Tyler Ankrum Charges From Last to First To Win Second Annual Throwback 100 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & Photos by Wayne G. Barber

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park hosted its second annual King Cadillac GMC Throwback 100 featuring the K&N Pro Series East on Saturday, July 14 showcasing the young up-and-coming drivers of NASCAR. The theme of the night was racing history with a showcase of vintage cars and K&N drivers featuring classic paint schemes as they took to the track hoping to write their name in the history books as a NASCAR winner.

The evening started with qualifying which saw record breaking speeds by the K&N Pro Series drivers. Points leader Tyler Ankrum looked to score his second win of the season and started the day with his first pole breaking the track record with a time of 19.882. However, Ankrum’s time was disallowed after he failed tech following qualifying putting Spencer Davis, driving a #13 car paying tribute to the late Ted Christopher, on point.

The first 75 laps of the race were relatively smooth sailing for Davis who secured a comfortable lead early and dominated the first 50 laps before Ruben Garcia, Jr. presented Davis with his first true battle of the evening. Meanwhile Tyler Ankrum worked his was through the field moving into the top three by lap 63 where he began to put the pressure on Davis and Garcia. After the only caution of the race a few laps later a restart changed everything for the frontrunners as Davis managed to lead up to lap 75 but was finally passed by Dillon Bassett while Ankrum once again found himself in a precarious position after spinning his tires on the restart.

Bassett opened up a decent lead in the ensuing final laps of the event, but Ankrum would not be denied using the top line to power his way past Bassett with six laps to go and charge to his second victory of the season, winning the event from last place.

“It was a little frustrating being sent to the back like that for something that was so minor. Our skew was off a few thousandths of an inch. We had an awesome racecar regardless. We flew through the field. Halfway through I was in the top five and I thought to myself ‘there’s no stopping us’,” Ankrum said after visiting Victory Lane. “Overall an awesome night. There’s not too many times you can come from the back like that and win. I’m super excited about it. Second win of the year. Hopefully that will extend our points lead by a lot.” Dillon Bassett, Tyler Dippel, Spencer Davis and Chase Cabre rounded out the top five.
Source: Thompson Speedway Press Release
KING CADILLAC GMC THROWBACK 100 FINISH: 1. Tyler Ankrum; 2. Dillon Bassett; 3. Tyler Dippel; 4. Spencer Davis; 5. Chase Cabre; 6. Anthony Alfredo; 7. Brandon McReynolds; 8. Chase Dowling; 9. Ruben Garcia, Jr.; 10. Ryan Vargas; 11. Tristan Van Wieringen; 12. Ronnie Bassett, Jr.; 13. Colin Garrett