickle[1]; 2. 55-Kerry Madsen[3]; 3. 10BR-Jason Blonde[2]; 4. 42-Sye Lynch[5]; 5. 42M-Boston Mead[8]; 6. 7N-Darin Naida[4]; 7. 3V-Chris Verda[7]; 8. 71M-Caden Englehart[6]; 9. (DNS) 15D-Darel Woolsey

Hercules Tire Qualifying: 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:12.489[25]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:12.645[14]; 3. 29-Adam Kekich, 00:12.711[5]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel, 00:12.753[13]; 5. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:12.836[34]; 6. 50YR-JJ Hickle, 00:12.851[35]; 7. 45-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:12.852[24]; 8. 17-Reece Saldana, 00:12.856[17]; 9. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:12.862[22]; 10. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:12.883[4]; 11. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:12.932[6]; 12. 23-Cale Thomas, 00:12.948[19]; 13. 10BR-Jason Blonde, 00:12.963[33]; 14. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 00:12.993[12]; 15. 77-Geoff Dodge, 00:13.024[20]; 16. 4-Chris Windom, 00:13.042[18]; 17. 55-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.043[36]; 18. 70-Kraig Kinser, 00:13.048[23]; 19. 97-Zeth Sabo, 00:13.055[2]; 20. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 00:13.061[16]; 21. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:13.096[30]; 22. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.158[11]; 23. 10JR-Keith Sheffer Jr, 00:13.187[21]; 24. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:13.205[26]; 25. 41-Thomas Schinderle, 00:13.210[1]; 26. 71M-Caden Englehart, 00:13.237[29]; 27. 27-Trey McGranahan, 00:13.360[7]; 28. 19-Jett Mann, 00:13.411[15]; 29. 5E-Bobby Elliott, 00:13.516[27]; 30. 3V-Chris Verda, 00:13.576[32]; 31. 4T-Josh Turner, 00:13.687[10]; 32. 20A-Andy Chehowski, 00:13.702[3]; 33. 7-Alex Aldrich, 00:13.715[8]; 34. 1A-Mark Aldrich, 00:13.728[28]; 35. 87E-Logan Easterday, 00:13.856[9]; 36. (DQ) 42M-Boston Mead, 00:13.071[31]; 37. (DQ) 15D-Darel Woolsey, 00:15.035[37]

2023 All Star Circuit of Champions OWNER Standings (As of 8/26):
Clauson Marshall Racing - 4544
Rudeen Racing - 4536
Vermeer Motorsports - 4430
Lane Racing - 4320
Bryan Grove Racing - 4152
Seeling Motorsports - 3964
Bill McCandless Ford - 3910
D3 Motorsports Group - 3628
Premier Motorsports - 2498

2023 All Star Circuit of Champions DRIVER Standings (As of 8/26):
Zeb Wise - 4426
Chris Windom - 4320
Tyler Courtney - 3741
Conner Morrell - 3628
J.J. Hickle - 3616
Sye Lynch - 3608
Tim Shaffer - 3542
Scotty Thiel - 2368
Parker Price-Miller - 2328
Greg Wilson - 2078

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About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.