CONCORD, N.C. – Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman – Steel Horse Racing photo –
No one was happier to see Monday night’s World 225 checkered flag than Steel Horse Racing’s Thomas George.
Not only did it mark his second =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series victory of the 2015 season, it also brought an end to the streak of bad luck that has plagued the veteran driver since his first win back at Atlanta in March.
“This is such a relief,” George said of getting back to Victory Lane. “I said with about 30 to go that one way or another we were going to the front, and it worked out perfectly for us.”
George led 75 of the race’s 150 laps, but did not take the lead for the final time until four laps to go, when he blazed past late-race rival David Comstock on the strength of four fresh tires.
“I knew [when he stayed out] that if we could get ten laps of green flag racing, just ten, that we could work our way up through the field and make a move for the win,” George explained. “Then we kept getting all those cautions late in the race and I could never make a good run, but on that last restart I got a good jump and I was just praying it was going to go green all the way to the end. Luckily, it did that and we’re standing in Victory Lane because of it.”
With the win, George not only becomes the second repeat winner of the 2015 season, he also locks himself into the 2015 Chase for the Full Throttle Cup – providing he finishes the 23-race regular season inside the top 30 in driver points.
“That feels fantastic,” George grinned. “That feels really fantastic. After all the problems, the chaos, the getting caught up in other people’s messes that we’ve been through the past two months, to come to one of my favorite tracks and pick up a much-needed victory, lock ourselves into the Chase takes so much pressure off going forward into the summer.”
The veteran =RSR= driver sits seventh in the regular season championship standings after Charlotte, and second on the provisional Chase Grid.
“It’s big because we’ve proven we have speed on the mile-and-a-half tracks – which are a mainstay in the ten Chase races,” George explained. “If we can keep that up, hopefully we can advance through the rounds and maybe have an all-Steel Horse Racing final four when we get to Homestead in November.”
For now though, George is simply basking in the glow of a win – one that came on Memorial Day week with a special patriotic Snap-On Tools paint scheme onboard his No. 1 Chevrolet SS.
“It means a ton to get the victory here at Charlotte, knowing that Memorial Day is coming up and we had a special paint scheme on the car tonight to honor America and all our servicemen and women out there fighting for our freedom. That alone makes this night so much sweeter.”
“To all our troops here and abroad, thank you, thank you, thank you. We couldn’t do what we love to do without you.”
George will be back in action with the =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series following the Memorial Day break looking to make it two wins in a row and three overall on the season – the Autism Speaks 200 goes green at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday, June 1 live on LSRTV.
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