William Thomas came into the 2015 season looking to make progress with his Dirt Late Model program and it appears as if he is doing just that. It’s not that the Phenix City, Ala. driver has done badly in recent years, but he simply wants to step up even further. So far in these early season races the 27-year-old has achieved six finishes of sixth or better in only seven starts, including a pair of highly competitive second place efforts. But even with those impressive statistics, the former Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series champion is looking for improvement.
Thomas has campaigned Chevrolet Performance 525 Engine in recent years. That power plant serves as an affordable alternative to the more traditional and more expensive open Super Late Model engines employed by many teams who compete in the various national and regional touring series races.
“I’ve been trying to work on my program a little bit,” Thomas explained during an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “Chris Madden and Ronnie Crooks from Penske Shocks have been helping me the last couple of weeks and they’ve definitely picked up my program on the shock package. I feel like if I was running against 525’s everywhere I go, I’ve got the car to win the race.”
Thomas plans to bring his Longhorn Chassis race car equipped with the 525 engine to east Tennessee this weekend to race in the Southern Nationals Bonus race at the Cleveland Speedway on Friday night and the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model event at the 411 Motor Speedway on Saturday.
According to Thomas, the 525 engine offers several key advantages when it comes to racing Super Late Models.
“The cost of running it for one thing,” he declared as one obvious benefit to the engines. “You don’t have to rebuild it every thousand laps and have to change valve springs every 600 laps. You just throw it in there and race it. You don’t even have to check anything, really. You just make sure you’ve got oil in it and that’s about it. It’s something that’s cheaper to run. It’s easier on your equipment too. It doesn’t abuse the car as much and you’re able to run your race car a little bit longer.”
And on certain nights, the engine can hold its own, if not more, with the more expensive machines.
“It’s a good deal for a slow race track,” Thomas pointed out. “Once the track slows down, the thing’s got just enough power and once you get ’em wound up they run along pretty good. Once those guys with the big motors have to start pedaling, you can run with them.”
Specifically, Thomas believes his 525 can keep pace in a particular set of conditions.
“Somewhere that’s gets good and clean and doesn’t have traction on the bottom or a big cushion on the top,” he said. “You’ve got to be on hard tires, like a momentum type deal where you can just keep your speed up through the corners. That’s where it really shines. You’ve just got to be patient and wait for the track to slow down.”
Based on his early season results and the lifting of his program mentioned above, Thomas is confident that he can contend for solid finishes and wins just about anywhere.
“Right now, I’m just going anywhere and just racing,” he declared. “Our package is going good and you’ve got to have faith in your stuff that you can come up through there.”
Still, however, his primary plan is to focus on racing in the events that make the most sense. Races that provide the best opportunity for success on the track and on the financial side of things are where he will line up in 2015.
“I think I’m just going to pick and choose and try to stay within about five hours of the house,” Thomas said. “There’s enough tracks close by to get in plenty of races. If I do run a series it’ll be Ray Cook’s Southern Nationals or something like that. I don’t want to get in a deal where I have to skip a $5,000-to-win that’s two hours away to go run a $3,000-to-win that’s five hours away.”
Thomas in his #19 Longhorn
Aside from his engine, Thomas also sings the praises of his Longhorn Chassis.
“They’re just good,” he said of the cars built by former NASCAR champions Bobby and Terry Labonte and engineered by Kevin Rumley. “They turn good and the cars are in the race track real good. If you can turn through the corner and stay stuck to the track, you can’t beat that.
“They’ve got these cars figured out pretty good,” Thomas added. “There’s so many guys in them that are running good that they’ve got to be doing something right. I’ve run a lot of cars and I’d say that out of the box, these are probably the best cars I’ve been in. They’re simple to work with. You can make minor adjustments and then feel it in the seat.”
Even with his success of late with the 525 engine, Thomas hopes to compete at a higher level in the near future.
“We’ve just got to get a big motor in the car and see if we can still line up with those guys here in the next few weeks. That’s my plan.
