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Thornton collects two Gator trophies during DIRTcar Nationals

Ricky Thornton Jr. returned to action at Volusia Speedway Park this past week in a new division, piloting the Elite Chassis No. 20RT Late Model during the 55th annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.

Building off a heat race win that opened the three-race slate, Thornton stormed through the 20-lap feature on Thursday, holding off Tyler Nicely and Cole Falloway to earn the $1,200 payday.

“Hats off to Nick [Hoffman] and everyone at Elite Chassis,” Thornton said. “I think I had six or seven laps before tonight, and it was really good. Really, our whole team was good. I feel like I had a really good car, I could go where I needed to, and really, I think the lapped cars made me learn a lot more about my racecar than I really thought. So hopefully I can be a little bit better come tomorrow.”

After finishing fifth in Friday’s feature, Thornton was set to compete again Saturday before cold temperatures forced the program to be postponed to Monday. When competition resumed, Thornton delivered again, turning back Charlie Mefford in the 25-lap main event to collect his third win of the season and the $2,500 top prize.

Complete results from the opening weekend of the DIRTcar Nationals can be found at www.DIRTcar.com.

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