Eldora Speedway
Takeaways: Commentary on the 55th World 100
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Ricky Thornton Jr. in victory lane. (Zach Yost)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (Sept. 6) — Key takeaways and commentary at Eldora Speedway from Ricky Thornton Jr.’s first World 100 victory (which shouldn’t come as a surprise), Jonathan Davenport’s shortcomings, another near-miss for Dale McDowell, Nick Hoffman’s bright future and more (complete World 100 coverage):
No surprise here
Ricky Thornton Jr. didn’t put himself in the winning conversation until shooting past Ryan Gustin for Saturday’s final heat race victory that landed him the pole for the 100-lapper.
Even then, with finishes of eighth and 11th on his prelim nights, who foresaw the 34-year-old Chandler, Ariz., driver outgunning Jonathan Davenport and then holding off Dale McDowell to reach Dirt Late Model racing’s summit on an Eldora track that hasn’t particularly suited him well? Thornton and Koehler Motorsports No. 20rt team kept their unwavering belief tucked closely to themselves.
Over the years at Eldora, Thornton’s developed a reputation that he’s more pretender than contender, having captured 2023 DirtonDirt Driver of the Year honors and 2024’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title, but finishing inside the top five just once in six career World 100 starts.
Bucking that notion Saturday, Thornton showed what he’s steadily and stealthily worked toward at Eldora, in the races leading into the World 100 and on bigger tracks this year. Nobody’s been better than RTJ on half-miles in 2025 — and it hasn’t been close. RTJ had piled up 10 victories and 14 podium finishes in 20 races on such tracks entering World 100 action.
Thornton and Co. brought a brand-new race car and engine to the table this week, a package that had been meticulously assembled by the Kenny Payton-led Koehler Motorsports shop team in Mount Airy, N.C. The team debuted the car that swiftly got up to speed with a victory in Sunday’s Baltes Classic, an Eldora tuneup. Later in the week, Thornton wasn’t convincing on prelim nights, but he admitted to intentionally relinquishing some spots Friday to help him better leverage a heat-race inversion while testing his car’s performance in dirty air.
While Thornton may have appeared as an underdog stacked against Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce and Dale McDowell, the recent trends and the turn of the tide pointed toward him finding World 100 glory. It really shouldn’t be all too surprising he finally prevailed on the Big E’s biggest stage Saturday.
Concern in the Double L camp?
Leading 109 laps over last three World 100s without a globe trophy to show for it, is a dark cloud hanging over Jonathan Davenport at Dirt Late Model racing’s premier crown jewel? Let's not go that far.
In 2023, Hudson O’Neal outran him fair and square on the cushion, a race Davenport knocked out his deck trying to keep up. It was Bobby Pierce’s time last year as the eventual DirtonDirt Driver of the Year outworked him and Dale McDowell on the high groove.
And on Saturday, the 41-year-old Blairsville, Ga., driver believed he ran over something on the track before the lap-38 restart that caused a slow leak in his right-rear tire, opening the door for Ricky Thornton Jr. to take the lead on lap 42.
Needing to abandon his hallmark middle groove while battling a tight race car the rest of the way, the Double L Motorsports driver's right-rear went flat with 11 laps remaining. Davenport had to accept that this year, again, simply wasn’t his time. He’ll take another crack at tying Billy Moyer’s record six World 100s in 2026.
McDowell (nearly) does it again
This had to be the year for the No. 17m, right?
After sweeping Thursday and Friday semifeatures and making a 19th-to-second charge forced in part by his heat-race inversion, Dale McDowell was finally going to lead lap 100 of the World 100? (Remember, his 2005 World 100 victory came via Shannon Babb’s disqualification.)
Unfortunately not. After the 59-year-old Chickamauga, Ga., driver's preliminary victory Thursday, McDowell said he really didn't want to start in the back half of Saturday’s field, so with 28 starters, that means he had to start inside the top-14.
Starting 19th via a preliminary points provisional, McDowell needed to get going quickly (which he didn’t, still outside the top-20 on lap 24), had to have enough cautions early on (which he had three within the first 38 laps to reach 12th), and then likely finish on a longer green-flag run, which nearly happened when the feature went nonstop from laps 38-88.
Over that run, McDowell climbed from 12th to third and chopped an 8.5-second deficit on lap 50 to three seconds until the lap-89 caution. He never regained that momentum after two late cautions, settling for second behind Thornton one year after finishing second to Bobby Pierce.
Who knows if McDowell would’ve had enough time and tires left to catch Thornton if the race stayed green, but 12 straight finishes of eighth or better at the World 100 is something to celebrate, too.
Hoffman, future World 100 winner?
Hudson O’Neal won his in 2023. Bobby Pierce added another in ’24. Ricky Thornton Jr. broke through in ’25. Next in line for World 100 glory? Step right up, Nick Hoffman.
Surely he would’ve liked to battle for the lead Saturday, something he never quite got to do from the sixth starting spot. But the 33-year-old Mooresville, N.C., driver was so steady yet again throughout an Eldora 100-lapper and came away with another podium, building on his third-place finish from June’s Dream.
The way he carved through the first heat, winning from his sixth starting spot, and contended for both prelim night victories clearly shows he’s established a well-rounded package at Eldora, whether that’s qualifying, heat racing or for longer runs.
Drivers typically have fleeting bursts of speed or take time to get going around the half-mile, being built for longer runs at Eldora. But Hoffman, he’s seemed to have found an ideal Eldora package, which should eventually pay off handsomely.
Other takeaways
• Two-time World 100 winner Bobby Pierce flat out admitted to missing the setup in the opening heat race where he backpedaled from fifth to seventh, leaving him scrambling from ninth to the final transfer in the first B-main. The 28-year-old from Oakwood, Ill., often catches flak for brazen remarks and a hard-nosed driving style, but on Saturday, he conceded that after his 27th-to-ninth push forward he just didn’t bring a balanced race car to Eldora.
• Chris Madden was crippled by futility yet again at Eldora. The 50-year-old Gray Court, S.C., driver had another golden opportunity to race for an elusive Big E crown jewel, looking awfully good when he went fifth-to-first in his heat race. He tried settling in behind Davenport in second from laps 3-39, but was never the same following the lap-38 restart when he lost second, slipped back to fifth, eventually drawing a lap-90 caution and settling for 13th.
• Brandon Overton appeared to have rekindled some of his Eldora prowess when he moved into third from the seventh starting spot by the eighth lap. The Evans, Ga., driver stayed inside the top-five by lap 29 and even got within 1.5 seconds of the lead, by the lap-38 caution, he slipped to eighth, falling eight seconds behind the lead, and pointed the Longhorn Factory Team machine to the hot pit. The four-time Eldora crown jewel winner never ran as high as 16th after that and retired after 70 laps.
