Will Tyler Carpenter race in anything with four wheels? Well, he has, from dirt late models to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to … grocery carts? Indeed, he emerged victorious at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, West Virginia, in the grocery cart race.
However, this time Carpenter was mostly in for the ride. Rival late model driver Ryan Payne powered the cart from the fourth turn to the start-finish line. The Payne-Carpenter team (pictured right) eked out a win in a photo finish against Travis Brown hustling a cart with Kyle Thomas on board. Galaxy Food Center sponsored the race held at intermission. The each driver of the winning team received a $25 gift card from the sponsor.
“It was a unique promotion and pretty cool — especially for the fans — to see actual race car drivers in grocery carts,” Carpenter, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, said. “I had the easy part — I just had to sit down and enjoy the ride. The fans went wild. Promoter John Watson joined us in victory lane and the cheers were incredible, much like they would be for a super late model feature.”
Earlier in the night, the top eight super late model qualifiers competed in a one-on-one bracket-style competition, which Carpenter also won, earning him $1,000.
Soon after, Carpenter and Payne started the DIRTcar late model feature on the front row. This time, they wouldn’t be working together for a win. Only one would get the accolades of the victory.
“We had a good side-by-side battle for the first few laps,” said Carpenter. “Unfortunately, Ryan got a flat tire and the race did not have the exciting finish that the grocery cart feature had.”
Tyler Carpenter then assumed the lead for good, recording his third win of the night and an additional $1,500. After a successful time at Tyler County Speedway, he now has his eyes set on an even bigger prize. This coming weekend he’ll compete in The Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The show features plenty of racing. It runs Thursday, June 6, to Saturday, June 8, with late models only on the docket. However, if grocery carts do make it onto the schedule, you might not want to rule out Carpenter.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
