Atomic Speedway
Correcting mistakes was key to RTJ's resurgence
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt.com staff reporter
Ricky Thornton Jr. (20RT) passes Brandon Sheppard (1). (Heath Lawson)
ALMA, Ohio (March 29) — Just because Ricky Thornton Jr. hasn’t been at his best to start 2026 doesn’t mean he didn’t know exactly what was going wrong.
A winless Georgia-Florida Speedweeks and a 22-race victory drought — his longest in more than three years — had the Chandler, Ariz., superstar under unfamiliar scrutiny. Thornton, however, knew what he’d been missing all along. | RaceWire
“Really, Speedweeks, we didn’t have a bunch of wins, but we had a bunch of speed,” the 34-year-old Thornton said. “I just made a ton of mistakes.”
Whether it was not finding the optimal groove in qualifying or not making the right moves in heat race action — thus putting himself in insurmountable situations come feature time — Thornton could usually pinpoint where he fell short through the season’s first three months.
Sunday’s season-shifting victory in the Buckeye Spring 50 at Atomic Speedway — his first since Jan. 10’s Wild West Shootout opener at Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande, Ariz. — offered no signs of vulnerability, marking a night where he finally looked like his unfaltering self. He started on the front row of his heat for the ninth race in a row, won his fourth straight heat race and put forth a mistake-free 50-lap feature, putting himself in position to capitalize on race-long leader Brandon Sheppard’s slip-ups in traffic.
“The biggest thing is I feel like we had an overall really good night,” said Thornton, who slipped by Sheppard with five laps remaining. “We struggled earlier in the year qualifying, and that’d get us way behind. Then we were really good at qualifying, but our heat races weren’t good. I felt like we qualified well, had a good heat race … I was able to capitalize in traffic.
“I felt like Brandon was probably a little better than I was. But once we got to traffic, you stall out so bad. Got a couple guys running side-by-side. It helped me get to him. Then the one lapped car was able to make a mistake and it kind of held Brandon all the way up, and I was able to get all the way next to a lapped car. That probably won me the race. I think if we would’ve got back in open air, Brandon was probably good enough to at least race me or get back by me.
“I feel like our car was maneuverable. We were on harder tires where they weren’t. That played a little bit once we got to traffic. I could move around and do what I needed to. Overall just happy.”
In the span of a year, Atomic Speedway has evolved from a track Thornton didn’t quite jive with into one he now looks forward to on the schedule, having won two of the last three Lucas Oil features there. Until last March’s victory at the 3/8-mile oval, the 2024 Lucas Oil champion had finishes of eighth, 11th, sixth, 18th and 13th. Thornton also ran second at the track last July before lap-10 radiator issues sidelined him.
Consider his growing success at Atomic another testament to his maturation as a Dirt Late Model driver.
“I used to not be a huge fan of this place. The way I typically drive isn’t very good here,” Thornton said. “Where, I don’t know if I’m getting old and dumb, and drive different now or what — but no, I feel like you have to drive so different here. Going to Bulls Gap a couple weeks ago probably helped me a ton.
“It’s kind of like Eldora where you roll straight and carry momentum through the center. I think that’s why J.D. — (Jonathan Davenport) — is so good here. Just trying to get better at that, at these different places. It takes a little bit different race car than what I’m used to.”
Thornton hasn’t slipped into too many prolonged droughts throughout his six-year touring career. This latest drought was his longest since snapping a 39-race lull between victories in November 2022. During last year’s 19-win campaign, he experienced a 14-race winless stretch as part of a 25-race span where he produced just one victory from May 22-August 21. In his 34-win 2023 season, his longest stretch between wins was eight races.
But when Thornton’s back to routinely putting himself in the mix, victories are inevitable. Momentum had been nearly impossible to generate considering he started the season 2-for-14 when qualifying for the front row of his heat race, and even those front-row starts didn’t yield results — mechanical issues at Volusia Speedway Park on Jan. 23 led to a 26th-place finish, and he slipped from second to eighth in Feb. 13’s DIRTcar Nationals feature at Volusia.
