Thorn Dominates In Colorado Win
DACONO, Colo. – Not even the rain could cool off Derek Thorn on this night. The Lakeport, Calif., native held off all challengers en route to winning the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday night.
| POS | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Thorn |
| 2 | Jamie Krzysik |
| 3 | Cameron Hayley |
| 4 | Giles Thornton |
| 5 | Greg Pursley |
After a short rain delayed the start of the race, Thorn wasted no time in asserting himself on the track from the pole position. He dominated the action, leading 148 of 150 laps en route to his second consecutive victory, third win of the season and fifth career series win.
In his only other series visit to the CNS, Thorn finished second last year.
Jamie Krzysik made a late push to take a career-best runner-up spot, moving past third-place finisher Cameron Hayley in the closing stages of the race. Hayley, who challenged Thorn throughout the event, managed to wrestle the top spot away on two occasions – but could only hold the lead for a lap each time. Fifteen-year-old series rookie Giles Thornton had a career-best fourth-place finish, followed by Greg Pursley in fifth.
Michael Self came into the evening three points behind Thorn in the championship standings, and looked poised to challenge him early. A late spin-out knocked him out of the top three spots and he would eventually finish sixth, followed by Taylor Cuzick, Eric Holmes, Brett Thompson and Dylan Lupton to complete the top 10.
With the win, Thorn increased his lead in the championship standings to 13 points over Self.
The Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 will air on SPEED on Aug. 1 at 3 p.m. ET.
The next event on the series schedule is the Pork Be Inspired 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on Friday, Aug. 2.
