Henry Daily Herald

Photo By Gabriel Stovall Jenson Jorgensen stays busy signing autographs during the autograph session after picking up his first Thursday Thunder victory. He edged out sister and points leader, Taylor, to do so.

It was a Thursday Thunder sweep for the Jorgensen family, and it was particularly sweet for Jenson Jorgensen.

Not only did Jorgensen get his first Thursday Thunder win, but he picked up his first win over his sister, Taylor, in the process.

“I finally beat my sister,” he said with a smile after winning the Outlaws division race.

This past Thursday was double features night. Drivers participated in two races that counted toward the points standings. Drivers forgo preliminary eight-lap heat races and compete in two 20-lap races — the first of which counts toward the national points race.

Jenson and Taylor battled for first throughout the majority of the first race, and though Jenson was able to hold off his sister for the win, he did so by the slimmest of margins.

“One more lap and Taylor would’ve probably caught him,” said the siblings’ father, Jason Jorgensen.

Taylor got the better of her brother in the second feature race, but if she had her choice, she would have rather had her way in the first race.

“In double features, the first race is the only one that counts for points, so it kind of stinks that I couldn’t get it done then,” Taylor said. “But if I’m going to lose to anybody, I’d want it to be my brother.”

For Jenson, the victory does not just give him a long-coveted win over his sister, who held the last No. 1 spot in the INEX points standings, but it shows him that his hard work at improving his driving skills is paying off.

“This tells me that I can win pretty much every week,” Jenson said. “I’m a more aggressive-type driver. She’s more clean and finesse and she hits her marks better than I do. I just try to get to the corner pass to claim.”

Jenson said, however, that he’s picking up pointers from his sister about how to be a more well-rounded driver. Meanwhile, Taylor — despite being the older, more experienced driver — says her brother teaches her a few things, too.

“I’m calm and patient in getting to my positions and he gets a lot of that from me,” Taylor said. “But Jenson just pushes the throttle. He’s just pretty much balls to the wall and doesn’t care who’s in his way. He helps me by just telling me to go for it sometimes and be more aggressive.”

As glad as he was to beat his sister, Jenson said that staying out of her shadow isn’t his main goal. His goals are just the same as any other driver in the Outlaws division.

“I’m trying to win more,” he said. “To stay solid in the points race, I just want to go out and compete and be strong on every race and get ahead.”