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Thornton, Jr. scores career win No. 45 at Ocala Speedway Feb. 7; WISSOTA’s Nothdurft ends up 23rd

From Series Reports

OCALA, FL (February 7) – The reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion Ricky Thornton, Jr. led from start to finish on Friday night at the Winter Nationals held at Ocala Speedway, earning $12,000 for his 45th career series victory.

Hudson O’Neal took the second spot on lap 17 from Devin Moran and held it for the rest of the race, securing his best tour finish of the year. Moran rounded out the podium in third, with Bobby Pierce finishing fourth and Jonathan Davenport completing the top five.

Thornton moved for the lead on the opening lap, passing Moran for the top spot. Thornton and Moran then ran first and second until Brian Shirley, who started third, moved into the runner-up spot on lap five. A flat right rear tire on lap 16 ended his hopes for his first career series win.

Moran had moved into second place, ahead of Shirley before his flat tire. On lap 17, Moran saw O’Neal pass him to take the second position. O’Neal, Moran, and Bobby Pierce battled fiercely for the next several laps while Thornton maintained a healthy lead over that trio, crossing the finish line in first by 2.503 seconds.

Kyle Bronson, Drake Troutman, Daulton Wilson, Bradon Sheppard, and Max Blair completed the top 10.

Midwestern competitors on hand for action Friday night in Ocala included Blair Nothdurft, Dan Ebert, and Michael Leach. Nothdurft, of Renner, South Dakota, was the sole qualifier for the feature, getting second place in his heat, and placing 23rd.

SUMMARY

Lucas Oil Late Models:

LOLMDS A-Main (50 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[10]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 7. 22*-Drake Troutman[13]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson[24]; 9. 1-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 10. 111-Max Blair[11]; 11. 58-Garrett Alberson[15]; 12. 1T-Tyler Erb[18]; 13. 93-Carson Ferguson[12]; 14. 76-Brandon Overton[8]; 15. 20-Jimmy Owens[16]; 16. 79-Donald McIntosh[27]; 17. 9-Tim McCreadie[23]; 18. 6-Clay Harris[17]; 19. 7-Ross Robinson[25]; 20. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 21. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[21]; 22. 15K-Wil Herrington[20]; 23. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 24. 99B-Boom Briggs[22]; 25. 18-Chase Junghans[14]; 26. 16-Tyler Bruening[26]; 27. 43-Derrick Stewart[19]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 5. 17SS-Brenden Smith[6]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert[9]; 9. 93L-Cory Lawler[10]; 10. 9-Tim McCreadie[3]; 11. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[11]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 2. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 3. 111-Max Blair[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener[9]; 6. 6-Clay Harris[5]; 7. 43-Derrick Stewart[6]; 8. 11-Austin Smith[7]; 9. 57-Matt Tifft[8]; 10. 000-Matt Nailor[11]; 11. 96-Tanner English[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 18-Chase Junghans[6]; 5. 15K-Wil Herrington[9]; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 7. 09-Michael Leach[8]; 8. 19M-Spencer Hughes[10]; 9. 79-Donald McIntosh[7]; 10. 24-Tyler Wyant[11]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 3. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[7]; 8. C4-Freddie Carpenter[9]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 10. 32J-Jason Jack[10]

B-Main 1 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 2. 43-Derrick Stewart[6]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 6. 11-Austin Smith[8]; 7. 17SS-Brenden Smith[1]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[9]; 9. 57-Matt Tifft[10]; 10. 000-Matt Nailor[12]; 11. 5-Mark Whitener[2]; 12. 96-Tanner English[14]; 13. 9-Tim McCreadie[11]; 14. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[13]

B-Main 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 15K-Wil Herrington[1]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[4]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[5]; 7. 19M-Spencer Hughes[7]; 8. 79-Donald McIntosh[9]; 9. C4-Freddie Carpenter[8]; 10. 24-Tyler Wyant[11]; 11. 32J-Jason Jack[12]; 12. 18D-Daulton Wilson[10]; 13. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[13]