Ricky Thornton Jr. collected his second SpeedWeeks win
Ricky Thornton Jr. has had a great Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks so far and that trend continued on Saturday night at All-Tech Raceway after lead exchanging battles throughout the feature then had to hold back a charging Tim McCreadie at the end to get the victory. It was the second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph of the season for the SSI Motorsports No. 20RT car.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Chandler, Arizona earned $15,000 from the Ellisville, Florida track in a race aired live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 44 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Spencer Hughes(18.170), 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Eddie Carrier Jr., 4. Kyle Strickler, 5. Garrett Smith, 6. Ryan Gustin, 7. Shane Clanton, 8. Tanner English, 9. Tyler Bruening, 10. Mark Whitener
Group B Results- 1. Ricky Thornton Jr.(17.691), 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Brandon Overton, 4. Mason Zeigler, 5. Hudson O’Neal, 6. Logan Roberson, 7. Max Blair, 8. Daulton Wilson, 9. Kyle Bronson, 10. Tim McCreadie
Heat 1 Results: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Spencer Hughes, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. Earl Pearson Jr.
Heat 2 Results: 1. Kyle Strickler, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Tanner English, 4. Will Herrington
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Max Blair, 3. Hudson O’Neal, 4. Devin Moran
Heat 4 Results: 1. Daulton Wilson, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Payton Freeman
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Tyler Bruening, 2. Ryan Gustin, 3. Tyler Erb
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Brenden Smith, 2. Kyle Bronson, 3. Brian Shirley
Feature Re-cap: At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Thornton who took the early lead ahead of Clanton, Blair, Strickler and Wilson. On the second and third laps the battle was between Wilson and Sheppard for fifth as Clanton closed in on Thornton at the front of the pack.
Clanton took the lead on lap 8 while further back, McCreadie entered the top-5.
Thornton regained the lead by passing Clanton on lap 17 after Clanton bounced off the outside wall. By lap 20, the top-5 of Thornton, Clanton, Blair, Strickler and McCreadie tightened up in traffic. Blair moved around Clanton for the runner-up position on lap 23.
Just after the halfway mark, McCreadie began to close on the front runners. On lap 29 it was Blair’s turn to run up front after he passed Thornton for the lead but a yellow flag would wave on lap 29 for the slowing car of English. On that ensuing restart, Thornton again moved to the front pulling Clanton along into second.
McCreadie and Sheppard grabbed third and fourth from Blair on lap 34 and set off after the leaders. McCreadie trhen moved around Clanton for second on lap 38.
Thornton found himself in traffic on lap 40 but was given a reprieve one circuit later when Pearson tagged the outside wall to bring out a yellow flag. Thornton pulled away on the restart but would have to face a final challenge when another caution flag waved with two laps remaining.
On that restart, Tyler Erb made a big charge to move himself into third as Thornton and McCreadie broke away to settle the affair among themselves. In the end, it was Thornton who would sail under the checkered flag to claim victory.
Feature Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Devin Moran, 5. Tyler Erb, 6. Hudson O’Neal, 7. Max Blair, 8. Shane Clanton, 9. Kyle Bronson, 10. Spencer Hughes, 11. Daulton Wilson, 12. Tanner English, 13. Dennis Erb Jr., 14. Brian Shirley, 15. Kyle Strickler, 16. Payton Freeman, 17. Tyler Bruening, 18. Ross Robinson, 19. Jimmy Owens, 20. Earl Pearson Jr., 21. Jonathan Davenport, 22. Garrett Alberson, 23. Ryan Gustin, 24. Wil Herrington, 25. Logan Roberson, 26. Garrett Smith, 27. Brenden Smith
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