No matter the outcome, Patrick and Tanner Thomas just want to leave the race track with the trophy.
While Patrick has built a legacy of success in pavement and dirt racing throughout Central Florida, his son is seeking similar honors as a Factory Stock driver at Volusia Speedway Park.
Patrick is a third-generation driver who started on dirt in 1996 before transitioning to asphalt competition. He found a home at New Smyrna Speedway between the Sportsman and Late Model divisions, winning multiple track championships and the 2019 Wheel Man Sportsman Series crown.
“I was always growing up on dirt because there were no asphalt tracks close to me,” Patrick said. “I lived in North Florida at the time, so we started racing a little bit in Georgia, a little bit in Florida around 1996. In ‘98, we decided we would race an asphalt track in Lake City, which is now All-Tech (Raceway).
“In the middle of 2000, I actually lost a couple of crew members in a traffic accident. I made a decision to move back to the Orlando area, where I was born and raised, and took a little bit of time off racing. We went back racing full-time on asphalt, and I did that up until 2019. We did some touring series that ran all over the state, but mainly settled in at New Smyrna.”
Thomas began moving back to dirt racing after purchasing a Factory Stock in 2020. The next year, Thomas made his first start at Volusia Speedway Park and found a new comfort in the division.
“Asphalt racing just got to the point where it was incredibly expensive,” Patrick said. “I had pretty much done everything I could do at the level I could afford. I’ve paid for my own racing my whole life. I started looking for some cars and just tried to decide if I wanted to go that route (to dirt).
“2021 was the first time I had ever run at Volusia. I met Kent Corbin, and we bought some tires from him before Todd (Morgan) bought (Benny’s Racing Equipment). Todd is a good friend of mine. He drove one of my cars at Bike Week and helped build three of my cars, so I’m glad to see we got a big race coming up.”
While Tanner spent much of his childhood at the race track with his family, he initially never thought of himself as a driver. When he found success through the virtual world of iRacing, Patrick decided to give his son a chance at piloting a Factory Stock in 2022.
“I loved going and hanging out at the track, I just really never thought of wanting to race until I was 13 or 14,” Tanner said. “I was on iRacing and was getting pretty good at that. Finally, I was like, ‘Yeah, I feel like I want to do this now.’ So, when I was 15, I was able to practice, and I could start racing at 16.”
In that season, Patrick scored his first win at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” in the Labor Day Classic, and Tanner earned two podiums and four top-fives in his first six Volusia starts. At the start of 2023, Patrick opened his own pool-screening business, Finish Line Screens, which has equalized his schedule to focus on the day’s duties and improving his race cars at night.
“I started a pool screen enclosure business about three years ago,” Patrick said. “It’s actually freed up more time to do the racing stuff. My son has been working for me after he graduated last year. Blake Clouser works with us sometimes when he’s out of school and is probably gonna start after he graduates. All these Factory Stock guys, we’re all friends, and we have a blast. We work during the day, then focus on the cars at night.
“I enjoy building them more than I like racing them at this point. I like engineering, I like metal fabrication, I like doing all that stuff. My wife gives me a lot of time to do it and doesn’t get too upset about it. It’s our life. If we don’t have a race to go to that week, we are usually trying to figure out what we’re gonna do.”
Tanner’s sophomore season saw new milestones crossed, including a second-place points finish and a first-career Volusia win in May. In 2024, Thomas ascended from Factory Stocks to the 602 Late Models. The time spent in the No. 1T Late Model helped him tune his driving style to find more comfort in different lanes of the 1/2-mile.
“I ran the Factory Stock, then I drove the 602 Late Model in 2024,” Tanner said. “You drive it completely backwards of the Factory Stock, so I adjusted the way I like to drive it now compared to the start. When I began, I was super straight, and I liked being on the bottom. Now, I feel nice and smooth, a little more wild towards the middle and top of the track, but still able to be consistent on the bottom.”
While Tanner was busy in the Late Model, Patrick took home his first Volusia Speedway Park title in the Factory Stocks by 34 points over Justin Reynolds and 36 over Blake Clouser. Though he did not strive for track championships throughout his career, he appreciates what he did by reminiscing about the stories that the trophies contain.
“That year was really close,” Thomas said. “I look back at a couple of races, the first race out, me and Blake Clouser got together, and it probably cost him the championship. But, we’ve become really good friends because of it. I won a lot of races on asphalt to have consistency, but dirt is really hard to do that.
“I’ve never been a huge fan of racing for track championships; I like to run big races. As I’ve gotten older, it’s so much harder to win that you look back at those titles as a big deal. So, getting the one in 2024 was a big deal because now I can say that I’ve won one on asphalt and one on dirt.”
Before the Volusia Factory Stocks campaign commences with the Benny Corbin Memorial, the family will roll into Saturday night with a head of steam. In their first race of 2026 at Ocala Speedway, Tanner bagged the Feature win as Patrick drove to a fifth-place finish. Then, in the Monday finale of World of Outlaws Bike Week Jamboree, Tanner outpaced Patrick and Rich Pratt for the biggest win of his career.
“I feel like I’ve been able to understand the setup and what to change throughout the night,” Tanner said. “Just knowing exactly what I want to change and having confidence that it’ll work in the Feature is the biggest thing that I’ve learned over the last year.
“We’ve had a really good start. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it up, but I don’t see why I wouldn’t. The car has been good every night out, and I’m getting better at these tracks. I think the more I race, the better I can be throughout the season. As long as we don’t have any catastrophic issues, I don’t see why my dad and I wouldn’t be able to fight for a points title.”
Though the two drivers have developed their own theories to outrun the field for a trip to Victory Lane at Feature’s end, all that matters to the Thomas family is success for either one.
“I mean, we can look at the last two race weekends,” Patrick said. “I made a decision to change a spring starting on the pole, and (Tanner) decided to change a shock. I told him the decision was wrong, but I was wrong in the end. So, he’s becoming his own crew chief, asks questions, but he does most of his own maintenance.
“I think the plan is to run Volusia full-time, then hit some other tracks along the way. The hopes are to win all the races, but I don’t care which one of us wins. That’s what I told him when we started on the front row at (Bike Week). I’m like, ‘I don’t care if you win. I don’t care if I win. But one of us needs to win.’ Then, he went out and got the job done. He’s up on me already.”
Patrick and Tanner Thomas will chase the 2026 Factory Stocks crown at Volusia Speedway Park, beginning with the $2,098-to-win Benny Corbin Memorial on Saturday night, March 21. On Friday, there will be open practice for the track’s “Fab 5” divisions from 6-9 p.m.
How can you watch every lap of racing at Volusia Speedway Park? Live on DIRTVision.