CONCORD, N.C.: After finishing second in the ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway early Friday evening, TRICON Garage’s Dean Thompson carried that momentum to the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
After qualifying his No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra seventh, Thompson was able to quickly propel himself inside the top-five where he stayed all night long.
Utilizing the energy, he carried in the first two stages of the race; Thompson exercised the strength of his TRICON Toyota Tundra Pro late in Stage 3 to contend for his first career win in his 35th start.
On a late race restart, Thompson was able to challenge teammate Corey Heim and Texas winner Carson Hocevar for the runner-up position and as quickly as he went into offensive mode utilizing the high lane, he quickly had to revert to defense mode attempting to keep Hocevar and Grant Enfinger who entered the picture in the closing laps.
With his truck working best on the outside lane, Thompson was able to outduel Hocevar for the third spot and finish behind race winner Ben Rhodes and Heim.
After the race, the huge smile for the former ARCA Menards Series West competitor could not be wiped from his face – as he described the emotion of a banner night.
“Ben (Rhodes) had it locked down,” said Thompson who also earned massive stage points with finishes of third in both Stage 1 and Stage 2. “I thought the 42 (Hocevar) had it locked down but man, I’ll tell you what the TRICON guys put together an absolute rocket ship today. I mean I can’t thank them enough.
“This is insane, This season so far has been so up and down. We’ve had good runs – in Texas and Kansas, and just end up wrecking. To have this turnaround like this is massive. Not just for me, but for my team too. This plays a lot into my confidence, so we can take it to Gateway.”
Thompson during the past two seasons has received backlash on social media for his lack of results, but the Anaheim, Calif. native had a message for all the haters after his career-day just outside the Queen City.
“This is for all of you doubters out there, p3,” he said.
Throughout the night, Dean gained notoriety for the speed in his No. 5 TRICON Garage truck carried in the outside lane, most notable the lane closest to the wall.
Dean referenced that once his spotter Doug Campbell informed him that Rhodes was gaining time on the field, he felt like he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“I heard the 99 (Rhodes) was coming a couple lanes up near the fence and I was like hell, I’ll try it,” Thompson explained.. “We passed a couple guys on the restart on the top, so started passing guys, might as well stay up there. I mean Derek Smith put together a rocket ship. Nobody else could run up there.”
Without the beneficiary of a late-race caution, the 21-year-old realized the chances of pulling an upset victory were unlikely, but if a late race yellow flew, he believes he had a truck capable of winning.
“I think we could have finished p1 or p2 with this thing, but you know still learning,” sounded Thompson.
The Californian reflected on his first career top-five.
“It feels pretty sweet,” Thompson sounded. “It’s just surreal to be here. I’m so honored to be here and to be able to do this. I’m so grateful. I got all mad and upset about p2 in the ARCA race, and now I’m stoked to be here in p3 in the Truck race. Pretty awesome stuff.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
