While the early stages of the race didn’t look as promising for the No. 22a DJ Racing squad, Thompson said that following the final pit stop — when Santos escaped pit road ahead of Kody Swanson, who later exited with mechanical trouble — the crew began to get a feel that winning the race was possible.
“I had to kind of keep my expectations in check because it was my buddy Tyler’s third time in the race (as a crew member), and he had fallen out once with a mechanical problem and once they finished second,” Thompson explained. “And it was Bobby’s seventh time and he had two or three second-place finishes in races where he probably should’ve won and didn’t, so it was kind of about keeping my own expectations in check and knowing that it was 500 laps where, at any given point, a lapped car could slide up and get us or something could easily fail.
“I think we knew we were in decent shape after the first pit stop, though, when there were a few guys who were really fast that went two or three laps down and we were able to stay on the lead lap.”
After the race, as the magnitude of having been part of the winning team sunk in, Thompson said it took several minutes to realize that DJ Racing had done exactly what the team set out to do — not to mention that he had played a role in the outcome.
“This is definitely up there for me,” Thompson admitted. “It’s obviously not something that I was really expecting to do, and I had never changed a tire where I had to run around the car before, either. They had me doing the outside rear and I’m used to sitting and waiting for the car to come to me on the inside front (in IndyCar), instead of running out there on a hot pit road with cars at my back. So just the thrill of that alone, I think, was enough to put it up there.
“Actually sealing the deal and getting a win, though, in arguably the most prestigious asphalt sprint car race of the season is not really something I thought I was going to have the title of being part of this year. It was definitely unreal and it took a minute to process,” he continued. “I think when he (Santos) finally did cross the finish line and we all went running up to the frontstretch, I think I spent that entire walk … or run, as it was, just kind of processing what had happened and what it actually was that I was a part of in that moment.”
As for Thompson’s thoughts on the experience as a whole?
“Never say never, right?” he laughed. “It was such a whirlwind. But it’s a night I’ll always remember.”