SPRING RUN, Pa. — They say the first one is the hardest, and Tanner Thorson’s recent triumphs with Kubota High Limit Racing may very well prove that true.
After it took 84 attempts to earn his first win with the series at Lernerville Speedway on September 12, it took him only another two weeks and six more races to earn his second score on Sunday night at Path Valley Speedway Park.
Coming from the fifth starting spot, Thorson bided his time behind the lead trio of Giovanni Scelzi, Brad Sweet and Chase Randall during the opening stages.
The Rod Gross Motorsports No. 88 really came to life once the slightest mishap from Randall – as he spun and brought out the caution battling for second – allowed Thorson to focus on Scelzi and Sweet.
The Minden, Nevada, native clicked off Brad Sweet on Lap 20 and then wasted no time at all flying by Giovanni Scelzi, taking the lead for good on Lap 22.
The 35-lap main event was far from other, though, as a hard-charging Brady Bacon pressured Thorson all the way through traffic until he crossed the finish line with a 0.933-second margin of victory.
For Thorson, his second-career victory makes him the 14th driver in Kubota High Limit Racing history with multiple wins. Both of his scores with Rod Gross Motorsports have come in Pennsylvania, the home state of car owners Rod and Nancy Gross.
Bacon completed his night with a 10th-to-second bid in the Dyson No. 20, narrowly falling short of putting his first-career Kubota High Limit Racing victory next to a pair of World of Outlaws wins he already has.
Giovanni Scelzi wrapped up his third-straight podium finish aboard the Clauson-Marshall Racing NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC, coming home with a third-place effort after leading the opening 21 laps.
It was a dramatic night for championship implications with Rico Abreu and Aaron Reutzel both needing to utilize provisionals while Brad Sweet started on the pole.
Ultimately, Abreu is 52 points ahead of Sweet in the driver’s championship while the RAR No. 24 leads the RSR No. 87 by 34 points and the KKR No. 49 by 52 points in the owner’s championship.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[5]; 2. 20-Brady Bacon[10]; 3. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[2]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[8]; 5. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[11]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 7. 23-Chase Dietz[4]; 8. 55V-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]; 9. 26-Justin Peck[20]; 10. 5-Brenham Crouch[19]; 11. 13-Daison Pursley[23]; 12. 75-Cameron Smith[9]; 13. 42-Sye Lynch[16]; 14. 19-Brent Marks[21]; 15. 24-Rico Abreu[25]; 16. 24D-Danny Sams III[27]; 17. 87-Aaron Reutzel[26]; 18. 9-Chase Randall[3]; 19. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[24]; 20. 99M-Kyle Moody[17]; 21. 17-Dylan Norris[12]; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler[15]; 23. 38S-Jordan Strickler[14]; 24. 41-Logan Rumsey[7]; 25. 6-Ryan Smith[22]; 26. 10-Ryan Timms[6]; 27. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[18]
