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 IRVINE,
CALIFORNIA
(November 30, 2010) – 24
year-old Derek Thorn turned the California Classic at TOYOTA
Speedway into a busy weekend, highlighted by a victory in Saturday
night’s 75 lap Late Model feature.
Thorn finished
third in his first season in the 2010 SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour
standings but entered the weekend’s events with only a ride lined up
in the #4 Four Star Fruit Inc. Late Model. By the end of the
weekend, Thorn found his way into rides for the Super Late Model and
SRL races as well.
Competing against a
field of drivers from all over the West Coast for the non-points
race, Thorn faced a strong lineup in the Late Model main. Thorn
started on the outside front row and took the lead by lap one.
The race featured a
series of battles with track champion Nick Joanides while the two
distanced themselves from the rest of the pack. Rain began falling
with 10 laps to go and Thorn took the race win under caution. Thorn
won $790 in lap money in addition to the purse winnings for leading
every lap.
Rain postponed the
remaining races to Sunday, where Thorn found an opportunity to
compete for Mike Roose and Jon Wood in the #41 SRL Tour Car along
with his last minute ride in the #16 Super Late Model driving for
Gomes Motorsports.
The 100 lap Super
Late Model race was a battle of survival with Thorn navigating
through several crashes. On lap 98, the leaders crashed giving
Thorn the lead and a chance to get back-to-back wins on the
weekend. But Thorn ran out of fuel coming to the line, although he
still finished in second place in the final rundown.
The second place
finish was a victory considering Thorn had just ten minutes of
practice in the car on Saturday before qualifying and has never been
in the car prior to this event.
Wrapping up the
busy weekend was the featured 110 lap California Classic for the SRL
SPEARS Southwest Tour. Thorn was a late replacement for Indy car
veteran Davey Hamilton, and he climbed into the #41 car with no
practice at all.
Starting at the
rear of the 29 car field, Thorn found his way as high as 17th
before being knocked out of contention in an accident near the
halfway point of the race.
Derek Thorn will
return to action on January 28-29, back at TOYOTA Speedway, for the
TOYOTA All-Star Showdown. Thorn will compete in the Super Late
Model portion of the prestigious televised race. He will be looking
to improve on his second place finish in last weekend’s California
Classic and third place finish in last year’s All-Star Showdown
event.
Thorn is slated to
campaign the entire 2011 SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour representing
Superior Crankshaft and select K&N Pro Series events.
SP Racing is online at
www.superiorcrankshaftracing.com An
all-new Derek Thorn website is coming soon to
www.derekthorn.com
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