TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (Sept. 11) — Jimmy Thomas of Phenix City, Ala., knew he had a shot to run well at North Alabama Speedway in his Scorpion Race Cars-chassied entry as the two-night King of Crate event opened at the 3/8-mile oval. He figured he’d be happy with a top-five finish in a strong field of 35 entries.
Instead, he drove completely away from that field after starting from the pole, and finished well ahead of Jeremy Shaw, who won one of the two King of Crate races at the facility last year. Just a single caution period slowed the pace, and Thomas was a full straightaway ahead of his nearest challenger when the checkered flag waved.
Thomas held a big lead during the opening main event. He outdueled Shaw in the early stages, and wheeled his Ben Thomas-built machine away from the pack to take the checkered flag over Shaw, while Josh Putnam squeezed into third in the closing stages, leaving Wil Herrington with a fourth-place finish over Chase Walls.
Had you asked Thomas about his chances heading into the event, he probably wouldn’t have been quite as excited as he was in the winner’s circle.
“I was thinking maybe a top-five finish would have been good, but there’s no way I’d have told you we’d win the race,” Thomas said. “Let alone be able to get a dominant-type win by that kinda margin. I just didn’t feel it.”
Why? Thomas had never seen the place prior to his solid victory over a 26-car field. Raised at high-banked East Alabama Motor Speedway and having done most of his racing on typically larger ovals, Thomas handled the bullring-type facility with a smooth delivery of his driving skills. It was a pretty impressive showing no matter how you slice it.
“We came here and I didn’t really know what we were gonna need,” Thomas said. “I watched a video on YouTube the night before we left the shop, and that’s really the only time I’d seen the place. This is a fast little racetrack, and you barely have time to look around when you’re out there. It’s a pretty fun place to drive. I’m used to bigger tracks, but here it’s a stop-and-go kinda thing. There’s a lot of adrenaline when you’re going around this place.”
While nobody was very often close enough to worry him, Thomas used the comfortable advantage to learn more about his car. He wasn’t totally aware of his big advantage, but leading large gave him an opportunity to boost his personal confidence, and to figure out what he might need for his second appearance at the facility. His competitors didn’t feel the sting again, because those scheduled activities on the second night of the doubleheader weekend fell victim to rain.
Thomas completed the required distance with sponsorship from BTR, Jenwood, Shorty’s Motorsports, Cooper’s Lawn Care, Sugar Lane and RaceWrapz.
King of Crate (Night One): 1. Jimmy Thomas, 2. Jeremy Shaw, 3. Josh Putnam, 4. Wil Herrington, 5. Chase Walls, 6. Oakley Gillespie, 7. Bryant Marsh, 8. Corey Dunn, 9. Matt Cooper, 10. Tyler Wood, 11. Cruz Skinner, 12. Oakley Johns, 13. Parker Martin, 14. Jordan Hedger, 15. Cale Finley, 16. Justin Litchford, 17. T.J. Brittain, 18. Billy Flannagan, 19. Shay Knight, 20. Matthew Brocato, 21. Jody Knowles, 22. Ben Brocato, 23. Shane Stephens, 24. Troy Dixon, 25. Jadon Frame, 26. Trynt Lloyd.