Thornton Flies Like An Eagle In High Bank Heist Opener

Ricky Thornton Jr. (left) in victory lane at Eagle Raceway. (Heath Lawson/LOLMDS photo)

EAGLE, Neb. – Ricky Thornton Jr. regained the lead for good on lap 35 and maintained it to win night one of the Malvern Bank High Bank Heist Thursday night at Eagle Raceway.

This victory marked Thornton’s eighth win of the season in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and his first at Eagle, after finishing second the previous year to Hudson O’Neal during the series’ inaugural visit to the Roger Hadan-promoted facility.

In the final 10 laps of the race, Thornton stumbled briefly in turn four while leading, allowing Jonathan Davenport to slip by for the lead on lap 34. But Thornton quickly recovered and regained the top spot, going on to best Davenport by 1.341 seconds.

Kyle Bronson came from 11th to secure third place, while Devin Moran finished fourth and Garrett Alberson took fifth.

O’Neal was trying to win for the second time in less than a year at Eagle, bolting to the lead at the start of the 40-lap main event. He paced the field for the first 11 circuits until Thornton grabbed the lead from him on lap 12.

Thornton maintained a steady lead until Davenport emerged as a contender in the final 10 laps. Davenport had multiple chances in the closing stretch, but a caution flag each time cost him the opportunity for the race lead.

Thursday also marked the milestone 50th Lucas Oil win for the defending series champion, who came from sixth on the grid to get the victory in a race that saw three different leaders and four lead changes.

“I just slowed down too much going into four, I didn’t realize the groove was getting as big as it was out there,” explained Thornton in victory lane. “I tried to pace myself, but I got close to the [No.] 15 car [Clay Stuckey], and I thought, ‘Alright, I am just going to ride for a lap right here, and I got over the berm.’ I could barely hold the steering wheel, and it ripped it out of my hand.

“I thought I was going to destroy the wall, and I was going to spin out down the racetrack. I had a vibration, and I figured that my right rear wheel cover had to be destroyed,” Thornton continued. “On the restart, I had a terrible start, and then the yellow came back out again, and I thought [Davenport] was going to slide me and probably going to win it. Thankful to hold on there and get it back.”

Davenport had a glimmer of hope leading lap 34, but a couple of cautions kept him from possibly stealing the win from Thornton in the closing laps after Thornton got back around him on lap 35.

“It was just bad timing on the cautions, really. I wouldn’t have had a chance if Ricky hadn’t made that mistake on the cushion, and we got to him,” said Davenport. “I made a mistake, I should have gone around the top whenever I got past him, but I thought I could hug the bottom and break his momentum coming back to me. It didn’t work, and he got back by me, and then I got another run on him and was going to slide him in three and four, and then somebody had a flat.

“I got going again and was going to pass him again, and then another caution came out, and then he knew to go to the top. He doesn’t usually make two mistakes in a row,” Davenport added. “He did a good job; congratulations to him.”

Bronson came from the inside of row six to take the third spot at the finish.

“We brought a different car out today. The scariest moment was when I got a little too low on one of those restarts and got in that slime and slid across the racetrack,” noted Bronson. “It’s nice to have a track that you could make up for something like that; there was a big ol’ cushion there. I am just looking forward to tomorrow, because it’s been a while since we have been on a track with a lot of grip.”

Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, O’Neal, 22nd-starting Dillon McCowan, Brandon Overton, and Carson Ferguson. McCowan was the night’s hard charger.

Night two of the Malvern Bank High Bank takes place Friday back at Eagle Raceway.

The finish:

LOLMDS A-Main (40 laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr. [6]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport [5]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson [11]; 4. 99-Devin Moran [9]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson [2]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard [7]; 7. 71-Hudson O’Neal [1]; 8. 8-Dillon McCowan [22]; 9. 76-Brandon Overton [10]; 10. 93-Carson Ferguson [8]; 11. 93L-Cory Lawler [13]; 12. 6-Clay Harris [15]; 13. 38T-Dylan Thornton [3]; 14. 79-Donald McIntosh [16]; 15. 18D-Daulton Wilson [18]; 16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck [23]; 17. 35D-Dylan Sillman [20]; 18. 15-Clay Stuckey [14]; 19. 14S-Collen Winebarger [21]; 20. 18C-Chase Junghans [19]; 21. 16-Tyler Bruening [17]; 22. 60-Dan Ebert [12]; 23. 19M-Spencer Hughes [24]; 24. 76N-Blair Nothdurft [4].