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Fourth-place finish in World 100 prelim at Eldora Speedway

Ricky Thornton Jr. may not have got the finishes he wanted but still had some definitive high points during his double World 100 weekend at Eldora Speedway, including leading 23 circuits in the 51st World 100 in his No. 20RT Dyno One Inc./ Excel Floor Covering/ Sub-Surface of Indiana/ Longhorn Chassis/ Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model. (Jacy Norgaard photo)

“The finishes might not show it, but we did have a pretty solid weekend at Eldora. That place is so tricky and so many things have to go your way to be successful. Overall, we were really good on Thursday night, and we led 23 laps but as it started to rubber, we just got too tight to run where we needed to,” Thornton Jr. said. “It was cool to lead some laps there, and we’ll take what we learned and look forward to going back next year.”

SSI Motorsports and Ricky Thornton Jr. traveled to Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, Ohio) on Wednesday afternoon to compete in preliminary action for the 51st annual World 100. With the 80-car field split into two groups, Ricky’s fourth-place finish in his heat race pinned him 13th on the starting grid for the $10,000-to-win preliminary feature.

Losing one spot in the 25-lap affair, Thornton Jr. recorded a 14th-place outing.

Earning the second-starting position for his heat race on Thursday, Thornton Jr. outran Brian Shirley in the 20-lapper to pick up the victory. Starting the $54,000-to-win World 100 in second, Ricky paced the field for the first 23 circuits until Brandon Overton stole the top spot on lap 24. He went on to place eighth in the 100-lapper.

During preliminary action for the 50th annual World 100 on Friday evening, Ricky notched a runner-up finish in his heat, which positioned him third on the starting grid for the A-Main. With $10,000 on the line, Thornton Jr. dropped one spot to register a fourth-place finish. He followed Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens and Kyle Bronson across the line with Dale McDowell coming in fifth.

Starting on the front row of his heat race on Saturday evening, Thornton Jr. secured his spot into the $53,000-to-win World 100 with a runner-up finish in his heat race. He was an early retiree from the 100-lapper on lap 55 while being credited with a 20th-place finish.

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