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Ricky Thornton Jr. Runner-Up in Dirt Track World Championship

Fresh off his first-career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph, Ricky Thornton Jr. drove to a runner-up finish in Dirt Late Model racing’s highest-paying event of the season.

Thornton returned to the seat of the SSI Motorsports No. 20RT Dyno One Inc./ Excel Floor Covering/ Sub-Surface of Indiana/ Longhorn Chassis/ Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model for the 40th Annual Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park.

In a field of 63 Super Late Models, Thornton qualified second in his group on Friday to earn the third starting position for his heat race following the invert. Grabbing the 15-lap heat race victory, Thornton locked into the fourth starting position for Saturday’s $100,000-to-win finale.

Ricky fell to fifth at the start of the 100-lapper before working his way up to a podium spot on lap 16. On lap 75, Thornton moved into second place and held the position to the finish.

“He [Sheppard] had a really good car,” said Thornton. “I was going to try to Hail Mary the top if I ever got close enough again, but on the restarts he’d just really take off, and it took me five or six laps to get going. We went a little hard on tire, so I knew restarts we weren’t going to be as good as these guys.”

Standing on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series podium for the sixth time this season, Thornton finish second behind Brandon Sheppard. Tim McCreadie, Chris Madden, and Tyler Erb rounded out the Top-5 finishers.

For complete results from the weekend, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.

This Friday, October 23, Ricky Thornton Jr. will return to Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway to finish the inaugural Hoosier Dirt Shootout. With preliminary events complete, Thornton is slated to start on the pole of the $25,000-to-win finale.

Visit www.WoOLMS.com to learn more about the Hoosier Dirt Shootout.

Ricky Thornton Jr. would like to thank all of his marketing partners, which include: Dyno One Inc., Excel Floor Covering, Certified Inspection Service Co. Inc., D&E Outside Services, Deines-Nitz Soultions & Powdercoating, West Side Tractor Sales Co., SSI Motorsports, Shelby Materials, Slicker Graphics, Lethal Chassis, Dylan Earven Foundation, Tire Demon, Hoker Trucking, Tanner Racing, High Performance Lubricants, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Midwest Sheet Metal, Dirtvision, Simpson Race Products, JE Pistons, Edelbrock, MSD, iRacing, E-Z-GO, Powers Performance, COMP Cams, Quarter Master, Cometic Gasket, Drydene, Winters Performance Products, Snap-on by Ryan Marsh, NGK Spark Plugs, Schoenfeld Headers, NAPA, Swift Springs, Penske Racing Shocks, Winning Edge Carburetion, Longhorn Chassis, Clements Racing Engines, Dynamic Drivelines, Superior Fuel Cells, Finish Line Body & Parts, Wehrs Machine, Dirt Defender, EMD Wraps, CPD racing Shocks, Bassett, Integra Racing Shocks, and MSR Mafia Marketing Services.

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