SALISBURY, N.C. – It took three years, but Tyler Seavey finally joined his brother Logan as a winner of the QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport, dominating the fifth edition of the annual big-money event for outlaw karts at Millbridge Speedway on Wednesday night.
Seavey inherited the lead on lap 19, when Jesse Colwell slowed from the top spot on the backstretch with an apparent mechanical problem, and never looked back en route to one of the biggest wins of his career and a $5,151 payday.
He led the final 33 laps amid a flurry of incidents, surviving seven restarts in the second half of the race and 15 cautions overall before parking his No. 91 Truck Shop Motors/Amber Norman Racing QRC kart in victory lane amid falling raindrops that dotted the final laps of the race.
“We went with a hard tire (compound) for the main, so I knew that in the early stages we were going to be a little off compared to everyone else,” noted Seavey, who set fast time over the 45-car field on Tuesday. “I saw the (No.) 86 (Colwell) pounding the wall in the corners and I knew that wasn’t going to work for 51 laps, so I just cruised, bided my time and sure enough, he broke and we ended up in victory lane. The second half was just all about pacing myself.”
“I honestly didn’t notice any rain, so I’m glad we went the entire distance and it never got bad enough that we had to stop and (potentially) call it,” Seavey added. “I’m really happy that we got the race in, because you never want to win a race that doesn’t go the full distance. This one feels really good.”
The win for the 22-year-old Sutter, Calif., native marks his third major milestone this year, following a West Coast Nationals victory and Red Bluff Outlaws championship in March.
“This has been a pretty awesome year for me,” Seavey said. “We’ve won quite a few big races as a team already … and to add this one to the list is pretty special. This is a race I’ve wanted to win for a while and to finally add my name to the list of guys who have won here means a lot.”
The night began with a bang after Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson stormed from last to first in the Pole Shuffle, defeating every one of his 11 challengers to earn the top spot on the grid for the 51-lap main event.
However, Larson elected to take the Back Row Challenge for the second year in a row, dropping to the tail of the 24-kart field for a shot at an extra $25,000 if he could come back to win the race.
That set up Jesse Colwell and Seavey on the front row for the initial start, but it was Nick Hoffman who pitched a crazy slide job into turn three and came out in front to lead the opening lap of the feature.
By the time the field got back to turn two, however, Colwell had used a slider of his own to assume command and quickly pulled out to a 10 car length lead before the first caution of the race flew on lap eight for a spinning Ryan Israel.
