WHEATLAND, MO. (March 31, 2023) – Once Ricky Thornton Jr. got to the lead, there was no stopping the Martinsville, Indiana, driver on Night 1 of the 10th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirt at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Thornton earned $5,000 for his second career MLRA victory, dominating a field of 48 Late Models that checked into the pits for the opener of the weekend. The Spring Nationals conclude on Saturday night with $10,000 going to the Late Model winner.
“We were really good there,” Thornton said after the victory, which attracted a large and deep field as national-touring series events scheduled for this weekend were rained out. “We practiced really good yesterday and I was super comfortable. It was a good night.”
Support divisions running on Friday night saw Tom Charles capture the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature and Nic Bidinger win the Show-Me Vintage Racers main event.
Thornton started third and remained there through the early going before charging around Earl Pearson Jr. on lap nine and then taking over the lead, for good, on lap 14.
Thornton, a one-time Modified ace who was racing his Late Model for the first time in 27 days due to numerous weather cancellations, finished 4.9 seconds in front of runner-up Bobby Pierce in the caution-free 40-lapper. Jonathan Davenport made a late charge to third with Tanner English finishing fourth.
Late Model rookie and local favorite Dillon McCowan, a two-time Lucas Oil Speedway USRA Modified track champion, led the first 13 laps. The 19-year-old from nearby Urbana, who plans to run for MLRA Rookie of the Year honors, faded late to wind up fifth.
Thornton, 32, said he was waiting for the track to slow down a bit in the early going as he stayed patient behind McCowan and Pearson.
“Then we really kind of took off,” Thornton said. “It shows how hard our guys work. It’s pretty cool to be able to run today. I think we all thought it was gonna rain out. I’m just glad we got to make some laps and we’ll see how we do tomorrow.”
Race day on Friday was under the threat of rain that didn’t materialize. But high winds, with gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour at times, made it a challenging day for the track crew.
McCowan started outside of row one and got the jump on pole-starter Pearson, as the race went green. McCowan proceeded to lead the first 13 laps, at one time with a 1.7-second command over Thornton as the eventual winner passed Pearson on lap nine.
By lap 12, Thornton had moved to the back of McCowan’s car and was pressuring for the lead. The national-touring-series vet got it coming out of turn four to complete lap 14, moving past McCowan on the inside.
“He was really good. He was there in his heat race, too,” Thornton said of McCowan. “He’s got a lot of laps here. He got out front I think he just didn’t know exactly where he needed to be on the track. The middle was really good early and then I found out the top in one and two was really good and I could kind of do whatever I wanted in three and four.
“I was able to get by Earl. That took me five or six laps. I didn’t want to do something dumb and take myself out of it. Just overall, really good speed and I didn’t tear anything up tonight. The tires still look good. Hopefully, I can do the same thing tomorrow.
Pierce, who started sixth, took over second on lap 18 and set his sights on Thornton as the race remained caution-free with the leaders darting through lapped traffic. Pierce said could have used a caution at that point, but it wouldn’t have mattered much near the end.
“I kind of ended up using my tires a bit there and if I didn’t get one midway through the race, I was glad I didn’t see one with a couple of laps to go,” Pierce said. “I would have been a sitting duck.
“Congrats to Ricky on the win. His car was really good. When he wanted to flip on the switch, he flipped it on. Just a pretty good night for us. We have to get a little better in the black. It’s what this is about, just learning this thing and trying to see what makes it go the best.”
Pierce led qualifying with a lap of 16.337, pacing Group B and earning him pole for the third heat race. McCowan outdueled him to win the heat, regaining the leader midway through when they traded slide jobs, and get a front-row starting spot for the main event.
It was an impressive outing for McCowan, who held a podium position until lap 39 when Davenport moved around him into third. He surrendered another spot on the final lap as Tanner English wound up in fourth.
Davenport said his run was solid and said he looks forward to Saturday.
“We just got behind in qualifying, the track just got faster as it went along in qualifying, then we just ran behind the 8 car (McCowan) and Bobby (Pierce) in the heat and didn’t have anywhere to go,” Davenport said. “We had a pretty good race track right there, it got a little top dominant there towards the middle but there at the end it started slowing down and I was able to pass a couple of cars on the bottom.”
