Cody Thompson returned to the driver’s seat on Friday night in the opening round of the seventh annual Desert Thunder Nationals at Central Arizona Speedway (Casa Grande, Arizona). A talented field of 36 IMCA SportMods entered the event, and struggles in his heat race relegated Cody to a B-Main.
A convincing win in his B-Main positioned Thompson 18th on the starting grid for the feature. Despite starting deep in the field, Cody rocketed through the field to pick up his 33rd victory of the 2020 campaign. He was followed across the finish line by Shelby Frye, Ty Weidner, Ron Schreiner and Austen Becerra rounded out the Top-5 finishers.
Action continued on Saturday night with the second round of three-race weekend, and once again Thompson found himself atop the winner’s podium at the end of the night. Starting the feature in the third position, Cody stormed to the lead exiting turn four on the opening circuit. Once out from he cruised to his 34th win of the year, which came over Bo Partain, David Jones, Michael Soboski, and Taylor Kuehl.
The weekend drew to a close on Sunday evening, and Thompson’s bid for a weekend sweep fell just short of the mark. Starting 22nd on the grid for the 25-lap finale, he charged to a fourth-place finish behind race winner Bo Partain, Austen Becerra, and Speedy Madrid.
“We didn’t get the weekend sweep, but it was obviously still a great weekend for our team,” Thompson said. “I can’t say enough about our team or say enough thanks to everyone, who supports us. I greatly appreciate everyone who makes our program possible, and we are definitely excited about next year.”