Tanner Carrick took the checkered flag during Monday’s portion of preliminary night action at the Chili Bowl Nationals, but saw it throw him a curve ball almost instantly.
The California native had just crossed the start-finish line in first and clinched his spot in the 2022 main event of the week when his brake pedal dropped straight to the floor.
By the time he tried to adjust, it was too late.
“I went through the checkered (flag) and I had no breaks,” Carrick said on FloRacing. “The pedal went straight to the floor. By the time I decided to turn it was too late with the right-rear being bone-slick. I guess I had just enough to finish the race.”
Tanner Carrick (@Carrick_Tanner) said he lost his brakes after he crossed the finish line.
He flips it after locking his spot in to Saturday's Chili Bowl Nationals A-Main.
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— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) January 11, 2022
The chaos ensued and most of the equipment came out alright, but Carrick was just glad he ran the race that he did.
Ramping up to P2 early, Carrick let Jerry Coons Jr. get by and would battle with eventual night 1 runner-up Tyler Courtney.
“I got up to second pretty quick and I just went to the top too early,” Carrick said on FloRacing. “I went back down and figured I (should stay around).”
It wasn’t until Mitchel Moles flipped while running in the lead spot and Coons Jr. went to the work area under the ensuing caution that Carrick inherited the lead.
It looked at one point like Moles and Coons Jr. might have a shot to each lock in to the main event, but instead Courtney took the runner-up spot to transfer with Carrick.
“Three 2nd’s in a row on Monday night sucks, but being locked in doesn’t,” Courtney said on the broadcast. “We have a really good (car) and congrats to Tanner – he drove a great race. We’ll just relax and try to pass some cars in the pole shuffle.”
The field of cars transferring to a B-Main on Saturday night include Chase Johnson, David Gravel, Nick Hoffman, Cannon McIntosh, Gary Taylor, and 13-year old rookie Gavan Boschele.
Night 2 of the Chili Bowl Nationals is slated to start slightly earlier on Tuesday, with hot laps scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CT and streaming brought to fans by FloRacing.
2022 Chili Bowl Monday Night A-Main Results
1. Tanner Carrick
2. Tyler Courtney
The top 2 drivers will transfer to Saturday’s A-Main
3. Chase Johnson
4. David Gravel
5. Nick Hoffman
6. Cannon McIntosh
7. Gary Taylor
8. Gavan Boschele
9. Alex Bowman
10. Trey Marcham
11. Chase Briscoe
12. Alex Sewell
13. Carson Kvapil
14. Anton Hernandez
15. Jesse Love
16. Kinzer Edwards
17. Sean McLelland
18. Josh Hawkins
19. Kyler Johnson
20. Mitchel Moles
21. Jerry Coons Jr.
22. Kory Schudy
23. Jadon Rogers
24. Jacob Denney
