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TURKEY SHOOT TRIALS IN TUCSON
TUCSON, AZ (November 30) – After a 1-year, 10-month absence, Team NPP returned to Tucson Speedway the final weekend of November. The Arizona track was holding their annual Turkey Shoot 125. Ask Darrell Midgley and Brandon Carlson how their race weekend went and there will probably be a short pause before an answer. Brandon Carlson finished 7th Sunday afternoon. Darrell Midgley crossed the finish line in 11th. Both drivers were expecting a much better outcome in Sunday’s big Feature. Carlson’s weekend did start off extremely strong. The Victoria, British Columbia driver qualified 4th Saturday afternoon and finished second in his Saturday night 50-lap Feature. Midgley had the tougher outing qualifying 11th in his Northern Provincial Pipelines #81 Dodge, then finished 7th in his Saturday night 50-lap Feature. Not a single caution flag flew in the Super Late Model class during the weekend. Sunday afternoon’s 125-lap Feature took just 35-minutes to complete. “That race kicked my ass,” exclaims Midgley, “I can’t remember the last time I competed in a race that had no cautions. It was probably a dirt race (NPP Late Model Series). But nobody got tore up. So it was nice for a change.” The Sidney, British Columbia driver started near the back of the pack for Sundays Feature. It took just 15-laps before Midgley found himself running 11th. He would remain in the 11th position for the remainder of the race. “The car just stalled out. We were really struggling with the car on Saturday. It was a heck of a lot better today (Sunday). It was at least drivable.” Midgley has now competed in nine Turkey Shoot events since 2015 and has an average finish 10.2. His best finish came at the 2021 Turkey Shoot where he finished 2nd.
Brandon Carlson, coming off a 3rd place finish at California’s Shasta Speedway in October, was hoping momentum would carry over into Arizona the final weekend of November. His Saturday performance (4th quick in qualifying/2nd in 50-Lap Feature) was encouraging. Carlson however was disappointed with Sundays 7th place finish in the Shockwave/Northern Provincial Pipelines #14 Chevrolet. “We didn’t have the same car we had Saturday night. We just didn’t have the handling we needed out of our tires.” The Victoria, British Columbia driver started fourth. “We fell back (to 8th) to save our stuff and rode around for awhile.” With about 25-laps to go Carlson decided it was time to make his move. Unfortunately his race car had other ideas. "We were hunting for traction. I felt like a top-5 got away from us today. Our car was not as good as it was the night before.” No caution flags in the Sunday’s race also made the task a bit harder. “It went green to checkered. I was praying for a yellow. A slow gently spin by someone would have been great.”
Both Carlson and Midgley had kudos for race winner Michael Scott from Cheyenne, Wyoming. “He was definitely in a league of his own,” says Midgley, “he went to the Snowball Derby last year. He’s a good runner.” Scott was the number 1 qualifier, won his 50-lap Feature and then led all 125-laps Sunday in the $7,500 to win Turkey Shoot. He also claimed $5,000 in lap-leader prize money put up by Team Northern Provincial Pipelines owner Dwight Kennedy.
Carlson was loading up his car in his pits when he was tapped on the shoulder by Scott. “Michael actually sought me out (after the race) to personally thank Dwight.” Glenwood, Minnesota’s Weston Marthaler was second in Sunday's Turkey Shoot 125. Top Canadian and defending event winner Kyle Reid from Fort McMurray, Alberta finished third.
TUCSON SPEEDWAY
Tucson, Arizona
> Sunday, November 30th
SUPER LATE MODEL
1. #82 Michael Scott – Cheyenne, Wyoming
2. #100 Weston Marthaler – Glenwood, Minnesota
3. #42 Kyle Reid – Fort McMurray, Alberta
4. #99 Zane Mckissick – Tucson, Arizona
5. # 3 Ken Bonney – Hermiston, Oregon
6. #12 Bruce Yakey – Greeley, Colorado
7. #14 Brandon Carlson – Victoria, British Columbia
8. #26 Dylan Jones – Vail, Arizona
9. #05 Nick O’Neil – Vail, Arizona
10.#98 Kyle Wade – Courtney, British Columbia
11.#81 Darrell Midgley – Sidney, British Columbia
12.#57 Jennifer Hall – Tucson, Arizona
13.#67 Billy Coles – Three Hills, Alberta
14.# 9 Ron Norman – Tucson, Arizona
15.#27 Marc Groskreutz – Coolin, Idaho
16.#25 Kami York – McHenry, Illinois
17.#05 David Smith – Sidney, British Columbia
