It was surprising enough to see Tanner sign in for the Indiana Midget Week opener at Montpelier Motor Speedway, but some did a complete double-take when they discovered he would race for the Kunz/Curb-Agajanian juggernaut.
Some had surmised that the parting between Kunz and Thorson, while perhaps less than acrimonious, was not accompanied by a group hug. Yet, here they were together.
To know Keith is to understand that he is pragmatic at all times. Even now, Kunz describes Thorson this way.
“Tanner is a hard worker, very smart, and one of the most talented racers out there,” noted Kunz. “(He’s) a winner.”
What Keith has always done is to use talents like Rico Abreu, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson as role models for his younger drivers. It‘s just how the baton is passed under his watch. Thorson‘s drive alone, Kunz surmised, could spur his teammates to give a bit more.
It is also likely that there were other factors at play. Kunz knows what a challenge it is to come back from major injury. He certainly didn‘t turn his back on an injured Jay Drake when his career hung in the balance years ago.
Thorson also saw both sides of this equation.
“Racing with Keith Kunz is like a family to me,” he said. “They wanted me to get back into a race car after my accident and show people that I was still capable of doing it. It played in my favor. He also knew what it was like when it was Bell, Rico and me on the team. They helped me out, because they were in it a while and they knew all the tricks. He wanted me to come in and maybe spruce his guys up a bit and get them to drive a little harder.
“There is something about racing your teammates and working off of them,” Thorson added. “For some reason, you want to race your teammates harder, especially when they are faster than you are.”
Everyone was impressed when Thorson ran second to Logan Seavey on his first night back, and a fifth-place run the next night at Gas City wasn‘t bad either. Then he uncorked one of the great performances in Indiana Midget Week history at Lincoln Park Speedway.
Starting in the 15th position, Thorson grabbed the lead with four circuits remaining, but Kyle Larson and Kevin Thomas Jr. were all over him. He persevered in an absolute thriller.
To date, no one had won from further back in the field in the history of Indiana Midget Week. Afterwards, he admitted that it was a victory he would likely remember for the rest of his life.
Elaborating on the night with USAC‘s Richie Murray, he said, “It‘s a dream come true again; to be honest I sat out for three months just wondering if I was going to be able to do it again.”
A couple months later, he was also set to make his return in a winged sprint car. Again not shying away from a challenge, he was entered in the Knoxville Nationals. He teamed with Shane Stewart of the CJB Motorsports team managed by Barry Jackson.
Thorson knew he was facing a tall order. He was still recovering from serious injuries and, overall, he had little experience on a track the size of Knoxville Raceway.
One thing that provided some peace of mind was that Lee Lindgren would be on hand. The ever-competitive driver laments that he went backward in the B-Main, but his overall performance was good enough to be named the top rookie in the biggest sprint car race in the land.
If no one else was impressed, Lindgren was.
“So, he has hardly any laps at all in a sprint car that year,” Lee said, “and he goes out to Knoxville and gets Rookie of the Year. I mean, Freddie Rahmer was there, and others who have so much big track wing experience, whereas in California we mainly race on short tracks.”
It wasn‘t roses all the way to the finish line in 2019. Unfortunately, the banged-up driver got tossed around a little more.
Enduring two flips after his return, Thorson told Pete Willoughby that “every time I wreck, it adds 10 years to my body.”
Thorson then suffered a grinding crash at the one-mile dirt oval in DuQuoin, Ill. Taking the seat in a Silver Crown car for outstanding endurance racer Chris Dyson, Thorson was blindingly fast in practice and seemed to clearly be the class of the field.
Then a bolt fell off the right front radius rod, with predictable results.
Replaying the moment he said, “That crash added 20 years to my body.”
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