Story By: BEN SHELTON / RICKY THORNTON JR. RACING – MOUNT AIRY, NC – Ricky Thornton Jr. made a triumphant debut about the Lionel Racing / Bilstein No. 20RT Kevin Rumley Racing / Senior Life Insurance Company / D&E Marine / Longhorn Race Car / Cornett Racing Engine Super Late Model on Wednesday night at Fairbury Speedway.
Beginning a two-week run with the team, Thornton Jr. surged from the 15th-starting spot to claim the $20,000 top prize in Castrol FloRacing Night in America’s One For the Road event presented by I-Beam Sliding Doors.
“I was running around the bottom and then we had a restart and (Tim McCreadie) actually picked the top and drove through the middle and passed like three or four cars,” Thornton Jr. said. “I felt like I could move out (off the bottom) just a little bit and really just get above the hole and there was a lot of traction there from everyone digging it out. I thought I was going over (when he bicycled in turn two on lap-41) — it got up and I turned right, I’m like, ‘Don’t turn too hard, cause then you’re really gonna hurt when you land,’ so I just tried to get (the car) back down and get my momentum going again.
I found a way around (Shannon) Babb coming to the white flag, and we got the win. Man, it was fun night and a great way to start this race swing with Kevin Rumley and his team.”
Ricky Thornton Jr. teamed up with Kevin Rumley on Wednesday as the rescheduled One for the Road presented by I-Beam Sliding Doors event kicked off the 34th annual Prairie Dirt Classic weekend at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway.
Against a stout field of 65 Castrol FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota entries, Thornton’s third-place heat outing pinned him on the eighth row for the A-Main.
Making an impressive move to the front, Ricky charged on the bottom to overtake Shannon Babb for the lead on lap 48 and led the final to two circuits to capture his 21st win of the season and the $20,000 top prize. He finished 0.111 seconds ahead of Babb with Ryan Gustin joining the podium.
Back at the Illinois oval on Friday for the World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series-sanctioned Prairie Dirt Classic, Ricky followed up the 26th-fastest qualifying effort with a 13th-to-6th showing in his 25-lap showdown feature.
Relegated into a B-Main on Saturday, Thornton raced into the $50,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic with a second-place finish in his consolation race. Taking the green in 21st, Ricky wheeled into the top-10 by lap 60 and climbed to third on lap 78. After passing Mike Marlar for second on lap 78, Thornton suffered a broken driveshaft on lap 90 while hunting down pacesetter Nick Hoffman that brought a disappointing end to his weekend.
Ricky holds a nine-point advantage atop the latest Castrol FloRacing Night in America point standings.
With Monday night’s World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series event at Wilmot (Wisc.) Raceway falling victim to rain, the team now turns it’s attention to the 2024 edition of the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway (New Richmond, Wisc.) this weekend. The World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series weekend opens with complete $6,000-to-win programs on Thursday and Friday, followed by a $50,000-to-win finale on Saturday.