Full throttle for Thornton

Young driver makes the jump from Bandoleros to Legends

By DAVID LESNICK/The Daily Inter Lake

What started as an innocent test drive has become a racing obsession for 12-year-old Giles Thornton of Whitefish.

Thornton took his first laps around Montana Raceway Park when he was 7 years old.

"It had no brakes," he said of the Bandoleros car he drove that day.

He did 15 laps and his fastest lap time was 23 seconds.

"Right after the test drive, I was hooked," Thornton said.

"It felt good, it was comfortable.

"I always like to go fast in small things," he said.

"It was the perfect match."

Thornton set a track record for Bandoleros last year with a time of 15.482 on the high-banked, quarter-mile oval. It was his fourth and final year in that class.

He also finished as the season points champ and was named Driver of the Year.

Thornton was the points runner-up in 2007 and won the Worst Wreck of the Year award for Bandoleros.

"I spun and Trevor Corpron bumped me into the wall," he said of the memorable crash.

"The back end and front end (of my car) were completely thrashed and I still won the race.

" I've done everything - rolled (a car), caught on fire, crashed it, hit other people," he said.

"I've seen other cars spin out in front of me."

He said 2006 was "a slow year, learning the car. Learning how to keep it on the track without getting scared."

His highlight that season was finishing second in a main event.

"I was getting my butt kicked by the older drivers," he said.

Thornton is taking his lumps again this year, but as the youngest driver competing in the Legends, one of the featured classes this weekend at the 8th annual Legend Thunder at MRP.

Legend Thunder is a national qualifying event for Legends (Masters, Pros and Semi-Pros), Bandoleros and Thunder Roadsters. Thornton will be competing in the Semi-Pro division. It will be his fourth Legends race.

"I don't know (how I will do this weekend)," he said.

"There are a lot of fast drivers out there.

"My main goal is top five," he said.

"Even If I can make top eight, I'll still be happy. I finished."

There are 18 in the Legends class at MRP. In his last two races at the raceway, Thornton has finished ninth in the main event. He started 18th in both races.

He's currently 14th in the points standings.

Thornton plans to race Legends for two years, then step up to Super Late Models. He's also started lifting weights as he drives bigger and faster cars.

"A bit harder than Bandos," he said of the Legends.

"More of a challenge. More power to handle, more speed to control."

His best Legends lap time is 15.003.

"Most of the time, I'm up here practicing," Thornton said.

"I do (150) laps every other day."

The mechanical part of racing, however, rests with his experienced and talented pit crew - Scott Dalla, Richard Soto, Joey Rohrman, Zach Havens, Tom Havens and Tim Manning. Dalla is the Legends points leader.

"I'm reading the Legends (engine) manual," Thornton said.

"It's confusing, but it's all right. Not boring, interesting. My grandpa helps me read all the manuals."

His grandparents, Gwynn and Bill, have been key players in his racing development, along with fueling his dreams of bigger things down the road.

"I wanna be a (NASCAR) Cup driver," he said.

"I wouldn't be where I am today without them. They bought my car, car parts, anything you can really think of on a car. They're the ones who make it possible."

Thornton will race one final time in Bandoleros on July 24 in Atlanta. He qualified for nationals by winning a qualifier race in Las Vegas in May at The Bullring.

That weekend also had a scary moment.

"I could feel the heat on my neck," he said of the flash fire from the engine.

"I was just getting on the track and the gas hose was not connected to the carburetor."

He won the qualifying race in the same car the next evening. He started on the outside of the first row and led for all 15 laps. There were 20 cars in the finals.

"They think it's pretty cool I race," Thornton said of his sixth-grade Whitefish Middle School classmates.

"They think it's pretty cool I'm a national qualifier."