Tyler Nelson IL Double Recap
 

Jacksonville-Macon Double Equals Competitive Run for Nelson
By Jessica Jenkins

Heading into the back-to-back POWRi race weekend in Illinois May 12-13th, Tyler Nelson returned to Harris Racing's #91. Continuing to build his working relationship with Jack Harris, the 20 year old was ready to get on track at Jacksonville Speedway Friday before Macon Speedway the following night.

Getting on the Jacksonville track, Nelson started sixth in the second heat race and finished in the same spot. Based on the format being used, that sent him to an outside row three starting spot in the Semi where he raced his way up to third and easily into a transfer spot. Lined up 19th in the Feature, it didn't take long for the Kansas native to work his way into the top ten. Unfortunately a broken right rear radius rod slowed his progress and sent him back to finish where he started.

Upon arriving at Macon Speedway less than 24 hours later, Nelson and Harris went back to making repairs on the #91 midget. With the problem from Jacksonville fixed up, they were ready when hot laps rolled off on the 1/5th mile dirt track. Drawing the pole of the first heat, Nelson battled hard with Jake Neuman for the lead early before pacing in second following a lap two caution. As the heat came to a close, Nelson tried again for the lead and finished in the runner-up spot.

Using passing points to determine who made the Feature, the Indianapolis native was slotted in 11th for the main race of the evening. Restarting after a lap five yellow, he had climbed into the top ten and used the tacky track (following days of rain) to continue gaining positions. On lap eight he was running eighth and climbed into the top five just before halfway. A thrilling battle with reigning USAC champion Tanner Thorson was waged for that position as Nelson used every ounce of speed his blue and white car could offer. By lap 20 he was running in the sixth position when he slowed suddenly a few laps later and pulled into the turn three infield. Due to a high level of attrition that bit his competitors, Nelson still managed to finish 14th out of 22 cars in the Feature.

Afterwards the cause of his DNF was determined to be a snapped oil pump belt. Understandably disappointed, Nelson was still riding the high of his top five run and was happy with his night. As he shared afterwards, "It was a lot of fun! When you can put yourself up there with that competition, you know you've done something because these are some of the best people in the country. And to put a car up front, especially for an underfunded team like this, we just had a really good night tonight. Stinks we didn't get the result, but we'll go back to the garage and put it back together. We were rolling pretty good; I started a little deep in the feature and kept picking up cars, going to the front. We got up to fourth and then [at the end], it acted like I hit the kill switch and just died. I really appreciate the car that Jack gave me tonight, we had a fast hot rod. Without that issue, we would have finished up front there, definitely in the top 5. It is what it is. We were all running good, just a little heartbreaking at the end. But I think everyone around here is pretty happy overall, other than the result. I think we have a really strong platform to run from here."

Nelson was really looking forward to running the following weekend with POWRi at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL, but heavy rains overnight washed out that race just as it did the USAC event at Tri-City Speedway a day earlier. As of now, Nelson's next planned appearance is May 27th at Montpelier Motor Speedway in his #88 midget. His next race with Harris Racing's #91 will be during POWRi's Illinois Speedweek in another Jacksonville-Macon double. For updates on when and where he is racing or to see pictures of his races, check out his Facebook page @TylerNelsonRacing. You can also follow him on Twitter @TylerNelson88 and visit his website TylerNelsonRacing.com.