Tanner Delbert Thorson (born May 7, 1996) is an American professional

dirt track racing Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s ...

driver. He competes in the

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

(USAC) and

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

. Thorson has also competed in the

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

, last driving the Nos. 12 and 20

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from th ...

s for

Young's Motorsports Young's Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series. In the Truck Series, they field three full-time Chevrolet Silverados: the No. 02 for Jesse L ...

in 2018.

Racing career

USAC racing

TannerThorson2014USACMidgetAngellParkSpeedway

Thorson raced in the USAC Midget National Tour for many years. He won the 2016

USAC National Midget Series The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

championship on the strength of 17 wins. A highlight of the season was winning the Gold Crown Midget Nationals at

Tri-City Speedway Tri-City Raceway Park (formerly known as Tri-City Speedway and Franklin Speedway) is a 1/2-mile dirt oval and a 3/8-mile track for karts, located in Oakland Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, near the city of Franklin to the southwest. It ...

. He also made some starts in asphalt

Late Model A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

s and an ARCA start on the dirt at the

Springfield Mile Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one mile long clay oval motor racetrack on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, the state capital. It is frequently nicknamed The Springfield Mile. Constructed in the late 19th century and rec ...

. Thorson began USAC

Sprint Car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

racing in 2021 and ran for the Rookie of the Year. He won his first USAC wingless Sprint Car feature on April 23, 2021 at Big Diamond Speedway in his thirteenth start. Thorson won his fifth feature USAC Midget win of the season on August 5, 2021 at

Bridgeport Speedway Bridgeport Speedway is a dirt Oval track racing, speedway located in the community of Bridgeport, New Jersey, Bridgeport in Logan Township, New Jersey, Logan Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, New Jersey, that consists of ...

. It was Thorson's 25th career win, which put him in 16th place on the all-time wins list. On January 16, 2022, Thorson beat Christopher Bell to claim his first

Chili Bowl Nationals The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is an indoor midget car race that takes place in January on a 1/4 mile dirt oval track at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. NASCAR calls it the "biggest Midget race of the year". It is nic ...

win.

Camping World Truck Series

In 2018, it was announced that Thorson would drive the No. 20 truck for

in conjunction with Team Dillon Racing for the majority of the 2018 NCWTS schedule.

Personal life

Thorson sustained injuries in a traffic crash in the early hours of March 4, 2019. According to the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...

, Thorson rear-ended a milk truck in a construction zone while driving the truck that carried his sprint car back from a race in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

K&N Pro Series East

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorson, Tanner Living people 1996 births NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers People from Minden, Nevada Racing drivers from Nevada CARS Tour drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers