EAGLE, Neb. (May 17) — Ricky Thornton Jr. wanted to back off the throttle and pace himself. He knows that’s almost always a key to winning extra-distance races.

But not on Saturday night. Not at Eagle Raceway.

If the 34-year-old driver from Chandler, Ariz., had cooled his jets any more than he fleetingly did in the 75-lap Malvern Bank High Bank Heist finale, he likely wouldn’t have led all but one circuit en route to a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph worth $50,000.

“I tried to slow down a couple times and about wrecked and everything else,” Thornton said following his series-leading ninth victory of the season. “And I was like, ‘Man, you know what? I’m just going as hard as I can, and if I wreck, I wreck. At least I’m trying.’”

Thornton’s balls-to-the-wall style worked, propelling him to the checkered flag in the biggest Dirt Late Model event ever contested at the third-mile oval known for sprint car racing. He lost the lead to Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., on lap 36 shortly after a restart but immediately regained it the following circuit and stayed there the rest of the way to defeat Davenport by 1.8 seconds.

Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, advanced from the eighth starting spot to finish third after overtaking Davenport to run second for laps 48-64. Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa, placed fourth — matching his best finish since winning Jan. 17’s season-opening Lucas Oil Series feature at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga. — and Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., climbed forward from the 11th starting spot to complete the top five.

Alberson was never a serious factor after leading the field to the green flag. He ran third as late as lap 23 before fading through the top 10 and ultimately settling for an eighth-place finish.

Thornton seized control of the lead with a burst out of the starting gate from the outside pole, pulling ahead of polesitter Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., on the opening lap. It was the quick strike he wanted to make, but finding a rhythm while racing out front over the remaining distance was never easy.

“I knew right away when we were packing the track in and it was, like, not choppy, that it was gonna be super aggressive right at the get go,” Thornton said. “So I tried to run as hard as as I needed to to get past Garrett there that first lap, and then I slowed myself way down just trying to save the left-rear (tire).”

Thornton, of course, quickly returned to maximum effort behind the wheel of his Koehler Motorsports Longhorn Chassis, though he still had plenty of uncertainty in his head as the laps clicked off.

“Then there towards the end, I got to (Cory) Lawler (to lap him) and he was better than I was around the bottom of (turns) one and two and I’m like, ‘Man, do I move down or not?’” Thornton related. “Then I really didn’t want a (late) yellow, and then, of course, the yellow came out, so I’m like, ‘Man, I really don’t know what I’m going to do now.’”

Nevertheless, “it worked out for us,” said Thornton, who ripped the top of the high-banked track to keep Davenport at arm’s length over the final 10-lap spring to the finish following a lap-65 caution flag.

Thornton’s most nerve-racking moment probably came around the lap-30 mark when he came together on the backstretch with the slower car driven by Jesse Sobbing of Malvern, Iowa. The contact knocked in the right-side door of Thornton’s car and crunched some right-rear bodywork, giving him some major worry.

“Yeah, I was big time,” Thornton said when asked if the sheet metal damage concerned him. “Anytime you can look over and you can see the (inner) deck’s knocked up, it’s not good. Luckily, we got these Five Star plastic right sides on so I wasn't worried about getting a flat as long as an angle iron or something crazy like that wasn't in the tire.”

Thornton parked his battle-scarred machine in victory lane for the 11th time overall in Dirt Late Model competition this year. It also gave him two wins in three nights of the High Bank Heist weekend, his only blemish coming on Friday when he finished 22nd in the 40-lap preliminary feature after scraping the homestretch wall while running third and breaking the steering rack of his car.

“It’s been a long few weeks of ups and downs,” Thornton said, “but it’s always nice for me able to get a big one.”

Davenport, 41, fell short of the race’s big bucks after being unable to keep Thornton behind him during his mid-race challenge. He shot ahead on lap 36 but ceded the spot back moments later.

“I thought right before that caution come out (on lap 35), I started kind of coming off the cushion and running through the middle off of (turn) four here and it was pretty good,” said Davenport, who started the weekend with a runner-up finish on Friday and $10,000 preliminary feature win on Friday. “And then once we got to sliding each other (for the lead), that’s what I was trying to do, was try to leave (the corner in the middle) again. I probably should have stayed around the top the last time when he slid me back, but, you know, we can always look back and say what we should have done. 

“But anyway, that’s probably the only shot I had at him. And we never really got to lapped traffic again after that a whole lot, but he was on a little bit different tires (so) I really don’t think it even mattered. He done a real good job.”

Davenport said he’s having a “year of seconds” after tallying his 11th runner-up finish (versus seven wins) of the 2025 season, but he added he’s “rather be second than third.”

The 30-year-old Moran was satisfied with his third-place finish, especially after struggling to a 14th-place finish the previous night.

