Thorson Takes FALS Last Lap Thriller

by POWRi | Results

After a relatively quiet start to POWRi Illinois SPEED Week for Tanner Thorson, the driver returned to victory lane with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League for his first 2017 win, this time for night number two of POWRi Illinois SPEED Week at Fairbury American Legion Speedway. The Minden, Nevada native started fifth and quickly worked his way towards the front, battling early on with Auckland, New Zealand’s Michael Pickens, POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Rookie of the Year candidate, Zeb Wise, and Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Rico Abreu.

After an early race yellow, Thorson capitalized on the slowdown to snag the lead from Pickens, however Thorson’s early race lead was short lived as Zeb Wise took the lead the following lap, holding on just long enough before swapping positions with Abreu. Setting a blistering pace, Abreu led Wise and Thorson for the next 13 laps until Wise brought out the red after catching the turn two wall and taking a tumble while running second.

Inheriting the second position, Thorson had six laps remaining to tackle Abreu for the lead. Patiently waiting until the last lap, Thorson had fans on the edge of their seats waiting to see if he would try to make a move going into turn one or wait until the last corner. Heading down the backstretch, it was apparent that Thorson had saved his best move for last as he dove to the bottom of turns three and four, sliding Abreu for the lead. Trying to return the slide job, Abreu made contact with Pickens, causing Abreu to fall back to fourth, while Thorson went on to win the Mesilla Valley Transportation feature event. Pickens took second, while Spencer Bayston quietly took third, rebounding after a hard flip at the Dirt Oval at Route 66 the previous night.