BAKERSFIELD,
CALIFORNIA (November 29, 2011)
– 2011 TOYOTA All-Star Showdown pole sitter Derek Thorn, through the
generous support of many personal donations and sponsorships, will
take the #26 Sigma Engineering / JRC Toyota Camry to Pensacola, FL
for the prestigious Snowball Derby at the famed half-mile Five Flags
Speedway this weekend. Thorn will be the lone Californian among a
field of nearly 60 cars including many drivers from the upper rungs
of NASCAR.
Thorn hit the road
Monday morning along with JRC crew chief and co-owner Junior Joiner
for the 2100 mile trip to
Florida.
Activities get underway Wednesday with tech inspections and hauler
parking, with practice Thursday, qualifying Friday, and the
last-chance qualifier on Saturday night. The 300 lap feature for
$22,500 to win is on Sunday afternoon with live coverage on
Speed51.com
Thorn announced his
intentions to compete in the nationally recognized event early last
week, looking for approximately $7,500 in support to complete
funding to make the trip. Funding was secured by Thanksgiving Day,
with additional sponsors and personal donations still coming in as
late as Sunday.
“I’m excited to
finally be running the Snowball Derby,” Thorn said. “It’s been a
long time coming and like most short track racers I have wanted to
attend this prestigious event for years. I’m extremely fortunate to
have such a great group of sponsors and supporters along with my car
owners Joe Farre and Junior Joiner that made this possible for me on
such short notice. We are looking forward to seeing where we stack
up!”
JRC co-owners Joe
Farré and Junior Joiner had this to say about Derek’s Snowball Derby
venture: “We are proud of Derek and the efforts that he has put into
making this venture happen. Derek is a talented driver, and we
couldn’t be more proud to have this opportunity to highlight Derek’s
talent. We were only able to commit to such a large venture thanks
to the support of his family, crew, JRC and the many fans and
supporters that helped raise the funding necessary.”
When asked about
Derek’s approach to the race, JRC went on to say, “The Snowball
Derby will give this team the opportunity that they deserve to
measure their talent, skills, equipment, and team organization
against the best Super Late Model racing teams in the nation. We’ve
given Derek the best equipment, support, crew and set-up knowledge
that we have. We’re confident that he will do his best to represent
West Coast racing and all of his supporters in a manner that we will
all be proud of.”
In talking about
the benefits of facing such a large venture for a West Coast based
race team, JRC added, “We look forward to the challenge, and will
surely bring back a wealth of knowledge, experience, and new
contacts that will only make Derek and this organization that much
stronger in the seasons to come.”
The Lakeport
resident established himself as one of the West Coast’s most
impressive drivers in 2011 with seven consecutive fast-times in the
SRL Southwest Tour, along with multiple wins and stacked up four top
five finishes in just six NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts this year.
Thorn was an
instrumental part of the JRC program in 2011 serving as one of the
team drivers and went on to make a big splash at the end of the year
in Las Vegas winning both the SRL event and the $10,000 Fall Classic
in back-to-back weeks.
Companies
sponsoring Derek Thorn in the Snowball Derby include: Sigma
Engineering Solutions, JRC, Lake County, Racehard.com, Approved
Memory, PepperJack Kennels, Blakesley Sports Media, Victory Circle,
Century Boatland, McClintock & Turk, Lakeport Speedway, AP Brakes,
AR Bodies, Joe’s Racing Products, JRI Shocks, Eibach Springs, NEO,
AG Source Magazine, and Imagine This.
Derek Thorn and JRC
would also like to thank everyone for there generous support of this
special event, including Joe Farre, Junior Joiner, Scott
Franchimone, Jim Kennedy, Marty and Misty Melo, Stanley Fisher, Rick
and Carol Thorn, Travis Thorn, Dave Reed, John Gomez, Don Williams,
Mark Lundgren, The Keep Family, Dave Furia, Mark Reed, Mike Rose,
Rod and Deanne Padel, Dave Sullivan, Grandma Kelly, Justin Dutcher,
Kyle Tellestrom, Erika Johnson, Cheryl Archer, The Hensen Family,
Phillip Gambrell, Grandma Shirlee and Grandpa Ray, Melissa Kelleey,
Kyle and Kolby Medina, Kevin and Traci Medina, Rebecca Chouinard,
Myles Anderson, Jeanne Broussal, Valerie Sullivan, Ken Benhamou,
Kevin Disney, Randy and Jason Gilbert, Steven Meyer, Jack and Becky
Gasper, Christine Smith, Dan Baril, Kristen Raney, Wanda Lopez, Judy
Lanfranco, Jamie Ceridono, William & Alberta Knoll, John & Toni
Candido, Travis, Tony, Tracy, Clay, & Miranda Wanzer, Grandma June,
The Russell Family, The Reyonolds, Steve Meyer, Kim Olsen and
Family.
For additional information about JRC look them
up online at
www.joinerracecars.com Seats are still
available for the 2012 season in the SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour and
interested parties can contact Marty Melo at (530) 941-5642. |