FREMONT, California — 17 year-old Cody Thompson, a rookie member of the Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle development team, showed his amazing progression on asphalt by winning the USAC Young Guns main event and coming home second in the USAC Ford Focus Midgets at Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday.
Thompson came to RSWC with a strong resume in dirt 600 Micro Sprints. He drove his way into the program through the shootout last October.
Driving the Southern Rock Ford Focus car, Thompson went from fourth to first to win the Young Guns heat race.
After finishing third in the Young Guns dash, Thompson went to work in the 25 lap main event. He took the lead from teammate Brandon White on lap three, and drove off to a dominating half-a-lap lead on the field.
Thompson’s win in the Young Guns feature was not his only victory on the night. In the highly competitive USAC NorCal Ford Focus Midget Series, Thompson timed in third fastest with a 13.654 second lap around the quarter-mile asphalt oval.
Thompson finished third in his heat race, but had his sights set on the trophy dash. Starting on the outside front row, Thompson took the lead from Western Pavement points leader Cody Gerhardt and drove away to another big win.
The main event for the Ford Focus division started 12 cars and Thompson took the lead from the outside pole. He led the first six laps before being shuffled to third. A late race crash moved the hard charging Thompson back up in second where he finished the race.
Both performances give Thompson a nice position in the points. He is third in the USAC NorCal Young Guns points and also third in the USAC NorCal Ford Focus Midget Series.
“Cody drove like a champion tonight,” Team Manager Randy Chastain said. “This young man has all the skills and ability to be a consistent front-runner. His dominating performance in the Young Guns was a sight to be seen!”
Cody Thompson Racing returns to action on August 21 at All American Speedway.
Cody Thompson Racing is sponsored by: Southern Rock Granite & Marble, Headblade, and Groth Bros. Chevrolet
Cody Thompson Racing is online at www.codythompsonracing.com
For more information on Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle, log on to www.winners-circle-racing.com
About Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle:
Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle is an established talent scout and development program, providing long term, comprehensive racing and career development for up and coming drivers focused on NASCAR careers. RSWC drivers are raced, coached, groomed, trained and molded, within a professional racing environment, into what top NASCAR teams look for when hiring drivers. Drivers involved in the program race in a variety of cars, including USAC Young Guns Focus Midgets, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, NASCAR Grand American Modifieds, NASCAR Late Model stock cars and NASCAR Grand National stock cars.
