ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania car owner John Trone has tabbed Cale Thomas as the new driver of the Trone Outdoor Motorsports No. 39 Maxim, with a focus on premier races in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Thomas and Trone are planning a schedule of more than 60 races this season, including many World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions races in the area, while filling in the remainder of their calendar at many local Central Pennsylvania facilities.
For Thomas, who will race regularly outside of his family-owned No. 91 for the first time in his career, linking up with Trone for a full season of action is something he feels will push him to the next level.
“This is a huge step in my racing career,” Thomas said. “The first big moment, I think, was getting in the (Ron Gorby-owned) No. G1, but this is my first full-time team away from my family. Moving (to Pennsylvania) will be all new for me, and being with a whole new organization and crew chief and all that entails is a big challenge, but certainly one that I’m excited to take on.
“Beyond that, being able to race in Pennsylvania for the first time is an even bigger deal, because the local competition is so tough,” he added. “The amount of races I can get in by racing in Pennsylvania will help me a ton. I’m going from 25 races or 30 races to 60-plus races now. Doubling my usual season will definitely make me a better race car driver, just from the consistency of staying in the seat.”
Trone is looking forward to the energy and qualifying prowess that Thomas brings to the table, hopeful of building on the foundation that he’s laid in recent years with Cory Haas at the wheel.
“If you look at our schedule last year, about 60 percent of our races were time trial shows, and we just couldn’t time well. We were always a little bit off, whether we just missed the front row or just missed the invert,” said Trone. “But watching Cale in the Outlaw races he ran, making the dash in six or seven races, was quite impressive.
“In Pennsylvania, any of the money races, if you can’t qualify well, you might as well stay home. So I didn’t really think anyone locally set the world on fire time trialing, but Cale did,” Trone added. “After his interview (on Open Red) when he said he wanted to come to Pennsylvania, I thought, ‘well, here’s my chance,’ and we got the deal done.”
In a sport where the relationship between a driver and car owner is critical to success, Thomas said he “felt comfortable right away” when it came to his early interactions with Trone.
“As soon as John and I started talking, we found that we agreed on a lot of things, whether it was about racing or just about life in general,” Thomas noted. “I feel like we both took a liking to each other pretty quickly for not knowing much about each other, and team chemistry is so important in racing, so I was glad that we found so much common ground. One of his older crew chiefs, Kevin Fry, he was really the one who pushed John to pursue me. Kevin always said really good things about me, and that’s something that I really appreciate.
“I think with the way the sport is starting to change nowadays, John wanted someone a bit younger, because he’s always had more veteran drivers,” Thomas added. “Obviously I fit that billing and I hope that I can do him and all of our team partners proud this season. We’re really hoping for a strong year.”
While Trone and Thomas haven’t outlined an exact schedule yet, both owner and driver know that they want to succeed on the biggest stages possible as often as they can.
“We both agreed that we wanted to run pretty much every weekend. So Pennsylvania wise, pretty much anytime the Outlaws or All Stars come through, we’re planning to be there with them,” Thomas noted. “Loosely, we’ve talked about running even outside of Pennsylvania, if we have some momentum and one of the major tours go to New York or somewhere relatively nearby … we’ll follow them if we feel like we’re doing well and can make some noise.”
As he enters his new journey with Trone Outdoor Motorsports, Thomas will have the support of longtime partners Engler Machine & Tool, Bell Helmets, Simpson Race Products, Sharp Advantage Safety Products, Factory Kahne and Rapha Int’l, as well as backing from Trone Outdoor Advertising, Eagle Evergreens, Bricker’s, DMI, Bulldog Rear Ends, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, KSE, Wings Unlimited, Creekside Auto Sales, Pace Motorsports, SFE Services, Ohio Heating and Indy Race Parts.
But just because he’ll have new scenery for much of the year, don’t expect Thomas to lose touch with his Midwest roots – or his family team, for that matter.
“When you look at Pennsylvania (Sprint) Speedweek, it intertwines pretty well with Ohio Speedweek (with the All Star Circuit of Champions),” pointed out Thomas. “I think I’ll run my stuff for Ohio Speedweek, my family car, and then get back into John’s car for Pennsylvania Speedweek.
“That’s going to be such a fun stretch; it’s around 17 or 18 shows in about a three-week span, which will be huge for me,” he added. “I’ve never had the chance to be behind the wheel as much as we’re about to be this year and I can’t wait to get started. Thanks again to John for believing in me and trusting me with the reins for the No. 39. We’re going to have a lot of fun together; I really believe that.”