A missed opportunity at Golden Isles Speedway on March 4 — starting on the pole of his heat but finishing fourth and mired midpack — only added to the frustration. But it was at least a sign he and his Koehler Motorsports crew were moving in the right direction.
Thornton implied that the disciple has become more technical than ever, at least in his eyes, which can be hard to believe because that isn’t anything new. But Thornton’s noticed greater attention to detail is required — from aerodynamics to racecraft — forcing him to study the sport more intently, becoming increasingly meticulous in how he picks his spots on the racetrack and what adjustments he makes to his race car.
And while Thornton wasn’t necessarily the fastest nor most dominant Sunday at Atomic, the even-keeled, mistake-free approach he’s aimed to adopt over the last month ultimately paid off.
“This is probably the first year where I watched a lot of video. Just studying other guys’ race cars,” Thornton said. “I’ve always been super focused on mine. When you get out, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m loose,’ or, ‘I’m tight, and need this and do that.’ This year, I feel like the aero side of it has gotten so big.
“Where not that it wasn’t before, but I think you’re a piece moved here, a piece moved there — this or that. A 10th now in qualifying is 10 positions. You just have to do everything right. Obviously, I feel like Bobby (Pierce) is still really good. He’s won a bunch of races here. I feel like the rest of the field, (Nick) Hoffman’s been good, J.D. is always going to be good. Same with (Brandon) Sheppard, Hudson (O’Neal), (Devin) Moran.
“I feel like there’s seven or eight really, really good cars where whenever you get to one of these races, it don’t matter if it’s here or World of Outlaws, everyone’s really good.”
In the pursuit of recapturing his regularly winning ways, Thornton’s had to take on a utility role on his Koehler Motorsports crew of late.
From a Dirt Late Model newcomer in 2021 to a hands-on veteran presence the past two seasons — often heavily involved in the mechanical side, especially following the split from Anthony Burroughs at SSI Motorsports in July 2024 — Thornton has now settled into a role that allows him to refine his racecraft without being overly consumed by the race car itself.
With trusted crew chief Burroughs and right-hand man Justin Tharp back in his corner, Thornton has taken on a different kind of hands-on role serving as the team’s tire specialist the last two race weekends after crewman Zach Frields departed the Koehler team to stay closer to home and work for IMCA stock car racer Jason Rauen of Farley, Iowa.
Thornton also recruited Justin French, who previously worked with him at SSI Motorsports, to help fill the void.
“I still do a ton, but I don't have to. Where before I didn’t essentially have to, but I just feel like if I’m involved, I get to do a lot more,” Thornton said. “This weekend, last weekend, I’ve been full-time tire guy. I love doing tires. Luckily one of my buddies Justin French came out to grind and help. And he was a big asset to our team. He’s raced Crate cars forever, so he understands what it takes. I mean, obviously with Burroughs and Tharp, I never have to second guess if stuff’s done right. If it’s done, and if it’s not right, I’d be really shocked.”
Thornton’s whatever-it-takes mentality — the same approach that fueled his path from racing anything he could find on a weekly basis in his native Arizona to national Dirt Late Model stardom — is what’s helped pull him out of his early-season bind.
“For how I grew up, wanting to do this for a living, that’s what you had to do, learn the ins and outs of everything,” Thornton said. “I mean, it don’t matter if it’s changing the rear-end, changing the motor, doing tires, doing body work, whatever it is, the more you know you more as a driver, the better you can fine-tune stuff. I feel like I was really able to do that last year.”
Of course, it doesn’t stop there. Thornton’s five-race podium streak, accentuated by Sunday’s victory, may be a sign of better things to come.
“I feel like now I’ve been able to minimize those mistakes and hopefully we’re right back on that track where we were last year,” Thornton said. “Hopefully we can just keep looking up. I know my boys are gonna be working hard.”