USRA Modified feature goes to Bidinger: Nic Bidinger and Matt Johnson started on the front row and dueled throughout the 20-lap Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature, with Bidinger coming out on top by two car lengths at the finish.
Bidinger, of Perry, Kansas, prevailed in his first outing of the 2023 season after earning 10 wins overall last season.
Johnson pulled alongside Bidinger coming out of turn four to complete the fifth lap, but was unable to make the pass. Bidinger kept him at bay the rest of the way, with Johnson’s last-lap charger coming up just short.
“Sometimes starting up front is good and sometimes it’s bad,” Bidinger said. “We searched around there early. I saw Matt was coming on the bottom, so I changed up my line a little and covered that up and really took off and it went good. It was the first night out this year, so we’ll take it.”
Dustin Sorensen finished third with Robbie Reed fourth and Mickey Burrell fifth.
Charles wins SMVR feature: Tom Charles of Wolcott, Kansas, led all 15 laps of the Show-Me Vintage Racing Series feature, holding off Jim Thorne over the final three circuits after a late caution set up a shootout.
Charles’ lead was 1.04 seconds when the caution flew to give Thorne and third-running Brandon Jordan a shot at overtaking him after a single-file restart.
Jordan moved into second on lap 13, but was unable to overtake Charles as the winner’s margin at the checkers was just under one second. Jordan wound up in second with Dan Schmidt third and Jim Thome fourth.
“I made some changes on the car this winter, I put some new springs on it and moved some stuff around,” said Charles, who was driving a 1963 Ford Fairlane. “I love watching the Late Models, but when I was a kid this was a Late Model.”
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Friday, March 31)
10th annual MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts
MLRA Late Models
A Feature – 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce[6]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[10]; 4. 96V-Tanner English[8]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 6. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 7. 2-Tyler Stevens[7]; 8. B5-Brandon Sheppard[12]; 9. 25-Chad Simpson[21]; 10. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 11. 58-Garrett Alberson[17]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley[16]; 13. 36-Logan Martin[19]; 14. 11-Spencer Hughes[15]; 15. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[13]; 16. 2S-Stormy Scott[11]; 17. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[25]; 18. 28-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 19. 93-Mason Oberkramer[22]; 20. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[18]; 21. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[23]; 22. 45-Cole Wells[20]; 23. 78S-Steve Stultz[24]; 24. 1X-Aaron Marrant[26]; 25. 32S-Chris Simpson[5]; 26. 11H-Jeff Herzog[9]
Sunoco B Main 1 – 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 36-Logan Martin[7]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[3]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 5. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[5]; 6. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[2]; 8. 60-Kip Hughes[11]; 9. 3-Brennon Willard[8]; 10. 42-Johnathan Huston[15]; 11. 23-Chad Walter[14]; 12. 65-Jon Binning[16]; 13. 96-Dalton Imhoff[10]; 14. 7D-Dusty Leonard[13]; 15. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 16. 7B-Mark Burgtorf[12]
Hoosier B Main 2 – 1. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 2. 45-Cole Wells[1]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[4]; 4. 51-Larry Ferris[3]; 5. 22H-Dustin Hodges[5]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[7]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[13]; 8. 29-Chandler Moenning[8]; 9. 67-Jim Vanzandt[10]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker[11]; 11. 14M-Reid Millard[12]; 12. 81-Troy Bynum[14]; 13. 50-Kayden Clatt[9]; 14. 15L-Payton Looney[6]; 15. (DNS) 229-Damian Patocka; 16. (DNS) 15-Justin Duty
Midwest Sheet Metal Heat 1 – 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson[3]; 3. 11H-Jeff Herzog[6]; 4. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[8]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 6. 25-Chad Simpson[5]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 8. 36-Logan Martin[7]; 9. 1X-Aaron Marrant[10]; 10. 60-Kip Hughes[9]; 11. 7D-Dusty Leonard[11]; 12. 42-Johnathan Huston[12]
