Ricky Thornton, Jr. celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature at Smoky Mountain Speedway. Photo: LOLMDS Media
Ricky Thornton, Jr. took the lead on lap 26 from Chris Ferguson and dominated the final 34 laps to win the Mountain Moonshine Classic on Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee.
It marked Thornton’s eighth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season, and was worth $50,000 to the Martinsville, Indiana driver.
Thornton held a healthy advantage at the finish line, winning by over six seconds ahead of Hudson O’Neal. Chris Ferguson crossed the line in third with Blairsville, Georgia’s Jonathan Davenport in fourth, and Kyle Strickler in fifth.
Ferguson bolted to the lead at the start of the 60-lap race ahead of Spencer Hughes. Hughes held the second spot until a restart after a lap four caution when he fell third behind Thornton. Thornton then hounded Ferguson for the next 20-plus laps and was finally able to take the lead from him on lap 26.
O’Neal slid into the second position on lap 37 but by then Thornton was well out in front and without any caution flags and several lapped cars between the two, Thornton had put enough distance between himself and O’Neal to secure the win.
“It was an awesome night for us,” said Thornton. “I am glad they went out and worked the track before the feature. It made it so you could run the top in both corners there for a while. Fergy got out front. I tried to move around to see what was better or worse. I moved down through the middle, I wouldn’t say I was any faster, but I was making more consistent laps I felt. The top finally slowed down enough to where I was able to get to Chris. He started moving around and it was too late for him. Luckily the lapped cars weren’t in the way.”
Carson Ferguson, Tyler Erb, Spencer Hughes, Jimmy Owens, and Tim McCreadie rounded out the top 10.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns to action Thursday-Saturday, June 22-24, at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania. For more information, check LucasDirt.com.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Smoky Mountain Speedway – Maryville, TN
Mountain Moonshine Classic – June 17, 2023
1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, Jr.
2. 1H-Hudson O’Neal
3. 22F-Chris Ferguson
4. 49-Jonathan Davenport
5. 8K-Kyle Strickler
6. 93-Carson Ferguson
7. 1T-Tyler Erb
8. 11-Spencer Hughes
9. 20-Jimmy Owens
10. 39-Tim McCreadie
11. 18D-Daulton Wilson
12. 111B-Max Blair
13. 23-Cory Hedgecock
14. 157-Mike Marlar
15. 46-Earl Pearson, Jr.
16. 99-Devin Moran
17. 99B-Boom Briggs
18. 58-Garrett Alberson
19. 7-Ross Robinson
20. 10-Garrett Smith
21. 16-Tyler Bruening
22. 17M-Dale McDowell
23. 76-Brandon Overton
24. 83-Jensen Ford
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