ATTICA, Ohio – When Clauson-Marshall Racing announced in early February that the team would chase a second USAC National Midget Series championship with Tyler Courtney, few were particularly surprised.

However, when CMR went on to reveal that Courtney would also run a mixed schedule of winged sprint car and USAC National Sprint Car Series events as well, interest was peaked.

“2020 is going to be a fun year for us,” noted Courtney in Ocala, Fla., back in February. “I am excited to go out and defend our USAC National Midget Series championship, as well as take on the new challenge of putting a wing on top of our sprint car. Both challenges are going to be tough, but we have a great team behind us, and I know they are as up for the challenges as I am. The good news is that we still get to play around in the non-winged sprint car as well at all of my favorite places.”

“We are looking forward to being a part of this next step with Tyler. This is exciting not only for him, but for Clauson-Marshall Racing as a company,” added car owner Tim Clauson. “There is little doubt some of the biggest races include wings, so to be able to add a program that will allow us to be a part of all of grassroots racing’s biggest events, whether that be in midgets, non-winged sprint cars and now winged sprint cars as well, really excites not only the car owner in me, but more importantly, the racer in me.”

Through mid-July, Courtney has competed for Clauson-Marshall Racing in the USAC National Midget Series, as well as part-time on both the World of Outlaws and All Star Circuit of Champions trails.

He has a feature win with the wing on top this year, at St. Francois County Raceway in the spring, and has a USAC National Sprint Car Series win at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway as well.

In his full-time position on the midget side, Courtney has won at both Port City Raceway in Oklahoma and, most recently, Saturday night at Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway.

The 25 year-old Indianapolis native has secured more than 40 major wins for his career, capturing two national championships in the process – the 2018 USAC National Sprint Car Series championship and last year’s USAC National Midget Series championship.

Courtney tasted success in years past in a winged sprint car. In 2013, he picked up his first winged sprint car win driving for Danny Smith at Atomic Speedway in Ohio.

However, this year is a year of complete effort and dedication to the winged side.

Visiting Attica Raceway Park on Friday nights, Courtney has been gaining knowledge and driving it home. Each week he’s steadily been getting better.

Through the first four nights of Ohio Sprint Speedweek, Courtney made three of the four A-mains. The first of two nights at Fremont Speedway, misfortune in his heat forced Courtney to the B Main.

From there, he sailed from 18th on the grid to finish sixth, just outside a transfer spot.

“This is a new challenges for us, for myself and the team,” said Courtney of the winged learning process. “We have kind of done what we wanted to do on the USAC non-winged side of things, between the midgets and sprint cars. We have an opportunity with our great sponsors and supporters to build a winged program, so it is just our next step to try and do that full time, get our feet wet in that, and try to be successful at that.

“The learning curve has been a little steeper than I wanted it to be, but I am a student of the sport. That’s how it goes, with me being new and the team at the same time, it has just been a learning curve together,” Courtney added. “We are trying to shorten it as much as we can so we that can be competitive night in and night out. But, it’s a process. We are just setting our expectations were they need to be, and not too far out there so we don’t get down on ourselves.

“It has been fun so far for sure. I always watch the replay of the races I am in after the race to see what I was doing compared to the other guys, maybe see if I can change something to help us out,” Courtney noted. “I watch all the other racing I can, like out in PA and such. I watch Larson and those guys to see what they are doing, and see if I can pick something up to maybe help me out.

“It’s just a new challenge I am really looking forward to moving forward with the rest of the year.”

In regards to his Ohio Speedweek starts, Courtney circled Fremont Speedway as his biggest challenge, but also his biggest learning experience.

“Fremont was probably the slickest place I have ever run. We were kind of like a fish out of the water because the first night I had to run the B-main and then did not get to run the A, so we didn’t learn much for the second night,” Courtney recalled. “We made the show the second night, but I noticed the wing was not doing too much, so we went back to our non-winged notebook and it seemed to help us out a lot. But, we also know that not every night will be like that, but now we know we can go back to our other notes if we need to.

“The team has taken to this challenge pretty well. My guys work on the midget and the USAC sprint car and everything in between, so this is nothing new to them,” he continued. “It’s just another race car to them. It’s just a challenge they are up for. Coming to this, the winged side, from top to bottom it has been a learning process, and we know it will not happen overnight, but it will happen at some point.

“It’s just a product of the position we put ourselves in, but we look to be very competitive once we get this winged program going.”

Courtney credited his early opportunities in the sport to his friend and mentor, Bryan Clauson. Clauson helped Courtney get his foot in the door, but he also gave him the encouragement and knowledge he needed to excel when those opportunities arose.