Hooker Harness Heat 2 – 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 2-Tyler Stevens[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 4. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[5]; 6. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[8]; 7. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 8. 3-Brennon Willard[9]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[10]; 10. 7B-Mark Burgtorf[7]; 11. 23-Chad Walter[12]; 12. 65-Jon Binning[11]
MyRacePass Heat 3 – 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce[1]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 4. 28-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 5. 45-Cole Wells[6]; 6. 51-Larry Ferris[5]; 7. 22H-Dustin Hodges[8]; 8. 82-Jace Parmley[7]; 9. 50-Kayden Clatt[9]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker[10]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz[12]; 12. 229-Damian Patocka[11]
Fast Shafts Heat 4 – 1. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 2. 96V-Tanner English[1]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 6. 93-Mason Oberkramer[5]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[7]; 8. 29-Chandler Moenning[10]; 9. 67-Jim Vanzandt[12]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[9]; 11. 81-Troy Bynum[11]; 12. 15-Justin Duty[8]
Qualifying Group A – 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:16.712[16]; 2. 2-Tyler Stevens, 00:16.786[8]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:16.819[17]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:16.903[3]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:16.905[18]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:16.973[11]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh, 00:17.037[4]; 8. 11-Spencer Hughes, 00:17.101[12]; 9. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:17.120[20]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm, 00:17.170[9]; 11. 11H-Jeff Herzog, 00:17.172[7]; 12. 14G-Trevor Gundaker, 00:17.177[22]; 13. 36-Logan Martin, 00:17.183[14]; 14. 7B-Mark Burgtorf, 00:17.285[19]; 15. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:17.298[10]; 16. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:17.299[24]; 17. 60-Kip Hughes, 00:17.301[1]; 18. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:17.330[6]; 19. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:17.361[23]; 20. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:17.590[15]; 21. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:17.635[2]; 22. 65-Jon Binning, 00:17.637[5]; 23. 42-Johnathan Huston, 00:17.649[13]; 24. 23-Chad Walter, 00:18.083[21]
Qualifying Group B – 1. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 00:16.337[20]; 2. 96V-Tanner English, 00:16.404[15]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:16.436[17]; 4. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:16.520[21]; 5. 28-Dustin Sorensen, 00:16.559[11]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:16.641[1]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:16.651[6]; 8. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:16.679[10]; 9. 51-Larry Ferris, 00:16.763[13]; 10. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.765[22]; 11. 45-Cole Wells, 00:16.811[16]; 12. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:16.824[23]; 13. 82-Jace Parmley, 00:16.908[7]; 14. 15L-Payton Looney, 00:16.908[2]; 15. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 00:16.969[9]; 16. 15-Justin Duty, 00:17.067[8]; 17. 50-Kayden Clatt, 00:17.132[5]; 18. 14M-Reid Millard, 00:17.412[12]; 19. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:17.431[14]; 20. 29-Chandler Moenning, 00:17.551[3]; 21. 229-Damian Patocka, 00:17.746[24]; 22. 81-Troy Bynum, 00:17.890[19]; 23. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:17.930[4]
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds
A Feature – 1. 3B-Nic Bidinger[1]; 2. 1X-Matt Johnson[2]; 3. 28-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 4. 5-Robbie Reed[5]; 5. 73-Mickey Burrell[7]; 6. 21-Ryan Middaugh[8]; 7. 28G-Jim Greenway[9]; 8. 03-Chase Jones[6]; 9. 3J-Lewis Jackson[12]; 10. 38C-Jason Pursley[4]; 11. 66-Ryan Gillmore[17]; 12. 30-Dalton Kirk[13]; 13. 18-JC Morton[10]; 14. 9-Dustin Tiger[11]; 15. 7-Daniel Franklin[15]; 16. 10-Gary Tackitt[18]; 17. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[16]; 18. 05US-Jonathan Olmscheid[14]
