Tyler McQuarrie may be new to stock car racing, but he definitely has the home track advantage in Saturday's Snap-On Tools "200" at Infineon Raceway for the annual NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Series visit. McQuarrie has been an instructor for ESPN Russell Racing Schools for six years and is quite familiar with the new 1.99-mile road course configuration. The former kart racer had a hand in designing the Infineon Kart Track located just above the Sonoma track.
Road racing comes naturally to this experienced road-course expert. From the International Karting Federation, Tyler moved to the USAC/Formula Russell Championship Series in 1997 and won the 1998 Championship easily with nine 1st place and five 2nd place finishes in the sixteen-race season. As only the third American to ever win the prestigious World Scholarship, Tyler moved into the Formula Vauxhall Championship Series competing in England and the United States in the USAC/Triple Crown Pro Series the following year. McQuarrie won the Triple Crown Championship and was voted "Road Racer of the Year" in 1999. Subsequent years brought competition in the USF2000, American Le Mans, GT Class Porsche GT3 RS, Cart Stars of Tomorrow and the USAC Western Sprint Car Series.
Tyler McQuarrie's first endeavor into stock-car racing was in the Snap-On Tools/Jelly Belly 200 last year at Infineon Raceway. The car was prepared just days before his first qualifying attempt by a rookie crew. Traffic during the European-style qualifying run relegated the car to 22nd on the starting grid. The driver used every bit of the car and his expertise during the two-hour race, bringing home a top-five finish behind 3-time defending race champion Jim Inglebright, Trans Am Champion Boris Said and eventual race winner Kevin Harvick.
Jess Motorsports rookie contender in the Davey Hamilton SRL Wild West Shootout series, Tyler McQuarrie, will be piloting the Cal-Stream/Elkay/WorldWide/ESPN Russell Racing Schools car around the picturesque course for one of the 42 starting positions during Friday's time-trials. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 1:00pm PDT in the 64-lap race for $92,971 in posted awards.
