THORN TURNS HEADS IN NASHVILLE

Source: Peter W. Moss/NSCS Media
Date: 11/26/2006

In his second stint in Ken Wills' 5K Motorsports Lefthander '06 Monte Carlo, Thorn would top the speed charts in 3 of the 5 practice sessions on the .596 mile, high-banked oval. Of the 61 cars that timed in, (68 were entered) Thorn qualified 5th at 19.042. "I should have qualified better but I messed up my second lap," he said after the race. After a seven-car inversion he would start inside the second row. Thorn took the lead, with an outside pass, on lap 36 and quickly put some distance on the pack. Unfortunately, the race featured 11 caution periods, which erased his lead each time the yellow flew. Thorn finally faced a challenge from veteran Eddie Hoffman on lap 142. For the next 29 laps, he went door-to-door with Hoffman, refusing to give up the lead. Hoffman finally took the lead for good on lap 173 in the 200-lap race. " He did a good job!" Hoffman would say of Thorn in a victory lane interview.

"We had a great car right off the trailer. My hat is off to Ken Wills and Eric Peterson, the crew chief, for putting together one sporty ride! Nashville is, by far, the coolest track I've ever run on. Both grooves were really fast and, with a good car, you could pass anywhere. I really wanted that guitar, screw the money! That was the coolest trophy I had ever seen! I just came up 30 laps short."

"The track started to cool off as the sun started setting and the car started getting tight and Hoffman took advantage of it. I spent the last 30 laps holding off 3rd and 4th. All in all, we had a great time and I am really looking forward to visiting that place again! I also have to especially thank the entire 5k Motorsports crew for all their hard work. I would go racing with those guys any time, any place! A special thank you goes out to Jim Offenbach and the Golden Gate Meat Company, all my family, friends and fans for supporting me."

There was a lot of head scratching and "Who is this kid?" at Nashville, but that is about to change. Late Model Digest has a full-page feature on Derek in their latest edition. He is currently considering several offers of full time rides. He is also searching for sponsorship to test an ARCA car at Daytona, in December. Good luck Derek!

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