Heat 1 – 1. 28-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 2. 5-Robbie Reed[4]; 3. 03-Chase Jones[3]; 4. 73-Mickey Burrell[5]; 5. 28G-Jim Greenway[8]; 6. 3J-Lewis Jackson[6]; 7. 05US-Jonathan Olmscheid[7]; 8. 7-Daniel Franklin[1]; 9. 10-Gary Tackitt[9]
Heat 2 – 1. 1X-Matt Johnson[3]; 2. 21-Ryan Middaugh[5]; 3. 3B-Nic Bidinger[6]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley[8]; 5. 9-Dustin Tiger[1]; 6. 18-JC Morton[9]; 7. 30-Dalton Kirk[4]; 8. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[7]; 9. 66-Ryan Gillmore[2]
Show-Me Vintage Racers
A Feature – 1. 81-Tom Charles[7]; 2. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[6]; 3. 8X-Dan Schmidt[9]; 4. 113-Jim Thorne[8]; 5. 54-Lawrence Waters[10]; 6. 58-Beth Martin[2]; 7. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[16]; 8. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[5]; 9. 6-Damen Clevenger[23]; 10. 88-Jimmy Naylor[20]; 11. 35-BILL BERENS[17]; 12. 2B-Brian Cox[12]; 13. 14-Mickie Cook[1]; 14. 45-Daniel Schmidt[3]; 15. 02-Jeff Siler[11]; 16. 44-Terry Price[14]; 17. 5-Eddie Neil[4]; 18. 83-John Olmscheid[19]; 19. 42-Rob Brash[22]; 20. 8-Rocky Rhodes[13]; 21. 63-John Martin[18]; 22. 1-Rodney Ashworth[15]; 23. 9-Gary Joslin[21]
Heat 1 – 1. 81-Tom Charles[7]; 2. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[6]; 3. 45-Daniel Schmidt[3]; 4. 113-Jim Thorne[8]; 5. 5-Eddie Neil[4]; 6. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[5]; 7. 14-Mickie Cook[1]; 8. 58-Beth Martin[2]
Heat 2 – 1. 54-Lawrence Waters[2]; 2. 8X-Dan Schmidt[1]; 3. 1-Rodney Ashworth[7]; 4. 44-Terry Price[6]; 5. 2B-Brian Cox[4]; 6. 02-Jeff Siler[3]; 7. (DNF) 8-Rocky Rhodes[5]
Heat 3 – 1. 63-John Martin[3]; 2. 6-Damen Clevenger[8]; 3. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[1]; 4. 35-BILL BERENS[2]; 5. 83-John Olmscheid[4]; 6. 88-Jimmy Naylor[5]; 7. 42-Rob Brash[7]; 8. (DNF) 9-Gary Joslin[6]
Action resumes Saturday night: Saturday night’s Spring Nationals finale will be headlined by a $10,000-to-win main event for the Late Models. Also in action Saturday will be the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars gunning for a top prize of $750 and the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods also chasing a $750 feature win. The SMVR also will be racing again with the Mickey Fleehart tribute race, paying tribute to the long-time leader of the series who passed away over the offseason.
Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. on Saturday with spectator gates at 5 p.m., hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.
Saturday ticket information:
Adults (16 and up) – $25
Seniors (62 and up)/Military – $22
Youth (6-15) – $10
Kids (5 and under) – FREE
Family Pass – $60
Pit Pass – $40
Enduro Easter Bowl 150 entries remain open: Drivers planning to enter the Enduro Easter Bowl 150 on April 8th also can find the entry form online and return it. O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will race for $1,000 to win that evening and POWRi Midwest Mods go after a $600 first prize as a special guest class.
Off Road practice on April 8: A high interest in the inaugural MidAmerica Outdoors Side-by-Side Series event set for April 28-29 as prompted Lucas Oil Speedway to schedule a practice day on the Off Road track on April 8th.The practice session will be held from noon-4 p.m. Pit gates will open at 10 a.m. with pit passes $25. That pass also will be good for admission into the Easter Bowl Enduro 150 program on the dirt track that evening.
SRX roster of drivers expands, with tickets on sale: General admission tickets for the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) race scheduled for Aug. 17 at Lucas Oil Speedway remain on sale. The SRX Thursday Night Thunder event will be the finale in the six-race series, which features some of racing’s biggest names.
Drivers previously announced for the Wheatland event include Tony Stewart, Kenny Wallace, Hailie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves, Clint Bowyer, reigning SRX Champion Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Tickets for the SRX event will be $35 in advance and $40 at the gate (ages 16 and over). Kids (ages 6-15) will be $20 with ages 5-and-under free. Advance tickets can now be purchased via Stubwire – https://www.stubwire.com/event/srxespnthursdaynightthunder/lucasoilspeedway/wheatland/28075/ Pit passes are $50 and must be purchased the day of the event.
For information about any event at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.
CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984