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Thornton Sweeps Mid-Atlantic Weekend with Port Royal Triumph

2024-04-30 18:21

PORT ROYAL, PA (April 28, 2024) - Ricky Thornton Jr. swept the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Mid-Atlantic swing, winning on Friday night at Georgetown Speedway in Delaware and Sunday night at Pennsylvania's Port Royal Speedway.

Thornton led every lap of the Battle in the Borough to score his 33rd career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win. With the weekend sweep Thornton becomes the first driver to go over $100,000 in season earnings after picking up the $10,000 victory at Port Royal.

It was not easy at Port Royal for Thornton as Mike Marlar stayed within striking distance throughout the race. Marlar ended up in the runner-up spot at the checkers; 1.538 seconds behind the winner. Garrett Alberson earned his second straight Big River Steel Podium finish by taking third. Jonathan Davenport and Devin Moran, who dropped back as far as 15th rallied to round out the top five.

"I felt like my stuff was really good there," said Thornton who was in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fifth time in 2024. "I was trying to play it a little in one and two, but I think I let Mikey get a little closer to me. Luckily the yellow came out because I think maybe he would have won. I have got to thank whoever brought out that yellow because it put me back out front. It was starting to get a little treacherous there up top, but I figured if you were going to win you had to be up there."

"I have a little bit of body damage. I had to settle back down a little bit after I saw Mikey there. You go so fast down the straightaways here it's easy to overshoot the top and that will get you in trouble. I knew I had to calm down; like I know we have a good car, so I didn't want to mess it up. For the most part most the traffic was patient, and they left me a lane around the top."

Marlar tried several times to pull even with Thornton in turns one and two but could never muster enough to clear him to officially lead a lap. "That's just how it goes sometimes. Ricky should have won the race here last year, but broke. That's part of the comings and goings in racing. I'm just glad we were able to race him good. We were horrendous on Friday night. We got rained out last night, so it feels good to head back to Tennessee on a good note. This track is unbelievable. You can race 10 different ways here into the corner. I felt like I drove the car good there and felt like I made good decisions. I got by him, but it didn't work out."

Alberson earned his third, third-place finish of the season - inching closer and closer to his first career series win. "Hats off to the track crew; that thing was really fun; you could move all over the place. I think we needed to stay green there because they [Thornton and Marlar] started dicing there in lapped traffic and I kind of had a lane that they weren't running in. I think it could have gotten really good. I am just super stoked to drive this car and I love these big tracks."

The winner's Todd and Vickie Burns, SSI Motorsports ,Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms, Dyno One Inc., West Side Tractor Sales, Bilstein Shocks, EMD Wraps, and Sunoco Race Fuels.

The rest of the top ten finishers were Max Blair, Mason Zeigler, Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb, and Carson Ferguson.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Race Summary

Battle in the Borough

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Port Royal Speedway - Port Royal, PA

Allstar Performance Time Trials

Fast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | 18.054 seconds (overall)

Fast Time Group B: Mike Marlar | 18.782 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 3. 1-Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 5. 15K-Jensen Ford[5]; 6. 2J-Justin Weaver[9]; 7. 45-Kyle Hardy[8]; 8. 66-Justin Kann[6]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 10. 18*-Dylan Cecce[11]; 11. 21-Chad Myers[10]; 12. 25K-Kody Lyter[12]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 5. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[5]; 6. 6-Clay Harris[9]; 7. 0Y-Andrew Yoder[6]; 8. 4-Gary Stuhler[8]; 9. 48-Colton Flinner[7]; 10. D19-Dillon Stake[11]; 11. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[10]; 12. EZ1-Ron Fink[12]

Earnhardt Technologies Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[3]; 5. 93F-Carson Ferguson[5]; 6. 22*-Max McLaughlin[8]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[9]; 8. 24-Dylan Yoder[7]; 9. 32J-Shaun Jones[10]; 10. 9M-Hayes Mattern[6]; 11. 93-Cory Lawler[12]; 12. 11H-Keith Jackson[11]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 4. 7T-Drake Troutman[6]; 5. 22-Gregg Satterlee[2]; 6. 0-Rick Eckert[7]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 8. 2T-Kyle Lee[8]; 9. 3-Timothy Wilson[11]; 10. B2-Brian Booze[10]; 11. 99B-Boom Briggs[9]

