LAKEPORT — Raised in Lakeport and now competing on the NASCAR Camping World East regional series, Derek Thorn returns to the Lakeport Speedway during the Fourth of July weekend looking not only for a trophy but also for a cure.
Thorn”s “Racin” For A Cure” team travels from Wisconsin to raise awareness and donations for their primary sponsor, the ALS Association, to help fight Lou Gehrig”s disease.
Raised in Lakeport by parents Rick and Carol Thorn, Derek began his racing career driving Karts at the Lakeport Speedway. He eventually advanced to a bomber and finally to modifieds. When he turned 21, Thorn was looking to take the next step.
At the same time, Scott Pfeiffer, a 42-year-old Wisconsin resident, lifelong racing fan and a past sprint and midget racer himself, was looking for a driver. His mother, a Kelseyville resident and a friend of the Thorn family, introduced him to Derek. He proposed they form an ASA Late Model team based in Wisconsin.
Thorn and Pfeiffer quickly became fast friends and everything seemed to be going their way. With Pfeiffer acting as Thorn”s agent, the team quickly came together, attracting top-notch people. Thorn was busy preparing for the 2007 season in his No. 44 ASA Late Model when, in July, everything changed.
The muscle and speech problems plaguing Pfeiffer were diagnosed as ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig”s disease, a degenerative condition that attacks the nerves in the brain and spine that control motor functions, including movement and speech. It is progressive and the disease”s rate of advancement is unique to each person. Worse yet, there is no cure yet.
Thorn and his racing team helped their friend Pfeiffer deal with the bad news as best as they could while continuing to run the 2007 season, but it became apparent that Pfeiffer”s health was deteriorating rapidly, affecting his legs, arms, hands and speech.
The racing team also was suffering the same fate as other teams, with projects and negotiations canceled and money harder to find. Toward the end of the year, Pfeiffer decided a change was needed and he also decided he was going to fight for himself and others afflicted by ALS.
Following an old racing axiom, “You use what you got,” Pfeiffer and Thorn redesigned the team concept to include Pfeiffer”s condition. They proposed the “Racin” For A Cure” team, with the ALS Association as their primary sponsor, in order to help current ALS patients and to fight the disease by raising awareness as well as funds for research.
Within 24 hours, representatives of the Wisconsin chapter of ALSA held a meeting with Pfeiffer”s team and friends to make this happen. Pfeiffer turned to his friend Thorn and fellow race fan Shawn Keep, who had already been considering becoming a team owner, and asked him if he”d like to fund the project. Keep”s answer was simple and direct, “Now we have a reason to race.”
For the 2008 season, the Thorn team expanded with a second car for Derek to drive in the NASCAR Camping World East regional series. Each racing event for them is also a fundraiser for the ALSA and a chance to host and meet other PALS (People with ALS) for a day of racing. Their goal is to raise $1 million for their cause by the end of the year. All donations and the proceeds from merchandise sales go to the ALSA, a venture made more effective since owner Keep provides all the merchandise at cost through his promotional merchandising company PromoGiant.
“This is the learning year for our team that will allow us to seriously establish ourselves in both series,” Thorn said.
Pfeiffer, serving as general manager of the racing team, has attracted some quality racing people to the Thorn team, including 32-year-old Chad Wood as crew chief and 46-year-old John Klock as car chief.
The entire Thorn team will be present at the Lakeport Speedway during the annual Deake Lyndall Memorial Race on July 4-5. Thorn will be racing in the Late Model class but his biggest race will be raising awareness about ALS and generating donations for his cause.
The Lakeport Speedway is doing its part by donating 10 percent of front-gate admission to ALS.
Thorn said he is looking forward to seeing family and friends and to race against his boyhood mentors such as Mike Doss, David Furia and Bill Binns.
You can find out more about Thorn, Pfeiffer and the Racin” For A Cure team and even make a donations to ALSA at RacinForACure.com. Merchandise and donation envelopes will be available at the Lakeport Speedway during the Deake Lyndall Memorial.
