ALMA, Ohio — Ricky Thornton Jr. took the lead with five laps remaining, passing Brandon Sheppard and holding him off by 0.167 seconds at the finish line to capture his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season Sunday night at Atomic Speedway.
Thornton, who also won last year’s Buckeye Spring Classic at Atomic, earned $15,000 for his 57th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory.
Sheppard, who led the opening 45 laps, finished second. Brandon Overton reclaimed third from Josh Rice on the final lap to round out the podium. Rice and Max Blair completed the top five.
Starting fourth, Thornton charged to his second overall win of 2026 and his first since the opening round of the Wild West Shootout in January.
“I felt like Tyler (Erb) was really good early, and then I was racing Brandon (Overton), and I’m not sure what happened to him,” said Thornton. “He got back around me off turn two and then slowed down – didn’t look like anything broke. On the restart, I debated whether to go top or bottom. I felt like the top would be better, but if the bottom got a run, they’d slide you. So I chose the top and drove as hard as I could into turn one to make sure Overton couldn’t slide me.”
Sheppard, who led a combined 59 laps between Brownstown on Saturday and Atomic on Sunday, came within half a car length of Thornton at the finish.
“We had a really good car – definitely capable of winning,” Sheppard said. “I got to the 19M and the 6, and they were running side-by-side and entering a little low. I couldn’t get enough of a run to make a move and got stuck there for too long. I knew someone had to be right behind me. Congrats to Ricky—he capitalized on my mistake. I’m disappointed in myself because my crew works their tails off and gives me a great race car every night. Still, this is the best we’ve been in the slick here in a long time, so we’re happy with the car.”
Overton held off Rice after briefly losing third place late in the race.
“I was catching the leaders by running a different lane,” Overton said. “I started ripping around the top and getting a good run. Josh slid me, so I knew I had to go. It was a heck of a race, and thanks to Josh for racing me clean. The track was awesome again – I’ve never been here when it wasn’t good.”
The Results
Buckeye Spring 50 Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 4 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $16,300
2 – 1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $7,900
3 – 3 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $5,900
4 – 10 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $4,900
5 – 8 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $3,971
6 – 7 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $3,800
7 – 6 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $3,300
8 – 5 – 22* – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $2,300
9 – 14 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $3,600
10 – 9 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $3,071
11 – 12 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $2,900
12 – 11 – 13 – Dallon Murty – Chelsea, IA – $1,800
13 – 20 – 71C – RJ Conley – Wheelersburg, OH – $1,600
14 – 23 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $2,400
15 – 17 – 12J – Jason Jameson – Lawrenceburg, IN – $1,400
16 – 16 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $2,200
17 – 24 – 19M – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $2,100
18 – 19 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,100
19 – 13 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $1,900
20 – 22 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,900
21 – 21 – C4 – Freddie Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – $1,000
22 – 18 – 20TC – Tristan Chamberlain – Richmond, IN – $1,000
23 – 2 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $1,100
24 – 15 – 28 – Tyler Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – $1,000
