ROSSBURG, Ohio — Ricky Thornton Jr. completed a weekend sweep at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway with a victory in Saturday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned UNOH Clash on the Wabash finale.
Thornton and his Koehler Motorsports team earned $65,000 over the two nights.
Thornton collected $50,000 for Saturday’s feature victory and an additional $5,000 bonus from Automotive Racing Products after winning Friday’s $10,000-to-win opener.
Devin Moran charged from 15th to second to keep his bid for a second consecutive series championship alive. He now trails Brandon Sheppard, who finished sixth, by 45 points heading into Carl Short’s Dirt Track World Championship next weekend at West Virginia Motor Speedway.
Josh Rice earned Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race honors by advancing from 23rd to third, rounding out the podium despite lingering damage from the night’s first B-Main. Polesitter Dale McDowell led the first 25 laps and finished fourth, while Kyle Bronson edged Sheppard at the finish line for fifth.
Thornton crossed the finish line 1.213 seconds ahead of Moran to make his 64th career trip to Lucas Oil Wieland Victory Lane.
“Dale was really good from the get-go, and so was Nick (Hoffman). I kept watching the board, and I knew if Josh (Rice) was going to pass a bunch of cars, it was going to be around the top. So I kept watching for him up on the board, and I thought he was like seventh or eighth on the restart. I was like, all right, if I could get a good enough start—and the start before, Dale blocked the middle—if he doesn’t get a great restart this time, and if he goes in and blocks the middle again, hopefully I could just drive through the middle,” said the Chandler, Arizona, native.
Moran earned $20,000 for his runner-up finish, keeping him firmly in championship contention heading into the season finale.
“Ricky is obviously pretty dang good,” Moran said. “You know he is one of the best for a reason. He is rolling right now, and he was really good the last two nights. All in all, it was a great run. We have just got to figure out how to start up front. Honestly, I was driving really hard before I got to Sheppy, and then I caught him. I probably slid him one lap too early, and that got me into the fence. That really messed up my mojo there for a little while. If I would have waited, I could have gained myself five or six laps.”
Rice struck debris and hit the wall in the B-Main, forcing him to use a provisional to start the feature. His crew made enough repairs to get him back on track, and he gained 20 positions to finish third.
“I ran over something there, and I guess Bobby (Pierce) got it too. I actually didn’t even pull back into my pit stall. I figured it was too bad to even fix. Hats off to my guys for getting us fixed enough to race the feature. We had everything tight, and nothing fell off of it. I was kind of glad it was over. I pretty much got to where I was going to finish. I could tell on that restart that I was not going to be able to launch, and we held on for third. Actually, I thought I was catching Devin for the lead, and then I saw Ricky leading. I picked up a vibration, and I was ready for the race to be over.”
The UNOH Clash on the Wabash | Night 2 | Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 3 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $56,300
2 – 15 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $21,300
3 – 23 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $11,000
4 – 1 – 17M – Dale McDowell – Chickamauga, GA – $8,000
5 – 7 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $7,900
6 – 4 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $7,000
7 – 2 – 9H – Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – $4,500
8 – 19 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $4,000
9 – 12 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $3,800
10 – 9 – 10 – Garrett Smith – Madison, GA – $3,600
11 – 21 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $4,300
12 – 8 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $4,100
13 – 20 – 8S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $3,900
14 – 6 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $3,400
15 – 18 – 12J – Jason Jameson – Lawrenceburg, IN – $2,400
16 – 16 – 74X – Ethan Dotson – Bakersfield, CA – $2,300
17 – 17 – 20TC – Tristan Chamberlain – Richmond, IN – $2,200
18 – 5 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $2,100
19 – 13 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,900
20 – 22 – 99JR – Frank Heckenast Jr – Frankfort, IL – $2,000
21 – 11 – 44M – Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC – $2,000
22 – 25 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,000
23 – 10 – 19R – Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – $2,000
24 – 24 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $2,900
25 – 26 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,000
26 – 14 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $3,400
27 – 27 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $100
