RTJ Again At All-Tech; Thornton Scores Second-Straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Win

Story By: LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – LAKE CITY, FL – Ricky Thornton Jr. took the lead on the 29th lap of the 50-lap Wieland Winter Nationals event Friday night at All-Tech Raceway, then dominated the rest of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event, winning $12,000.

For Thornton, this marked his second consecutive win and his fourth at the Florida Speedplant, bringing his total to 44 career victories in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing. Daulton Wilson continued his strong start to the season, finishing as the runner-up after a hard-fought battle with Spencer Hughes in the final laps. Hughes completed the Big River Steel Podium in third, having led a race-high 28 laps.

Completing the top five drivers were Hudson O’Neal and Devin Moran, who regained the points lead after three completed events.

Thornton, who won by over 8 seconds as the checkered flag fell, would lead the last 22 laps. “My crew was telling me to slow down, but the problem was I was so tight on entry that I really couldn’t slow down. I don’t know if we had 900 cautions, but I felt like we did, and with the rain coming, I was hoping to make it to halfway. I was terrible on the one restart. I felt like a ping-pong ball for a little bit there. I thought it was an awesome racetrack; you could run around the bottom, the middle, or even Hail Mary around the top. You could do whatever you wanted.”

Wilson, who ran third on Thursday night, came back to finish second after getting past Hughes with six laps to go, having been in the mix the entire race.

“Coming to the white there, the motor cut off. I flipped the ignition box, and it ran around there until coming to the checker, and then it died again. I was lucky it wasn’t 51 laps, I guess. We could run on the bottom and the top; it had a little bit of character, but you could race all over it. I tried to give it to Ricky tonight, but I think I just made him mad; he just said, ” see you later, so good job to him.”

Hughes, who started outside the front row, led the first 28 circuits while seeking his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing win.

“It means a lot to be up here on the podium. We haven’t had the best go at Speedweeks so far. We finally felt like we had something working for us, and we qualified well, won a heat race, and led a little more than half of the race. Anytime you can get up front and race with these guys, it feels good, and it’s a big confidence booster. Hopefully, we can keep tuning on this thing and get a little better.”

The winner’s Bobby and Jessica Koehler-owned, Koehler Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Hoker Trucking, Elite Ready Mix, Capital Waste, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Coltman Farms Racing, EMD Wraps, and Certified Inspection Service Company,, Inc.

Completing the top ten were Tyler Erb, Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton, Garrett Alberson, and Clay Harris.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wieland Winter Nationals | Night 2
Friday, January 31, 2025
All-Tech Raceway – Lake City, FL

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Garrett Alberson | 16.430 seconds (Overall | New Track Record)
Fast Time Group B: Spencer Hughes | 16.576 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 3. 111-Max Blair[4]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 5. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[6]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton[8]; 7. 24D-Michael Brown[5]; 8. 6-Clay Harris[9]; 9. 31-Tyler Millwood[7]; 10. 17SS-Brenden Smith[12]; 11. 3S-Brian Shirley[10]; 12. (DNS) 5-Mark Whitener

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 6. 79-Donald McIntosh[5]; 7. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 8. 59-Trey Mills[9]; 9. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 10. 81M-Dale McDowell[10]; 11. (DNS) 99B-Boom Briggs

Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 19M-Spencer Hughes[1]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[3]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 4. 9-Tim McCreadie[7]; 5. 10-Joseph Joiner[6]; 6. 388-Jackson Hise[8]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[12]; 8. 79B-Kyle Bryant[10]; 9. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[11]; 10. 23-Beckham Malone[9]; 11. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 12. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 11-Shane Clanton[6]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[9]; 8. 28B-Carson Brown[10]; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 10. 43-Derrick Stewart[8]; 11. 109-Nicholas Johnson[11]

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 3. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 4. 24D-Michael Brown[5]; 5. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[13]; 7. 6-Clay Harris[7]; 8. 31-Tyler Millwood[9]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 10. 17SS-Brenden Smith[11]; 11. 09-Michael Leach[10]; 12. 59-Trey Mills[8]; 13. (DNS) 81M-Dale McDowell; 14. (DNS) 99B-Boom Briggs; 15. (DNS) 5-Mark Whitener

UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 10-Joseph Joiner[1]; 3. 388-Jackson Hise[3]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 5. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 6. 79B-Kyle Bryant[7]; 7. 23-Beckham Malone[11]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 9. 28B-Carson Brown[8]; 10. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[9]; 11. 109-Nicholas Johnson[14]; 12. (DNS) 49-Jonathan Davenport; 13. (DNS) 43-Derrick Stewart; 14. (DNS) 22*-Drake Troutman; 15. (DNS) 1-Brandon Sheppard

Wieland Winter Nationals | Night 2 Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay

• 1 – 3 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $12,000
• 2 – 5 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $6,000
• 3 – 2 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – $3,500
• 4 – 4 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,800
• 5 – 11 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $2,500
• 6 – 17 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $2,300
• 7 – 27 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $1,500
• 8 – 19 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,100
• 9 – 1 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,050
• 10 – 25 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,300
• 11 – 10 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,600
• 12 – 9 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $1,400
• 13 – 22 – 388 – Jackson Hise – Ocala, FL – $1,200
• 14 – 21 – 76N – Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD – $1,100
• 15 – 26 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $350
• 16 – 7 – 16 – Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – $1,000
• 17 – 18 – 19R – Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – $1,000
• 18 – 13 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $1,000
• 19 – 15 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $1,000
• 20 – 6 – 74X – Ethan Dotson – Bakersfield, CA – $1,000
• 21 – 23 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $1,000
• 22 – 20 – 10 – Joseph Joiner – Milton, FL – $1,000
• 23 – 14 – 9 – Tim McCreadie – Watertown, NY – $1,000
• 24 – 24 – 22* – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $1,000
• 25 – 16 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $1,000
• 26 – 12 – 11 – Shane Clanton – Zebulon, GA – $1,000
• 27 – 8 – 20 – Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN – $1,000

Race Statistics

• Entrants: 46
• Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Garrett Alberson
• MD3 Lap Leaders: Spencer Hughes (Laps 1-28); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 29-50)
• Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Devin Moran
• Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton Jr.
• Margin of Victory: 08.423 seconds
• Coltman Farms Racing Cautions: Jimmy Owens (Lap 2); Carson Ferguson (Lap 11); Tim McCreadie (Lap 17); Max Blair, Jonathan Davenport (Lap 18); Kyle Bronson (Lap 19); Mike Marlar (Lap 21)
• Series Provisionals: Jonathan Davenport; Drake Troutman
• Fast Time Provisional: n/a
• Emergency Provisionals: Clay Harris; Cory Lawler; Brandon Sheppard
• Track Provisional: n/a
• Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Daulton Wilson, Spencer Hughes
• Penske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Daulton Wilson, Spencer Hughes, Hudson O’Neal, Devin Moran
• PEM 4th Place Feature: Hudson O’Neal
• DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Devin Moran
• Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Brandon Sheppard
• Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Daniel Hilsabeck
• Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Jackson Hise
• MD3 24th Place Feature: Drake Troutman
• Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Advanced 20 Positions)
• MD3 Most Laps Led: Spencer Hughes (28 Laps)
• Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
• Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tyler Bruening; Devin Moran; Jonathan Davenport
• Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Spencer Hughes (Lap 12 | 17.388 seconds)
• Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Daulton Wilson
• Hard Luck Award: Brandon Sheppard
• Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Nathan Sletto (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: Drake Troutman (17.078 seconds)
• Time of Race: 36 minutes 50 seconds