Story By: JEREMY PETERS / RICKY THORNTON JR. RACING – MOUNT AIRY, NC – Ricky Thornton Jr. added his second win with the Koehler Motorsports team over the weekend with a flag-to-flag victory in Friday’s Topless 100 preliminary feature at Batesville Motor Speedway aboard the Ultimate Towing & Recovery / Coltman Farms Racing / Hoker Trucking No. 20RT Longhorn Chassis Late Model.
The $5,000 triumph for the Chandler, Ariz., native marked his 23rd overall victory of the season and 41st of his career with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
“For some reason, I am really good here early in the week,” Thornton said. “I felt like we were better tonight than what we typically are. I don’t know, I think we just need to work on our stuff to get a little better for these long features. The setup on the car is weird, it’s way different than I have ever driven. Thanks to the guys for getting the car ready this week while I was running a pavement midget car. It’s nice to hop back in it and have some speed. Hopefully tomorrow it will start off just as muddy and I hope the racing can be just as good.”
Thornton’s week kicked off on Wednesday with his first-ever start in a Pavement Midget at Lucas Oil Raceway Park (Indianapolis, Ind.) aboard the Engler Machine and Tool No. 11W entry.
Competing with the High Performance Lubricants Eco Tech Series in his debut on Asphalt, Thornton followed up a strong showing in his time trial session before turning in a fifth-place finish in the All-star Spectacular preliminary. In the 25-lap main event, Ricky was sidelined on lap 22 while running in sixth.
On Friday, Ricky rejoined the Koehler Motorsports team at Batesville Motor (AR) Speedway for the 32nd annual Nutrien Ag Solutions Topless 100. Against a stout field of 53 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) entries, Thornton raced into the preliminary feature with a heat race victory. Taking command of the lead on the opening lap, Ricky soared to a flag-to-flag triumph in the 30-lap affair to claim his 23rd win of the season and the $5,000 payday.
Starting on the pole for Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win Topless 100 finale, Thornton suffered a flat tire while leading on lap 65 that sent him into the infield hot pit. He drove from the tail to salvage a fifth-place finish in the 100-lapper.
Thornton holds a comfortable 245-point lead atop the latest LOLMDS point standings.
Thornton is now gearing up for a busy week that will begin on Wednesday at Lernerville Speedway for the Castrol FloRacing Night in America event.
The team will then head to Port Royal Speedway on Friday and Saturday for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned The Rumble by the River.