Thorn on pole for Toyota Showdown: Derek Thorn won the pole Friday night for Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Toyota Speedway and hopes his success will garner a little attention. Thorn put his car on the pole against a talented field of drivers that included Steve Wallace from the Nationwide Series and action sports star Travis Pastrana. Wallace will start 16th in the 225-lap Showdown. Pastrana will start 20th. Sergio Pena, who won the pole for last year’s Showdown and finished second to Joey Logano, posted the slowest qualifying time of the 46 drivers entered in the race. Thorn’s team brought one car to the Showdown, but it was enough. His time was 18.334 seconds on the half-mile oval. He said starting out front definitely will be an advantage because he will be able to stay out of trouble at the start of the race. Greg Pursley, of Newhall, Calif., will start second. Sean Caisse, who started five Nationwide races last year, will start third.(NASCAR)(1-29-2011)
