Penton Raceway
Red-hot Thomas wins 525 tour's inaugural event
By Roby Helm
Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series
William Thomas won $3,000 at Penton. (Eric Gano)
PENTON, Ala., (Aug. 2) — William Thomas of Phenix City, Ala., kept his hot streak rolling Friday night at Penton Raceway, claiming a $3,000 victory in the inaugural event for the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series.
Fresh off a pair of regional event victories that paid $9,300 the previous weekend, Thomas swept Friday’s program at Penton, driving the Alexander’s Industrial Service GRT to fast time honors in qualifying and leading the 50-lap main event all the way in a race featuring Late Models powered by Chevrolet Performance CT 525 crate engine. | Slideshow | Video
National Dirt Hall of Fame member Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, Tenn., finished second in the Tommy Pope Construction Warrior. Johnson was able to get close to Thomas as he negotiated lapped traffic, but Thomas pulled away each time he got clear racetrack ahead of him.
“It feels great to win this first race, but it didn’t feel good trying to get around some of the lapped cars,” Thomas said. “My crew signaled me that I had a big lead, and I hated to give it up in lapped traffic, but it all worked out for us.”
Chase Edge of Lafayette, Ala., took the third spot, with and Tim Busha of Boaz, Ala., and David Brannon of Elora, Tenn., rounding out the top five.
The series moves to East Alabama Motor Speedway on Saturday for another $3,000-to-win event during the second leg of the doubleheader weekend to open the series. Founded by Mike Vaughn under the Crate Racin' USA’s umbrella of racing series, the 10-race Chevrolet Performance Series is the first tour exclusively for CT 525-powered Late Models.
Notes: Thomas drove his CT 525-powered GRT Race Car to victory. He’s sponsored by J.W. Miller Lander & Timber, Alexanders Industrial Services, LSK and Austin Trucking. ... Thomas scored his fifth overall victory on the season. ... The 10-race tour carries a $30,000 points fund with $10,000 going to the inaugural champion. ... Mark Dowdy of Waterloo, Ala., and Richie Stephens of Salem, Ala., both had trouble early in the night and did not start the main event.
Chevy Performance Series @ Penton: (1) William Thomas, (2) Ronnie Johnson, (3) Chase Edge, (4) Tim Busha, (5) David Brannon, (6) Matthew Turner, (7) Ross Martin, (8) Johnny Stokes, (9) Adam Martin, (10) Brent Barrett, (11) Frank Wilson, (12) Josh Adkins, (13) Carlton Freeman, (14) Brad Smith, (15) Dana Eiland, (16) Jeremy Britton. Fast qualifier (among 18 cars): Thomas, 13.998 seconds. Consolation winners: Turner, Barrett.
