Reposted from PSCA Racing Website courtesy of PSCA

Thornton Racing & Lady Luck Team Up For Vegas Win!!!

 

Ed Thornton struggled all weekend with his combo but he had some luck (I mean a whole lotta luck) on his side as he captured his 1st Pro Street win an over a year!!

John Scialpi (pictured) qualified #1 with a stellar 6.242/221.56 in the Vegas nighttime heat!! Right behind Scialpi was series points leader Mike Maggio with a 6.250 at a staggering 244.21 MPH!! Wade Maggio had a few little gremlins and his lifting 6.748 at only 175.55 was good enough for 3rd, Thornton never really got off the starting line with overboost problems and ended up 4th...

The 1st Round Match-ups would put The Maggio Motorsports Team cars up against one another and your #1 Qualifier John Scialpi vs. the 3-time PSCA Hughes Performance Pro Street Champ Ed Thornton!! There was plenty of Text Trash Talking between the Thornton & Scialpi camps leading up to elimination's... "It's all in good clean fun" says Shane Tecklenburg (Thornton's Tuner) Shane goes on to say "Scialpi is one of the all time greats, and you need to be on your game when you line up next to him, but harassing John's son Kenny by text messages before elimination's gets your competitive juices flowing!!"

Saturday Night Elimination's started out with what might be the start of a classic Father-Son rivalry!! No "Team Orders" were in place as Mike wanted to put a strangle hold on the 2011 Championship and Wade looked for that 1st ever "Win Light" Father Mike would take the win with an Event Low ET (6.18) as Wade had his first attempt at pedaling a Pro Streeter as he spun the tires at the hit of the throttle!! In the other match-up, John Scialpi the #1 Qualifier had lane-choice and at the last second the team decided to switch from the right to the left lane... As the car staged and the lights dropped, Scialpi and Thornton both shook the tires but Ed drove it a little further through the shake and the car recovered to run 6.87/222 and take out the top qualifier!! This would set up a re-match from the Super Chevy Show earlier this year where Maggio took home the honors...

In the Final Round, Maggio continued to take the right lane (primarily because it's easier for Mike to see the tree with the big Injector hat) Thornton knew he was over matched as his '63 Corvette had issue after issue in the previous 4 runs,  but Heads-Up Racing is never decided on paper or in the pits so Thornton stepped up the boost and see what would happen!! As the tree dropped, Ed left the line first with a stellar .418 Reaction time to Maggio's slower .470... The starting line advantage was gobbled up by 100ft as Thornton continued to have problems as Maggio Streaked to 6.35/230 pass to Thornton's 6.42.. But wait a second.... As some of the team celebrated Mike's 3rd win of the season, Crew Chief Kirk Kuhns (see picture below) noticed that Mike was hugging the centerline from halftrack on. In fact, Mike was on the centerline and knocked out the MPH Timing Block and was DQ'd handing the win to Thornton. At the time, a dejected Thornton did what every Heads-Up Racer should do, scale the car cause you never know if the other car comes up light or in this case DQ'd. As Ed sat in his car a call was made to the scales informing him of the situation and declared Ed the winner!!! "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good" Thornton said... Ed went on to say "We totally sucked this weekend, but anyone could win (all you have to do is enter) and we just proved it!!" This was the 1st win since early 2010 for Thornton Racing, next up for the PSCA Hughes Performance Pro Street Teams is the Accufab "West Coast Shootout" October 7-9 in Las Vegas and then the much anticipated $20,000 to win Street Car Super Nationals VII Nov 17-20

Thornton Racing Team Scores Runner Up Finish at PSCA Super Chevy Show at Las Vegas

For Immediate Release

5/1/2011 The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Thornton Racing Team got a second place finish at this weekend's Super Chevy show in the Pacific Street Car Association Pro Street category at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Driver Ed Thornton of Chino, Ca staged his Lucas Oil Products backed black 1963 Corvette with Twin Comp Turbo Turbochargers against the recent PSCA juggernaut and fellow Lucas Oil teammate Mike Maggio of San Dimas, CA with his Supercharged Camaro. The race was close at the beginning at Maggio's .032 reaction time slightly edged Thornton's .049 but by the finish line the margin was more than .3 seconds as Team Thornton went down in defeat at 6.328 to 6.027 elapsed time. 

