2/16/2024
Ricky Thornton Jr
RTJ second in DIRTcar Nationals rain-delayed opener at Volusia
After a rain shower postponed Monday’s program following the final B-Main, Ricky Thornton Jr. and the SSI Motorsports team returned to Volusia Speedway Park (De Leon Springs, Fla.) on Tuesday for the second round of the 53rd annual Federated DIRTcar Nationals.
With a third-place finish in his heat race positioning him on the fifth row for the $7,000-to-win prelim, Ricky steered forwards seven spots in the 25-lap affair to register a second-place finish. He finished 1.407 seconds behind Devin Moran with Kyle Bronson rounding out the podium.
For Monday’s rescheduled feature that was ran on Wednesday, Thornton got caught behind a lapped car while leading that led to an early exit. He was scored 20th after leading the opening 12 circuits.
Later that night, Ricky topped his qualifying group in time trials before placing ninth in the 20-lap prelim.
On Thursday, Thornton backed up the third-fastest lap in his time trial group with a heat race victory. Chasing the $12,000 top prize in A-Main, Ricky rolled to a fourth-place finish in the 40-lap affair. He followed Nick Hoffman, Chris Madden, and Bobby Pierce across the line with Daulton Wilson coming in fifth.
Ricky’s night came to an abrupt in on Friday while running fourth in the A-Main after losing a motor on lap 20.
The 53rd annual Federated DIRTcar Nationals finale on Saturday fell to wet weather.
Full results from the events are available at www.DIRTcar.com and www.WoOLMS.com.
Article Credit: Josh James image
