Joshua Thomas looks to be the 130th different driver to compete in the Stadium Super Trucks while bringing some Australian flair to the 2023 season opener at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. On Thursday, he visited series headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, to test a truck ahead of the first round.
“Thanks @stadiumsupertucks that was absolutely insane looking forward to the series,” Thomas posted on Instagram.
Hailing from Brisbane, Thomas has experience in Australia’s Junior Sedan Track Championship, which competes as a sedan-only support class at dirt tracks. His father Brett Thomas has raced in sprint cars, winning the 2014 POWRi Lucas Oil Australian Speedcar Super Series championship, before racing in SST the following year at the Gold Coast 600 round. Although the trucks next visited Valvoline Raceway, where Thomas has raced on sprint cars, he did not take part due to injury; Bill Hynes, who scored a podium at the Valvoline round, described him as “a great driver.”
The Thomas family runs TFH Hire Services, which provides temporary fencing for events and businesses. Brett Thomas serves as its managing director while Joshua has worked as a sales executive and site security operations manager. TFH appeared on Brett’s stadium truck as well as his sprint car, while also having sponsored National Rugby League teams Gold Coast Titans and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
The younger Thomas will be the twenty-sixth Australian to compete in SST. While most like his father mainly took part in the series’ Australian excursions including the now defunct Boost Mobile Super Trucks, others like champions Matt Brabham (who holds dual citizenship with the United States) and Paul Morris have also competed on the American side.
The 2023 Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for 14–16 April.
UPDATE: The article erroneously listed Shaun Richardson as one of the most recent Australians to race in SST after he ran the 2022 Long Beach weekend. Richardson is British though he resides in Australia.
