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NASCAR Stars of Tomorrow-Derek Thorn
From Obscurity to a New Guitar
By Dennis Michelsen
Just one year ago Lakeport, California's Derek Thorn was uncertain about his racing future. But a strange chain of events would lead to this twenty-year-old driver ending up as one of the drivers most sought after in the ASA Late Model Challenge division for this season. Now Derek Thorn's stock is rising and his racing future looks bright! Let's meet this youngster that has risen to the top of the Pat Bourdow Rookie of the Year standings in the ASA Late Model Challenge Series this season with his eyes on the championship!

From Driver to Owner
Turn back the clock one year and Derek's race team owner Ken Wills was campaigning in the ASA Late Model Series himself. But an accident in a Wisconsin Challenge Series car at the Milwaukee Mile last season would start a chain of events that would change the landscape of the ASA Late Model Series. Ken was advised to give up driving and decided to concentrate his efforts on building a winning team as an owner instead. Enter Derek Thorn and the rest is history!

Octoberfest Opportunity
Last fall when Ken Wills was unable to continue driving the decision was made to put Derek Thorn in the car for one race. Team and driver had no clue how he would perform since this youngster had only raced on the bullrings of Northern California. Now he would go against some of the best drivers in the country in the ASA Late Model Series Challenge division. A fourth place finish would exceed anyone's wildest expectations and the decision was made to go on to Nashville for the season ending event.

Close But No Guitar
Sixty-one cars were entered for the ASA Late Model Series portion of the All-American 400 down at Nashville's Music City Motorplex. The list of winners at the famous Fairgrounds racetrack is a who's who in the history of NASCAR! Winning in Nashville also brings the winner a brand new Copley guitar! Last season Derek Thorn led 137 laps until veteran driver "Fast" Eddie Hoffman would wear him down and take the win. But everyone was impressed with this unknown California driver who finished in second place.

Making His Choice
Emerging from the obscurity of the Northern California bullrings to post two top five finishes in his first two ASA Late Model Challenge races; Derek Thorn had a decision to make. Driver Development team WalTom Racing, the top dog in the ASA Late Model Series, offered Derek a chance for him to join their team. Instead Derek decided to come back for the full season in 2007 with 5K Motorsports. Owner Ken Wills hired Chris Purdy the Car Chief at WalTom Racing as Derek's Crew Chief. Adding teammates Kris Stump and Alex Kennedy along with Crew Chief Paul "Rollie" Christman to the mix added depth to this talented team.

Power Move for the Win
Heading back to Nashville's Music City Motorplex full of confidence, Derek Thorn wanted to win the guitar that eluded him last November. Crew Chief Chris Purdy threw a bunch of changes at the car during practice to make sure Derek had a car that could pass during the race. A talented field of ASA Late Model cars and stars that included several NASCAR driver development drivers would give Derek Thorn and his 5K Motorsports team a run for their guitar! Making a power move to the outside to pass ASA Late Model veteran Charlie Menard, Derek Thorn was an impressive winner in the Spring Clash 200.

Winning his first ASA Late Model Series race in just his fourth start, Derek Thorn is on his way to a successful racing career. As with so many talented youngsters it will take money, opportunity, and some luck to reach his dreams of racing in NASCAR someday. Derek has an excellent opportunity with his 5K Motorsports team that has also risen from obscurity to become one of the top teams in ASA Late Model Series racing! Derek Thorn is one of the Stars of Tomorrow you can see in action every week at your local short track when racing series such as the ASA Late Model Series come to town.

For more information about Derek Thorn please visit his website at http://www.derekthorn.com/

For more information about 5K Motorsports please visit their website at http://5kmotorsports.com

To learn more about the rising stars in ASA Late Model Series racing listen every Tuesday night to ASALMS Radio at www.racetalkradio.com