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Thornton grabs a pair of podium finishes in I-80 Nationals prelims; passes 15 cars in Silver Dollar Nationals

SSI Motorsports and pilot Ricky Thornton Jr. followed the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) to I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, Neb.) on Tuesday afternoon to kick off a five-night stretch with the I-80 Nationals. Drawing 43 cars, Thornton Jr. clocked in second fastest in his group before placing fifth in his heat. With passing points aligning him third on the starting grid for the preliminary feature, Ricky held his spot for all 30 laps to finish third. He followed Brandon Overton and Hudson O’Neal across the line with Kyle Bronson and Frank Heckenast Jr. rounding out the Top-5. (Heath Lawson photo)

For another $7,000-to-win preliminary feature on Wednesday, Thornton’s fourth-place finish in his heat pinned him 13th on the starting grid for the show. Advancing into a podium spot, Ricky passed 13 cars in the 30-lapper to register a third-place finish, which came behind Tyler Erb and Ricky Weiss. Brandon Overton and Stormy Scott completed the Top-5 finishers.

With preliminary results from Tuesday and Wednesday setting the grid for the $30,000-to-win I-80 Nationals on Thursday evening, Ricky was locked into the seventh-starting position. Breaking into the Top-5, Thornton Jr. clawed forward two spots to finish fifth. He trailed Tyler Erb, Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Overton, and Spencer Hughes to the checkers.

On Friday for a pair of heat races to get the 11th annual Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals underway, Thornton Jr. was leading his first heat when electrical issues shut off his car. He piloted his secondary entry to a fifth-place finish in his second round.

Rolling off eighth in his B-Main on Saturday, Ricky passed four cars in the 12-lapper to grab the fourth and final transfer spot. With $53,000 on the line in the main event, Thornton Jr. advanced through the field 15 spots in the 80-lap affair to place 11th.

Ricky climbed to eighth in the latest LOLMDS point standings.

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