Snowball Derby 2013: Theriault and Thorn end up with optimal results

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Drivers from all over North America converge at the annual Snowball Derby weekend throughout various divisions, but many struggle without familiarity of the track. Austin Theriault and Derek Thorn each made their second career start on Sunday afternoon and showed that they could hang with the track’s regulars.

Theriault, from Maine, has driven the last two seasons for 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski’s Super Late Model team in many major Super Late Model events. His steady improvement and increasing chemistry with the team has shown on the race track in 2013, and definitely did again at the Derby.

“The guys worked like clockwork all weekend, and that’s all you can ask for,” thanked Theriault. “We put the final set (of tires) on and made an air pressure adjustment, and made some progress towards the front. It was a fun race the last five laps. There was some beating and banging going on in front of me, and we were able to take advantage of it. It’s an honor, and I’m really proud to be here.”

Theriault started in the top ten and finished third in the official running order, a much better effort than his initial outing in 2012 with the Checkered Flag Foundation-sponsored team.

“What an improvement compared to last year,” remarked Theriault. “We ended up not finishing (last year) because we had a mechanical issue. It’s great to come back here and run competitive and finish the race.”

While this race may mark the end to Theriault’s two-year tenure with the BKR organization, he remains optimistic going into the new year.

“We are still working on 2014,” said Theriault. “We’re just evaluating all kinds of different options, and we have some time before the new year to make up our mind. Looking forward to a great 2014 season.”

For California’s Derek Thorn, his initial start in 2011 and the 2013 300-lap race were like night and day. Thorn survived blown engines to make the show two years ago, only to end up destroying the car in one of the wildest wrecks in recent history late in the race. This year was different, and the 2013 NASCAR K&N East Series champion felt very fortunate for the top ten effort.

“It all boils down to people,” noted Thorn. “We had about two years of experience to pick up in about two days. We threw everything absolutely possible at (the car) and it all worked out.”

Thorn had the ThorSport 2013 NASCAR Camping World Series championship crew on his side, and it definitely worked to his advantage getting him the opportunity to lead some laps late in the race.

“The guys on the pit crew; the pit stops we had,” Thorn said was the difference. “We went from 18th to tenth, and eighth to second.”

Thorn has a vast amount of experience and successful results racing Late Models, but they differ in the region he races in. The SRL Southwest Tour continues to implement the perimeter chassis in which the defunct NASCAR Elite Touring Divisions used to use.

“It’s an entire uphill battle, not running these types of cars on the west coast with this straight-rail chassis, tire, offset, and engine package,” noted Thorn.

Thorn mentioned that defending his K&N crown in 2014 is a no-go, but currently plans to chase the SRL championship for the Byron Campbell team in which he won the 2012 title with. Perhaps following a strong effort in 2013, another trip east will be in store at the end of next season.