PORT ROYAL, PA (August 28, 2026) - Ricky Thornton Jr. made it four straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victories at Port Royal Speedway, leading all but two laps of Night One of the Rumble by the River presented by FK Rod Ends. The win earned him $10,000 and marked his 62nd career series victory.
Thornton, who won three times at Port Royal a year ago, went to Wieland Victory Lane for the sixth time this season after taking a 1.392-second victory over Devin Moran. Jonathan Davenport rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third.
Chris Madden, who led the first two laps, finished fourth, with Max Blair completing the top five.
Making his fifth career visit to Wieland Victory Lane at Port Royal, the defending winner of the $50,000-to-win Rumble by the River set his sights on a repeat victory Saturday night.
"I felt good all night. It's just hard whenever you are never behind anyone to gain on them. That first lap behind Madden, he was just far enough out where I could keep my nose in clean air so I could roll around the bottom, and luckily we got by him. It's good to be out front. Obviously, it felt like once I got to within about half a straightaway of the lapped cars, I just, like, stalled hard, so I think that's going to be good for tomorrow," said the Chandler, Arizona, native.
"Once a couple of guys did move and I started moving around, I got, like, a little bit of clean air. I felt like my pace picked back up, so at the end, I figured I would live or die by the wall here in one and two. In four, I didn't really know. I kept touching the wall, and I'm like, 'Man, that opening is going to bite me.' So, I started cheating a little bit, and I was waiting for Devin to get next to me. I knew he was getting close. I could hear him every now and then. My car is so wheeled up on the right rear, you can't really see if a guy gets under you."
Moran, who ran in second place from lap four until the finish, closed on Thornton late in the race as the leader battled heavy traffic.
"Congrats to those guys. They have had the unluckiest year of anybody. I wish we could have beaten them, but I'm glad they got it done. Ricky was railing that top, and, man, I thought his tires were eventually going to have to slow down. As he was doing that, I was driving a little bit harder. The car wasn't quite where we needed it to be, but obviously, it was really good to finish second. There are just a couple of things we need to tweak, and my guys are going to work hard to be sure we do that."
Davenport, who started 13th, charged to third to round out the Big River Steel Podium.
"I don't know what we needed to do. We were really good in the feature. The heat race didn't go our way. Chris (Madden) beat me into turn one, and then he pushed on the first lap. I wasn't smart enough to follow him into three, so I tried to slide him, and he wasn't quite clear. I gave him a lane, and that let (Dan) Ebert get a run on us. That put us starting 13th, but we had a really good hot rod. I thought we were going to get there when they caught lapped traffic. I could see Ricky and Devin right in front of me, but they scooted through those lapped cars pretty quickly, and I just couldn't quite get through there. I had melted my stuff by the time I got there."
Thornton's Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Knight's Companies, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Capital Waste, Certified Inspection Services, Elite Ready Mix, Strange Oval, SI Towing and Recovery, Sunoco Race Fuels, and D&E Outside Services.
Completing the top 10 were Hudson O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Mason Zeigler, Michael Norris, and Dan Ebert.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Rumble by the River presented by FK Rod Ends | Night 1
Friday, August 28, 2026
Port Royal Speedway | Port Royal, PA
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport | 18.793 seconds (Overall)
Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran | 19.230 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 44M-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 5. 15K-Lane Snook[7]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 7. 24-Rick Eckert[5]; 8. 4-Gary Stuhler[9]; 9. 0-Andrew Yoder[6]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1C-Alex Ferree[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 4. 9M-Hayes Mattern[5]; 5. 11-Josh Rice[7]; 6. 27E-Dylan Yoder[4]; 7. 2J-Justin Weaver[6]; 8. 5J-Chad Julius[8]; 9. (DNS) 2-Jason Schmidt
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 5T-Drake Troutman[2]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[6]; 5. 8K-Kyle Strickler[3]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 7. 24M-Kenny Moreland[8]; 8. 03-Brenden Queen[7]; 9. (DNS) 11M-Greg Moore
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[2]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 1K-Gene Knaub[5]; 5. 48F-Colton Flinner[6]; 6. 32J-Shaun Jones[9]; 7. 15-Scott Flickinger[7]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[3]; 9. 80D-Greg Diehl[8]
Lucas Oil Products Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[5]; 3. 93F-Carson Ferguson[2]; 4. 17SR-Brody Smith[8]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 6. 27-Trever Feathers[6]; 7. 11AC-Trevor Collins[7]; 8. 6M-Matt Martin[9]; 9. 22G-Gregg Satterlee[3]
FloRacing Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[2]; 3. 17SS-Brenden Smith[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 4S-Danny Snyder[4]; 6. 121-Tristin Neiderer[9]; 7. 21-Chad Myers[8]; 8. 55-Jamie Lathroum[7]; 9. 86-Austin Berry[6]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 9M-Hayes Mattern[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 3. 24-Rick Eckert[10]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[3]; 5. 11-Josh Rice[5]; 6. 15K-Lane Snook[4]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. 8K-Kyle Strickler[6]; 9. 27E-Dylan Yoder[8]; 10. 2J-Justin Weaver[11]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 12. 4-Gary Stuhler[13]; 13. 03-Brenden Queen[15]; 14. 0-Andrew Yoder[16]; 15. 5J-Chad Julius[14]; 16. 2-Jason Schmidt[17]; 17. 24M-Kenny Moreland[12]; 18. (DNS) 11M-Greg Moore
