Thornton Returns to Lucas Oil Victory Lane with Win at Lucas Oil Speedway
2025-07-12 14:22
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WHEATLAND, MO (July 11, 2025) - Ricky Thornton Jr. returned to Lucas Oil Victory Lane on Friday night as he won night one of the 19th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Wieland. Thornton's winless drought with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing extended back to his last victory with the series on May 17 at Eagle, Nebraska.
Thornton led all 40 laps to secure his 10th Series win of 2025, earning $15,000. Jonathan Davenport finished second, while Clay Harris moved up from the 11th starting position to earn his first Big River Steel Podium of the season. Garratt Alberson, who won the previous night at 34 Raceway, finished fourth, and Devin Moran rounded out the top five.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 52nd time in his career, the defending series champion, now trailing Davenport by 50 points heading into Saturday night's $25,000-to-win main event.
"Man, I felt like I was on different tires than he (Davenport) was, and I was thinking, man, he's so good here. Did I really make a bad decision to be on different tires? We took off, and he was a little better than I was at times, which kind of surprised me. I felt like I should be a little better on the bottom. I almost overdrove the straightaways, and it was wheelspinning really bad. That caution kind of saved me. It calmed me down and let me think about what I needed to do. I had a good restart and thought the top in one and two looked really good, but it was right on the edge. One time when I entered three, I felt like I was going to end up in the wall," said the Chandler, Arizona native.
Davenport, who is aiming for his record-tying fourth National Championship, finished second after initially fighting off Brandon Overton early in the race and Clay Harris in the final laps.
"I think it was about tires. It's so crazy. I don't know; you think you know a little about tires, and then all of a sudden, something like tonight happens. Clay did an awesome job coming from where he did on as soft as tires as you could run. Ricky did a good job too, and he had on soft tires as well. I really thought we were sitting in the catbird's seat with the hard tires, but it was just a little different night. They had a lot of water on the track, and obviously, you can still see it's kind of brown all the way across; it was quite shiny black, yet. Hats off to the track crew."
Harris, who earlier in the day took delivery of another engine after mechanical issues on Friday night at 34 Raceway, nearly matched his best career finish with the series by finishing second at Ocala in 2024.
"It means a lot to come home third tonight. We worked all day, and without Cameron and Chad, I wouldn't be able to run this well. I didn't think we'd finish the Lucas season because we broke a motor last night, but the guys stepped up and bought us a new motor today, so we ran good, and I'm happy about it."
The winner's Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Knight's Companies, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Elite Ready Mix, Capital Waste, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Rae Fuels, EMD Wraps, and Certified Inspection Services.
Completing the top ten were Brandon Overton, Daulton Wilson, Hudson O'Neal, Cade Dillard, and Brandon Sheppard.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
19th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Wieland | Night 1
Friday, July 11, 2025
Lucas Oil Speedway - Wheatland, MO
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton Jr. | 15.012 seconds (Overall)
Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport | 15.073 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 3. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[2]; 4. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 5. 50-Kayden Clatt[3]; 6. 4W-Tyler Wolff[9]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 8. 65-Jon Binning[8]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[4]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[3]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 11-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 7. 98-Justin Wells[9]; 8. 31C-Cole Henson[7]; 9. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[8]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 6. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[8]; 8. 0-Jake O'Neil[7]; 9. 28-Jim Greenway[9]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[2]; 2. 19M-Spencer Hughes[1]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 6. 87-Darron Fuqua[7]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[6]; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]; 9. (DNS) 805-Rob Hough
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 2. 50-Kayden Clatt[1]; 3. 98-Justin Wells[6]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 5. 4W-Tyler Wolff[3]; 6. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[10]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 8. 65-Jon Binning[7]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[9]; 10. 31C-Cole Henson[8]
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[1]; 2. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[3]; 3. 15L-Payton Looney[5]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 5. 0-Jake O'Neil[7]; 6. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[6]; 8. 87-Darron Fuqua[4]; 9. (DNS) 28-Jim Greenway; 10. (DNS) 805-Rob Hough
19th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Wieland | Night 1 Feature Finish (40 Laps):
Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Pay
