MARYVILLE, Tenn. — The current Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP points leader Ricky Thornton Jr. led all the way to win Friday night’s $10,000-to-win Mountain Moonshine Classic opener at Smoky Mountain Speedway.
Thornton collected his ninth series win of the 2024 as he crossed the finish line 1.240 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Tim McCreadie.
Dale McDowell rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third followed by Devin Moran and Daulton Wilson.
With his 37th career win Thornton has now tied McCreadie for sixth on the series’ all-time win list as he now sets his sights on his second consecutive Mountain Moonshine Classic win paying $50,000 on Saturday night.
“I didn’t mind seeing that yellow,” said Thornton referring to the only caution of the race for Drake Troutman’s flat tire with 25 laps scored. Thornton was racing in heavy traffic as McDowell had closed to within a car length of Thornton before the yellow flag waved.
“I was running too hard trying to get by the lapped cars there. I was really beating my tires,” Thornton said. “So, the yellow came out and I saw T-Mac get back to second and I knew he didn’t pass Dale on the bottom, so I knew I had to move up and just try and keep some speed there. Me and Ross [Robinson] hit a little bit there when I was lapping him. He was just trying to race, and he had no idea I was there so luckily it wasn’t too bad. Overall, it was a really good night for us, I think we broke the track record in qualifying. Hopefully the car is this good tomorrow.”
McCreadie, who was coming off a second-place finish in the Show-Me 100 claimed the runner up spot again Friday night at Smoky Mountain.
“Yeah, we will take it,” he said. “I mean these guys went to work every day this week after Eldora trying to make this car more suitable to me as a driver and it came right out of the box tonight and was fast from the get-go. This is the first night we probably put together a whole night where we have been good all night.”
McDowell was putting the pressure on Thornton as the two maneuvered through traffic, but the caution flag did not help McDowell’s cause in trying to pass Thornton for the race lead.
“I just didn’t want to see that caution; Ricky really didn’t know where to go when you’re leading. I could get right there and work around, but when the caution came out, I didn’t really know where to choose. I felt the top and I was a little tight. Shane [McDowell] didn’t really have time with the track conditions. It was a good night; it is good anytime you can finish in the top three or five with these guys.”
The finish:
Ricky Thornton Jr., Tim McCreadie, Dale McDowell, Devin Moran, Daulton Wilson, Mike Marlar, Brandon Overton, Nick Hoffman, Garrett Alberson, Jonathn Davenport, Ryan Gustin, Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Ricky Weiss, Max Blair, Carson Ferguson, Mike Benedum, Chris Ferguson, Boom Briggs, Drake Troutman, Kaede Loudy, Ross Robinson, Rusty Ballenger, Brenden Smith, Cory Lawler, Clay Harris.