“After the week we had, we were struggling and we just threw some different stuff at it tonight,” Moran said. “I felt like we were really, really good there when I was in second. I felt like I could keep pace with Ricky, but we were kind of just stuck on that top.”

Whatever the case, it was “a good bounce back from the last couple nights we’ve had,” Moran said.

Five cautions slowed the race. Dylan Thornton triggered the first when he slowed to retire on the fourth lap. Dylan Sillman spun in turn two for a lap-35 yellow, while Daulton Wilson slowed with right-rear damage on the 44th lap and debris drew cautions on laps 48 and 65.

Feature lineup

(75 laps)

Row 1: Garrett Alberson, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 2: Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Tyler Bruening, Carson Ferguson
Row 4: Blair Nothdurft, Devin Moran
Row 5: Kyle Bronson, Daniel Hilsabeck
Row 6: Brandon Overton, Dan Ebert
Row 7: Tad Pospisil, Dylan Sillman
Row 8: Donald McIntosh, Clay Stuckey
Row 9: Collen Winebarger, Dylan Thornton
Row 10: Chase Junghans, Jesse Sobbing
Row 11: Daulton Wilson, Cory Lawler
Row 12: Hudson O’Neal, Spencer Hughes

Consolation results

(Nine laps; top three transfer)

First consolation finish: Collen Winebarger, Chase Junghans, Daulton Wilson, Ben Sukup, Spencer Hughes, Sam Mars, Dusty Leonard, Junior Coover, Clay Harris (DNS) Dillon McCowan.

Second consolation finish: Dylan Thornton, Jesse Sobbing, Cory Lawler, Hudson O’Neal, Tyler Erb, Ian Whisler, Jordan Grabouski, Jake Neal, Dan Battaglia.

Heat results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat finish: Garrett Alberson, Tyler Bruening, Kyle Bronson, Tad Pospisil, Sam Mars, Collen Winebarger, Bên Sukup, Dusty Leonard (DNS) Dillon McCowan.

Second heat finish: Jonathan Davenport, Blair Nothdurft, Brandon Overton, Donald McIntosh, Chase Junghans, Daulton Wilson, Spencer Hughes, Junior Coover, Clay Harris.

Third heat finish: Ricky Thornton Jr., Carson Ferguson, Daniel Hilsabeck, Dylan Sillman, Dylan Thornton, Cory Lawler, Jordan Grabouski, Hudson O’Neal (DNS) Dan Battaglia.

Fourth heat finish: Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, Dan Ebert, Clay Stuckey, Ian Whisler, Jesse Sobbing, Jake Neal, Tyler Erb.

Time trials

First group
1. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 13.041
2. Blair Nothdurft (76), Sioux Falls, S.D., 13.419
3. Sam Mars (28M), Menomonie, Wis., 13.483
4. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 13.499
5. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 13.503
6. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 13.564
7. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 13.570
8. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., 13.576
9. Collen Winebarger (14S), Corbett, Ore., 13.601
10. Donald McIntosh (79), Dawsonville, Ga., 13.660
11. Tad Pospisil (04), Norfolk, Neb., 13.712
12. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 13.714
13. Dusty Leonard (7D), Marysville, Kan., 13.717
14. Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., 13.729
15. Ben Sukup (07), Norfolk, Neb., 13.796
16. Spencer Hughes (19M), Meridian, Miss., 13.806
17. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., 13.811
18. Junior Coover (10C), Norfolk, Neb., 14.578
Second group    
1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20RT), Chandler, Ariz., 13.367
2. Jesse Sobbing (18), Malvern, Iowa, 13.657
3. Daniel Hilsabeck (22H), Adel, Iowa, 13.709
4. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 13.739
5. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 13.740
6. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 13.751
7. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 13.780
8. Clay Stuckey (15), Shreveport, La., 13.816
9. Dylan Thornton (38T), Orcutt, Calif., 13.879
10. Ian Whisler (28W), Otis, Ore., 13.904
11. Carson Ferguson (93), Concord, N.C., 13.940
12. Jake Neal (6J), Omaha, Neb., 13.997
13. Cory Lawler (93), Hanover, Pa., 14.032
14. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 14.037
15. Dylan Sillman (35D), Alvo, Neb., 14.324
16. Jordan Grabouski (30G), Beatrice, Neb., 49.312
17. Dan Battaglia (45), Gretna, Neb., no time

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
2 p.m. - Pits open
2:15 p.m. - Tech and registration open
5 p.m. - Grandstands open
5:15 p.m. - Tech and registration close
5:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- Sprint car hot laps
- Late Model hot laps
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
7 p.m. - Opening ceremonies
- Sprint car heats (10 laps)
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Sprint car consolation (12 laps)
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Feature events
- Sprint cars (25 laps)
- Late Models (75 laps)