What won the race: Overcoming two early-race restarts and two in the final 12 laps, outside-polesitter Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., led from flag-to-flag to win Friday's Great Lakes 50 at Raceway 7. Racing the day after he turned 33, he earned $12,000 while tallying his series-leading 18th full-field Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature victory of the season and further extending his points lead.

Quotable: “I felt like it was elbows-up there for a little while there," Thornton said. "Man, I felt like on that (lap-39) restart I was more worried about Hud(son O’Neal). I saw him go to third on the board, then to second, and my crew guys were letting me know he was closing in pretty hard there before the yellow came out. It sucks he got that flat or whatever, kinda ruined his night.”

Key notes: It's the 22nd series win of Thornton's career. ... Third-starting Devin Moran moved into the runner-up spot as Hudson O'Neal slowed on lap 39 with a flat left-rear tire and trailed Thornton for the remaining circuits, finishing a distant 4.196 seconds back. ... Moran secured his third straight podium finish after recording two third-place results last weekend at Brownstown. ... Jonathan Davenport took third on the lap-39 restart and completed the podium. ... The fourth-starting O'Neal drew two of the race's four cautions, the first coming on the original start when he spun from third and collected Daulton Wilson, Logan Roberson and Earl Pearson Jr. O'Neal kept his starting spot for the complete restart and ran second for laps 18-38 before being felled by a flat; he rebounded to finish seventh after changing the tire. ... Tim McCreadie finished fourth while Wilson rebounded from his opening-lap trouble to place fifth. ... Polesitter Garrett Alberson ran second for the first 17laps but faded to finish sixth. ... Roberson was running eighth when he slowed with mechanical woes on lap 38, drawing the race's third caution. ... Earl Pearson Jr. soldiered on to finish 14th without a right-front fender following the lap-one incident. ... After initially debuting a Team Zero Race Car but missing qualifying and stopping on the track during his heat, Brandon Overton switched to his Longhorn Chassis and advanced from 20th to finish 13th. ... Drake Troutman brought out the second yellow with a flat left-rear tire on lap three. ... The 31-minute main event saw nine competitors finish on the lead lap with 16 running at the finish. ... Dylan Yoder scratched from the feature lineup.

On the move: Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., started 15th and finished eighth.

Winner's sponsors: Thornton’s SSI Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements engine and sponsored by Dyno One, Hoker Trucking, Certified Inspection Service, Coltman Farms, High Performance Lubricants, Big River Steel, Van Meter Insurance Group, Murty Farms, D&E Outside Services, West Side Tractor Sales, Bilstein Shocks, FK Rod Ends, Allstar Performance, Barnes Pumps, Performance Bodies, Winters Performance, Strange Oval, Accu-Force, Quickcar, Sunoco Race Fuels and Sub-Surface of Indiana.

Points chase: After Raceway 7: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (8,065); 2. Hudson O’Neal (7,585); 3. Jonathan Davenport (7,255); 4. Brandon Overton (7,110); 5. Devin Moran (7,095); 6. Tim McCreadie (7,075); 7. Daulton Wilson (6,540); 8. Tyler Erb (6,280); 9. Max Blair (6,045); 10. Earl Pearson Jr. (5,965); 11. Garrett Alberson (5,900); 12. Spencer Hughes (5,810); 13. Ross Robinson (4,945); 14. Boom Briggs (4,175).

Current weather: Clear, 63°F

Car count: 24

Fast qualifier: Hudson O'Neal

Time: 16.955 seconds

Polesitter: Garrett Alberson

Heat race winners: Garrett Alberson, Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran

Next series race: September 30, Pittsburgh's Pa. Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA) $30,000