Ricky Thornton Jr.
Ricky Thornton Jr. added yet another win to his totals on Saturday night when he captured the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature at Brownstown Speedway. It was the first time the series points leader had won the historic Jackson 100.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $30,000 for his efforts on the track located in Brownstown, Indiana in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 47 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A- 1. Daulton Wilson(13.423), 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Cory Hedgecock, 5. Trevor Landrum, 6. Rod Conley, 7. Tanner English, 8. Earl Pearson Jr., 9. Spencer Hughes, 10. Garrett Smith
Group B- 1. Ricky Thornton Jr.(13.528), 2. Michael Chilton, 3. Brandon Overton, 4. Mike Marlar, 5. Garrett Alberson, 6. Boom Briggs, 7. Hudson O’Neal, 8. Dennis Erb Jr., 9. Tyler Erb, 10. Terry Casey
Heat 1 Results: 1. Devin Moran, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Tanner English, 4. Tim McCreadie
Heat 2 Results: 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Jonathan Davenport, 4. Rod Conley
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Hudson O’Neal, 4. Tyler Erb
Heat 4 Results: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Michael Chilton, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Boom Briggs
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Josh Rice, 2. Spencer Hughes, 3. Jason Jameson
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Garrett Alberson, 2. Nick Hoffman, 3. Ross Robinson
Feature Re-cap: When the 100-lap feature took the green flag it was Thornton who bolted to the early lead with Moran, Marlar, Wilson and Hedgecock trailing. But a lap 2 yellow flag for debris would slow the action.
Marlar moved to second on the restart behind Thornton while Hedgecock took fourth from Wilson. Soon after, Overton would also pass Wilson to break into the top-5. O’Neal immediately took sixth from Wilson. Employing a lower line, Marlar began to issue challenges to Thornton but the series points leader would hold the top spot.
By lap 15, the front runners found themselves among slower traffic as Marlar kept the pressure on Thornton. On lap 19, Overton wrested the fourth spot away from Hedgecock.
A lap 25 caution for Landrum slowed the action with Thornton still leading Marlar, Moran, Overton and Hedgecock. On the restart, Moran grabbed the runner-up position away from Marlar but Marlar would quickly regain the position as those two ran side-by-side just behind Thornton.
O’Neal entered the top-5 as he passed Overton at the one-third mark. He then moved to fourth by passing Hedgecock on lap 41.
At halfway the top-4 of Thornton, Marlar, Moran and O’Neal ran on the same straightaway. But a lap 54 caution for a flat tire on the second running car of Marlar would slow the action. O’Neal came all the way up to second on the restart.
O’Neal took the lead on lap 58 with a big run on the outside and then began to pull away from Thornton. As the race reached the three-quarter point, O’Neal had opened up a bit of breathing room. However, Thornton came back to rejoin the battle for the lead.
Thornton took the lead back from O’Neal on lap 86 with a slider in turn one. O’Neal fought back but Thornton held on. From that point, Thornton began to pull away by almost three seconds.
Thornton ultimately cruised to the checkered flag to claim his 21st series win of the season pushing his total series earnings to over $500,000.
Feature Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Tim McCreadie, 5. Cory Hedgecock, 6. Michael Chilton, 7. Daulton Wilson, 8. Tanner English, 9. Nick Hoffman, 10. Max Blair, 11. Brandon Overton, 12. Earl Pearson Jr., 13. Garrett Alberson, 14. Spencer Hughes, 15. Dennis Erb Jr., 16. Jonathan Davenport, 17. Tyler Erb, 18. Josh Rice, 19. Mike Marlar, 20. David Webb, 21. Ross Robinson, 22. Boom Briggs, 23. Trevor Landrum, 24. Rod Conley, 25. Jared Bailey, 26. Jason Jameson
Please consider also reading:
Emotional Marlar dedicates Brownstown victory to former mentor
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