INDIANAPOLIS — Ricky Thornton Jr. tracked down race-long leader Hudson O’Neal and made the winning pass on lap 41. He held on to capture his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing victory of the season Friday night at Circle City Raceway.
Thornton’s 58th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win earned him $15,000 in the series’ second visit to the Indianapolis facility.
O’Neal finished second, with Max Blair rounding out the Big River Steel podium in third. Mike Marlar finished fourth, followed by Devin Moran in fifth.
Starting sixth, Thornton now moves into a tie with Brandon Sheppard for fourth in the standings heading into Saturday’s event at Florence Speedway.
“I felt like we had a really good car all night, but I just couldn’t quite get it going early. In the feature, everything came together,” said the Chandler, Arizona native. “Watching midget and sprint car races here, you know how technical the top can be and that the bottom will eventually come in. Max (Blair) was strong down there, and after that caution, when Marlar chose the bottom, I knew I had to make my move.”
With his runner-up finish, O’Neal is tied with Moran for the points lead heading into the Ralph Latham Memorial at Florence Speedway.
“It was probably better not to be the leader at the end,” O’Neal said. “Ricky was really good late in the race. He probably saved his tires better than I did and was able to move around more. When you’re leading, you’re kind of stuck picking a lane and hoping it holds. No excuses—we’re happy to finish second, even though it’s tough to lead that long and get passed late.”
Blair continued his strong run, recording his ninth consecutive top-five finish.
“The restart where Ricky got by me actually helped me a bit,” Blair said. “I knew once Marlar picked the bottom on that last restart, it was going to be tough to hold those guys off. It was a lot of fun racing with Ricky for as long as we did.”
Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 6 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $16,300
2 – 2 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $8,300
3 – 4 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $5,900
4 – 1 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $4,000
5 – 3 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $4,400
6 – 5 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $3,400
7 – 10 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $3,300
8 – 7 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $3,200
9 – 13 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $3,100
10 – 11 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $3,000
11 – 18 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $2,900
12 – 8 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $2,700
13 – 15 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,500
14 – 9 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,500
15 – 12 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $1,400
16 – 21 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $2,200
17 – 24 – C4 – Freddie Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – $1,200
18 – 20 – 59 – Dillard Hatchett – Cornersville, TN – $1,100
19 – 22 – 19M – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $1,900
20 – 23 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,900
21 – 16 – 4G – Kody Evans – Camden, OH – $1,000
22 – 19 – 44 – Dave Hess Jr – Waterford, PA – $1,000
23 – 17 – P3 – Steve Peeden – Martinsville, IN – $1,000
24 – 14 – 12J – Jason Jameson – Lawrenceburg, IN – $1,000
