Kevin Thomas, Jr., the owner of both the one-lap and eight-lap track records at Bubba Raceway Park in a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget, led the way with the fastest practice lap in Thursday night’s open session leading into the season openers, February 7-8 at the 3/8-mile D-Shaped track in Ocala, Fla.

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Thomas, of Cullman, Ala., set the pace with a lap of 14.015 in his Petry Motorsports/FK Rod Ends – Petry Excavating – Keizer Aluminum Wheels/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.  Thomas is aiming for his first USAC-sanctioned midget win at Ocala following a pair of wins in a POWRi event there in 2018.

All three Petry Motorsports entries were in the top-seven in overall practice.  Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) was third while Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.) took seventh.

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) was second in his USAC debut with Tucker/Boat Motorsports at 14.082.  Reigning series champion and sweeper of both nights at Ocala one year ago, Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) was fourth while Zeb Wise (Angola, Ind.) was fifth in his first USAC ride for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports.

Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.), Carrick, Cole Bodine (Rossville, Ind.), Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) and Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) rounded out the top-ten.

Twenty cars were in the pits on Thursday night, with 19 taking an official time.

Check out the full results from the practice session of the Winter Dirt Games!