Remarked Thornton "I could see he was ahead and he wasn't running away hard but he was slowly edging ahead of me at every cone. We had more than our share of struggles with our car this weekend and honestly to make it to the final round feels like a victory all on its own."

"We are slowly finding little issues with the engine and with our car especially the chassis," said co-crewchief Shane Tecklenburg of Mission Viejo, Ca. "We have more power than we have ever had with these new Comp Turbo's but we are really struggling to figure out how to apply it properly to the pavement."

"It's getting tough to get the clutch to hold the power that we are generating now with these turbos," said co crewchief Doug Stewart of Valinda, Ca. "We are going to have to go back to the drawing board on some of our control systems to get this car right."

After struggling to a dismal 11th qualifying position with a 6.95 the Thornton Team, also supported by Brandt Racing Enterprises, East West Engineering, Injector Dynamics, Accufab, Wingnuts Restaurants and Doug's Headers, took a bye run for their first round victory when their opponent was unable to make the call due to breakage. Second round saw Thornton upset Dan Nickelson on a major holeshot .020 to .288 and the black Corvette's 6.36 at 226 outpaced a 6.18 at 231. The Semi-final round pitted Team Thornton against Matt Rhoades but Rhoades 6.92 was outpaced by Thornton's 6.42 at 221 mph. That run was the car's best performance of the weekend to the 330 cone and solidified their place in the final round against Maggio.

Thornton Racing team plans to compete next at the PSCA Hughes Performance California Nationals May 20-22, 2011.

The team would like to express their gratitude to the PSCA Staff, the staff at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and to Lucas Oil Products' Jimmy Biggs and George Klass for their video coverage of the event.

Thornton Racing runs career best ET enroute to 2nd round finish

For Immediate Release

4-17-2011 - Las Vegas, NV 

The Thornton Racing team used their career quickest elapsed time to secure a second round finish at the Pacific Street Car Association Racin for Jason Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. The team campaign a 1963 Corvette with Twin Comp Turbo Technology turbochargers atop a 512 Cubic Inch Big Block Chevy in the Pro Street category and ran their career best elapsed time of 6.235 seconds at 233.53 miles per hour. Despite their best performance ever, they came up .03 seconds short of a victory when their opponent scored a 6.202 in the other lane.

"We are pretty happy about the performance," noted co-crew chief Shane Tecklenburg. "Clearly we would like to have won the round but we are pleased that when we needed to we were able to come up with a reasonable pass. Most of the other ones this weekend were subpar for one reason or another."

"It was definitely a move in the right direction," explained co-crew chief Doug Stewart. "We have something to build on now which is nice to know."

The team ran a 6.316 e.t. at 230 mph during qualifying which placed them in the number 6 position on the eliminations ladder. First round saw the team take a deposit from the luck bank when their competitor was unable to make the call due to irreparable damage giving them the victory before they made their run. During that first round pass, the car struck the tire violently at the 40 foot mark and did not complete a full pass but got the win. The team spent the time between rounds to formulate the plan which allowed them to make their second round best. 

Thornton Racing will compete next at the PSCA Pro Street event during the Super Chevy Show at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway April 29 - May 1st.

Thornton Racing is supported and wishes to thank their sponsors Comp Turbo Technology, Lucas Oil Products, Injector Dynamics, East West Engineering, Brandt Racing Enterprises, Doug' Headers, Accufab, SCE Gaskets and Wingnuts Restaurants and a special thanks to Scott and Joey Oksas and Payless Hot Water Heaters.

