Ricky Thornton Jr. was the story on Friday night, February 7th at the Ocala Speedway as round four of the Wieland Winter Nationals for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series drivers was held. In baseball terms, Thornton Jr picked a "perfect game" as he out qualified the forty three car field, then won his heat race which gave him the outside pole for the fifty lap main event and then he proceeded to drive away from the twenty seven car field to record a dominating victory. There was never a question during the feature race who was dominant and going to win and the only thing that could have changed that would be for a crash, incident with a lapped car, or a mechanical failure. None of that occurred and Thornton Jr. drove home for the easy win.
Ryan Gustin and Bobby Pierce were additional entrants on Friday night for the fifty lap, twelve thousand dollar to win program and while Gustin failed to make the show, Pierce would run a steady race and finish in the top five.
Part of what makes dirt track racing so interesting and challenging is how much conditions can change from night to night and being able to adapt to the changes sets the really good drivers apart. After having a very heavy track on Wednesday night, the track prep folks no doubt caught plenty of criticism from those drivers not liking that kind of track and as often happens, they changed things up quite a bit and the racing surface was much drier for Friday night's show. It was not throwing dust, thankfully, but it was much blacker and slick and was, I would say, bordering on rubbering up by the end of the race although there were still drivers running the outside and they did not line up and run just one lane like a true rubbered up track normally finds. However, those that could read what the track was going to do prospered and that included such drivers as Hudson O'Neal, Devin Moran and Jonathan Davenport who have been fast here all week, not matter the conditions.
Moran and Thornton Jr. were the quickest in their groups in qualifying and while Thornton Jr was the thirty second car to hit the track, he still set fast time at 14.215 second, only about a tenth off the fastest time seen all week.
The start of the feature saw Moran get the jump but with a strong move before lap one was completed, Thornton Jr had grabbed the lead and after that, everyone would be fighting for second. Two early yellows in the first six laps kept the field bunched but Thornton Jr was to get the jump each time and continue to hold the lead.
Brian Shirley got the jump on Moran on a restart and moved into second, with Moran, Kyle Bronson and O'Neal trailing. But as has been the case all week, Shirley just can not shake the black cloud hanging over his head and as the yellow waved with sixteen laps complete for debris on the track, Shirley slowed with a flat right rear tire, one of quite a few having that issue this week.
Thornton Jr. again took off strong and with a long session of green flag racing then taking place, he began to assert his domination as he pulled away from the field, building nearly a full straightaway over the pack. However, the racing was not without action as O'Neal, who had move up strongly, got past Moran on the restart to take over second and those two went at it for a considerable time, fighting for that position.
Pierce than also picked up the pac as he moved into fifth, then passed Bronson for fourth and soon it was a three car battle for the second spot. And at the same time, Davenport was on the move and he and Bronson then had an extended battle for fifth.
While all this was ongoing, Thornton Jr was going on about his business as he carefully worked his way through traffic, putting several fast drivers a lap in arrears, one they never would be able make back up.
Just when it looked like things were cut and dried, Garrett Alberson slowed with a flat tire with just seven laps to go and the question was would Thornton Jr. still have enough tire to pull away again after maintaining such a hot pace for so many laps.
The answer came quickly, as he jumped away from the field for the seven lap sprint to the finish and was never in danger of giving up the lead. The battle for second continued right to the finish with O'Neal claiming second over Moran, Pierce next in line and Davenport topping Bronson for that next finishing position.
A considerable number of drivers in this longer lap event dropped to the infield when they either got lapped or just before to likely both save their equipment on a night when they just didn't have it or to also not get in the way of any up front battles that might be taking place. Thus, only nineteen cars finished the race with five a lap down to the winner.
On the positive side, the cars looked quite a bit better than they did on Thursday night after racing the main and there was not near as much body damage to be repaired.
In a week that feels like it has just flown by, the finale of Winter Nationals for the Lucas Oil Series takes place on Saturday night. Another fifty lapper is planned but the ante goes up as the drivers will be racing for twenty five grand to win. The racing action will again be available on FLO Sports for those that would like to watch and can't make it to Florida by Saturday evening.
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