September 13, 2025 | By Brian Walker, High Limit Racing PR

Thorson Charges from 12th to first High Limit win

SARVER, Pa.—It was never a matter of "if" but always "when" would Tanner Thorson break through for his first-career Kubota High Limit Racing win; and he answered that question in a resounding fashion on Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

In his 84th attempt - after five oh-so-close runner-up results - the Minden, Nevada native finally enjoyed his first taste of Whiskey Meyers Victory Lane, and he did it with an outstanding drive from 12th-to-1st, capped with a late-race pass over six-time and defending national champion, Brad Sweet.

Coming from the outside of row six, Thorson quickly worked his Rod Gross Motorsports No. 88 into the top-five by the time the one and only caution of the race flew on Lap 8 of 30. He soon jumped into third by Lap 3, passed for second on Lap 20, and then ran down "The Big Cat" for the win in lap traffic.

Besides his split-field preliminary score at the Gold Cup Race of Champions last August, it was Thorson's first official victory on the national stage of winged sprint car racing - coming in his 107th A-Main between World of Outlaws and High Limit competition.

His score from 12th marks the second-farthest a winner has ever started in Kubota High Limit Racing - only topped by Corey Day's 15th-to-1st drive at Lake Ozark Speedway in June 2024.

It was a wildly popular win both in-person and online as Thorson became the 16th different team to earn a Casm Safety Win Sticker in 2025. His first victory also allowed him to send $1,000 from the High Limit Angel Donor to Dustin Poirier's "The Good Fight Foundation."

Hoping to end a two-month winless drought, but falling three laps shy, was Brad Sweet with a runner-up result after he led the opening 27 laps at Lernerville. Although the agony of defeat weighed on the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 crew, it was still a profitable night for the Kasey Kahne Racing bunch as they closed to 33-points out of the all-important Kubota High Limit Racing Owner Championship lead.

Rounding out the podium with a last-lap pass was Daison Pursley in the Buch Motorsports No. 13. The leading contender for the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Rookie of the Year snookered Justin Peck on the final circuit to nail down his second podium over the last two weeks.

Those three - Thorson, Sweet & Pursley - are now locked-in for Heat Races in Saturday's $30,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start finale of the Commonwealth Clash. Their preliminary performances allow them to bypass Qualifying and start 4th in Heat Races as the fastest transfer car.

Closing out the top-10 on Friday night was Justin Peck, Sye Lynch, Ryan Smith, Rico Abreu, Giovanni Scelzi, Brent Marks, and Justin Sanders.


THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (9/12/25)
Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA)

Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps - Daison Pursley (13.420)
Capitol Renegade QuickTime - Ryan Smith (13.174)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Daison Pursley
DMI Heat Two Winner - Giovanni Scelzi
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Brad Sweet
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Brad Sweet
Winters Performance B-Main Winner - Sye Lynch
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Brad Sweet (15.184)
Rod End Supply Hard Charger - Sye Lynch +14 (19th-5th)

Lap Leaders - Brad Sweet 1-27; Tanner Thorson 28-30


Kubota A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[12]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 13-Daison Pursley[2]; 4. 26-Justin Peck[3]; 5. 42-Sye Lynch[19]; 6. 69K-Ryan Smith[6]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu[8]; 8. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 9. 19-Brent Marks[9]; 10. 14-Justin Sanders[10]; 11. 39M-Anthony Macri[13]; 12. 55-Logan Wagner[7]; 13. 9-Chase Randall[21]; 14. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[18]; 15. 71-Parker Price Miller[15]; 16. 24D-Danny Sams III[22]; 17. 87-Aaron Reutzel[20]; 18. 5J-Jeremy Weaver[11]; 19. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[5]; 20. 11-Carl Bowser[14]; 21. 5-Brenham Crouch[16]; 22. 2-AJ Flick[24]; 23. 46-Michael Bauer[23]; 24. 21-Carmen Perigo Jr[17]

Winters Performance B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 42-Sye Lynch[1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 3. 9-Chase Randall[3]; 4. 24D-Danny Sams III[6]; 5. 46-Michael Bauer[7]; 6. 2-AJ Flick[8]; 7. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[10]; 8. 29-Logan McCandless[5]; 9. 7K-Dan Shetler[9]; 10. M4-Louie Mattes[4]; 11. 3-John Jerich[11]

