Ricky Thornton Jr.
Ricky Thornton Jr. has won seven of the last nine Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races including his Saturday night victory in the Pittsburgher at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 20RT fought off a valiant challenge from Jonathan Davenport late in the race before the No. 49 experienced trouble in the closing laps.
Brandon Overton came into the race needing only to finish close to Devin Moran and Tim McCreadie to make his way into the championship fight in the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway on October 21st. However, mechanical troubles would end his night prematurely and take away that opportunity.
The four drivers who will race for the series championship will be Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport and Devin Moran.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Martinsville, Indiana earned $30,000 from the track located in Imperial, Pennsylvania in a race aired live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 37 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Michael Norris(19.388), 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Keith Jackson, 4. Devin Moran, 5. Kyle Lee, 6. Logan Roberson, 7. Colton Flinner, 8. Garrett Smith, 9. Earl Pearson Jr., 10. Ross Robinson
Group B Results- 1. Ricky Thornton Jr.(19.259), 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Alex Ferree, 4. Hudson O’Neal, 5. Spencer Hughes, 6. John Garvin Jr., 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Daulton Wilson, 9. Drake Troutman, 10. Max Blair
Heat 1 Results: 1. Michael Norris, 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Keith Jackson, 4. Kyle Lee
Heat 2 Results: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Garrett Smith, 4. Matt Cosner
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Spencer Hughes, 4. Alex Ferree
Heat 4 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Tyler Erb, 4. Hudson O’Neal
B-main 1 Results: 1. Mason Zeigler, 2. Garrett Alberson, 3. Colton Flinner
B-main 2 Results: 1. Max Blair, 2. Drake Troutman, 3. Gary Stuhler
Feature Re-cap: On the initial attempt to start the 75-lap feature a multi-car mishap left the Matt Cosner car on its roof. All drivers were reported to be uninjured.
When the feature got underway, Norris led Thornton, Davenport, Pearson and Overton. By lap 5, Norris had begun to slip away from his pursuers.
The top-5 cars held station throughout the early laps until a lap 13 caution for the gate underneath the flagstand swinging open. It appeared as if the leading car of Norris may have damaged the rear spoiler on his car by hitting the wall somewhere in the early going.
On the restart, both Thornton and Davenport got by Norris to move into first and second. Further back, McCreadie got around Pearson for fifth. Thornton then built a lead of just over a second from Davenport who held about the same distance ahead of Norris.
Davenport closed in on Thornton in traffic at lap 30. Five laps later, Davenport would make a bid to get under Thornton but was never able to complete the pass as Thornton held fast to the outside line around the track. Finally on lap 37, Davenport’s efforts paid off as he moved by Thornton for the lead just before Erb slowed to bring out a caution.
Moran moved up to fifth on the lap 37 restart as Davenport led Thornton, Norris and Overton. Then Overton quickly passed Norris to claim third. But a lap 41 caution for the slowing car of Blair again slowed the pace.
Overton moved to second on the restart then another yellow flag waved on lap 42 for Blair with another flat tire. Davenport, Overton and Thornton led the way until a lap 46 caution for debris regrouped the field.
The race went through a string of yellow flags with Davenport showing the way. As the race passed the 50-lap mark Davenport led Thornton with the drivers contesting the final ‘Chase’ position(Overton, Moran and McCreadie) fighting for the remainder of the top-5 positions.
On lap 54, Overton slowed to bring out a yellow flag as the crew then looked under the hood due to a mechanical issue. That left Moran and McCreadie to battle to get into the championship contest.
Thornton closed in to challenge Davenport for the top spot as the race moved to the 10-to-go point. Thornton kept Davenport in his sights even looking underneath on multiple occasions. Those efforts paid dividends on lap 70 when Thornton took the lead.
But Davenport would fight back. The No. 49 took the lead back one lap later but a crossover move put the No. 20RT back in front before a caution flag waved for debris from Davenport tagging the outside wall in turn two with three laps remaining.
Davenport fell back on the final restart due to the damage suffered from the wall contact. Ultimately, it would be Thornton who would beat the pack to the checkered flag to score his 23rd Lucas Oil win of the season.
Feature Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Devin Moran, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Hudson O’Neal, 5. Earl Pearson Jr.6. Max Blair, 7. Alex Ferree, 8. Jonathan Davenport, 9. Brandon Overton, 10. Mason Zeigler, 11. Spencer Hughes, 12. Daulton Wilson, 13. Keith Jackson, 14. Garrett Alberson, 15. Tyler Erb, 16. Garrett Smith, 17. Michael Norris, 18. Drake Troutman, 19. Kyle Lee, 20. Ross Robinson, 21. Colton Flinner, 22. Matt Cosner, 23. Gary Stuhler, 24. Boom Briggs
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