SARVER, Pa. — Ricky Thornton Jr. pulled away on lap 81 from an outstanding battle for the lead with Hudson O’Neal to win the 17th annual Firecracker 100 presented by Big River Steel on Saturday night.
Thornton earned $50,000 for his 10th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of 2023.
Thornton and O’Neal battled side-by-side for several circuits with the two exchanging the lead at least six times during that span. Thornton was able to eventually shake O’Neal and pull away to nearly a straightaway lead as the checkered flag fell.
Jonathan Davenport, who led the first 44 laps was third with Gregg Satterlee and Devin Moran rounding out the top five drivers.
“I really didn’t know what to do on those restarts and I’m like you know what I was running around the bottom and if I could keep him [O’Neal] pinched him down there maybe late in the race I could get rolling through the middle and get back by him,” Thornton said. “I don’t know I guess I just saved my stuff long enough and whenever I needed to use it I really could. I know it’s cool because there is a bunch of Big River Steel employees here.”
O’Neal, who like Thornton was seeking his first career win in the Firecracker 100 ended up nearly five seconds behind Thornton at the finish as they fought tooth-and-nail for the race lead for several laps.
“I don’t know if I had anything left for him [Thornton]. I was just so married to that bottom it was just hard to deal with some of those lapped cars because I just couldn’t quite get a run on them like I needed,” O’Neal said. “Then that bottom got so thin it made it even harder. Ricky had harder tires and was able to move out on the race track a little bit. Maybe I didn’t give it a fair enough shot. We have kind of been behind the eight-ball all week. We struggled to find our stride and I just felt like we just got better and better as the week along.”
Davenport finished third.
“Hudson was on a little bit different tire than me, and Ricky was. Me and Ricky were on the same tires I believe. We were just a little too tight and once it got slicker and slicker it showed up more and more. I couldn’t turn down in the corner like I needed to. This was a brand-new car. That is the best we have ever been here by far. So, we will take a top three it was a good points night for us in the big scheme of things. Congrats to Ricky he’s just really, really good right now.”
The finish:
Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport, Gregg Satterlee, Devin Moran, Brandon Overton, Michael Norris, Ken Schaltenbrand, Mason Zeigler, Max Blair, Tyler Erb, Ross Robinson, Daulton Wilson, Spencer Hughes, Colton Flinner, Earl Parson Jr., Tyler Dietz, Logan Zarin, Chub Frank, Tyler Bruening, Levi Yetter, Boom Briggs, Garrett Alberson, Alex Ferree, John Garvin Jr., Tim McCreadie, Gary Lyle, Ryan Montgomery.