[JessicaJ]

Tyler Nelson Takes Solid Finish in First Race with New Team
By Jessica Jenkins

Although it was icy with dropping temperatures outside, they did not affect Tyler Nelson even a tiny bit. Located inside Du Quoin, Illinois' Southern Illinois Center, the 19 year old was looking to improve on his 2015 appearance at the Junior Knepper 55. This time he was racing for a new-to-him team in Harris Racing's #91 blue and white USAC midget.

Things started out well for Nelson in the sixth heat race when he started fourth and finished in the same spot. Track position was hard to keep in the outside lane as the only fast lane was on the very inside of the racing surface. He fought hard and with the passing point system, holding onto his starting position put him 25th in passing points when the numbers were tallied. That handed him an inside starting position in the quick turnaround to the first 12 lap Qualifier. By staying glued to the bottom lane he managed to hold his seventh place starting spot for the first five laps, despite intense competition. After a restart on lap five, he was battling hard through turns three and four when another competitor hit him hard from the back and nearly turned him around out of four. Somehow he saved it and thundered off towards the checkered flag to end that eventful lap. The contact cost him a few positions and he found himself racing for ninth in the closing laps, ultimately finishing tenth.

The results of those two key passing-point races put him starting eleventh out of the thirteen teams in the second B Main. The high side now seemed to be coming in a little bit as he endured attacks from the outside before he also tried the top lane for himself. A flurry of yellows filled up the first half of the 15-lap race and he began picking off cars, both under green and yellow. By lap five he had made his way up to fifth place, just one position out of transferring to the 55-lap Feature. Surviving a couple more yellows, on the restart into turn 1 with a competitor tight on his outside, Nelson nearly spun on the inside lane, but gathered it up and kept going while clinging to sixth place. He took off again for fifth place as the laps counted down and made a move to the outside when a couple cars directly ahead of him got out of shape. Jumping to the outside did not pay off as two cars that had been tailing him caught the situation right and dove past on the inside. The Kansas City native regained one of those positions in the final couple laps and finished seventh. He wasn't quite far enough up to make the Feature, but it was a good effort with the new pairing of driver/team and gives them something to build on heading into 2017.

Thinking back over the night's racing, Nelson shared, "The B-Main went pretty good, we were battling motor trouble in the heat race and Qualifier, so it kind of put us behind the 8 ball. We did pretty good starting 11th [in the B]. I was up to 5th and a car about spun in front of me; two cars went by me, so we didn't make the transfer. But we made positive changes to the car [and] got our motor gremlins figured out. I was happy with it and I think the car owner's happy with me. We should be back here in March and we'll just try to improve on what we did tonight. I think he learned a little bit about my driving style [and] I learned a little bit about how they want to do things, so I'm pretty happy with it." He also wants to thank car owner Jack Harris, Spike Chassis, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City and Wilwood Brakes for their support and making this race possible.

Nelson's next race is the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa. He will be back to racing his own #88 midget for the huge event that runs from January 10th to 14th. Updates will be posted on his Facebook fan page (Tyler Nelson Racing) and can also be seen on Twitter @TylerNelson88, so 'like' or 'follow' him to keep up with this young driver. Pictures from Du Quoin will be posted on Facebook this week as well. Another way to learn more about him is to visit his website, TylerNelsonRacing.com.