RTJ Gets Another; Win #40 Of ’23; Ricky Thornton Jr. Takes Friday’s Gateway Dirt Nationals Late Model Prelim

Information By: GATEWAY DIRT NATIONALS – ST. LOUIS, MO – Thursday night, he got win #39 of his 2023 season at the Gateway Dirt Nationals, in a Modified.

Friday night inside the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, MO, Ricky Thornton Jr. got win #40, this time in a Dirt Late Model, taking home the Friday night prelim and setting himself up as a favorite in both of Saturday’s finales.

Thornton passed Chris Simpson on a mid-race restart and never looked back, scoring the $5,000 prelim win.  Simpson finished second with Brandon Sheppard coming home third.  All three are now locked into Saturday night’s $30,000 Late Model finale.

Josh Rice was fourth with Tanner English completing the top five.

Velocita A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 2. 4C-Chris Simpson[2]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 4. 11R-Josh Rice[8]; 5. 96V-Tanner English[3]; 6. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[12]; 8. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[1]; 9. USA1-Kylan Garner[11]; 10. 19X-Cody Bauer[14]; 11. 4S-Ryan Montgomery[15]; 12. 24-Ryan Unzicker[7]; 13. 99-Devin Moran[13]; 14. 9D-Josh Dietz[18]; 15. 17A-Austin Howes[16]; 16. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford[17]; 17. (DNF) 10M-Jacob Magee[10]; 18. (DNF) 28-Tyler Carpenter[9]

PEM Racing B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 2. 4S-Ryan Montgomery[6]; 3. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford[4]; 4. C6-Oakley Johns[5]; 5. 75D-Patrik Daniel[1]; 6. 4K-Jason Knowles[8]; 7. 34C-Delbert Crum III[7]; 8. 53M-Jason Miles[10]; 9. 9Z-Jayme Zidar[12]; 10. 41-Casey White[9]; 11. NE11-Matthew Tribble[15]; 12. 00M-Ruben Mayfield[14]; 13. 111-Jon Woods[13]; 14. 5-Jon Mitchell[2]; 15. (DNF) 32F-Derek Fetter[11]

Heart O Texas Speedway B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 19X-Cody Bauer[1]; 2. 17A-Austin Howes[2]; 3. 9D-Josh Dietz[3]; 4. 66-Jody Knowles[9]; 5. 10-Joseph Joiner[4]; 6. 995-Manny Falcon[7]; 7. 95-Nicky Pennington[10]; 8. C2-Corey DeLancey[6]; 9. 9H-Tim Hancock Jr[13]; 10. 75-Daniel Adam[5]; 11. 93-Mike Kline[12]; 12. (DNF) T22-Tegan Evans[15]; 13. (DNF) 1W-Shaun WiltjerHunt[11]; 14. (DNF) C66-Donald Johns[14]; 15. (DNF) 16T-Brandon Tibaldi[8]

Rapid Air Products Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19M-Spencer Hughes[1]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[6]; 3. 75D-Patrik Daniel[7]; 4. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford[3]; 5. 34C-Delbert Crum III[8]; 6. 53M-Jason Miles[9]; 7. 111-Jon Woods[11]; 8. 122-Timmy Dick[5]; 9. (DNF) 317-Blake Creech[10]; 10. (DNF) 45-Scott Bell[2]; 11. (DNF) 14X-Wil Herrington[4]

Dirt Car Lift Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 96V-Tanner English[2]; 2. 28-Tyler Carpenter[3]; 3. 5-Jon Mitchell[5]; 4. C6-Oakley Johns[8]; 5. 4K-Jason Knowles[6]; 6. 32F-Derek Fetter[4]; 7. 00M-Ruben Mayfield[7]; 8. 5RT-Scott Rhoades[11]; 9. 00F-Carson Ferguson[1]; 10. 4E-Scott Geaschel[9]; 11. 25J-Ted Johnson Jr[10]

Walker Performance Filtration Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4C-Chris Simpson[2]; 2. USA1-Kylan Garner[5]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 4. 4S-Ryan Montgomery[1]; 5. 41-Casey White[7]; 6. 9Z-Jayme Zidar[3]; 7. NE11-Matthew Tribble[10]; 8. 1*-Max Baker[6]; 9. 11W-Darin Weisinger Jr[9]; 10. 10J-TeeJay Janousek[8]

