11/6/2015
Season Summary: Cale Thomas
(Photo by A.B.C. Photography)
FAIRLAND, Ind. – In his sophomore season aboard a 410ci sprint car, Cale Thomas spread his wings, racing at nine different race tracks in four states. Though the former micro sprint standout wasn’t able to take his first sprint car win in 2015, Thomas posted strong results with the All Star Circuit of Champions throughout the season, as well as on occasions with the Fremont/Attica Sprint Title series and the Midwest Open Wheel Association. The Fairland, Ind. native completed his year with three top-five and seven top-ten finishes in 18 main event starts.
The Thomas camp was slightly late getting their season underway, starting with a three-race Memorial Day weekend with the All Stars. A rock stuck in the throttle return spring ended Thomas’ night early at Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway. He was unable to transfer from the B-Main at Fremont (Ohio) Speedway on Saturday and Sunday of that weekend. However, Thomas roared back to contention at Atomic Speedway on May 30. He scored his first career quick-time at the Chillicothe, Ohio oval, then took a heat race win and a runner-up finish in the main event.
The following Wednesday, Thomas traveled north to Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway for his first race of the year with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, where he finished 10th in the B-Main. The Engler Machine and Tool No. 91 narrowly missed the main event at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park two days later, but rebounded with another quick time at Fremont the next night. Thomas asserted that his J&J Chassis was the fastest it had ever been on that night, but nose wing damage early in the main event limited him to a 15th-place result. For his next race, Thomas headed west to compete with the MOWA series at Route 45 Raceway in Flora, Ill. Again feeling fast, he was arguably the fastest car on the track just after the halfway point of the main event, but the skies opened and the race was deemed complete. Thomas was scored in fifth.
The All Star “Ohio Sprint Speedweek” was next up, with the first of nine races coming at Attica. Thomas’ ride started strong, but began to waver throughout the main event, taking 20th. The world-famous half-mile Eldora Speedway in Rossburg hosted night two. The event was an up-and-down one for Thomas, who qualified second, just .001 seconds behind now-six-time All Star champ Dale Blaney. In heat race action, Thomas jumped over the cushion and hit the wall, causing damage to the front axle. After repairs were made, he handily took the B-Main win. But early in the main event, Thomas flipped wildly through turn one. He emerged from the incident unscathed, but the car suffered heavy damage.
Making brief appearances at Waynesfield Raceway Park and Wayne County Speedway the following two days, issues from the Eldora crash persisted. The team loaded up early each night, and returned to their shop to put together a new car, skipping the Tuesday night race at Sharon Speedway to do so. Back in action on Wednesday at Atomic, Thomas finished 10th in the B-Main, and also failed to transfer at Fremont the following night, searching to feel out the new car. The final two nights of the Speedweek rained out, so the team hustled southwest to Haubstadt, Ind., where Tri-State Speedway hosted MOWA for the “Southern Indiana Stampede.” Another strong effort early on, Thomas won his heat race but changes in the track surface relegated him to a 13th-place finish.
With a FAST series weekend doubleheader at Attica and Fremont to start July, Thomas didn’t finish at the former, but notched a ninth-place run at Fremont on Saturday. On July 25, in preparation for the “Open Wheel Championships” the next weekend, he attended Atomic, where he finished in sixth. The extra practice paid off, as Thomas took 12th on night one before a phenomenal effort on night two scored him the first All-Star top five of his career, a fourth-place finish.
On August 7, Thomas was heading to Missouri for World of Outlaws action at I-55 Raceway in Pevely. He hoped to redeem himself after a rough “Ironman 55” weekend last season. He qualified for the main event on both nights this time around, finishing 16th on Friday but taking an early DNF on Saturday.
After two weekends off, Thomas competed in back-to-back weekends at Attica on Friday and Atomic on Saturday. The Attica races on August 28 and September 4 both came with top-ten finishes, seventh and ninth, respectively. The pair of races at Atomic didn’t go as well, however. After a DNF the first time around, a stunning heat race flip starting in turn one ended with his machine eventually coming to rest in the turn two area. Thomas again climbed out sore, but without bodily injury. Extreme damage to the No. 91 kept him from starting the main event. Thomas attempted to make his final start of the year at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway with MOWA, but a heat race incident brought his night and season to a close.
Thomas would like to thank Engler Machine and Tool, Factory Kahne, J&J Auto Racing, Kaeding Performance, Donovan Engineering, Spike Products, Simpson Indy, Maxima Oils, Hoosier Racing Tire, Blackbeard, and Shadow Graphics, as well as all of his fans for their continued support.
2015 Stats
25 races, 18 features, 0 wins, 3 top fives, 7 top tens, 5 DNFs
Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cale-Thomas-Motorsports/158330494177025?fref=ts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/CaleThomas91
Instagram: http://instagram.com/calethomas91
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions
