5/10/2025
Ricky Thornton Jr
Ricky Thornton Jr repeats in Farmer City 74
The annual Illinois Speedweek brought Ricky Thornton Jr. and 48 FloRacing Night in America competitors to the newly revived LaSalle Speedway on Tuesday to kick off five consecutive nights of racing.
In the first race at the quarter-mile oval since June of 2021, Thornton followed up a second-place finish in his heat with a seventh-to-second run in the feature.
Following an 11th-place finish on Wednesday at Lincoln Speedway, Thornton bounced back with another podium on Thursday in the final FloRacing Night in America-sanctioned event of the week. He chased dominant winner Devin Moran to the checkered flag, while Brian Shirley finished fourth.
As the Illinois Speedweek shifted to Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) sanctioning for the final two rounds, Thornton continued to showcase why he sits atop the national standings. On Friday at Farmer City Raceway, the Chandler, Arizona native secured a $25,000 victory in the Farmer City 74, overtaking long-time leader Brandon Sheppard in lapped traffic on lap 66 to earn his 11th win of the season.
Thornton’s momentum, however, came to an early end in Saturday’s FALS Spring Shootout at Fairbury Speedway, where a lap-54 incident dashed his hopes of closing the weekend with another strong finish.
Ricky holds a 120-point lead atop the latest LOLMDS point standings.
Full results from the Illinois Speedweek can be found at www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com.
Article Credit: Photo by Heath Lawson
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