By Chuck Corder

Derek Thorn boasts a unique perspective of Five Flags Speedway.

Literally.

Like most drivers, Thorn has seen the track up close and personal — three times to be precise. He’s felt its abrasive surface. He’s walked up and down its steep embankments. And he’s surveyed the high and low grooves while strapped into a late model seat.

But, Thorn knows a vantage point, uncommon among his fellow drivers.

The 29-year-old California driver viewed the famed half-mile asphalt oval upside down, sideways and spiraling like a football after his Super Late Model went airborne and barrel-rolled during the 2011 Snowball Derby.

“You don’t want that to happen but once in your lifetime, if ever at all,� Thorn said. “I’m 6-foot-3, and I didn’t wanna be stuck upside down trying to quickly get outta the car before a fire started.

“But, luckily, I landed right side up and I could see everything. The safety equipment worked like it was supposed to. Still, it was a helluva weekend.�

Thorn hopes this Friday night at Five Flags is just as memorable, but for an entirely different reason.

Thorn will be a part of a talented field for the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Model doubleheader, which will begin the night with a 20-lap feature and close Friday with a 30 lapper following an invert.

“I like it,� Thorn said of the format. “It’s one of the things in racing I haven’t been around much of, which is nice. It gives guys in the back a chance to get up front again. It makes for good racing.�

Super Stocks, Sportsman and the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers also share the night’s card. The gates open at 4 p.m. Friday and admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, students and military; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids under 6.

A native of Lakeport, Calif., Thorn moved to Wisconsin at 20 and competed in the ASA Late Model Series before moving back to California prior to 2011.

Today, Thorn drives for Byron Campbell Motorsports. Naturally, his schedule keeps him out west, taking him up and down the Pacific Coast from Washington’s Evergreen Speedway and into southern California favorites, such as Irwindale Speedway and Kern County in Bakersfield.

Plus, with trips to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Friday’s cross-country adventure to Pensacola is a rarity.

Thorn will climb behind the wheel of Kurt Jett’s PLM, part of a still-blossoming agreement. The two began friendly discussions for Friday’s race just a week ago.

And both Thorn and Jett, a Five Flags regular who calls Orange Park home, hope to team up for another Pensacola race later in the season.

“One, I hope to do a good job,� said Thorn, whose sparkling resume includes a 2013 NASCAR K&N West championship. “Two, it’s a neat opportunity for me to come to Five Flags. The track has some of the most cordial, polite people I’ve ever met. Anytime, we can come back to Five Flags, I feel honored. And, with the Derby always in the back of your mind, track time for me never hurts.�

If you expected Thorn to be shaken by his scary tumble in 2011, you’d be horribly mistaken.

Instead, the Byron Campbell Motorsports driver has embraced Pensacola’s high banks and even contended in the last two editions of the Derby.

Thorn finished 10th in 2013 and opened plenty of eyes last year by running third during John Hunter Nemechek’s historic win.

“It has always been a ‘Bucket List’ race for me,� Thorn said of the Derby. “It’s a testament to this team that we bounced back from the crash.

“I’m fortunate to be with such good people. And to show, these last two years, that we’ve been able to run up front and contend for the win, it’s refreshing.�

Perhaps, not as refreshing, though, as walking away from an end-over-end, highwire crash that remains etched in the minds of all who witnessed it that chilly Sunday in December.

“I got caught up in the marbles and someone came across nose,� Thorn recalled. “It looked violent because the body flew apart. But the way it happened, and how it happened, in a way it cushioned the blow.

“I’d rather do that than hit the wall head on. I’ve had much harder hits by staying on the ground.�

That’s quite a perspective.