6/2/2023
Ricky Thornton Jr
Late charge lifts RTJ to Castrol win at Florence; tops LOLMDS foes at WVMS
After a heartbreak less than a week earlier in the Show-Me 100 Ricky Thornton Jr. persevered to register back-to-back wins aboard his SSI Motorsports / Hoker Trucking No. 20RT Dyno One Inc. / Excel Floor Covering / Sub-Surface of Indiana/ Longhorn Chassis/ Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model.
First, Thornton Jr. rallied to win the Castrol FloRacing Night in America event on Wednesday evening at Kentucky’s Florence Speedway, and then he hit the ground running in the Historic 100 weekend at West Virginia Motor Speedway with a $10,000 triumph on Friday evening. Additionally, he earned the pole position for the $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday night before Mother Nature postponed the feature.
“There’s no quit in this team, and while we were obviously discouraged after the Show-Me 100, we just put our heads down and kept grinding. Todd and Vickie Burns give me everything I need to be successful, and my team works so hard, and we showed it last week. It was a bummer to see Saturday night’s feature at WVMS postponed by rain because I think we had the car to beat there too,” Ricky Thornton Jr. said. “Our team is excited to head to Eldora (Speedway) this week for the Dream. Hopefully I can get another six-figure win.”
Putting his souring ending in the Show-Me 100 behind him, Ricky Thornton Jr. returned to action on Wednesday with the Castrol FloRacing Night in America at Florence Speedway (Walton, Ky.) for the seventh round of the series.
Drawing 32 entries, Thornton raced his way into the main event with a third-to-first showing in his heat race after recording the sixth-fastest qualifying lap in his group.
Pacing his way to the front, Ricky overtook race-long leader Bobby Pierce on lap 44 and went onto pick up his 11th win of the season and third-career CFNiA triumph. He banked a $23,023 payday ahead of Pierce, Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie, and Hudson O’Neal.
Ricky climbed to fifth in the latest Castrol FloRacing Night in America point standings.
To kick off a doubleheader weekend with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS), Ricky invaded West Virginia Motor Speedway (Mineral Wells, W. Va.) on Friday for the Historic 100.
With 26 cars entered, Thornton topped the speed charts in time trials with an 18.939-second lap before placing first in his heat. Regaining the lead on lap 19 with a nifty move from third-to-first, Ricky rolled to his sixth LOLMDS victory of the season, which was worth $10,000.
He enjoyed his 12th triumph of the 2023 campaign ahead of Tim McCreadie, Daulton Wilson, Hudson O’Neal, and Jimmy Owens.
Saturday’s $50,000-to-win finale was postponed by wet weather to another date to be determined. When action resumes RTJ will start from the pole position.
Thornton holds a 165-point advantage atop the latest LOLMDS point standings.
Full results from the events available at www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com.
SSI Motorsports now is set to roll into Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, Ohio) for the 29th running of the Dirt Late Model Dream. On Thursday and Friday the field will be divided into a pair of $12,000-to-win preliminary features, while Saturday’s finale features a $129,000-to-win finale.
Full event details are available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com.
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