Ricky Thornton Jr.
Ricky Thornton Jr. did what Ricky Thornton Jr. has been doing all season when he drove to the win on Saturday night in the 33rd annual Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway. The SSI Motorsports driver had to overcome late race adversity and engaged in a lead swapping battle with Bobby Pierce to score the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series win.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $50,000 plus lap leader bonuses for his efforts in a race held at the track located in Fairbury, Illinois in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
Four feature races held on Friday night and a redraw set the top-16 of the starting lineup for the main event.
Last Chance Showdown Results:
LCS 1 Finish- 1. Frank Heckenast Jr., 2. Kyle Hammer
LCS 2 Finish-1. Nick Hoffman, 2. Tyler Erb
LCS 3 Finish- 1. Daulton Wilson, 2. Chris Simpson
Feature Starting Lineup: 1. Ryan Gustin, 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., 4. Chris Madden, 5. Brian Shirley, 6. Hudson O’Neal, 7. Wil Herrington, 8. Dennis Erb Jr., 9. Mike Harrison, 10. Brandon Sheppard, 11. Shannon Babb, 12. Chris Ferguson, 13. Josh Rice, 14. Tanner English, 15. Cade Dillard, 16. Mike Mataragas, 17. Frank Heckenast Jr., 18. Nick Hoffman, 19. Daulton Wilson, 20. Kyle Hammer, 21. Tyler Erb, 22. Chris Simpson
Feature Re-cap: The 100-lap feature got underway with Gustin ahead of Pierce, Thornton, Shirley and Madden. On the third lap, Madden moved around Shirley for fourth.
Pierce took the lead from Gustin on lap 5. A lap 7 caution for debris slowed the field. Thornton took second on the restart. Shirley moved up to third by lap 11 while O’Neal broke into the top-5 on lap 11. But a lap 12 yellow flag for an incident involving Feger and Weaver gave competitors a chance to regroup.
As is usually the case, cars fanned out all over the track with positions being exchanged virtually every lap as Pierce continued to shaw the way as the race passed the 20-lap mark.
At lap 25 the top-5 consisted of Pierce, Thornton, Gustin, Dennis Erb Jr., and Shirley. However, Babb slowed on lap 27 to bring out a yellow flag. The hornet’s nest of activity continued after the race went back to green. Pierce continued to show the way until lap 36 when Herrington spun collecting Tyler Erb.
At the halfway point, Pierce still led with Gustin, Thornton, O’Neal and Dennis Erb Jr. trailing. By that point, the front runners were caught up among slower traffic. Thornton moved back to second on lap 55 just over one second behind Pierce.
Thornton briefly passed Pierce just after halfway but Pierce came back and regained the top spot. O’Neal stepped up to third and began to close. Thornton made a move to take the lead on lap 71 as they fought in traffic. The intense racing was interrupted on lap 75 when Dillard spun.
O’Neal jumped to second on the restart behind Thornton but just two laps later a caution came out for Spatola. At the time of caution, Thornton led O’Neal, Pierce, Sheppard and Gustin.
Pierce went back to second on lap 78 while Gustin came to third. Thornton continued to show the way until he slowed in turn four which allowed O’Neal, Pierce and Gustin to go four-wide for the lead. However, a caution was displayed when Thornton fell off the pace when his car briefly lost power.
Officials placed the former leader in sixth behind Shirley which he later said he did not agree with but it provided added motivation for him.
Pierce was elevated back to the lead ahead of Gustin, O’Neal and Sheppard. Thornton blasted quickly back to fourth when the race resumed. By lap 86, Thornton was back to second and closed on Pierce.
Thornton passed Pierce for the lead on lap 88 but Pierce fought back as they exchanged the lead with each car bouncing off the cushion. Once established back in the lead, Thornton began to pull away from Pierce, Gustin, O’Neal and Sheppard.
Ultimately, Thornton would pull away to score another big payday, his fourth win in the last six races paying $50,000 or more to the victor.
Feature Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Ryan Gustin, 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Hudson O’Neal, 6. Brian Shirley, 7. Dennis Erb Jr., 8. Nick Hoffman, 9. Kyle Bronson, 10. Tanner English, 11. Josh Rice, 12. Chris Madden, 13. Daulton Wilson, 14. Cade Dillard, 15. Chris Ferguson, 16. Frank Heckenast Jr., 17. Shane Clanton, 18. Jason Feger, 19. Mike Spatola, 20. Gordy Gundaker, 21. Shannon Babb, 22. Tyler Erb, 23. Mike Martaragas, 24. Kyle Hammer, 25. Chris Simpson, 26. Kevin Weaver, 27. Wil Herrington, 28. Mike Harrison
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