Dillon Welch charged from deep in the field for an impressive top-10 finish at the 71st Annual Turkey Night Grand Prix in Irwindale, California Thursday night.
After qualifying 20th and starting on the outside of Row 10, Welch began moving forward at the drop of the green flag and ultimately finished in eighth place. The surge was highlighted by a furious finish following a late caution. When the final restart occurred with seven laps remaining, the 18 year old racer was in 12th place; but driving with a not-to-be-denied aggression, he picked off four cars in the final laps.
“I had just lost 3 or 4 spots prior to the yellow when my car got loose and I almost hit the wall in turn four,” Welch said afterwards. “It really frustrated me because I knew we were better than where we were, and I just attacked those final laps with everything I had left in the car.”
Whether running the high line alongside the wall for momentum, or dropping to the low side for an inside pass, Welch was able to put his ClubSport/St.Vincent Sports Performance/Z-Line Designs #9 machine wherever needed.
“We struggled with a push the whole time we were here,” Welch said. “But we made a change in the right front just before the Feature and the car just came alive.”
The strong finish was a great way to end weeks of preparation, travel, and testing spearheaded by 9-Racing team owner Steve Lewis.
“Our preparation is a tribute to Steve and his commitment to the success of this team,” Welch said. ”At the track Dave Steele, Glenn Martin, Kreig Poland, Mike Reid…everybody just kept working on the car and refused to give up. I’m glad I could give a drive worthy of all the work they put in.”
Primary sponsor for Dillon’s Turkey Night 9-car was Renaissance ClubSport, a contemporary boutique hotel and full-service sports club in Aliso Viejo, California. On Tuesday, Dillon visited the hotel to greet guests and show them his race car.
“I can’t thank (ClubSport owner) Steve Gilmour enough for his support of my racing program, not just for Turkey Night but all season long,” Dillon said. ”To have people I admire show their confidence in me is both humbling and motivating.”
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71st Annual Turkey Night Grand Prix final results (98 laps): 1. Caleb Armstrong, 2. Darren Hagen, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Kyle Larson, 5. Kody Swanson, 6. Brad Kuhn, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Dillon Welch, 9. Evan Margeson, 10. Levi Roberts, 11. Kyle Hamilton, 12. Mario Clouser, 13. Bobby East, 14. Billy Wease, 15. Robby Josett, 16. Taylor Ferns, 17. David Prickett, 18. David Byrne, 19. Dakoda Armstrong, 20. David Goodwill, 21. Cory Kruseman, 22. Troy DeCaire, 23. Dalton Armstrong, 24. Tracy Hines, 25. Bobby Santos III, 26. Tanner Swanson, 27. Alex Bowman, 28. Jason Leffler, 29. Shannon McQueen, 30. Chad Nichols, 31. Scott Pierovich, 32. Nick Chivello, 33. Adam Kramer, 34. Ben Petter, 35. Travis Berryhill. NT
