After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis of RTJ's Wayne Co. win
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Wayne County winner Ricky Thornton Jr. (Emily Schwanke)
ORRVILLE, Ohio (May 28) — Instant reaction and analysis from Thursday’s Lonewolf 40 at Wayne County Speedway, a $12,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model Series event captured by Ricky Thornton Jr. (RaceWire):
THORNTON'S FLASH: It’s no secret Ricky Thornton Jr. has had a relatively quiet year by his lofty standards. When he reunited with crew members Anthony Burroughs and Justin Tharp, many expected them to strike up instant success. While the wins haven’t come at the convincing pace some anticipated — only three with the Koehler Motersports team, including Thursday — Thornton hasn’t been far off, either. His 30 top-10 finishes in 41 features still rank among the sport’s best. Thursday’s flag-to-flag victory, however, felt like a glimpse of the explosive RTJ who dominated the sport with 34 victories in 2023 — akin to a ball player finally playing free and trusting his instincts again. He drove with supreme confidence and seemingly made all the right decisions. It was the kind of commanding performance that reminded everyone just how dangerous Thornton can be when he's fully in stride. I'll have a more detailed story on this later, but Thornton has been candid about the process of regaining confidence behind the wheel. Earlier this season, he often felt like he wasn't making the right decisions as a driver. Now, his confidence is stronger than it’s been in a while.
PIERCE'S RESOLVE: As much as I believe Nick Hoffman can dethrone Bobby Pierce in the World of Outlaws title race, it’s nights like Thursday that reinforce Pierce’s juggernaut status. Pierce had two flat tires — one in hot laps and another in the closing laps of his heat race, where he barely held on to the fourth and final transfer spot — then charged from 16th to finish third in the feature despite never appearing fully comfortable. Hoffman, meanwhile, lowered the track record, appeared to have the clear upper hand on Pierce throughout the night and returned to a track where he won during last year’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals event. Yet when the feature was over, Hoffman still didn’t have enough to challenge Ricky Thornton Jr. for the victory, while Pierce salvaged a podium from what easily could’ve been a disastrous night. Even on an off night — by his standards, anyway — Pierce finds a way to keep Hoffman in arms reach, making him extremely difficult to overthrow in the season-long points chase.
B-SHEPP'S FLAT: I personally thought Brandon Sheppard had a race car capable of challenging Thornton for the victory Thursday — until a flat tire spoiled his night. The Rocket1 driver never let Thornton get too comfortable out front, keeping the Chandler, Ariz., star honest for much of the 40-lap feature and appearing to have the speed to make things interesting if the race stayed green. There was also a considerable amount of debris being kicked up around the racing surface throughout the evening, so I guarantee that was the culprit. Unfortunately for Sheppard, it ended a 17-race top-10 streak for him. But on the bright side, he has plenty of speed to pocket a lot of money over the next week.
SORENSEN'S BOOST: Dustin Sorensen's recent upswing continued Thursday at Wayne County Speedway, where another top-five finish followed his fourth-place run Wednesday at Marion Center. The back-to-back top fives mark Sorensen's best stretch on the World of Outlaws circuit since September 2024, when he finished third at Boothill Speedway in Greenwood, La., and fifth at Rocket Raceway Park in Petty, Texas. Factor in his ninth-place finish at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway two weeks ago and a 14th-place result at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway that may not fully reflect his speed after starting seventh, and the 25-year-old from Rochester, Minn., appears to be hitting on something at the right time.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Thornton added another victory at a track where sprint cars are a fixture on the schedule as all four of his 2026 victories have come at such venues: Wayne County, Circle City Raceway on May 1, Atomic Speedway on March 29 and Central Arizona Raceway on Jan. 10. Stretch it back further, and nine of Thornton’s last 11 victories have come at Sprint Car staples, including Eldora Speedway’s World 100 last September, Lernerville’s Hillbilly 100 last September and Port Royal’s Rumble by the River sweep last August.
Correction: Fixes Thornton's team in opening section.
