Thornton
Ricky Thornton Jr. (Frank Smith photo)

Thornton Wins Third Straight At World Finals

CONCORD, N.C. — Ricky Thornton Jr. won his third consecutive World of Outlaws World Finals late model feature Thursday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Thornton started on the pole for the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series feature, but gave way to Drake Troutman at the start of the 35-lap event.

As Troutman led, Thornton bided his time. He eventually ran down Troutman in lapped traffic and pushed his Koehler Motorsports No. 20rt to the lead on lap 22.

“I felt really good up there,” Thornton said about racing the high groove on the four-tenths-mile track. “Once I got to Drake, I couldn’t get around him, but luckily he got stuck behind those lapped cars and I was able to get to him.”

It was the 27th overall feature victory of the season for Thornton

“I feel like we had a really good car here,” said Thornton, who also competing in the sprint car division earlier in the night. “We were really good I could run the top and I could run around the bottom. Hats off to my whole team and everyone at Koehler Motorsports.

“It’s been a long year. I feel like we won 130 races or so.”

Troutman, who finished second, felt he should have been more patient.

“I went a little bit too hard early there and I probably should have paced myself better,” said the 19-year-old driver. “You get out in front like that and you are a siting duck.”

Veteran racer Chris Madden, who returned to the seat this weekend after spending much of the season as crew chief for Thornton, finished third.

“We were pretty good right there,” Madden said. “We definitely didn’t need any more laps, we had a flat tire at the scales over there. We definitely have something to build on.”

Mike Marlar was fourth, with Daulton Wilson fifth.

Meanwhile, in the battle for the series title, Nick Hoffman finished sixth, with Bobby Pierce 13th and point leader Brandon Sheppard 18th.

Sheppard enters Friday night with a 26-point advantage over Hoffman and a 34-point lead over defending champion Pierce.

The finish:

Ricky Thornton Jr., Drake Troutman, Chris Madden, Mike Marlar, Daulton Wilson, Nick Hoffman, Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Bronson, Dale McDowell, Trent Ivey, Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Bobby Pierce, Cade Dillard, Ethan Dotson, Tim McCreadie, Kyle Strickler, Brandon Sheppard, Zack Mitchell, Jordan Koehler, Cody Overton, Brian Shirley, Ryan Gustin, Tyler Bruening, Austin Smith, Dennis Erb Jr., Dustin Sorensen, Max McLaughlin, Tristan Chamberlain, Brent Larson.