UNOH B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 6-Clay Harris[5]; 2. 48F-Colton Flinner[4]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 27-Trever Feathers[8]; 5. 17SR-Brody Smith[2]; 6. 11AC-Trevor Collins[11]; 7. 32J-Shaun Jones[7]; 8. 121-Tristin Neiderer[9]; 9. 21-Chad Myers[12]; 10. 86-Austin Berry[18]; 11. 93L-Cory Lawler[13]; 12. 15-Scott Flickinger[10]; 13. 80D-Greg Diehl[16]; 14. 4S-Danny Snyder[6]; 15. 1K-Gene Knaub[1]; 16. (DNS) 6M-Matt Martin; 17. (DNS) 55-Jamie Lathroum; 18. (DNS) 22G-Gregg Satterlee
Rumble by the River presented by FK Rod Ends - Night 1 | Feature Finish (40 Laps):
Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Earnings
1 - 3 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - $10,000
2 - 2 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $5,500
3 - 13 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - $3,500
4 - 1 - 44M - Chris Madden - Gray Court, SC - $2,700
5 - 8 - 111 - Max Blair - Centerville, PA - $2,500
6 - 15 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $2,300
7 - 5 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - $2,300
8 - 4 - 25Z - Mason Zeigler - Chalk Hill, PA - $2,100
9 - 12 - 72 - Michael Norris - Sarver, PA - $2,050
10 - 23 - 11 - Josh Rice - Crittenden, KY - $2,000
11 - 7 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - $1,600
12 - 6 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - $1,400
13 - 17 - 3s - Brian Shirley - Chatham, IL - $1,200
14 - 26 - 24 - Rick Eckert - York, PA - $1,000
15 - 11 - 5T - Drake Troutman - Hyndman, PA - $950
16 - 21 - 8 - Dillon McCowan - Urbana, MO - $925
17 - 16 - 93F - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - $900
18 - 20 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $875
19 - 14 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - $850
20 - 25 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - $125
21 - 18 - 17SS - Brenden Smith - Dade City, FL - $800
22 - 24 - 40B - Kyle Bronson - Brandon, FL - $800
23 - 10 - 22F - Chris Ferguson - Mt. Holly, NC - $800
24 - 9 - 1C - Alex Ferree - Saxonburg, PA - $800
25 - 19 - 9M - Hayes Mattern - Beavertown, PA - $800
26 - 22 - 48F - Colton Flinner - Allison Park, PA - $800
dirt track racing advertisement
Race Statistics
Entrants: 54
Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Chris Madden
MD3 Lap Leaders: Chris Madden (Laps 1-2); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 3-38)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Margin of Victory: 1.392 seconds
Hellraizer Jacks Cautions: Colton Flinner (Lap 3); Chris Ferguson (Lap 10); Alex Ferree (Lap 15)
MyRacePass Series Provisional: Josh Rice; Kyle Bronson
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisionals: Daniel Hilsabeck
Track Provisional: Rick Eckert
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport
Penske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden, Max Blair
Behrent's One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport
PEM 4th Place Feature: Chris Madden
Diversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Max Blair
Wilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Brandon Sheppard
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Dan Ebert
Velocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: Brian Shirley
XS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Drake Troutman
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Josh Rice (Advanced 13 positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (38 Laps)
Sunoco Race Fuels Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon Sheppard
O'Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Josh Rice
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | Lap 12 | 19.697 seconds
FK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Colton Flinner
Victory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Hudson O'Neal
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony Burroughs
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | 18.0489 seconds
Time of Race: 23 minutes 37 seconds
Big River Steel Championship Standings Presented by ARP:
Pos - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Points - Earnings
1 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - 6135 - $263,700
2 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - 6045 - $236,400
3 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - 6000 - $303,574
4 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - 5635 - $145,200
5 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - 5560 - $218,325
6 - 111 - Max Blair - Centerville, PA - 5545 - $146,775
7 - 11 - Josh Rice - Crittenden, KY - 5285 - $187,275
8 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - 5245 - $119,075
9 - 3s - Brian Shirley - Chatham, IL - 5245 - $105,500
10 - 40B - Kyle Bronson - Brandon, FL - 4930 - $85,175
11 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - 4905 - $97,075
12 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - 4850 - $89,250
13 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - 4780 - $137,800
14 - 8 - Dillon McCowan - Urbana, MO - 4660 - $107,825
15 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - 4270 - $65,500
16 - 17SS - Brenden Smith - Dade City, FL - 3930 - $48,275
17 - 93L - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - 3670 - $34,475
Official Marketing Partners
Associate Marketing Partners
Advanced Powder Coating, All Makes Collision Center, Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Black Diamond Chassis, Bilstein Shocks, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Brodix, Capital Race Cars, Clements Racing Engines, Cornett Racing Engines, Dave Warren Powersports, Denago Powersports, Diversified Machine Inc, Fast Shafts, Fire Suppression Engineering, FOX Shocks, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Heath Lawson Photography, Hellraizer Jacks, Hoker Trucking, Jackson County Tourism, Keyser Manufacturing, Longacre Scales, Longhorn Chassis, The Massengill Company, MD3, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD, Ohlins Shocks, Outerwears, PEM - Performance Engineering Mfg, Penske Racing Shocks, ProFabrication Headers, Pro Power Racing Engines, Rocket Chassis, Schoenfeld Headers, Shocker Hitch, Simpson Race Products, Slicker Graphics, Steering Buddy, Strange Oval, Swift Springs, Thermo-Tec Automotive Products, Velocity Manufacturing, Victory Fuel, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood, Xceldyne, XS Power Batteries, and 5150 Race Trailers.
