Turnback Tuesday:
Turnback Tuesday: As the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series entered the 2015 championship season, Derek Thorn was 0 for 4 when it came to Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway and the SRL. He had three second-place results with a third in the inaugural “Winter Showdown 200”. That all changed in April, when Thorn set Fast Time and came home with the $3,500 winner’s check in the “DC’s RV Center 100 presented by RacingForWishes.com. It was his 22nd career victory, but first at his hometrack.
That win was just the first of many to come, grabbing wins in 14 of his next 19 SRL starts, including two “Winter Showdown” wins. The Campbell Motorsports team, for which Thorn raced, was based in Bakersfield, and the team put special emphasis on the “D” shaped ½-mile paved facility. That first victory loomed large for both Thorn and the team.
“With Campbell Motorsports being out of Bakersfield, Kern County Raceway became our home track”, Thorn began. “It was a huge sigh of relief to finally get our first win in the SRL at Kern. We had put a lot of pressure on ourselves to run good in front of the hometown crowd, so to finally have it all come together, and then to have to so many wins after that, is a huge accomplishment for the team. Byron (Campbell) and Mike (Keen) built an amazing program, and it was awesome to be able to have had the success we had, for so many years.”
Thorn has cut back on his racing schedule behind the wheel, but he is still busy operating Derek Thorn Racing and helping other drivers achieve their dreams. Thorn will be at Madera Speedway (CA) this weekend, helping Ryan Reynolds and Mike Hensley. He will spearhead the efforts of Jacob Gomes and Jett Noland at Five Flags Speedway (FL). Thorn will be back behind the wheel for Paul Shafer Motorsports at Slinger Speedway (WI) on June 30th and then on July 9th for the 45th Annual “Slinger Nationals”. He will visit Evergreen Speedway (WA) on July 20th for the “Summer Showdown” and then return to his old stomping grounds for the $15,000-to-win Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series event at Redwood Acres Raceway on July 27th in his DTR Super Late Model.
The Spears SRL Southwest Tour will return to Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on June 29th for the 26th championship event at the facility. They will race for $7,776 in the “Masellis Drilling – Salute to America 100”. The event will pay $500 to start and $1,000 for those on the Spears Frequent Flyer Program. The Spears Pro Late Models and the Spears Modified Series will join the Super Late Models in Round #2 of the season series.
Celebrating its twenty fourth season in 2024, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.
Story, PC: K. Peters
