(Dave Olson Photo)
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (December 4, 2019)………Kevin Thomas, Jr. will return to the KT Motorsports No. 9K for the full 2020 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car campaign with sponsorship from McDonald’s and Dr. Pepper.
Thomas, of Cullman, Ala., made his USAC National Sprint Car debut aboard the No. 9K in 2009, won his first career USAC Sprint race in the car in 2012, and reeled off five victories during a strong 2017 campaign with the team.
The 2018 series runner-up and 28-time USAC National Sprint Car feature winner, which ranks 11th all-time in series history, is excited to be back with the family-owned team to kick off the new decade of the 2020s.
“I kind of feel like when we run under our own banner, that’s where we get our best results,” Thomas said. Â “We’re going to go with what got us here and do things on our own. Â It was a decent season last year, but I think we can build off of it.”
Thomas’ 2019 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season consisted of a pair of wins, including a thrilling last lap victory during Indiana Sprint Week in July at Bloomington Speedway, plus a triumph in the Midwest season finale in October during the Fall Nationals at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway en route to a fourth place finish in the final standings.
Thomas is aiming to up that to a title run this year following three top-four finishes in the final series standings in each of the past three years: a 3rd in 2017, a 2nd in 2018 and a 4th in 2019.
“We want to run for a championship and for as many wins as we can,” Thomas stated. Â “Under our family name, with my dad as car owner and me as a driver, we have a lot of pride in what we do with this race team.”
Also, Thomas announced he will return to the Petry Motorsports team for a full run at the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget championship in 2020 as well, with whom he captured two victories in 2019 at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and Arizona Speedway.
The 2020 season openers for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship begin in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. Midgets hit the track for practice on Feb. 6 with two full nights of racing to follow on Feb. 7-8. The sprints take their turn the following week with practice on Feb. 12 and three-straight nights of full racing programs on Feb. 13-14-15.