Kole Raz Outlasts Derek Thorn, Kevin Harvick Scores Top Five at The Bullring at Las Vegas

Kole Raz won a clash of the West Coast’s Late Model titans at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night, holding off Derek Thorn to win the Star Nursery Classic.

Raz took the lead for the final time with 15 laps to go after a thrilling back-and-forth exchange with Thorn, stretching out an advantage of more than a second to get to the checkered flag first.

“That was a lot of fun,” said Raz. “Any time you can race against a guy like Derek Thorn, you learn so much. It got a little Western there those last 20 laps or so, but just a huge thank you to Gary Crooks, Jeff Jefferson, everybody at Port City Race Cars. This was a bad fast race car.”

Derek Thorn finished second to Raz, his second runner-up finish of the evening. Thorn was runner-up to Parker Malone in the CARS Tour West 100-lap feature leading up to the Super Late Model 125-lapper. Double duty made for a busy night for the 2022 Snowball Derby winner.

“I’m proud of these guys,” said Thorn. “These guys busted their butts all weekend doing two cars. It sounded good on paper, but it ended up being a lot more work. Andy, Marty, Darrell, all these guys that help us out and make this possible.

“We had a great car, just not good enough to be ahead of Raz. Our short run was speed was great. Just not good enough after 10 or 15 laps. Unfortunately, missed it by a little bit, but proud of the speed we had. We’ll have to work on it and see if we can make it better.”

Thorn started on the pole and led the first 63 laps before Raz moved into the top spot. Thorn reclaimed the lead on lap 103, but Raz answered back to ultimately take the win.

Jeremy Doss rounded out the podium of West Coast champions, although his night was slightly more adventurous. While Raz and Thorn never slid out of the top three positions, Doss pitted with 40 laps to go for adjustments and drove through the field for a third-place effort.

“It was a pretty good race there,” said Doss. “We ended up pitting, we didn’t think we had a car capable of winning. Tried to adjust on it. Stoked to finish back on the podium, I just couldn’t get the feel I wanted to all weekend, too tight rolling.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick finished fourth in his first race at the Bullring since 1995. Harvick was thrilled following the event, sharing his excitement with the challenge of driving Super Late Models on the tight track.

“Yeah, it got fun there at the end,” said Harvick. “I just want to thank everybody for coming out. The last time I raced here was 1995. The grandstands were over there, and it was in a Southwest Tour car. I can’t thank all the competitors, fans, people, teams for coming out. This was a lot of fun. That’s a lot of race car. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a real race car.

“It was a great show. I just enjoy driving these cars. It’s fun to be able to spin the back tires and push the pedal down. Thanks to Craig for bringing these Super Late Models. We’ll be back a couple of times next year with these cars.”

The event kicked off the NASCAR Playoffs weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with the focus now shifting across the street to the 1.5-mile speedway. The Ambetter Health 302 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series takes place on Saturday, October 19, with the South Point 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series kicking off the Round of 8 on Sunday, October 20.

-Photo credit: FloRacing Broadcast

Star Nursery Classic Super Late Model Unofficial Results