BAKERSFIELD,
CALIFORNIA (July 24, 2012)
– Derek Thorn extended his 2012 SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour points
lead by winning his eighth career series event in the 125 lap
contest at Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City, UT on Saturday
night. Thorn won aboard his #43 Four Star Fruit / Hronis Racing
Ford after starting in the ninth position on the fast-paced 3/8ths
mile bullring.
The win gives Thorn three victories in the six races held so far
this year and came from his deepest starting position yet. Thorn
now leads the SRL standings by 29 points over series veteran Jim
Pettit II and still sits at the top of the national Sunoco Driven
Challenge points as well.
Thorn opened up the day with a fourth place qualifying run at 14.798
seconds and would start ninth after the SRL invert. It didn't take
long for the Byron Campbell Motorsports, Mike Keen-prepared Ford to
rocket into the lead, with Thorn taking the top spot on lap 11.
Thorn did not look back putting on an impressive performance to his
growing fan base with family and friends on hand.
On each successive restart, Thorn held off challenges from Pettit by
getting a great drive off the corners. Thorn again drove away from
Pettit on a late restart to take the dominating victory with 114
laps led around the speedway.
We unloaded on
Friday and were really happy with the car," Thorn said. "Mike Keen
made some great changes to make the car just that much better and it
showed in the race. I'm really excited for everyone involved for
this Campbell Motorsports Team. Byron and Carol Campbell, the crew
and all of our great sponsors have put a lot of work into this
season in the SRL and I'm glad it's working out so well!"
The weekend was
also a success for Thorn as his team members Vicki and Jennifer won
the Berkley fishing tournament on Friday morning with Chris and
Blake finishing second.
Thorn's stout SRL career includes eight wins and 14 fast-times in
just 27 starts. He also holds current SRL track records on a
variety of speedways including at Madera Speedway, Orange Show
Speedway, Rocky Mountain Raceway, and Irwindale Speedway proving
that his adaptability and qualifying skills are a force to be
reckoned with.
The Lakeport, CA native will now climb back into his Bob Bruncati-owned
Sunrise Ford #6 for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West "NAPA 150" at
Colorado National Speedway. Thorn is on a recent hot streak after
finishing second at the road course in Sonoma, CA and third at
Evergreen Speedway in Washington and is looking for his second win
of the season. The strong runs have Thorn sitting fourth in the
points trailing current point leader Dylan Kwasniewski by just 34
points.
Colorado National Speedway is a 4/10s mile oval track that will be
all-new to Thorn but he is looking forward to making the most of the
10th race in the 15 race 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West schedule.
With the season entering the final stretch, a strong performance at
Colorado would keep Thorn in the championship equation.
2012 has been Thorn's first full-season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series
and he has risen to the occasion with a win, six top-fives, and
seven top-tens in nine starts.
"Colorado is going
to be a great race for our Sunrise Ford group," Thorn said. "Bill
Sedgwick has really been pushing to find more speed and it's really
paying off. We've put together a string of great finishes and
Colorado is shaping up to be no exception. Like many of the tracks
we've been to this year I've never run there before, but the team
does a great job of preparing the cars which allows me to focus
solely on learning the track."
Racing action this weekend gets underway on Saturday afternoon with
practices at 12 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. Qualifying is slated for 5 p.m.
with the NAPA 150 going green at 8 p.m. Race fans can follow the
action on NASCARHomeTracks.com Lap-by-Lap and also follow Thorn all
weekend on his Twitter page @DerekThorn6
Race fans can
also learn more about Derek Thorn on his official website at
www.derekthorn.com
Derek Thorn would like to thank the following sponsors for their
support in 2012: Sunrise Ford, Four Star Fruit, Hronis Racing, Lucas
Oil, Eibach Springs, Joe’s Racing Products, Oakley, Double Eagle
Transportation, Victory Circle Chassis, PepperJack Kennels, and
Blakesley Sports Media. |