Tyler Thomas will attempt to win his second straight Illinois Speedweek championship presented by Toyota, four events that are part of the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series, driving the American Racing Custom Wheels Spike-Esslinger starting Thursday at Quincy Raceways.
The 19-year-old from Collinsville, Okla., will race at Jacksonville Speedway on Friday, Macon Speedway on Saturday and Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville in the finale on Sunday.
“I feel pretty confident going into POWRi Midget Speedweek after winning the championship last year,” Thomas said. “I enjoy racing at all four tracks. We had better runs last year than the results showed.”
Thomas led all 30 laps en route to a victory at one-fifth mile Belle-Clair in the Speedweek event a year ago. He was seventh at Quincy and seventh at Lincoln Speedway in the other events in the championship. A fourth event, at Macon, was rained out.
Thomas’ win at Belle-Clair was his fourth in POWRi Midgets.
“It fits my style and the way we set the car up,” Thomas said.
Thomas also has a victory, in 2012, and a second place and two 10ths in seven career starts at Macon. He’s been in five events at quarter-mile Jacksonville, with a best result of sixth in 2013. Thomas’ seventh in 2014 has been his sole event at Quincy.
Thomas has finished second in his last two POWRi events, May 1 at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo., and May 2 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. He was seventh at Jacksonville on April 24 in his other previous POWRi start this season.
Thomas and his father and crew chief Brian Thomas are in their first season with the Spike chassis. They finished seventh in their fifth event with it last Friday in the Honda USAC National Midgets at Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway.
“We were good but not great at Plymouth,” Tyler Thomas said. “We just missed it a little in qualifying (eighth) and just needed to be a tick tighter in the feature to compete for a win. We are still learning about the Spike and it won’t be long before we put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
“I have to thank American Racing Custom Wheels, Spike and Advanced Racing Suspensions for really stepping up our midget program this year.”
Tyler Thomas will race in the American Racing Custom Wheels Spike-Esslinger in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series’ Illinois Speedweek presented by Toyota at Quincy, Jacksonville, Macon and Belle-Clair Speedways.
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CONTACT:
Tim Tuttle
Tyler Thomas public relations
765 721-7599
Dan Ricehouse, American Racing
danr@wheelpros.com / (602) 397-2244
About Tyler Thomas
Tyler Thomas is a 19-year-old versatile race car driver from Collinsville, Okla. Since the start of the 2014 season, he has two victories in 14 starts in Pro Late Model stock cars at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, back-to-back victories in 305 winged sprint cars at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces and one win in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series. Thomas was the midget champion of POWRi’s Illinois Speed Week in 2014. Thomas became the youngest winner at age 15 in POWRi Lucas Oil National Midgets history with his triumph in his inaugural start in the series at West Plains (Mo.) Motor Speedway in June 10, 2011. He has four POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget victories. He was sixth in the POWRi points and 10th in Honda USAC Midgets running a partial season in both in 2014. For more information on Tyler Thomas, go to www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com.
About American Racing
American Racing is an iconic brand and a wheel industry leader in craftsmanship, engineering, innovation and performance. Founded in 1956 as a manufacturer of bespoke magnesium and aluminum racing wheels, its roots date back to the golden era of hot rodding. American Racing is a Wheel Pros brand. Wheel Pros products are sold worldwide in more than 20 countries on four continents and through a U.S. network of more than 25,000 authorized dealers. It is one of the world’s largest suppliers of branded custom wheels, performance tires and related accessories for cars, SUVs and light trucks. For more information on American Racing Custom Wheels, go to http://www.americanracing.com
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