ROSSBURG, Ohio – Kevin Thomas Jr. will strap into the seat of the Chris Dyson Racing No. 9 for Saturday’s USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series season finale at Eldora Speedway, the 38th running of the 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv.
Thomas took the runner-up position in last year’s 4-Crown Silver Crown race and is eager to score both his first Silver Crown win and first Eldora USAC win in one fell swoop.
Thomas has made six Silver Crown starts this season, finishing in the top 10 in five events and with a fast qualifying time and a runner-up finish in May’s Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds serving as his best.
The Dyson ride, meanwhile, finished fourth in last Fall’s 4-Crown race with Jason McDougal at the controls. This year, the Dyson car has competed in four events, finishing in the top-ten once in the season opener at Memphis Int’l Raceway with driver and team owner Chris Dyson, himself a two-time American Le Mans Series champion.
On dirt, the car was the fastest in practice at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds with Tanner Thorson at the wheel before a crash in practice prematurely ended the team’s night.
Thomas is one of USAC’s premier drivers, tallying 26 career AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins and five NOS Energy Drink National Midget wins.
He’ll be one of several drivers pulling triple duty in Saturday’s 4-Crown, piloting the Petry Motorsports No. 5 midget and the Hayward/Thomas Motorsports No. 19 sprinter.
Thomas is one of five drivers to win a feature event in both the AMSOIL National Sprint Car and NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series this year, alongside Tyler Courtney, Justin Grant, McDougal and Chris Windom.