MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — Ricky Thornton Jr. has found a home for the remainder of the dirt late model season.
After suddenly parting ways with SSI Motorsports on July 7, Thornton announced on Wednesday that he will compete with Koehler Motorsports for the remainder of the season.
Thornton will debut in the Koehler Motorsports super late model on Thursday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa as he resumes his pursuit of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title.
“I’m incredibly excited and honored to be partnering with Bobby and Jessica Koehler. It’s clear that the Koehler family shares many of the same values that I do, especially the importance of family. I’m blown away by how quickly they stepped up to keep me moving forward with my Super Late Model program,” Thornton said.
“The Koehler family has already gone above-and-beyond to make us feel welcome. This is a partnership that truly has us feeling reenergized and enthusiastic for the future.”
For the next two weeks Thornton will run Jordan Koehler’s No. 114 on the side of his entries before transitioning to his familiar No. 20RT, when the new wraps are ready.
Thornton welcomes several of his existing marketing partners to his new team, including Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Longhorn Chassis and Bilstein Shocks along with several other current sponsors.
He’s also added Capital Waste and Ultimate Towing & Environmental Services as primary sponsors on his race car.
“Having the unwavering support of so many great marketing partners is an absolute privilege, and I look forward to continuing to give them maximum exposure with our new team,” Thornton said.
Thornton will continue his pursuit of the Castrol FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota championship, where he currently sits third in the standings. He also plans to race alongside Bobby and Jessica Koehler’s sons Jordan and Evan in select events.
“I think it’s really cool that Jordan and Evan are going to be racing with me in everything from Super Late Models to Micro Sprint events this year,” Thornton said. “Again, the Koehler family are just great people, and I’m thankful to be aligned with them moving forward.”
Thornton will be paired alongside legendary racer Jimmy Owens at Koehler as well.
“It’s imperative to the Koehler family and myself that we stress the addition of myself to the Koehler Motorsports organization will in no way change Jimmy Owens’ status with the team now or in the future,” Thornton said. “It’s really cool for me to be racing alongside him.”
Thornton currently holds a 235-point advantage atop the latest series’ standings in pursuit of his first LOLMDS championship.