Inside Line Promotions - SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (May 27, 2014) - Tyler Thomas is inching closer and closer to his first victory of the season, which was evident last weekend at Angell Park Speedway.
Thomas used late-race charges to capture a pair of top fives during the Thiel Memorial and World Championship with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Badger Midget Auto Racing Association doubleheader.
"It was really good," he said. "I still can't quite knock those Keith Kunz cars off the top, but I think we're close. Our biggest thing is we need to qualify better. We seem to be pretty average at the beginning of the night. If we could qualify up there with those guys and get good starting spots with the feature, it'd be a lot easier to race it out for the win."
Thomas qualified 12[sup]th[/sup] quickest on Saturday and 10[sup]th[/sup] quickest on Sunday.
"I think both nights we were two tenths off having a top-five time," he said. "That's how it has been all year. We're just a couple of tenths off in qualifying. I don't know where it is. We've been trying a lot of stuff this year with these cars to get that extra little bit. I hope we figure that out soon."
Thomas rallied from his third starting position to a runner-up finish in his heat race each night to lock himself into the main event, which he started on the outside of the fourth row on both Saturday and Sunday.
"We weren't very good at the beginning of the races with the track conditions," he said. "We were kind of set up for the end of the races. I fell back to 12[sup]th[/sup] to 15[sup]th[/sup] in the feature both nights. When the track went away I could make some adjustments. We got a yellow flag around Lap 15 both nights and I threw something at it.
"I was able to go to the bottom and drive into the top five on Saturday. I got up to fourth and we had a yellow with two laps to go and there were two lapped cars between us so there wasn't enough time to get to the front."
Thomas ended with the fourth-place result on Saturday and he made it one spot further on Sunday during the feature.
"I made a bunch of shock adjustments and went to the bottom and got up to third," he said. "When Christopher Bell and Tanner Thorson started racing for the lead, I was within about five car lengths from them at the checkered flag."
Thomas ended a close third.
"We've made a lot of improvements with the car and I think we're getting close," he said. "This is my best start to a season than I've ever had. It feels good to be running consistent with the top fives and being one of the only teams that has given the Kunz drivers a run for their money."
Thomas will compete this Friday at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind., and on Saturday at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, Ind., for the Ford Eco-Boost Challenge with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series.
QUICK RESULTS -
May 24 - Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. - Qualifying: 12; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 4 (8).
May 25 - Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. - Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 3 (8).
SEASON STATS -
13 races, 0 wins, 6 top fives, 7 top 10s, 11 top 15s, 12 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind., and Saturday at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, Ind., for the Ford Eco-Boost Challenge with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/TylerThomas91
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tyler-Thomas-Motorsports/154971717863656
APPAREL -
Thomas has t-shirts for sale at his race trailer during every event this season. For his schedule, visit http://www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Thriller Photo
Thriller Photo specializes in photography and videography. For more information, visit http://www.ThrillerPhoto.com.
"Michael Jackson of Thriller Photo has always provided me with great pictures and a great website for my career in racing," Thomas said.
Thomas would also like to thank BT Machine Inc., Triple X Race Components, Quick Racing Products, Bell Helmets, Haynes Equipment, Alpinestars, Factor 1 Racing and Esslinger Engineering for their continued support.
Thomas used late-race charges to capture a pair of top fives during the Thiel Memorial and World Championship with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Badger Midget Auto Racing Association doubleheader.
"It was really good," he said. "I still can't quite knock those Keith Kunz cars off the top, but I think we're close. Our biggest thing is we need to qualify better. We seem to be pretty average at the beginning of the night. If we could qualify up there with those guys and get good starting spots with the feature, it'd be a lot easier to race it out for the win."
Thomas qualified 12[sup]th[/sup] quickest on Saturday and 10[sup]th[/sup] quickest on Sunday.
"I think both nights we were two tenths off having a top-five time," he said. "That's how it has been all year. We're just a couple of tenths off in qualifying. I don't know where it is. We've been trying a lot of stuff this year with these cars to get that extra little bit. I hope we figure that out soon."
Thomas rallied from his third starting position to a runner-up finish in his heat race each night to lock himself into the main event, which he started on the outside of the fourth row on both Saturday and Sunday.
"We weren't very good at the beginning of the races with the track conditions," he said. "We were kind of set up for the end of the races. I fell back to 12[sup]th[/sup] to 15[sup]th[/sup] in the feature both nights. When the track went away I could make some adjustments. We got a yellow flag around Lap 15 both nights and I threw something at it.
"I was able to go to the bottom and drive into the top five on Saturday. I got up to fourth and we had a yellow with two laps to go and there were two lapped cars between us so there wasn't enough time to get to the front."
Thomas ended with the fourth-place result on Saturday and he made it one spot further on Sunday during the feature.
"I made a bunch of shock adjustments and went to the bottom and got up to third," he said. "When Christopher Bell and Tanner Thorson started racing for the lead, I was within about five car lengths from them at the checkered flag."
Thomas ended a close third.
"We've made a lot of improvements with the car and I think we're getting close," he said. "This is my best start to a season than I've ever had. It feels good to be running consistent with the top fives and being one of the only teams that has given the Kunz drivers a run for their money."
Thomas will compete this Friday at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind., and on Saturday at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, Ind., for the Ford Eco-Boost Challenge with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series.
QUICK RESULTS -
May 24 - Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. - Qualifying: 12; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 4 (8).
May 25 - Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. - Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 3 (8).
SEASON STATS -
13 races, 0 wins, 6 top fives, 7 top 10s, 11 top 15s, 12 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind., and Saturday at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, Ind., for the Ford Eco-Boost Challenge with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/TylerThomas91
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tyler-Thomas-Motorsports/154971717863656
APPAREL -
Thomas has t-shirts for sale at his race trailer during every event this season. For his schedule, visit http://www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Thriller Photo
Thriller Photo specializes in photography and videography. For more information, visit http://www.ThrillerPhoto.com.
"Michael Jackson of Thriller Photo has always provided me with great pictures and a great website for my career in racing," Thomas said.
Thomas would also like to thank BT Machine Inc., Triple X Race Components, Quick Racing Products, Bell Helmets, Haynes Equipment, Alpinestars, Factor 1 Racing and Esslinger Engineering for their continued support.
