Nick Fillman, USAC ECSC
Heat Wins: 3
Features: 13
Wins: 0
Top 5: 5
Top 10: 11
Average Fin: 7th
Earnings: $6,100
Third generation driver Mike Thompson had what could only be described as a break out year in 2022, especially on the USAC East Coast Series trail. Thompson came out of the gate hot, with a top five run at Bridgeport, and two top ten runs at Bloomsburg to start the season.
An unfortunate accident at Williams Grove that saw Thompson leave the speedway in turn three and four, left the team focusing on Winged racing with URC for a long portion of time, before the team returned at Action Track in mid summer.
Thompson nearly got the job done at the Selinsgrove Speedway in July, in a close duel with long time friend Joey Amantea that came down to the last handful of laps to deicide the winner. From Selinsgrove on, the team and driver did not finish outside of the top ten for the remainder of the season, with the exception of a 21st place DNF at Bridgeport to end the season.
Three heat race wins at Action Track, Bloomsburg, and Port Royal, along with an average finish of 7th through their feature event starts, opened a lot of eyes to the young driver in 2022, and put expectations even higher for the team in 2023, with a handful of 410 sprint car starts possibly planned for the team. A great season, for a third generation driver in what was a challenging, yet rewarding USAC East Coast Season.
- Nick Fillman on Jan 07, 2023
- Article Date: 1/7/2023 by Nick Fillman