Over the past half-decade, Ricky Thornton Jr. has gone from a promising young star from the IMCA ranks to one of the most dominant drivers at the highest levels of dirt Late Model racing.
The Chandler, AZ native has been collecting trophies from the sport’s biggest events at an incredible pace, but there was still one glaring hole on his resume – a crown-jewel victory at Eldora Speedway. That was until Saturday night.
After wrestling the lead away from the king of Eldora over the past decade in Jonathan Davenport, Thornton commanded the final 59 laps of the World 100 on the way to the biggest win of his career.
“Bobby [Koehler, team owner] told me a couple months ago there was one race he wanted to win, and it was this one,” Thornton said. “Brand new car, brand new motor, everything on it was new. Kind of put all our eggs in one basket just to try to get better here. Normally I don’t do a very good job here, and I’m just glad we can get him one.”
Thornton broke out his fresh Longhorn Chassis on Sunday night at the Baltes Classic and cruised to a dominant victory, putting the Late Model world on notice heading into World 100 week. “RTJ” wasn’t at his best in preliminary action with finishes of eighth and 11th on Thursday and Friday, respectively, but a fifth-to-first drive in his Heat Race on Saturday was enough to put him on the pole of the biggest race of the year.
That didn’t mean things would come easy in the Feature, as the driver alongside Thornton coming to the green flag was none other than Davenport. On the opening lap, Thornton saw the same sight many before him have seen at Eldora – the No. 49 pulling away into the lead.
Thornton struggled to keep pace with the leader through the first portion of the race, instead dropping to fourth by Lap 8 as Chris Madden and Brandon Overton got by. But a pair of yellows around Lap 40 put Thornton right back in the mix, and he took advantage by getting back to the runner-up spot when the race went back green. That put him right on Davenport’s bumper for the next restart two laps later, which saw Thornton send it to the bottom of Turn 3, clear Davenport exiting the corner and slide into the lead.
“I don’t know if it was determination or what, I got a really good restart, I stayed next to JD and I knew he was going to move up,” Thornton said. “I’m like, ‘alright, if I can just dictate where he’s going to go on this restart.’ We’re all watching that board going into Turn 1, trying to see how much of a gap you have or don’t have. I was able to get by him, and I was running scared probably the next 15 laps.”
The ”running scared” strategy paid off, as his gap to Davenport grew to as large as two seconds through the middle stages of the Feature. That margin was erased when Tim McCreadie slowed with a flat tire with 12 laps to go, setting up a sprint to the finish with the sport’s most prized trophy on the line. Thornton once again powered away to the lead, but the action was quickly paused again for trouble on Madden’s car.
What should have been a battle of the titans between Thornton and Davenport never came to fruition, however, as Davenport came down pit road under the yellow with a flat tire of his own. That handed second to Dale McDowell, who made a remarkable charge through the field from 19th on the grid.
He didn’t have enough to make one more pass though, as Thornton went uncontested the rest of the way and took the checkers to claim the $72,000 top prize.
“We get that last restart and it’s Dale up next to me,” Thornton said. “I’m like, ‘man, I gave my Heat Race away a couple nights ago to Dale, hopefully I can get a good restart and get out front.’ He got under me off of two, and I’m like, ‘man, if he gets in that traction down there, he’s going to drive right by me down the back straightaway.’ But I got a really good start.”
While McDowell came up one spot short of his second globe, his record of first, first and second over the weekend proved that the 59-year-old still has enough left in the tank to battle it out against the best at the “Big E.”
“I mean, I’m dejected a little bit, I’m bridesmaid,” McDowell said. “But you can’t be dejected with this crowd and the best racers in the world here. I’m proud to be a part of it, two firsts and a second over the weekend. Man, I want to get one before I quit.”
Nick Hoffman brought the No. 9 home third after fighting it out in the top five throughout the race, solidifying himself as the only driver to finish on the podium in both the Dirt Late Model Dream and the World 100 in 2025.
“It’s pretty crazy to kind of feel down on myself a little bit running third in the World,” Hoffman said. “It’s pretty wild, but it’s just the standards I hold myself to. I felt super confident coming into today and it just didn’t pan out for me.”
Tyler Erb and Ryan Gustin rounded out the top five, with Gustin establishing a new career best in the event.
Feature (100 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell[19]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[6]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[16]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[12]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 8. 22-Chris Ferguson[26]; 9. 32-Bobby Pierce[27]; 10. 96-Tanner English[15]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 12. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[20]; 13. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 14. 99-Devin Moran[11]; 15. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 16. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 17. 25F-Jason Feger[17]; 18. 22X-Drake Troutman[13]; 19. 9M-Tim McCreadie[21]; 20. 74X-Ethan Dotson[14]; 21. 8-Kyle Strickler[22]; 22. 20-Jimmy Owens[18]; 23. 76-Brandon Overton[7]; 24. 10-Garrett Smith[10]; 25. 71-Hudson O’Neal[25]; 26. 58-Garrett Alberson[28]; 27. 111-Max Blair[23]; 28. 11R-Josh Rice[24]
