BELLEVILLE, Ill. (July 9, 2015)–Tyler Thomas will be going for his second straight victory at Belle-Clair Speedway in the American Racing Custom Wheels Spike-Esslinger on Sunday in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series.
The 19-year-old from Collinsville, Okla., won at the one-fifth mile track in a POWRi feature on June 7. Thomas also had a victory at Belle-Clair in 2014. He has five career POWRi National Midget triumphs.
“I love racing at Belle-Clair,” Thomas said. “It fits my style and the way we set the car up,”
Thomas’ primary focus this season is the Honda USAC National Midget championship. He finished ninth Sunday in the Pepsi Nationals in a USAC/POWRi/Badger tri-sanctioned event at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., and is second in the USAC National championship with 339 points. Kevin Thomas Jr. of Cullman, Ala., leads with 360.
Tyler Thomas has top-ten finishes in the seven USAC National Midget events this season.
“We really have a good shot at the USAC championship,” he said. “We set out to run for this championship for American Racing Custom Wheels and it would be really a great achievement in our first year together.”
Thomas qualified 11th at Angell Park and won his 10-lap heat race. He started 10th in the feature.
“We didn’t qualify very well, the same old story, too tight,” Thomas said. “We misjudged the track for the feature and didn’t have a car to run on top. We tried to run the bottom, but were losing too much ground on the bottom and ended up going to the top.”
Thomas also raced twice last weekend in the ASCS Warrior Region, finishing 11th on Friday at Callaway Raceway in Fulton, Mo., on Friday and 15th at Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Mo., on Saturday.
“We rolled out a brand new car and a brand new motor at Callaway and tested it in race conditions to see if we had something better, but it was too loose and off all night,” Thomas said. “At Moberly, we went back to the car we’ve been running and were really quick right off the bat. We started eighth in the heat and were passing for second and barely hit the mud.”
Thomas finished ninth in the heat and had to run the B main. He finished third to advance to the feature.
“We started 10th and were up to seventh with about 10 laps (of 25) to go and the whole drive line came apart and that was it for the night,” Thomas said. “We were really quick. We definitely hit on something good and I’m excited about it.”
Tyler Thomas will race in the American Racing Custom Wheels Spike-Esslinger on Sunday in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midgets at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill.
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CONTACT:
Tim Tuttle
Tyler Thomas public relations
765 721-7599
Timetuttle@aol.com
Dan Ricehouse, American Racing
danr@wheelpros.com / (602) 397-2244
www.americanracing.com
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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