BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Through three nights of the 55th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Ricky Thornton Jr has proven his hunger for a second career Big Gator title.
The Chandler, Ariz., driver scored his second Golden Gator trophy behind the wheel of the Koehler Motorsports No. 20rt DIRTcar UMP Modified in the night’s 25-lap make-up race from Saturday’s postponement.
Thornton recovered from an early exit in Monday Feature No. 2 after damaging the front nose.
Thornton and former Big Gator champion Tyler Nicely brought the field to the initial green flag, with Nicely’s first-turn momentum from the cushion giving him an advantage over Thornton for the lead. However, a caution for an accident in the back forced a complete restart.
On the second attempt to start, Thornton stayed equal to Nicely on the bottom through Turns 1-2, then overpowered Nicely in Turns 3-4 to take the lead in his protection.
While Nicely charged at Thornton by driving his No. 25 Elite Chassis deep into the corners, his strategy hurt momentum as he slid to the top side off each exit – scrubbing his speed in the process.
Nicely’s struggles allowed fellow Kentucky natives Charlie Mefford and Cole Falloway to capitalize by taking second and third place, respectively, on Lap 13.
When the caution waved with 12 laps remaining, Thornton was tasked with blocking any sort of passing attack from Mefford or Falloway on the restart. Entering the first corner, Thornton made a car-length’s space to Mefford across the backstretch, then the Belton, Ky., driver sent his No.13 Modified to the top of the cushion as Thornton slid up the surface. The two made slight contact, but Thornton’s Modified continued pacing the field as Mefford kept second place.
Thornton’s line around the top gave him an extension of the lead by over one second as he completed the night with a $2,500 payday and a fifth career Golden Gator trophy.
“The driver’s not doing his job,” Thornton said. “Simple as that. I’ve killed two noses pretty much just driving too easy. I think I need to drive a lot harder right there. I probably wasn’t the best car, but I knew at the end, the top was actually way better. No one was gonna go out there, and I’m like, ‘Well, you know what? There’s only a handful of laps, so I might as well get out there, make some speed, and try to make myself a gap.’”
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 13-Charlie Mefford[3]; 3. 66-Cole Falloway[5]; 4. 99H-Justin Haley[12]; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 6. 35A-Michael Altobelli[9]; 7. 72H-Tristan Chamberlain[23]; 8. 77D-George Dixon[11]; 9. 45H-Kyle Hammer[15]; 10. 777-Trevor Neville[7]; 11. 90-Jason Beaulieu[22]; 12. 56-Chris Wilson[16]; 13. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[24]; 14. 114K-Evan Koehler[13]; 15. 57-Charlie Sandercock[21]; 16. 25-Tyler Nicely[2]; 17. 35-David Stremme[8]; 18. 114-Jordan Koehler[20]; 19. 05-Dave Wietholder[18]; 20. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[14]; 21. 96M-Mike McKinney[17]; 22. (DNF) K9-Will Krup[6]; 23. (DNF) 12L-Lucas Lee[19]; 24. (DNS) 97-Mitch Thomas
