MILLSTADT, Ill. (Oct. 15, 2012)—Cale Thomas of Fairland, Ind., has captured the Rookie of the Year award in the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series following an outstanding season in which he finished third in the championship.
“It was our goal to win Rookie of the Year and win a race,” Thomas said. “We got one of the two. I’m really happy with winning Rookie of the Year and that we got third against such great competition. It’s like the World of Outlaws for micro sprints.”
Thomas, 14, finished second in the season finale at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., and had three third places including at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway in the season opener. Thomas had five top-fives and 13 top-10s and reached the feature in 18 of 19 events.
“That’s pretty good,” father and crew chief Jason Thomas said. “I’m pretty proud of him considering the company that he’s running in.”
Thomas switched to micros in 2011 and ran in 13 mostly local events. He began his career in quarter midgets at age nine and raced them for four seasons. Tim and Tami Engler of Engler injections recommended POWRi for 2012.
“We made a great decision to run POWRi,” Cale Thomas said. “We heard about it from the Englers. This year were focusing on making every feature. There was a good lineup of cars from 25 to 60 every week. We first wanted to make the show and getting good, clean finishes and not wrecking. As we started doing better, we wanted top-five and top-10 finishes and we really wanted to get that win at the end of the year.
“I got a lot better throughout the year. I got more comfortable. Running week in and week out, we knew how to do well in the heat races and get passing points for a good starting position. We learned how to focus on each track and how to make adjustments to the setup.”
Thomas drove a Sawyer chassis with a Suzuki built by Momo and injected by Engler, which became a primary sponsor.
“The series has a lot of competition and you get to drive on a lot of different tracks,” Jason Thomas said. “It’s probably the best place for Cale to learn. It’s the World of Outlaws for micros.”
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series top-10 final points standings (19 events): 1. Joe B. Miller 2,630, 2. Jeremy Camp 2,215 3. Cale Thomas 2,190, 4. Aaron Andruskevitch 2,170, 5. Jacob Patton 2,155, 6. Justin Peck 2,000, 7. Andrew Felker 1,770, 8. Trent Beckinger 1,510, 9. Derek Schuett 1,355, 10. Spencer Motgomery 1,320.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series 2012 race winners: Jacksonville, Ill.—Andrew Felker; Macon, Ill.—Alex Harris; Belleville, Ill.—Travis Senter; Peoria, Ill.—Andrew Felker; Brownstown, Ill.—Andrew Felker; Haubstadt, Ind.—Trent Beckinger; Lincoln, Ill.—Justin Peck; Macon—Aaron Andruskevitch; Marion, Ill.—Chris Andrews; Marion, Ill.—Justin Peck; Marion, Ill.—Chris Andrews; Belleville, Ill.—Jeremy Camp; Lincoln, Ill.—Trent Beckinger; Macon, Ill.—Joe B. Miller; Du Quoin, Ill.—Andrew Felker; Du Quoin, Ill.—Jake Neuman; Jacksonville, Ill.—Trent Beckinger; Macon, Ill.—Trent Beckinger; Belleville, Ill.—Joe B. Miller.
For more information, go to www.POWRi.com.
- Cathy Lorenz on Oct 22, 2012
- Article Date: 10/22/2012 by Tim Tuttle