Ricky Thornton Jr. is on top right now
Over the past decade Dirt Late Model racing has seen its share of drivers who dominated for a season or more. Jonathan Davenport did things that many observers thought would never be matched back in 2015 when he and the K&L Rumley team won numerous crown jewels and took the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship. In 2022, however, Davenport himself topped his own accomplishments with his Lance Landers-owned team by not only winning the Eldora Million but also taking other significant feature wins that ultimately pushed his season’s earnings total to over $2,000,000.
Davenport, though, is not the only driver in recent years to have put together amazing seasons. In 2019, Brandon Sheppard won three races that paid $100,000 or more(Dream, Dirt Million, DTWC) along with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series championship while driving the Rocket Chassis house car.
Brandon Overton notched victories in three of four major events held at the Eldora Speedway(Dream x 2 & World 100) in 2021 along with other big wins such as the North-South 100 at Florence Speedway and the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway for Wells Motorsports.
Now it appears to be Ricky Thornton Jr.’s turn at domination. The SSI Motorsports driver originally from Chandler, Arizona who currently resides in Martinsville, Indiana has been on a tear throughout the first half of the 2023 campaign scoring a total of 12 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature wins along with two Castrol FloRacing Night in America triumphs. Two of the No. 20RT team’s wins(Smoky Mountain & Lernerville) paid $50,000 and the most recent victory at Muskingum doled out a $30,000 paycheck.
Thornton also crossed the finish line first in the Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway but that win was negated when his car failed the ‘droop check’ in post-race inspection.
With those previous and current accounts taken into consideration, the question of how much dominance is too much dominance comes to mind.
Obviously, for the driver and team doing the dominating, there is no such thing as too much dominance. The more wins and the more money the better. At the same time, though, is having one particular driver win a majority of the races good for a series or for the sport in general?
This can even apply to a particular track. Cory Hedgecock, for example, is piecing together a remarkable season at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tennessee.
Having an individual driver do exceedingly well no doubt helps a series or even an individual track in that it creates a certain degree of interest and attention. Fans will want to come out to witness what could be historic greatness play out in front of their eyes. At the same time, there may be that desire to see the top guy get knocked off of his perch. Either way, dominance by one star draws attention.
And of course, it can make a big difference depending on who it is doing the dominating. Popular figures such as Davenport and Overton have many fans and those supporters enjoy seeing their hero succeed. Or, to go further back in history, Scott Bloomquist had many fans when he was dominating the sport of Dirt Late Model racing but he also had his share of those who wanted nothing more than to see him lose out to someone else. Domination can be a good thing for all involved, except those teams being beaten on a regular basis, when it comes to drawing interest and attracting fans.
In each of the cases listed above, that domination only lasted for one season(give or take a bit) then others caught up to the dominator.
Where one driver’s domination could become a detraction might be if it lasted too long. If the same person wound up in victory lane time after time for multiple seasons in a row, fans and even other competitors could grow tired of that situation and might decide to seek their entertainment elsewhere. Of course, good promoters can take advantage of such circumstances by livening things up with a bounty being placed on the frequent winner or some other such enticement.
For now, it seems as if fans are intrigued by Ricky Thornton Jr.’s winning ways. Some even became more attached to him after his issue following the Show-Me 100. But how long will it be before that changes and those who follow the sport seek to witness a downfall of some sort?
This is America and that is what we do. The public loves to build people up whether it be in sports, entertainment, politics or otherwise and then loves to see them fall. Racing is no different.
But in the end, domination by one single driver be it Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Overton, Brandon Sheppard or Ricky Thornton Jr. does far more good for the sport than harm. It is interesting to not only see winners win but to see who will be the one who will knock them off their pedestal. Then the whole process starts over again.
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