Ricky Thornton Jr. on the winning streak at 34 Raceway in Iowa. (Mike Ruefer photo)
WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa – Ricky Thornton Jr. took the lead on lap 18 of the CRST – The Transportation Solution 50 at 34 Raceway to claim his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season.
Thornton, who was also victorious on Friday night, has now reclaimed the Big River Steel Chase and secured the championship presented by ARP by points ahead of the Show-Me 100 weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway May 25-27.
With the $15,000 win, Thornton becomes the first serial rider to break the $100,000 mark in earnings this season.
Tim McCreadie, who finished second to Thornton on Friday night, held the lead for the first 17 laps until Thornton took the lead and continued unchallenged for the rest of the race. Brandon Overton was second, with Spencer Hughes completing the Big River Steel podium in third.
The remaining top five finishers were Earl Pearson Jr. and Chris Simpson.
With Thornton in the lead, McCreadie retained second place but had lost several car lengths to the leader. A warning twelve laps from the end gave McCreadie a chance at Thornton. At the restart, McCreadie jumped into the top lane at turns one and two, but his momentum was too great as he went off the track, causing several drivers to pass and dropping him to 12th in the running order.
Nine laps before the end there was a final warning, which initiated a restart on its own. Thornton showed his strength again as he pulled away from Overton and Hughes to record his tenth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of his career.
Thornton has experienced a surge of emotion following his victory on Friday night when he and his family escaped unharmed after his clothes trailer veered off the freeway and overturned en route to 34 Raceway. “It was definitely everywhere [my emotions]. We won at Farley last night and when we drove off last night I barely got the trailer off the road and then it tipped over. Thankfully, I and my family were safe. I didn’t know how good we would be here tonight. It’s nice to bounce back from this. I want to thank all the fans who bought stuff today, it helps us.”
Ricky Thornton Jr. (Photo by Mike Ruefer)
“Early on in the race the track was really better than I thought it would be, especially on P1 and P2,” Thornton added. “I tried to keep my pace and keep my tires under me. Once I hit the traffic, you have to go where they aren’t. After Tim got on top, I figured I’d just stay on the bottom. With me it worked. I think we widened a few times to get through the traffic.”
Overton, third in the championship standings, finished second.
“I’ve never been to these places, so we weren’t sure what to adjust or not. I couldn’t walk in there and steer because I would have pushed up the hill,” Overton said. “It was a pretty good race from second place onwards. Congratulations to these guys. It was a great track; It was my first time here. You could walk through the bottom or the middle.”
Hughes completed the podium with his third place.
“You definitely had to be very patient tonight. I wasn’t quite as good at slick as Ricky and Brandon. I had to catch the last bit of moisture at the bottom of the tires. I succeeded. On a couple of these reboots, I took some breaks. We’ll take advantage of that goal and head to Wheatland with some momentum.”
The end:
Ricky Thornton Jr Brandon Overton Spencer Hughes Earl Pearson Jr Chris Simpson Hudson O’Neal Mason Zeigler Tyler Erb Jimmy Owens Max Blair Garrett Alberson Tim McCreadie Devin Moran Jonathan Davenport Daulton Wilson , Boom Brigs, Ross Robinson, Daniel Hilsabeck, Jake Timm, Chad Simpson, Tyler Bruening, Matt Furman, Spencer Diercks, Rickey Frankel.
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