KTJ Looks for Early Success in Pennsylvania in Young Winged Sprint Car Adventure/ “USAC is Fine Without Me.”

Thursday afternoon, racing social media was buzzing as Snow Racing announced that Rookie of the Year Contender with the Flo Racing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil-1, Kevin Thomas Jr. of Cullman, Alabama will be making his winged 410 sprint car debut in Central Pennsylvania this weekend with starts at the Lincoln and Port Royal Speedway.

“We’ve wanted to see what the weather was going to do to try and get the most action and PA is a lot closer than Texas.” Thomas said on The Highside Hustle Thursday night when asked why him and Snow Racing chose to race in PA this weekend over running with the World of Outlaws Nos Energy Drink Sprint Cars at The Cotton Bowl Speedway. ” Obviously I need the practice in PA since we will be racing there more than Texas this year.” The All Stars will be visiting the Keystone State a total of 17 times in 2022 ( 18 if you count Bridgeport).

Thomas is no stranger to running a winged sprint car. But before Volusia back in February, it has been since 2017 when KTJ ran for Bdubs Racing in the Midwest that he last put on a wing on a sprint car. “It’s been a learning process. Everything is just different. It’s hard to get the feel for what the air does to your race car. How close can you be to the guy in front of you. It’s backwards of everything I’ve done in a wingless car. If I found a strip of moisture on the bottom and some slick above it. My first thought is to lift. In a winged car is completely opposite ” KTJ said. ” Its completely different than when I ran back in 2017 with new people, new equipment, and new everything along with new race tracks. It’s a feeling out process right now and get acclimated as fast as you can. But it’s a challenge. I race to prove things to myself. I’m doing this to see if I can do it. I’m back in the gym, I’m anti-gym. But I have to go back to the gym for the first time since 2009 to be competitive.”

“It’s definitely a gamble to go out and not make much money this year. But I just want to try it. It’s a sprint car. It goes real freakin’ fast. Lets go see what all the hype is about. Lets get our sponsorship some exposer as well. I want to give them the best exposer possible.” Thomas said. ” I’m a very competitive person and I don’t want the sponsors in the E or the D main at The Knoxville Nationals. I want them in the B or the A.”

KTJ has the mindset of a winner and he believes that he can get a couple of wins in his rookie season. But he knows it’ll take time. “I like quick progress but I know it wont happen immediately. But if everyone does their jobs, me included, and try’s to succeed at what we’re doing.” Thomas Said. ” It doesn’t have to be checker flags either.” He added, ” But if we’re showing constancy and success that’s something I would expect out of our team.”

Kevin is no stranger to winning in PA. Most recently he picked up the first ever win at The Bloomsburg Fairgrounds Raceway new configuration during the 2021 USAC Eastern Storm. He’s looking forward to getting back to Bloomsburg this season twice with the All Stars. ” I feel like it fits my driving style and we felt really good there last year in the wingless car so I’m excited to get back there.” KTJ added that he’s most concerned about Williams Grove. But not for crashing. “My biggest fear is of spinning out going in to turn 3 in front of Beer Hill because I’ll never hear the end of it from those guys. It terrifies me.”

Thomas’s roots though lie with the wingless sprint cars of the mid west. For three years from 2016-2018, Kevin was the winningest non-winged driver in the country with a total of 21 wins in 2018 alone. KTJ was a staple and a fan favorite of the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car tour over the last decade. With a pair of Indiana Sprint Week titles along with numerus other wins. This season he and past USAC National Champion Chris Windom have made the switch to full time winged racing. Some people believe that USAC might be in trouble with losing three stars over the last year. Kevin thinks other wise.

” I think USAC is still in a good spot. It’s a new era. Some of us are at our peak and have other goals we like to achieve.” Thomas said. ” Its not detrimental to USAC for losing guys like myself, Windom or Sunshine ( Tyler Courtney). There’s guys like Cj Leary, Emerson Axsom, Jake Swanson that want a little bit of the bread as well. People just have to give them the opportunity. Give them a second, we all were in their spot at one time or another. We all have similar stories, but if social media wasn’t a thing that everyone gets their two cents worth this wouldn’t be a big deal. They spread more negative than positive. Just shut up and let kids show what they got.”

” The product is still good. The world is not ending because three people left. There are three people out there just as good as us if not better. If they aren’t already there, they’re coming. ”

Kevin Thomas Jr. and the Snow Racing team will be racing in Central Pennsylvania this weekend and also next weekend at next Sunday’s Williams Grove Opener.