LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — It took Kevin Thomas Jr. seven races into his new gig at Rock Steady Racing to return to winning form with the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship.
The Cullman, Ala., native, who was last a USAC victor nearly 19 months ago, put that long wait to rest during Saturday night’s inaugural Justin Owen Memorial at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
Thomas and his Inferno Armor – Eddie Gilstrap Motors – Creative Finishing/Mach-1/Stanton Chevy became the fourth and final different leader in the 30-lap main event at the three-eighths-mile dirt oval, making the winning move on the bottom of turns one and two to get by Logan Seavey on a restart with 14 laps remaining.
“Man, we finally got one in the 3R; it’s about time,” Thomas exclaimed. “I’m picky and it takes a lot for me to get comfortable, but they did it. I’m super proud of these guys and everybody that works hard and has to deal with me during the week asking them to change stuff. It means a lot. If you know me, you know I’m a lot to deal with. There’s a lot to be said about my wife and my team to put up with that just for the joy of winning. We’re finally winners here in 2024 and I couldn’t be happier.”
The win was a monumental one for Thomas as he notched his 40th USAC National sprint car feature victory, equaling 1969 and 1971 series champion Gary Bettenhausen for 10th on the all-time list.
Furthermore, Thomas’ score was the sixth of his career in USAC National Sprint Car competition at Lawrenceburg, tied for second all-time behind only Dave Darland’s seven.
Rock Steady Racing crewman Brian Karraker woke up Saturday morning in Nostradamus mode. Karraker texted Thomas prior to leaving for the track that he had a dream in which they won the race after starting from the seventh starting spot. As it shook out, Thomas started seventh on the grid and immediately began to forge a path toward the front.
Nonetheless, outside front row starting C.J. Leary owned the early upper hand as he broke away to the lead. However, the 2013 Lawrenceburg track champion’s run up front was short lived as he biked in turn four on the sixth lap. As he was making a miraculously recovery to gather control and avoid wall contact, he free-fell all the way back to fifth as polesitter Kyle Cummins slipped underneath to grab the top spot.
At that moment, Seavey had his ride wound up on the topside, allowing him to track down Cummins on the 11th trip. There, in turn three, Seavey blitzed to the bottom and slid up across the nose of Cummins to put himself at the top of the pylon before opening a half-second lead as the race crossed the halfway point. Simultaneously, Thomas was digging on the bottom and swiftly edged ahead of Cummins at the exit of turn two on lap 16.
Moments later, the first red flag of the night was displayed when Robert Ballou and Daison Pursley touched wheels in the battle for eighth in turn four on the 17th lap.
Ballou got the worst end of the deal as he elevated airborne, then dug in with the front bumper and rode out two turnovers before coming to a rest.
Seavey led the field high and wide into turn one, four wheels over the cushion. Thomas proposed a different plan and steadily drove by Seavey on the bottom to take over the top spot by the time the pair reached turn two on the heavy and tricky surface that Thomas and crew figured out a way to master both high and low.
“You had to be in the right spots at the right time,” Thomas explained. “It was challenging to pass people, but we got lucky that we were really good around the bottom and could also run the top.”
One driver who found catastrophe was Justin Grant. Vying to become the first to win three consecutive USAC National Sprint Car features at Lawrenceburg, Grant biked on the entry to turn three on lap 19 while running sixth.
As Grant hopped, Jake Swanson was unable to avoid contact and ramped over Grant’s left front wheel with his right rear, subsequently knocking out the front end on Grant’s ride. With his wheels pointing two different directions at once, Grant fought to wrangle control of his car until it suddenly veered right on him, sending him flipping three times.
Seavey sought to return the favor on the ensuing restart as he made his bid for the lead with 11 to go. Seavey dove underneath Thomas on the entry to turn three but skittered into the cushion as Thomas dipped back under off turn four to retain control. A half lap later, Bacon followed Thomas’ path on the bottom and wrestled his way past Seavey into second.
Bacon was able to shave his way to within three car lengths of Thomas with two laps to go. However, that was as close as Bacon got as Thomas locked up the shop with his first checkered flag of the season by a .969 seconds. Bacon took second with Seavey third, Leary fourth and Swanson fifth.
The event featured one of the largest crowds for a USAC event at Lawrenceburg Speedway in recent memory and included a large throng of Justin Owen’s family and friends. The event was held in memory of Owen, the 2022 Lawrenceburg sprint car track champion who passed away from injuries sustained in a racing accident at the track on April 8, 2023.
“It means a lot,” Thomas stated. “Justin was a big staple down here at Lawrenceburg. He ran here a lot, and he was really fast. You hate to lose somebody that young, but he was doing what he loved to do. At the end of the day, if we could all go out doing the things that we love to do, it would probably be a little bit better of a place to live.”
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, Lawrenceburg Speedway, Lawrenceburg, Indiana, April 13, 2024
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-14.026; 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.057; 3. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-14.065; 4. Jake Swanson, 2B, 2B Racing-14.219; 5. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-14.310; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-14.333; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-14.345; 8. Saban Bibent, 98, Wedgewood-14.413; 9. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-14.420; 10. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.495; 11. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-14.515; 12. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.520; 13. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.522; 14. Jadon Rogers, 17GP, Dutcher-14.549; 15. Shawn Westerfeld, 4J, Fischesser/Owen-14.565; 16. Garrett Abrams, 32, Abrams-14.625; 17. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-14.642; 18. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.653; 19. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-14.739; 20. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-14.920; 21. Kayla Roell, 5K, KO-14.973; 22. Ryan Barr, 21B, Barr-14.984; 23. Nate Carle, 14c, Carle-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Garrett Abrams, 7. Joey Amantea, 8. Ryan Barr. NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Stockon, 2. Carson Garrett, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Jadon Rogers, 5. C.J. Leary, 6. Saban Bibent, 7. Hunter Maddox. 2:00.68
T.J. FORGED/CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Shawn Westerfeld, 4. Mitchel Moles, 5. Kyle Cummins, 6. Nick Bilbee, 7. Kayla Roell. 2:01.64
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr. (7), 2. Brady Bacon (9), 3. Logan Seavey (4), 4. C.J. Leary (2), 5. Jake Swanson (3), 6. Daison Pursley (6), 7. Kyle Cummins (1), 8. Chase Stockon (8), 9. Mitchel Moles (18), 10. Nick Bilbee (11), 11. Jadon Rogers (14), 12. Carson Garrett (17), 13. Matt Westfall (13), 14. Joey Amantea (19), 15. Shawn Westerfeld (15), 16. Saban Bibent (10), 17. Ryan Barr (22), 18. Kayla Roell (21), 19. Robert Ballou (12), 20. Hunter Maddox (20), 21. Garrett Abrams (16), 22. Justin Grant (5).