Follow the team's progress on Twitter @ThorntonRacing find them on Facebook at Thornton Racing, view their blog at www.turbovette.blogspot.com or on the website at www.turbovette.com

Thornton Racing Qualifies 6th for PSCA Racin for Jason Nationals at Las Vegas

For Immediate Release

4-16-2011 Las Vegas, NV - The Thornton Racing team qualified their 1963 Corvette Twin Turbo Pro Street in the number 6 position for the Pacific Street Car Association Racin for Jason Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. The team made a 6.316 second run during the 2nd qualifying session of the day at over 230 Miles per hour which puts them 5 positions behind the pole time of 6.000. 

Driver Ed Thornton "We were able to get the car to go straight on the second pass but we have been struggling with little issues here and there since we got here. We have had trouble finding traction on each run including our aborted first qualifying run and our third qualifying run. It was on a pass on the third one but turned sideways on the first gear change so I had to shut it down."

After arriving Friday the team made two test runs both of which resulted in tire shake at the 100 foot marker. Round 1 Qualifying began with another tire shaking pass this time at the hit of the clutch before the team were able to get a handle on the tune up which resulted in the 6.316 pass. 

Thornton Racing is supported by Comp Turbo Technology, Lucas Oil Products, Injector Dynamics, East West Engineering, Brandt Racing Enterprises, Doug' Headers, Accufab, SCE Gaskets and Wingnuts Restaurants.

The team have made the changes they feel necessary to get the car to maintain grip with the track for eliminations which are slated to take place tomorrow morning beginning at 11:00 am. Follow the teams progress on Twitter @ThorntonRacing find them on Facebook at Thornton Racing, view their blog at www.turbovette.blogspot.com or on the website at www.turbovette.com

Thornton Racing heading for LVMS with high hopes

The Thornton Racing Team is excited to return to the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for this weekend's Pacific Street Car Association "Racin for Jason Nationals." After an exciting 2010 finish at the Street Car Supernationals our team was on a high note entering 2011. We were lucky enough to find some people who were interested in becoming part of our race team. Companies like Comp Turbo Technology and Lucas Oil Products joined in over the off season. East West Engineering, Accufab Racing, Dougs Headers and Brandt Racing are also aboard for this season in addition to Wing Nuts Restaurants and SCE Gaskets.

This will be our first trip back to the Strip and our first chance to run with the big dogs again in the PSCA Pro Street class. Our earlier events of 2011 were canceled due to inclement weather and noise complaints but we are excited as ever to go back to green light racing at LVMS.

The Thornton team will be testing on Friday afternoon before Saturday's qualifying sessions.

Stay tuned to team information on our blog at www.turbovette.blogspot.com our Twitter account @ThorntonRacing and on Facebook at Thornton Racing.

Wingnuts Restaurant/PSCA Event Discount Coupons

The Thornton Racing team is proud to announce a special promotion taking place during the PSCA "Super Show" at Autoclub Dragway at California Speedway this weekend. Be sure to stop by WINGNUTS Restaurant and get your discount passes to this weekend's race. Wingnuts is immediately off the 10 Freeway @ 1520 North Mountain Ave, in Ontario just 12 miles West of the Speedway. They have a large menu selection and are renown for their Wings of which there are over 30 mouthwatering flavors which are accompanied perfectly by any one of the 25 beers on tap and full service bar. Come to the track and ask Mel or anyone from the Thornton Racing Team for a $5 off coupon to the restaurant and enjoy a delicious meal on Friday or Saturday night. Additional Information is available at www.wingnuts.biz or by calling 909-391-1500. Wingnuts Online Menu Meet up with Team Thornton Racing at Wingnuts on Friday evening. Thank you for your support

PSCA Opener cancelled due to inclement weather

Just a heads up to let our supporters know that our opening event over the past weekend at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was cancelled due to inclement weather in the Las Vegas and surrounding areas.