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[2]; 2. 2J-Justin Weaver[3]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 4. 15K-Jensen Ford[1]; 5. 0Y-Andrew Yoder[6]; 6. 4-Gary Stuhler[8]; 7. 66-Justin Kann[7]; 8. 18*-Dylan Cecce[11]; 9. 21-Chad Myers[13]; 10. 25K-Kody Lyter[15]; 11. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[14]; 12. 45-Kyle Hardy[5]; 13. D19-Dillon Stake[12]; 14. 17SS-Brenden Smith[9]; 15. (DNS) 48-Colton Flinner

UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 93F-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[2]; 3. 22*-Max McLaughlin[3]; 4. 0-Rick Eckert[4]; 5. 1Z-Logan Zarin[5]; 6. 32J-Shaun Jones[9]; 7. 9M-Hayes Mattern[11]; 8. 24-Dylan Yoder[7]; 9. 2T-Kyle Lee[8]; 10. 66C-Matt Cosner[6]; 11. B2-Brian Booze[12]; 12. 3-Timothy Wilson[10]; 13. 93-Cory Lawler[13]; 14. 99B-Boom Briggs[14]; 15. (DNS) 11H-Keith Jackson

Battle in the Borough Feature Finish (40 Laps):

Race Statistics

Entrants: 47

Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 1-40)

Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a

Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a

Margin of Victory: 1.538 seconds

Dave Warren Powersports Cautions: Brandon Sheppard (Lap 16); Cory Lawler (Lap 17); Gregg Satterlee (Lap 34)

Series Provisionals: Boom Briggs; Brenden Smith

Fast Time Provisional: n/a

Series Emergency Provisionals: Cory Lawler

Track Provisional: Rick Eckert

Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Mike Marlar, Garrett Alberson

Penske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Mike Marlar, Garrett Alberson, Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran

Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Rick Eckert (Advanced 15 Positions)

Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Mason Zeigler

Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Drake Troutman

MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (40 Laps)

Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

O'Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Carson Ferguson

Coltman Farms Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 2 - 19.633 seconds)

Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Garrett Alberson

Miller Welders Hard Luck Award: Cory Lawler

Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony Burroughs (Ricky Thornton, Jr.)

ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines

Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis

Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (18.226 seconds)

Time of Race: 24 minutes 18 seconds

Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:

 

About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Founded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2024, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 63 events across 16 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap.

The series receives national exposure through a television package streamed live via FloRacing, with select broadcasts on MAVTV Motorsports Network.

The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com.

2024 Official Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Marketing Partners

 
2024 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Partners Include:

Advanced Powder Coating, Allstar Performance, Arizona Sport Shirts, ARMSLIST.com, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Big River Steel, Bilstein Shocks, Black Diamond Chassis, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Brandon Ford, Brodix, Buzz Electric Bicycles, Capital Race Cars, Clements Racing Engines, Coltman Farms Racing, Cornett Racing Engines, Dave Warren Powersports, Deatherage Opticians, Dirt Draft, E3 Spark Plugs, Earnhardt Technologies Group, Fast Shafts, FLORacing, FOX Shocks, General Tire, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Heath Lawson Photography, Hellraizer Jacks, Holmatro, Hoosier Tire, Keyser Manufacturing, Kryptonite Race Cars, Longhorn Chassis, Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network, MD3, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welders, MSD, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Outerwears, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies, Poske's Performance Parts, Pro Power Racing Engines, ProtectTheHarvest.com, Rocket Chassis, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Slicker Graphics, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Summit Racing Equipment, Thermo-Tec Automotive Products, Todd Steel Buildings, UNOH - University of Northwestern Ohio, Vic Hill Race Engines, Victory Fuel, Whelen Engineering Company, Wieland Metal Services, Wilwood, Xceldyne, and 5150 Race Trailers