Traverse City, Michigan (Wednesday, April 18th, 2012): Widely considered one of the premier UMP Super Late Model drivers in the Midwestern United States, Brandon Thirlby kicked off his 2012 racing season as many observers expected him too; Standing In Victory Lane! The Traverse City, Michigan standout scored his first Feature win of the year on April 13th at Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Michigan in the “Prelude to the Player Hater.”
“Friday night went about as good as a guy could ask for, We won both the heat and the feature! I think we even won hot laps too!” Laughed the 24-year-old, “We started deep in the heat and managed to pull off a solid win there, then we redrew a three for the Feature and by lap five we were up front and never looked back.” The 2011 UMP Sportsman of the Year Award Winner added.
Thirlby’s win last weekend makes him one of the heavy favorites for this weekends “Player Hater 50” at Winston on Saturday, April 21st. This event will be sanctioned by the Sunoco American Late Model Series and he’s looking forward to the challenges before him; “We definitely hope to pick up where we left off from last weekend. The past two years we’ve finished third and this year I think we have a decent shot at bringing home the big check!” He remarked.
After the Player Hater is complete, the rest of the season will see the Northern Michigan standout will shift focus towards the Michigan Dirt Cup Late Models Tour where he will chase after the inaugural series Championship beginning on Saturday, May 19th at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan. “Bill Long and Andy Stebbins have put together an amazing series and I plan to hit every show. That’s going to be our main focus this season.
In addition to the Michigan Dirt Cup Late Model Tours’ Schedule, Thirlby’s 2012 schedule also includes racing on Friday nights at his home track of Cherry Raceway in Fife Lake, Michigan, just 30 minutes from his Traverse City, Michigan race shop, as well as at Mt. Pleasant Speedway in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. In addition and on Saturday nights, the team will split time between I-96 Speedway as well as Merritt Raceway in Lake City, Michigan.
The 2011 racing season was without a doubt a career year for Thirlby who finished sixth in the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series National Points Standings as well as second in the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Michigan State Points tallies while winning eight (8) Features while finishing with a whopping 36 Top Five finishes and 45 Top 10 showings. In addition, he also won the prestigious UMP DIRTcar Racing Series National Sportsman of the Year Award at the 2011 UMP Awards Banquet back in January 2012.
Thirlby’s stock car racing career began only five seasons ago in 2007 at Cherry Raceway as he split his time racing between cars and hydroplane boats from 2007-2011. Thirlby was an accomplished Boat Racer before retiring at the end of last season. The highlight of his aqua career was when he won the 2009 1100cc Hydroplane World Championship. He also collected four National Championships in Hydroplane Racing and is one of only two drivers to accomplish that feat. He was inducted into the Hall of Champions for his watercraft accomplishments.
For the 2012 racing season, Thirlby’s popular black and purple #m14 UMP Super Late Models which is a Mastersbilt Racecar will carry sponsorship decals all season long from Thirlby Automotive as well as Homestead Motorsports, FK Rod Ends, Integra Racing Shocks, Allstar Performance, Micro-Armor Racing, Mt. Pleasant Speedway, Merritt Raceway and M.P.H. Promotions.
For more information about Brandon Thirlby and the Thirlby Automotive Racing and to find out about sponsorship opportunities for the 2012 season, check out the Brandon Thirlby Facebook Fan Page at: www.facebook.com and search for “Fans of Brandon Thirlby” You can also go to the Thirlby Automotive website as well located at: www.thirlbyautomotive.com
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