Story By: BEN SHELTON / TYLER STEVENS RACING – SEARCY, AR – The last-minute decision to enter a finale event in 2023 resulted in Tyler Stevens third triumph of the season in his Keith Hammett Trucking & Construction LLC / James A. Rogers Excavating No. 2 Southern Belle / SFP Performance Systems / Longhorn by Wells Motorsports / Mod Co Racing Engine Super Late Model.
The triumph was worth $5,075 in Springfield Raceway’s Turkey Bowl XVII Larry Phillips Memorial and came in Stevens’ first venture to the Missouri oval.
“Man it’s good (to win), (it’s my) first time here,” Stevens said. “Started off a little bit nervous, we drew bad, so it buried us. Luckily, we kinda played our cards right and ran up through there in that heat race, put us in a position to be up front for the feature. Started just trying to make some smart moves there through lapped traffic and pretty pumped with the outcome.
“It’s a great way to end the year, and now we are already preparing for the Wild West Shootout in New Mexico in January. A big thank you to everyone who supports us!”
Tyler Stevens banked $5,075 to kick off Thanksgiving week when he took the checkered flag in the Super Late Model portion of the Turkey Bowl XVII Larry Phillips Memorial at Springfield (Mo.) Raceway.
Saturday’s program brought a stout field of 51 Late Models to the quarter-mile clay oval, necessitating five heat races. Stevens drove his No. 2 from ninth to second in his heat race, earning him pole position in the 30-lap main event by virtue of passing points.
Despite being challenged by Dillon McCowan near the halfway point of the feature, Stevens led every lap. He took his third win of 2023 by 1.029 seconds over McCowan, with third place going to Logan Martin. Ryan Gustin took fourth and Justin Zeitner finished fifth.
Stevens ends the year with three wins, six Top-5 finishes, and 10 Top-10 finishes in 25 starts.
The team is now preparing for the 18th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts on Jan. 6-14 at FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park. The six-race miniseries includes five $10,000-to-win programs and a $25,000-to-win finale.