
Derek Thorn is our next guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, November 24, 2014 at 9:30 pm ET. Ā Call 347-996-5176 during the LIVE broadcast with any questions or comments.
Derek Thorn set a new track recordĀ but facedĀ a challenging night at the BullringĀ in Las VegasĀ enroute toĀ the 2014Ā Spears SRL Southwest TourĀ Championship.
Thorn, a Lakeport, CA nativeĀ who now callsĀ BakersfieldĀ home,Ā onlyĀ needed to finish twenty-fifth or better at the season finaleĀ because ofĀ aĀ 92 point margin over second place JeremyĀ Doss. Ā ThornĀ hadĀ enjoyedĀ Victory Lane four times in 2014 and untilĀ Saturdayās Las Vegas finaleĀ had not had a DNF all season.Ā
ThornāsĀ Byron Campbell Motorsports,Ā Four Star FruitĀ #43Ā ChevyĀ was good in practice, running some of the fastest laps among the weekendās drivers. Ā As qualifyingĀ began, several cars flirted withĀ breakingĀ the track record andĀ Jeremy Doss put up a blisteringĀ time of 14:454. Ā ThornĀ rolled out a few cars later andĀ surpassedĀ Doss with a newĀ track record of 14:308! Ā With only the #28 of Nick Williams and the #4 of Chad Stulzman waiting to qualify, it only took a few minutes to solidify Thornās track record.
The invert for the start of the championship race had Thorn starting 9thĀ with a stellar field of carsĀ justĀ ahead of him. Ā The pace was slowed on laps 4 and 7Ā for caution flags that took out a couple of competitors,Ā and leftĀ Thorn in fifthĀ asĀ racing resumed on lap 13. Ā As Thorn and Doss battled forĀ position,Ā incidental contact between the two allowed Doss to gain an advantage asĀ the two began closing on race leader Ross Strmiska, withĀ Brandon WhiteĀ challenging fromĀ behind. Ā
Lap 27 proved to beĀ costly in the chase for a fifth victory. Ā After gaining the advantage over Doss,Ā ThornĀ and Doss were caughtĀ up in an accidentĀ thatĀ also collected Eric Schmidt and Brandon White. Ā While theĀ wreck would end the night for Thorn and White, DerekĀ hadĀ alreadyĀ succeeded in securingĀ theĀ 2014Ā championship.Ā Ā The Byron Campbell Motorsports teamĀ gathered with Derek at the Start/Finish line after the race and all wereĀ soon revelingĀ inĀ theĀ BullringĀ applauseĀ as ThornĀ was introduced to the crowd asĀ theĀ SPEARS SRL CHAMPIONĀ for 2014.
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