PORT ROYAL, Pa. — In a battle among rivals with neither driver giving an inch, Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., topped Chris Madden on Saturday at Port Royal Speedway for a $50,000 Rumble by the River victory on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

The sixth-starting Thornton completed not only a weekend sweep after pocketing $10,000 in Friday’s prelim but also a season-long sweep of the half-mile oval, adding his summer weekend to April 27’s $10,000 victory at the Speed Palace.

Thornton overtook Madden on the 24th lap, lost the lead on a tight lap-38 restart in falling back to third, then rallied to lead the final five laps for his 12th Lucas Oil Series victory of the season.

“Once I got out front (on lap 46), I was just going to have to run as hard as I could and pray another yellow didn't come out,” the high-flying Thornton said. “And it worked out for us.”

Gray Court, S.C.’s Madden, who led the first 24 laps from outside the front row and led again on lap 38-45 while utilizing primarily the middle groove, finished 1.754 seconds behind at the checkers with Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, in third. Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., who briefly got to second early in the race, rounded out the top five.

Madden dominated the first 22 laps, leading by as much as three seconds, but Thornton moved up to challenge on lap 23, briefly going ahead before Madden answered the move to maintain his edge at the stripe. Thornton made an outside pass in turn two on the 24th lap and pulled away before a lap-34 caution erased his lead.

He kept Madden in check on the lap-34 restart, but four laps later, Madden pounced with an inside move in turns one and two, sliding in front of Thornton, who made contact, wrinkling Madden’s left-rear quarterpanel. While Madden regained the lead, Moran slipped into second and Thornton fell to third.

“The first time he didn't slide me. I'm like, ‘Man, maybe he's not gonna slide me.’ So next start I felt like I got a pretty good start or he slid me … and it was a wrecked or get wrecked there,” Thornton said. “It’s probably a good thing Devin got by me there because I don't know if I would’ve checked the throttle again in turn three.”

During a lap-42 caution period, Thornton pulled alongside to show his displeasure with Madden, wiggling his car beside the leader. Thornton used the slowdown as a reset.

“Luckily we had the yellow and it let me cool off a little bit. I'd started to run pretty hard against the wall, just sideways, just trying to do what I could to get by Devin, and really at that point it wasn’t the right thing,” Thornton said.

On the restart, Thornton got past Moran by lap 44, then chased down Madden and made the winning pass stick on lap 46.

“I don't think I ever checked the throttle again in turn one. I was trying to make sure I got back to him,” Thornton said. "just put myself in the right position to make sure he couldn't cross me and beat me down into one and slide me again.”

Afterwards, the drivers chose words carefully in victory lane. Madden served as Thornton’s crew chief the second half of his Lucas Oil title-winning season last year, but they had a public spat in victory lane after the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series finale at the Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., when security had to separate their crews.

Madden said he was just taking his best shot at his potentially richest victory since connecting with Kale Green Motorsports.

“It’s 50-grand, you know?” Madden said. “We had a good run right there on the restart and we drove into (turn) one there and had him cleared in the middle of the corner. He could've turned left or hit the brake pedal or whatever. He slid me down here in (turns) three and four and I had to get on the brake pedal.

“But you know it is what it is. We had a great race there at the end. He got the job done, done a good job. We had a great race for tonight and, thanks to all these fans for coming out.”

Moran settled for third, but he certainly noticed the fireworks between the frontrunners.

“I really thought I had a shot to win it when they were wrecking each other off at (turn) two. I couldn't hardly see them up there, but I knew they were getting into each other and I was just trying to put myself in good position,” Moran said. "But beyond that one restart I got right on Chris's quarterpanel and I just couldn't make no speed into (turn) like I could in one and two.”

Five cautions slowed the action, the first on the 10th lap when Wil Herrington slowed with a flat right-front tire (that erased a 3.2-second lead for Madden).

A lap-20 caution appeared for shock problems for Daulton Wilson, who went to a backup car after an engine expired in his heat race.

A yellow flag dropped on lap 34 when Herrington retired and again on the 38th lap for Daniel Hilsabeck's flat tire. On the 42nd lap, Chris Ferguson slowed for the final yellow.

Carson Ferguson notched his first quick time of the season and won the first heat to earn the pole position for the main event, but he faded from second after a lap-10 restart and never contended again.