 

The Thornton Racing team would like to thank our supporters for the 2011 PSCA Season including

 

Comp Turbo Technology

Lucas Oil

East West Engineering

Doug's Headers

Injector Dynamics

Wingnuts Restaurants

Brandt Racing Enterprises

Tuned By Shane T

Accufab Inc.

SCE Gaskets

SU Sand Cars

Thornton Racing Welcomes Lucas Oil for 2011

 

 

1-29-2011 Chino, CA - The Thornton Racing team is proud to announce their association with Lucas Oil Products for the 2011 Pacific Street Car Association championship season. The team race a 1963 Corvette with twin Comp Turbo turbochargers in the Pro Street category and are looking to win an unprecedented 5th PSCA Pro Street Championship in 2011. The team formerly were champions in 2003 - 2005 and again in 2007 and have made the decision to try again this season after a successful outing last November at the Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas where they finished in the top four.

Lucas Oil Company was founded in 1989 by President and CEO Forrest Lucas. Lucas began his career as a trucker in Indiana, expanding his operation over the next 20 years. Seeing the need for a better lubricant for his trucks he began his search eventually leading to the creation of his own special formula for the trucking industry and the results speak for themselves. Lucas Oil Products are engineered to be the best in the business. They are used in nearly every form of motorsports as well as clocking millions of miles annually on our nations highways via the trucking industry.
One of the most generous companies involved in motorsports, Lucas has grown into a worldwide leader in lubrication technology as well as car care, fuel treatments and additional products that just make life easier whether you own an 8000 HP Top Fuel Dragster a 3000 HP Twin Turbo Corvette or just a daily driver. The company has a major manufacturing facility and headquarters in  Corydon, Indiana and corporate headquarters in Corona, California.

" I am very proud to be part of the Lucas Oil family knowing I am using the best lubricants available,"said Thornton Racing driver Ed Thornton. "I have high hopes for this 2011 season and I am excited to have the opportunity to use Lucas' products inside the race car while showcasing their brand on the outside."

 

The team plans to compete in all 10 regularly scheduled PSCA events this season, beginning with the opening round of competition February 18-20 at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 

 You can learn more about Lucas Oil and all the products they have to offer on their user friendly website. Lucasoil.com as well as the Thornton Racing website www.turbovette.com

Thornton Racing announces 2011 support from Wingnuts Restaurants

The Thornton Racing Team is proud to announce our association with Wingnuts Restaurants for the 2011 PSCA Championship season. Wingnuts is an airplane themed restaurant specializing in Chicken Wings and other casual fare and has two locations in Southern California, Ontario and Costa Mesa. The Ontario location is just 13 miles from the Autoclub Dragway at California Speedway and is conveniently located just off the 10 freeway at 1520 North Mountain Ave. making it the perfect destination for hungry racers and crews at the end of a day's racing. 

A Thornton team favorite for years, Wingnuts is famous for their melt in your mouth wings with over 30 flavor choices and they are served with their fresh homemade propeller chips, and a side of their traditional coleslaw. They feature a very wide variety of menu options like their delicious burgers, mouth watering ribs, and chicken sandwiches or wraps, fresh made to order of course. If you like eating more on the light side, their salads really hit the spot but don't forget to try "Far East Nachos" another Team Thornton favorite, while you are waiting for your food to be prepared. To chase it all down they offer a full service bar that serves ice cold beer - 25 flavors, or a delicious glass of strawberry lemonade or iced tea and a wonderful friendly staff to serve you in a very casual and comfortable atmosphere.

"Who would have ever thought that one of our favorite places to eat would be part of our race team, this is pretty cool," said Thornton Racing team driver Ed Thornton. "We look forward to working with Wingnuts this year to hopefully introduce their style of food to a new audience. We also plan on having some sort of social event during the PSCA races in Fontana at the Ontario location so stay tuned for further announcements."

More information about the Wingnuts restaurants can be found on the Thornton team websitehttp://www.turbovette.com/ under the Associates link or you can log on to http://www.wingnuts.biz/ for further information. 

