HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Ricky Thornton Jr., the reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion, took the lead on lap 32 from Garrett Alberson and then went on to achieve his fifth series win of the season on Saturday night at Hagerstown Speedway.
This victory marked Thornton’s first win at Hagerstown, where he took home $25,000 for winning the Conococheague 50.
Alberson, who led the first 31 laps of the race, finished second with Daulton Wilson rounding out the Big River Steel Podium in third. Gregg Satterlee finished in fourth, followed by Brandon Sheppard in fifth.
Alberson, who started outside the front row, dominated the race, running unchallenged for the first 19 laps until a caution closed the gap he had built between himself and Thornton.
On the restart, Thornton was able to stay close to Alberson. After a long stretch of green flag racing, Thornton wrestled the lead away from Alberson on lap 32. He continued to lead the rest of the way, finishing with a 2.984-second advantage over Alberson at the checkers for his first win at the historic track.
“The crazy part is I felt like it hasn’t been this windy all night. I was here a few years ago and gave one away on the last lap, so it’s nice to come back and get a win like that tonight,” Thornton said. “Obviously, Garrett was really good. I felt like if we didn’t get to traffic, there was no way I was going to pass him. He slipped up just a little bit on that first lap getting into traffic, and I knew I had to take it slow and make sure I slid him getting into three, so that way he didn’t have a good chance to cross me over and pass me down the front straightaway. It worked out for us.”
Alberson, who scored his first series win at Port Royal last August returns to the scene of that win on Sunday night to conclude the Mid-Atlantic weekend.
“Man, it hurts to lead laps like that and not win,” Alberson said. “I don’t know, we’re just a little out of balance there. I was way too tight getting across the center, and then I had to shake a little bit, and I started to get set up on the right rear, and I couldn’t leave the corner like I wanted to anymore. I hate that for my guys, but congrats to Ricky, he’s been doing a great job all year.”
Wilson, who started from the pole, stayed in the hunt all race long to come home in third.
“We have had a really good race car, my guys have been busting their butts. I don’t have a lot of laps here, but I felt pretty good. When I got to lapped traffic, I didn’t feel the greatest, but all in all to run in the top three tonight, we’ll take it.”
The finish:
Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson, Daulton Wilson, Gregg Satterlee, Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb, Hudson O’Neal, Rick Eckert, Ross Robinson, Devin Moran, Carson Ferguson, Daniel Hilsabeck, Donald McInotosh, Spencer Hughes, Gary Stuhler, Dan Ebert, Justin Weaver, Kyle Hardy, Trever Feathers, Dylan Yoder, Mason Zeigler, Brandon Overton, Trevor Collins, Clay Harris.
