Ricky Thornton Jr.(20RT) and Bobby Pierce enter this weekend as the points leaders of each series
This weekend the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will have a triple-header weekend with an $18,049-to-win race that was rescheduled from back in April at the Georgetown(DE) Speedway made up on Thursday night. From there, the tour will then head to Pennsylvania’s Port Royal Speedway for a pair of $5,000-to-win twin features on Friday night followed by a $50,000-to-win main event on Saturday evening.
It will be the ninth weekend since May 27th in which Lucas Oil drivers and teams have had a winner’s payout of $50,000 or more on the schedule.
Currently, Ricky Thornton Jr. leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings over Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport and Tim McCreadie. The difference between McCreadie and fifth-place Brandon Overton is only five points with sixth running Devin Moran just 60 points out of fourth. The significance of those numbers is that the top-4 drivers in the standings going into the finale will race for the series championship in the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway on October 21st.
Also this weekend, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series will spend three consecutive nights at the Davenport(IA) Speedway with a pair of $10,000 payouts on the line on Thursday and Friday followed up by a $30,000-to-win show on Saturday.
This will be the sixth weekend since April 22nd in which WoO Late Models competitors have gone after checks valued at $25,000 or more.
Bobby Pierce leads the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series ahead of Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Gustin, Brian Shirley and Nick Hoffman. A mere 196 points separate the top-6 drivers in the standings from each other.
The interesting thing about the next three days is that it has been since July 14th and 15th when the two national tours raced on the same weekend. Because of the string of crown jewel type events held over the course of the Summer, the tours have taken weekends off to allow their stars to pursue the big purses being offered by each series.
The features being held this weekend will allow drivers from each series to earn points and money not encumbered by “drop-ins” from the other national tour. It will also provide fans in two different regions of the country to see the stars of the sport in each location.
After a rain-filled Spring in which much of the racing scheduled was interrupted, it will be good to see both tours in action.
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