Thornton Racing poised for Triumphant return in 2011

20-1-2010 Chino, CA - Four Time Pacific Street Car Association Pro Street Champion Ed Thornton is excited about his 2011 campaign. That is because he sat out most of 2010 to concentrate on his business S U Sand Cars. Near the end of 2010 he was getting restless after watching at all but one of the PSCA regular season races from the grandstands. His crew chief Doug Stewart and car chief Tom Esbri had gone on to assist the Hairston Motorsports team and tuner Shane Tecklenburg was with Scott Oksas' Payless Water Heaters team. Then in October, Thornton had a chat with his friend and mentor Derrol Hubbard regarding his desire to compete again at the Street Car Super Nationals. With Hubbard's assistance and with help from a few other friends, Thornton was able to piece his twin turbo '63 Corvette back together and make the necessary upgrades to compete. Tecklenburg joined the fray after Oksas car was destroyed in a testing mishap and Esbri and Stewart fresh from tuning Hairston to the PSCA Championship announced they were prepared to run with Thornton at SCSN. Suddenly, the "Band" was back together again.

Photo credit Jason Sharp

 

At the SCSN event Team Thornton had some early struggles with their new combination but managed to qualify albeit in the 26th slot. But come Sunday the team pulled together and looked as though they had returned to their Championship form with a first round upset win. Second round saw the team lay down top speed of the event for the shortened 1/8 mile event and another win in round 3 setup a semi final round appearance with eventual winner Rod Burbage. Burbage was there for the taking but the miscues with the new clutch system on Thornton's car from earlier in the weekend finally took its toll and all Thornton could do against Burbage was watch the win light slip away in clutch dust. All things considered, Thornton and company were very proud of their showing.

 

"I am really stoked at what we accomplished this weekend," explained Thornton from the press room at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "Hopefully we can get some help for 2011 and make a hard run at the championship."

 

With their new found enthusiasm the team went on a sponsor hunting campaign looking for partners for a 2011 run at the PSCA Pro Street Championship. The team created a website www.turbovette.com and started both Facebook pages, Youtube pages and Twitter Accounts under the Thornton Racing heading. Finally the team began a blog at www.turbovette.blogspot.com to keep sponsors and fans alike up to speed with their team's progress. Early on in the process the team was able to secure associate sponsorship from both Accufab Racing and Brandt Racing Enterprises. Injector Dynamics returned as an associate sponsor and East West Engineering came aboard as well. Doug's Headers agreed to be a part of the 2011 campaign and soon a deal came up with a company named Comp Turbo Technology of San Dimas, California.

 

Comp Turbo, as the name implies, is a manufacturer of turbochargers for all forms of motor sport. They have been in business since 2007 in their 8000 square foot facility which features an assembly room, quality control room, high speed balancing machine and the CNC equipment required to manufacture turbochargers on site. Comp Turbo is the only company in the industry to offer the "Oil Less" turbocharger technology and they offer turbochargers for applications ranging from 80 Horsepower to over 3500 horsepower. With everything being made in house and engineers working directly with the Thornton Racing team their 2011 partnership couldn't be better.

 

"I was really happy after I had a meeting with Joe over at their facility in San Dimas," said Thornton. "We are getting first class treatment from these guys and they want to use our program as a basis to further develop their product. If all goes to plan, we will be able to give them some exposure into this market and they can give us the power we need to reach our goals of running in the 5 second zone at 250 miles per hour and winning another title." referring to the PSCA Pro Street Championship.

 

The beginning of the 2011 season looms on the horizon with the first race set to take place in mid February at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team continues to search for new and innovative ways to showcase their associates using their race car and team and although they have acquired some additional help they are still seeking opportunities to represent additional partners. With new technology, added support and a renewed sense of focus, the Thornton Racing team appears to be on track to achieve their goal of an unprecedented 5th Pro Street Championship.

 

"I don't want to go just to run," mused Thornton. "I want to look back at 2011 and have no regrets. I want to win."