By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
ORRVILLE, Ohio– It may have taken multiple rain delays and stretched into the wee hours of Monday morning, but there was no stopping Cale Thomas, a man on a mission at Wayne County Speedway. A disastrous Friday night at Attica had Thomas and the Jay Kiser Racing 23 machine looking to rebound Sunday with the FAST Series for a $10,000 payday, and a chance to be a winner of the Pete Jacobs Memorial. Rebound they did, big time.
It started in the heat race for Thomas. He was running second to Lee Jacobs, but was catching him as the laps ran down. Thomas got the car wound up on the top of turns one and two, and used the ensuing momentum to throw an absolute bomb of a slider going into turns three and four. Somehow, someway, the slider stuck, and Jacobs couldn’t win the drag race to the checkered flag. It was a pretty bold move for a heat race, but a move that paid off in the end, because that spot ended up putting Thomas on the pole of the 30 lap feature. Pole on a track that was on the ragged edge, and top dominant.
Thomas and Zeth Sabo would be on the front row of the feature, followed by Jordan Ryan, Cap Henry, and Brandon Spithaler to round out the top five. The green flag drop and war ensued for the lead between Thomas and Henry. Sabo’s engine stumbled and he slid back a few spots. Henry threw a slider at Thomas in turns three and four on lap one, and they were side-by-side at the line. It looked to be another classic feature between Thomas and Henry, one that Ohio fans have been blessed to see the last year and a half. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Cap Henry came coasting to a stop on the front stretch. A stripped cam spud would end his night on lap three. The defending Pete Jacobs Memorial champion was out of the race.
Thomas got a good jump on the restart over Ryan, as Sabo tried to slide Ryan for second in turns three and four, but would end up back in fifth. On this restart though, the bolts fell out of the left side of Thomas’ front wing, and partially collapsed it, making the car difficult to handle, and it was rubbing the right front tire. Thomas now had his work cut out for him. Thomas was able to gap Ryan by 1.280 seconds on lap eight, but the yellow would come out for 2024 track champion Leyton Wagner, who came to a stop on the front stretch with steering issues. He was running sixth at the time.
Ryan was a little closer to Thomas on the restart, but Thomas was still solidly in first, as the battle ramped up for second. Ryan, Spithaler, and Henry Malcuit were three-wide for second. Ryan held on to the spot as things settled down. At the halfway point, Thomas’ lead was .955 seconds as he approached lapped traffic. Ryan cut into the lead a little bit as Thomas’ front wing malfunction allowed the lapped cars to race Thomas, in turn allowing Ryan to inch closer to the leader.
Thomas was just too good, though. Despite the collapsed front wing, and racy lapped cars, Thomas wheeled his car to the win, his eighth of the season over Henry Malcuit and Zeth Sabo. Jordan Ryan came together with a lapped car late and fell to sixth.
“We got dicey there with Cap in the beginning. I got a good start, but when you start on the inside here, you have to slide and lose all your momentum,” Cale Thomas said about the initial start.
“Right after that restart where Cap had the problem, the front wing fell off. The front wing was off; it was manageable, just really tight. It started getting into the right front [tire] when I was running the top. Between lapped cars and having to throw bombs, it honestly was fun, but it would’ve been nice to have a complete front wing. I really wanted it, especially after Friday, so I gave it my all,” said Thomas.
“Even though I was ‘fast,’ I had to throw bombs, because I couldn’t enter in really close to someone or I’d lose the front end. So I’m throwing bombs, I’m sliding, sliding, sliding, you have to slow down a lot more without that downforce on the front. They [lapped cars] raced me good, so hats off to them,” Thomas said about racing through lapped traffic with the front wing issue.
“I think if I don’t slide for the [heat race] win, I don’t win tonight. I think I did have a fast enough car if I started a couple rows back, but if the front wing came off and I was in fourth or fifth, I wouldn’t have won. To be able to have clean air, my forearms hurt, my brakes were glowing– I really wanted it. You need a little luck, I drew the one, but I brought myself luck throwing that slider on Lee. He came over and gave me some shit, but it was all in good fun, and he said it was clean and good racing.”
“This is redemption for not only Friday, but for Speedweek. I was leading at one point when the caution came out. When I went into turn three, the left rear shock came off, and I ran fourth without a left rear shock. I’m unfortunately getting used to racing without parts on my car, but I really wanted it tonight,” Thomas said.
Thomas’ full interview can be found here