FK Rod Ends Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 11R-Josh Rice[2]; 3. 19X-Cody Bauer[4]; 4. 10-Joseph Joiner[3]; 5. 995-Manny Falcon[7]; 6. 95-Nicky Pennington[10]; 7. 9H-Tim Hancock Jr[8]; 8. 32P-Preston Farmer[11]; 9. 21K-Jacob Kolwyck[9]; 10. 27D-Joe Denby[6]; 11. 21M-Chris McKeehan[5]

UCoatIt Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[2]; 2. 10M-Jacob Magee[4]; 3. 17A-Austin Howes[7]; 4. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 5. 16T-Brandon Tibaldi[5]; 6. 1W-Shaun WiltjerHunt[11]; 7. C66-Donald Johns[9]; 8. 99T-Dylan Thompson[3]; 9. 44-James O’Hara[10]; 10. (DNF) 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[1]; 11. (DNF) 18X-Robbie Scott[8]

Tire Demon Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[5]; 3. 9D-Josh Dietz[1]; 4. C2-Corey DeLancey[2]; 5. 66-Jody Knowles[4]; 6. 93-Mike Kline[8]; 7. T22-Tegan Evans[7]; 8. (DNF) M5-Timothy Welch II[10]; 9. (DNF) 63-Michael Luna[9]; 10. (DNS) B89-Dakota Smith

Twisted Tech Qualifying A: 1. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:11.732[14]; 2. 00F-Carson Ferguson, 00:11.755[4]; 3. 4S-Ryan Montgomery, 00:11.811[27]; 4. 45-Scott Bell, 00:11.918[1]; 5. 96V-Tanner English, 00:11.944[26]; 6. 4C-Chris Simpson, 00:11.958[10]; 7. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford, 00:11.970[17]; 8. 28-Tyler Carpenter, 00:11.988[7]; 9. 9Z-Jayme Zidar, 00:12.012[12]; 10. 14X-Wil Herrington, 00:12.109[29]; 11. 32F-Derek Fetter, 00:12.112[3]; 12. 99-Devin Moran, 00:12.114[16]; 13. 122-Timmy Dick, 00:12.126[23]; 14. 5-Jon Mitchell, 00:12.128[11]; 15. USA1-Kylan Garner, 00:12.178[30]; 16. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:12.216[28]; 17. 4K-Jason Knowles, 00:12.220[9]; 18. 1*-Max Baker, 00:12.232[2]; 19. 75D-Patrik Daniel, 00:12.232[13]; 20. 00M-Ruben Mayfield, 00:12.237[8]; 21. 41-Casey White, 00:12.284[5]; 22. 34C-Delbert Crum III, 00:12.389[6]; 23. C6-Oakley Johns, 00:12.455[18]; 24. 10J-TeeJay Janousek, 00:12.555[25]; 25. 53M-Jason Miles, 00:12.555[32]; 26. 4E-Scott Geaschel, 00:12.698[24]; 27. 11W-Darin Weisinger Jr, 00:12.724[15]; 28. 317-Blake Creech, 00:12.809[21]; 29. 25J-Ted Johnson Jr, 00:12.835[31]; 30. NE11-Matthew Tribble, 00:13.156[20]; 31. 111-Jon Woods, 00:13.591[22]; 32. 5RT-Scott Rhoades, 00:14.583[19]

Twisted Tech Qualifying B: 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:12.010[4]; 2. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr, 00:12.185[9]; 3. 9D-Josh Dietz, 00:12.237[3]; 4. 11R-Josh Rice, 00:12.243[16]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:12.268[17]; 6. C2-Corey DeLancey, 00:12.352[8]; 7. 10-Joseph Joiner, 00:12.355[12]; 8. 99T-Dylan Thompson, 00:12.357[22]; 9. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:12.438[31]; 10. 19X-Cody Bauer, 00:12.490[1]; 11. 10M-Jacob Magee, 00:12.498[24]; 12. 66-Jody Knowles, 00:12.576[23]; 13. 21M-Chris McKeehan, 00:12.610[14]; 14. 16T-Brandon Tibaldi, 00:12.660[19]; 15. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:12.665[28]; 16. 27D-Joe Denby, 00:12.701[10]; 17. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:12.705[26]; 18. B89-Dakota Smith, 00:12.733[20]; 19. 995-Manny Falcon, 00:12.821[29]; 20. 17A-Austin Howes, 00:12.866[25]; 21. T22-Tegan Evans, 00:12.900[11]; 22. 9H-Tim Hancock Jr, 00:12.939[21]; 23. 18X-Robbie Scott, 00:12.984[2]; 24. 93-Mike Kline, 00:13.000[18]; 25. 21K-Jacob Kolwyck, 00:13.046[5]; 26. C66-Donald Johns, 00:13.073[13]; 27. 63-Michael Luna, 00:13.153[32]; 28. 95-Nicky Pennington, 00:13.203[27]; 29. 44-James O’Hara, 00:13.295[30]; 30. M5-Timothy Welch II, 00:13.450[7]; 31. 32P-Preston Farmer[6]; 32. 1W-Shaun WiltjerHunt[15]