FK Rod Ends Dash (7 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 2. 13-Daison Pursley[3]; 3. 26-Justin Peck[2]; 4. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 5. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[4]; 6. 69K-Ryan Smith[6]

TJ Forged Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Daison Pursley[1]; 2. 55-Logan Wagner[3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 4. 69K-Ryan Smith[4]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[5]; 6. 5-Brenham Crouch[6]; 7. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 8. 24D-Danny Sams III[8]; 9. 2-AJ Flick[7]; 10. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[10]

DMI Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 2. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 3. 19-Brent Marks[5]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Weaver[6]; 5. 11-Carl Bowser[9]; 6. 21-Carmen Perigo Jr[8]; 7. M4-Louie Mattes[10]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 9. 42-Sye Lynch[4]; 10. 3-John Jerich[7]

BR Motorsports Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 2. 26-Justin Peck[2]; 3. 14-Justin Sanders[6]; 4. 88-Tanner Thorson[3]; 5. 71-Parker Price Miller[1]; 6. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[5]; 7. 29-Logan McCandless[7]; 8. 46-Michael Bauer[8]; 9. 7K-Dan Shetler[9]

Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 69K-Ryan Smith, 00:13.174[27]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:13.190[7]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.192[12]; 4. 13-Daison Pursley, 00:13.227[25]; 5. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.262[17]; 6. 71-Parker Price Miller, 00:13.303[23]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:13.309[20]; 8. 1A-Ashton Torgerson, 00:13.313[6]; 9. 26-Justin Peck, 00:13.335[10]; 10. 55-Logan Wagner, 00:13.340[8]; 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:13.361[14]; 12. 88-Tanner Thorson, 00:13.420[22]; 13. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.439[24]; 14. 19-Brent Marks, 00:13.465[29]; 15. 17GP-Tim Shaffer, 00:13.481[4]; 16. 5-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.497[15]; 17. 5J-Jeremy Weaver, 00:13.551[2]; 18. 14-Justin Sanders, 00:13.558[28]; 19. 2-AJ Flick, 00:13.563[3]; 20. 3-John Jerich, 00:13.593[16]; 21. 29-Logan McCandless, 00:13.650[21]; 22. 24D-Danny Sams III, 00:13.659[13]; 23. 21-Carmen Perigo Jr, 00:13.711[18]; 24. 46-Michael Bauer, 00:13.768[11]; 25. 9-Chase Randall, 00:13.769[26]; 26. 11-Carl Bowser, 00:13.774[1]; 27. 7K-Dan Shetler, 00:13.955[9]; 28. 3J-Jacob Begenwald, 00:14.062[5]; 29. M4-Louie Mattes, 00:14.480[19]


NEW 2025 Kubota High Limit Racing Championship Standings (After 40/51 Races):

1. Ridge & Sons Racing #87 (2,188 PTS...-)
2. Rico Abreu Racing #24 (2,187 PTS... -1)
3. Kasey Kahne Racing #49 (2,155 PTS... -33)
4. Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC (2,091 PTS... -97)
5. Murray-Marks Motorsports #19 (2,085 PTS... -103)
6. Rudeen Racing #26 (2,000 PTS... -188)
7. Rod Gross Motorsports #88 (1,950 PTS... -238)
8. Buch Motorsports #13 (1,705 PTS... -483)
9. Jason Meyers Racing #14 (1,619 PTS... -569)
10. CJB Motorsports #5 (1,542 PTS... -646)
11. Mosites Lynch Racing #42 (1,492 PTS... -696)
12. Chase Randall Racing #9R (1,489 PTS... -699)
13. Randerson Racing #24D (1,286 PTS... -902)


UP NEXT: The Commonwealth Clash concludes tomorrow, Saturday, September 13 with a $30,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start finale at Lernerville Speedway. After that, Kubota High Limit Racing prepares for three races in four days with a Roto-Rooter Midweek Series event at Indiana's Lawrenceburg Speedway on Wednesday, September 17 followed by the 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio's Eldora Speedway on Friday & Saturday, September 19-20. Fans can buy tickets at HighLimitRacing.com.