Ricky Thornton Jr. made his first-ever start behind the wheel of the Gressel Racing Modified under the toughest of circumstances this past Sept. 22-24 at the 18th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.
On Thursday, Thornton finished fourth in his heat race and third in his Real Racing Wheels "B" Main to earn a spot in the feature race where he started 25th and finished 17th in his first race in the Hughes Racing Chassis.
Things got even better on Friday. After starting seventh in his heat race, he worked his way to a second-place finish and a spot in the redraw for the 42-lap, $5,000-to-win main event. He drew the sixth starting spot and held his ground to cross the finish line in sixth.
Thornton had a tough hill to climb Saturday after drawing the 11th starting spot and finishing fifth in the heat race. From the outside of the front row, he won his Real Racing Wheels "B" Main to earn the 15th starting position for the 52-lap, $10,000-to-win championship feature.
Ricky closed in on Tommy Weder Jr. in the closing laps but had to settle for second at the end. With a lead of more than a straight-away, Weder was cruising to an easy win when the race’s second yellow flag waved with 13 laps to go. Weder nailed another strong restart while the green flag was a springboard for Thornton, who passed three cars in the next two laps. Weder continued to stay smooth as glass through the middle of the racing surface but Thornton began to challenge the outside wall of the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval. With the right side of his rear spoiler scraping the concrete wall,
Thornton began to close in on Weder but time ran out and this time it was the black car finishing ahead of the blue car. For his efforts, Thornton—the reigning Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year—took home $6,000 for his second-place finish.
Thursday's Results: http://usmts.com/news/news_article.asp?NewsID=26282
Friday's Results: http://usmts.com/news/news_article.asp?NewsID=26293
Saturday's Results: http://usmts.com/news/news_article.asp?NewsID=26309
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