|
 IRVINE,
CALIFORNIA (February 28, 2011) – 24
year-old Derek Thorn made the most of his debut appearance at
Phoenix International Raceway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West,
driving to an outstanding third place finish in the “3 Amigos
Organic Blanco 100”
Driving the #44 Four Star Fruit/Hronis Racing/Superior Crankshaft
Chevrolet, the 2011 TOYOTA All-Star Showdown pole sitter raced
within the top-ten of the field for most of the 100 mile race. Pit
strategy saw the Junior Joiner-led Byron Campbell Racing crew pit
for tires and fuel within the first third of the race.
The strategy moved Thorn into second place in a crucial restart with
less than 20 laps to go, giving Thorn a chance to challenge race
leader Greg Pursley for the victory. Coming to the green flag,
Pursley rocketed away while Thorn fell back to fifth place after
missing a shift.
A huge comeback performance by Thorn saw him drive back to third and
nearly pull off a second place finish, contending with Jonathon
Gomez coming to the checkered flag.
“First and foremost I have to thank Four Star Fruit, Hronis Racing,
Superior Crankshaft and Joiner Motorsports for giving me the
opportunity this weekend.,” Thorn said. “We are off to a great
start and I can’t wait to get to our next K&N race as we are
planning on running a partial schedule at some of the larger tracks
and I feel we have everything in place to have a great season!”
Phoenix marked Thorn’s only eighth career start in the NASCAR K&N
Pro Series, and his fifth place qualifying effort lowered his career
starting position to 8.25. He missed the pole by just over one
tenth of a second, running a lap of 28.080 at 128.205 around the
one-mile d-shaped oval.
“Derek has proven himself to be a strong competitor in the first two
races for us!” Superior Crankshaft CEO Cheryl Archer said. “His
development is occurring at a very rapid pace and it’s going to be
exciting to watch his list of accomplishments grow as the season
goes on!”
Derek Thorn is
slated to challenge for the 2011 SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour
championship with Superior Crankshaft as his primary sponsor. Thorn
is also planning to compete in select K&N Pro Series events
throughout the rest of the season.
Derek Thorn is
being supported by: Four Star Fruit, Superior Crankshaft, Hronis
Racing, Joiner Motorsports, and JRI Shocks. Potential sponsors can
contact SP Racing for more information on sponsoring the talented
Northern California racer.
SP Racing is online
at
www.superiorcrankshaftracing.com
An all-new Derek Thorn website is online at
www.derekthorn.com |
