Story By: BEN SHELTON / SSI MOTORSPORTS – MARTINSVILLE, IN – Ricky Thornton Jr. raced to a total of four wins over the course of the extended Memorial Day weekend.
After pocketing a Tuesday prelim win plus a $16,667 win on Wednesday night aboard Jordan Grabouski’s No. 20RT Stock Car in the $250,000 Challenge at Clay County Fair Speedway (Spencer, Iowa), Thornton Jr. raced to back-to-back $10,000 wins on Thursday and Friday at Lucas Oil Speedway with his SSI Motorsports / Coltman Farms / Hoker Trucking No. 20RT Dyno One Inc. / Excel Floor Covering / Sub-Surface of Indiana / Longhorn Chassis / Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model.
He added a fifth-place finish in Saturday’s Show-Me 100 finale and with his Thursday night win it marked the 400th overall triumph of his career.
“It was a great week of racing across three divisions. I can’t thank Jordan (Grabouski) enough for having me drive for him in the big show at Clay County (Fair Speedway), and it was awesome to get that win. We hit the ground running at the Show-Me 100 and won the first two nights. I thought we had a real good chance for Saturday too but just went the wrong way on the car for the feature and then the stoppage for the helmet swap didn’t help our cause either. It was still a great week for us, and I’m looking forward to heading to Macon Speedway on Tuesday. I hear that place is real elbows up so it sounds like my kind of track,” Thornton Jr. said.
Ricky Thornton Jr. returned to action on Monday as he was making a guest appearance aboard the Jordan Grabouski-owned No. 20RT Stock Car and the No. 3 Modified for The $250,000 Challenge at Clay County Fair Speedway (Spencer, Iowa).
With qualifying features set for Monday and Tuesday, Thornton backed up a third-place finish in his Modified qualifier with a fifth-to-first showing in his Stock Car prelim.
Persistent rain and an unfavorable forecast on Tuesday forced officials to shift the remainder of The $250,000-to-win Challenge to Wednesday.
Back at the 3/8-mile oval on Wednesday, Ricky outran Dallon Murty in the 30-lap main event to secure his 12th win of the season and the $16,667 payday for team JGR. He wrapped up the evening with an eighth-to-third run in the 20-lap IMCA Modified finale.
Joining a stout field of 63 Super Late Models on Thursday at Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, Mo.) for the opening round of the Show-Me 100 weekend, Thornton overtook race-long pacesetter Garrett Alberson on the final lap of the 45-lap A-Main to secure the $10,000 Cowboy Classic victory. The win marked his 400th career victory and 13th of his 2024 campaign.
In another dominant performance in Friday’s preliminary night, Ricky raced into the Don & Billie Gibson Tribute A-Main with a heat race triumph. Taking the green in fourth, Thornton took control of the lead on the opening lap and never looked backed, pacing to his 14th win of the season and the $10,000 top prize. Devin Moran and Jonathan Davenport joined him on the podium.
Thornton’s Show-Me 100 weekend concluded on Saturday with a fifth-place finish in the 100-lap, $50,000-to-win finale. He trailed Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie, Daulton Wilson, and Ross Robinson across the line.
Ricky holds an 85-point advantage atop the latest LOLMDS point standings.
Ricky and SSI Motorsports thunder into Macon (Ill.) Speedway on Tuesday, May 28 for the $20,000-to-win Castrol FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota opener.