It’s been a busy summer for ThorSport Racing. Two projects down and one to go.
The Sandusky, Ohio, team moved into its spacious new headquarters about a month ago, giving ThorSport arguably the series’ largest, most state-of-the-art facility.
More recently, owners Duke and Ronda Thorson announced that drivers Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter had inked new contracts and again will be driving the No. 88 and No. 13 Chevrolets in 2012. The team previously signed Dakoda Armstrong to drive its No. 98 Chevrolet and chase Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
“Clearly with all the exciting things we’ve had going on in the 2011 season, having all of our drivers back in 2012 just continues the good news here at TSR,” said David Pepper, team manager. “We’re excited about getting all of our drivers and teams together in 2012 so that we can compete for poles, race wins and top fives into the future.”
Project No. 3 would be a championship. Both Sauter and Crafton have taken turns leading the standings through the season’s first 17 races. Sauter currently is second, 12 points behind James Buescher while Crafton ranks seventh.
Both drivers figure to be contenders in Friday night’s Fast Five 225 at Chicagoland Speedway. Sauter and Crafton each have a career victory on a 1.5-mile intermediate style speedway, and rank seventh and eighth in Chicagoland Driver Rating at 100.2 and 99.3, respectively. Sauter has finished fourth and fifth in his two starts at the Joliet, Ill. track. Crafton was the Keystone Light Pole starter in 2009 and finished seventh a year ago.
“When we do the right things, we win races. When we win races, we get that much closer to championships. We’re hoping to be the ‘team to catch’ going into Homestead in a few months,” said Sauter.
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