1 - 1 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - $15,000
2 - 2 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - $7,100
3 - 11 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $5,000
4 - 10 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - $4,000
5 - 7 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $3,000
6 - 3 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - $2,500
7 - 6 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - $2,400
8 - 12 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $2,300
9 - 14 - 97 - Cade Dillard - Robeline, LA - $2,200
10 - 5 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - $2,100
11 - 15 - 79 - Donald McIntosh - Dawsonville, GA - $2,000
12 - 16 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - $1,800
13 - 19 - 50 - Kayden Clatt - Edina, MO - $1,600
14 - 17 - 11 - Gordy Gundaker - St. Charles, MO - $1,500
15 - 24 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - $1,400
16 - 23 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - $1,300
17 - 9 - 1XM - Aaron Marrant - Richmond, MO - $1,200
18 - 8 - 19M - Spencer Hughes - Meridian, MS - $1,100
19 - 4 - 8K - Tyler Kuykendall - Warsaw, MO - $1,000
20 - 13 - 93L - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - $1,000
21 - 21 - 98 - Justin Wells - Aurora, MO - $1,000
22 - 20 - 56 - Tony Jackson Jr - Lebanon, MO - $1,000
23 - 18 - 11T - Trevor Gundaker - St. Charles, MO - $1,000
24 - 22 - 15L - Payton Looney - Republic, MO - $1,000
Race Statistics
Entrants: 36
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Ricky Thornton Jr.
MD3 Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton Jr. (Laps 1 - 40)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ricky Thornton Jr.
Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton Jr.
Margin of Victory: 3.26 seconds
Coltman Farms Racing Cautions: Kayden Clatt (Lap 3)
Series Provisionals: Daniel Hilsabeck, Dan Ebert
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisional: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Devenport, Clay Harris
Penske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Clay Harris, Garrett Alberson, Devin Moran
PEM 4th Place Feature: Garrett Alberson
DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Devin Moran
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Daulton Wilson
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Donald McIntosh
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Kayden Clatt
MD3 24th Place Feature: Payton Looney
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Dan Ebert (Advanced 9 Positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton Jr.
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan Davenport
O'Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntosh
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport | Lap 2 | 16.444 seconds
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Clay Harris
Fresh Roof Hard Luck Award: n/a
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Zach Frields
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Trevor Gundaker | 15.848 seconds
Time of Race: 13 minutes 51 seconds
Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:
Pos - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Points - Pay
1 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - 5285 - $258,400
2 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - 5235 - $281,450
3 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - 4980 - $190,449
4 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - 4945 - $146,475
5 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - 4770 - $114,350
6 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - 4645 - $122,500
7 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - 4565 - $98,700
8 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - 4305 - $80,325
9 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - 4115 - $67,925
10 - 79 - Donald McIntosh - Dawsonville, GA - 3960 - $53,900
11 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - 3855 - $49,725
12 - 19M - Spencer Hughes - Meridian, MS - 3560 - $47,625
13 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - 3525 - $40,700
14 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - 3395 - $43,450
15 - 93L - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - 3110 - $30,725
About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing
Founded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2025, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 58 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 RACER Network.
The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing 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.
Official Marketing Partners
Associate Marketing Partners
Advanced Powder Coating, Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Black Diamond Chassis, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Brodix, Capital Race Cars, Clements Racing Engines, Coltman Farms Racing, Dave Warren Powersports, Deatherage Opticians, DMI Rearends, Fast Shafts, Fire Suppression Engineering, FOX Shocks, Fresh Roof Shingle Rejuvenation, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Heath Lawson Photography, Hellraizer Jacks, Hoker Trucking, Keyser Manufacturing, Longhorn Chassis, MD3, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD, Outerwears, PEM - Performance Engineering Mfg, Penske Racing Shocks, ProFabrication Headers, Pro Power Racing Engines, Rocket Chassis, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Slicker Graphics, Strange Oval, Swift Springs, Thermo-Tec Automotive Products, Vic Hill Race Engines, Victory Fuel, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood, Xceldyne, and 5150 Race Trailers