8/31/2025
Ricky Thornton Jr
RTJ triumphs in Hillbilly Hundred at Lernerville; Wins Baltes Classic
Ricky Thornton Jr. took on a packed Labor Day weekend schedule in two divisions, collecting a pair of feature wins and extending his lead atop the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) standings.
The weekend kicked off Tuesday and Wednesday in Iowa, where Thornton competed in the XR Stock Car Rampage at Sports Park Raceway. After winning his heat race on Tuesday, he transferred into the $100,000-to-win A-Main on Wednesday and came away with a solid fifth-place finish in the 60-lap affair.
Shifting back to Late Model competition, Thornton rejoined his Koehler Motorsports team for the LOLMDS doubleheader at Lernerville Speedway on Friday and Saturday. He advanced to the Hillbilly Hundred A-Main via a heat race win, then led all 100 laps on Saturday to claim his 21st victory of the season and a $30,000 payday, fending off a hard-charging Jonathan Davenport.
"It was tough. I'm glad that first yellow came out," Thornton said. "I didn't really get that great of a start and let J.D. get out in front of me, and I felt like whoever got out front was gonna be the one to beat. It didn't matter if a car was better than theirs or not."
Thornton wrapped up the weekend on Sunday at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, where he captured one of the dual 25-lap features in the $5,000-to-win Earl Baltes Classic, using the event as a tune-up ahead of the upcoming World 100.
He now holds a 40-point advantage over Jonathan Davenport in the latest LOLMDS standings.
Complete results from the Labor Day weekend can be found at www.LucasDirt.com and www.IMDirt.net.
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