After starting the year strong with several late round finishes that included two event wins Thomas Bayer Racing headed to the Strip at Las Vegas for the second Supreme Sportsman Nationals April 9-11. Team driver Jack Freckmann entered the event as the previous champion, setting the tone for another great showing for the team. Unfortunately the weekend didn't start out as planned, during the Friday test-n-une Thomas has a head gasket failure on the teams Super Gas Corvette on the second run of the day. The result of the gasket failure lead to a torched cylinder head with a 1/2 inch gap burned between the #5-7 cylinders. Thomas and team removed the head and with assistance from local engine shop HBR Racing were able to repair the head for the following weeks NHRA Summit Racing Nationals.

The unplanned rebuild of the Corvette didn't deter the team as they continued to compete in both Super Comp and Super Pro. By the end of the event the luck had turned around with Thomas posting a strong semi final showing in his, Lucas Oil, Toyo Tires, K&N Filters, B&M Racing Converters, Crower Racing Equipment Super Comp dragster. Team driver Marty Clevenger also went to the late rounds in the super pro field.

The next day the cylinder head repairs had been made and was ready to go. Thomas along with help from Chuck Babcock reassembled the Corvette for the upcoming National Event. After staying the week in Vegas the team was ready and eager to take a shot at the Summit Racing Nationals.

Thomas competed in both his, Lucas Oil, Toyo Tires, K&N Filters, B&M Racing Converters, Crower Racing Equipment Super Comp dragster, and Super Gas Corvette. Unfortunately the weekend ended early in Super Gas when Thomas was defeated in the opening round, but like other races this year that didn't deter Thomas' hopes of claiming the Super Comp crown. Through three days of eliminations Thomas found himself in the final round against Dick Vandermeer in front of the LVMS massive spectator crowd on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas stated " Dick is a buddy of mine, heck its is pretty funny we went to dinner just that week with friends of ours Mike Hiatt and his family, along with Bob and Jackie Miller. Dick had to run against Mike and his son in eliminations, then had to race me in the finals, funny how that worked out. It was a close race with dick getting the better reaction time which won the race for him."

On the weekend of May 14-16 the team capitalized on a close to home stop on the NHRA tour when they competed at the Jegs Sport National in Fontana, CA. Due to the close proximity to home the team had four cars competing, three in Super Comp and one in Super Gas. Bob Earleywine was behind the wheel of the 2003 Worthy Super Comp car for the event. The car had a small mechanical issue with the vacuum pump that was fixed in time for eliminations. With the repairs made the cars performance changed for the good, but was unable to be compensated for resulting in a break out despite Bob's great driving.

At this event Thomas and the Lucas Oil, Toyo Tires, K&N Filters, B&M Racing Converters, Crower Racing Equipment Super Gas Corvette turned the page on the minor setbacks that they had been experiencing. Thomas went on to score a third round finish for the weekend in the Corvette. "The Corvette was running great! I just got beat that round, the Corvette is performing well it's just a matter of when will be in the winner's circle again," said Thomas.

Thomas drove the Lucas Oil, Toyo Tires, K&N Filters, B&M Racing Converters, Crower Racing Equipment dragster to the 3rd round finish as well where he had to race team mate Jack Freckmann.

Thomas stated "Jack and I had a great race, Jack got the better of me that round but I think that's a testimonial to our program, keep to the fundamentals and stay focused on your program. Jack is driving well and I think it's just a matter of time till he has his first Wally". Jack went on to post a fifth round finish, completing a good showing for the Tom Bayer Racing Team.

The next event on May 22nd was a two for one, the PSCA event from March that was cut short due to Fontana's curfew was to be finished during the event as well. Both Katie Takeshita and Bob Earleywine made it back to the event to complete the March event, and drove fantastic logging semi final finishes. Thomas had this to say about both drivers, " I'm very proud of Katie and Bob, they represented the Thomas Bayer Drag Racing School very well, I couldn't be more pleased".

On the May 23 PSCA Event Thomas Bayer Racing had Katie Takeshita, Bob Earleywine, and Ken Ginter a good friend of the school competing in Bracket One. All three drivers made it to the later rounds and as luck would have it, Ken had to race Katie. The tower made a mistake on Ken's dial-in, and Thomas didn't catch the mistake until it was too late, the rules are if you stage the car you buy the dial-in. This allowed Katie to move on to the semis where she and Bob Earleywine had to square off! This is a kind of a bad news good news situation, while one driver is sure to be eliminated, it also guarantees one to reach the final.

It was a great race! Katie advanced on to the finals, where she would have to race Rob Strong, it turned out to be a close race, but Katie had to settle for Runner-Up. Thomas said about the weekend "What a great weekend of racing for the Thomas Bayer Drag Racing School, Katie did a great job of driving getting to the semis in the makeup race, and then the Finals, all in the same weekend, Fantastic!

Bob Earleywine progressing to two semi finals, Great! Ken Ginter hasn't been in a dragster in a while, but drove like a has been racing the NHRA circuit! Thank you, Katie, Bob, and Ken for a great weekend.

On June 5th the Tom Bayer Racing Team headed for Fallon, NV. For the Nor Cal Super Comp Association event. Both Thomas and Jack participated on both race days, Saturday and Sunday. Even though neither driver won, it was a great tune up for the Lucas Oil event the following week.

The next weekend, May 11-13 the team stayed in Fallon for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. The Race Team had 3 Super Comp cars in competition and the Corvette in Super Gas. Marty Cleavenger drove the 2003 Worthy 4- link, had great time trials all weekend long, but broke out first round by a small margin, Jack Freakmann drove the Lucas Oil, Toyo Tires, K&N Filters 2000 Worthy dragster to the 4th round, and gained much needed Divisional points. Thomas drove his Lucas Oil, Toyo Tires, K&N Filters, B&M Racing Converters, Crower Racing Equipment Super Gas Corvette and Super Comp dragster to the 3rd round in both classes.

The team will have a few weeks of to rebuild and maintenance the cars then head off to Woodburn Drag Strip in Woodburn Oregon for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events.