Hot Laps: 1. 14X-Wil Herrington, 00:11.221[29]; 2. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford, 00:11.305[17]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:11.342[28]; 4. 96V-Tanner English, 00:11.395[26]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:11.422[36]; 6. 4S-Ryan Montgomery, 00:11.502[27]; 7. 00F-Carson Ferguson, 00:11.550[4]; 8. 122-Timmy Dick, 00:11.558[23]; 9. 19X-Cody Bauer, 00:11.579[33]; 10. USA1-Kylan Garner, 00:11.607[30]; 11. 28-Tyler Carpenter, 00:11.636[7]; 12. 99T-Dylan Thompson, 00:11.669[54]; 13. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:11.670[63]; 14. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:11.796[49]; 15. 317-Blake Creech, 00:11.799[21]; 16. C6-Oakley Johns, 00:11.811[18]; 17. 18X-Robbie Scott, 00:11.816[34]; 18. 11R-Josh Rice, 00:11.828[48]; 19. 9Z-Jayme Zidar, 00:11.845[12]; 20. 53M-Jason Miles, 00:11.849[32]; 21. 5-Jon Mitchell, 00:11.860[11]; 22. 9D-Josh Dietz, 00:11.901[35]; 23. 99-Devin Moran, 00:11.933[16]; 24. 34C-Delbert Crum III, 00:11.969[6]; 25. C2-Corey DeLancey, 00:12.011[40]; 26. 32P-Preston Farmer, 00:12.011[38]; 27. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:12.016[14]; 28. 32F-Derek Fetter, 00:12.041[3]; 29. 11W-Darin Weisinger Jr, 00:12.044[15]; 30. 95-Nicky Pennington, 00:12.064[59]; 31. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:12.098[58]; 32. 17A-Austin Howes, 00:12.105[57]; 33. 21M-Chris McKeehan, 00:12.113[46]; 34. 16T-Brandon Tibaldi, 00:12.162[51]; 35. 9H-Tim Hancock Jr, 00:12.164[53]; 36. NE11-Matthew Tribble, 00:12.196[20]; 37. 10M-Jacob Magee, 00:12.229[56]; 38. 4E-Scott Geaschel, 00:12.284[24]; 39. 27D-Joe Denby, 00:12.298[42]; 40. 00M-Ruben Mayfield, 00:12.321[8]; 41. 4K-Jason Knowles, 00:12.327[9]; 42. B89-Dakota Smith, 00:12.348[52]; 43. 21K-Jacob Kolwyck, 00:12.359[37]; 44. T22-Tegan Evans, 00:12.382[43]; 45. 10J-TeeJay Janousek, 00:12.391[25]; 46. 25J-Ted Johnson Jr, 00:12.465[31]; 47. 5RT-Scott Rhoades, 00:12.473[19]; 48. 63-Michael Luna, 00:12.511[64]; 49. 4C-Chris Simpson, 00:12.551[10]; 50. 1*-Max Baker, 00:12.630[2]; 51. 1W-Shaun WiltjerHunt, 00:12.671[47]; 52. 111-Jon Woods, 00:12.788[22]; 53. 93-Mike Kline, 00:12.805[50]; 54. M5-Timothy Welch II, 00:12.871[39]; 55. 45-Scott Bell, 00:13.313[1]; 56. 41-Casey White, 00:13.702[5]; 57. C66-Donald Johns, 00:13.853[45]; 58. 44-James O’Hara, 00:13.874[62]; 59. 75D-Patrik Daniel, 00:13.988[13]; 60. 66-Jody Knowles, 00:25.077[55]; 61. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:44.498[60]; 62. 10-Joseph Joiner, 01:10.742[44]; 63. 995-Manny Falcon[61]; 64. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[41]