RTJ Dominates Mountain
Moonshine Classic Opener
(June
14, 2024) Ricky Thornton Jr. padded his points lead in
the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series by winning night one of the
Mountain Moonshine Classic. Thornton swept the night by setting
fast time in time trials, won his heat race, and led all 40 laps
to claim the $10,000 winner’s check. (MRM
Racing Photos)
Thornton seemed to be on cruise control until Dale McDowell
closed to gap by the race’s midway point. As Thornton encountered
slower traffic, McDowell moved to just a couple of car lengths
of the lead. A caution on lap 25 allowed everyone at another shot
to improve their positions. Tim McCreadie used the outside line
on the restart to take second place from McDowell. McDowell then
had to hold off Devin Moran for third.
McCreadie was unable to challenge Thornton for the win. McDowell
held on to third over Moran and Daulton Wilson.
The front wheel drive feature saw Dustin Duncan claim another
win at Smoky Mountain Speedway. Ray Wyatt and Dylan Jones waged
a fierce battle for second throughout most of the race. Wyatt
held off Jones on the final lap to take second.
Corey Vickers came from 11th starting spot to win the Crown
Vic feature. Vickers took the lead from Scott Randolph on the
way to taking the win. Joseph McGill finished third.
Mountain Moonshine Classic Night 1 (40 Laps): 1.
20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 17M-Dale
McDowell[4]; 4. 99-Devin Moran[6]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 6.
157-Mike Marlar[12]; 7. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[7];
9. 58-Garrett Alberson[11]; 10. 49-Jonathan Davenport[8]; 11.
19R-Ryan Gustin[15]; 12. 71-Hudson O'Neal[9]; 13. 20-Jimmy Owens[10];
14. 7W-Ricky Weiss[16]; 15. 111-Max Blair[13]; 16. 93F-Carson
Ferguson[22]; 17. 25B-Mike Benedum[14]; 18. 22-Chris Ferguson[20];
19. 99B-Boom Briggs[18]; 20. 7T-Drake Troutman[19]; 21. 126-Kaede
Loudy[17]; 22. 7-Ross Robinson[23]; 23. 1G-Rusty Ballenger[21];
24. 17SS-Brenden Smith[25]; 25. 93-Cory Lawler[26]; 26. 6-Clay
Harris[24]
Front Wheel Drive: 1. 21-Dustin Duncan[1];
2. 7W-Ray Wyatt[3]; 3. J19-Dylan Jones[4]; 4. 26-Michael Lambert[5];
5. 85-Travis Weeks[10]; 6. B56-Brandon Porstner[6]; 7. 17W-Gregory
Wyatt[7]; 8. 21T-Travis Taylor[9]; 9. 32-Chase Sands[11]; 10.
10-Dan Sandiford[16]; 11. 20-Preston Atkins[12]; 12. 23S-Karsyn
Stibb[13]; 13. 421-Britton Roxberry[2]; 14. K3-James Klaucke[8];
15. B01-Braden Johnson[15]; 16. 5L-Bryson Large[14]; 17. 44-Scott
Velez[17]
Crown Vic: 1. 7-Corey Vickers[11]; 2. 37-Scott
Randolph[1]; 3. J1-Joseph McGill[6]; 4. 51-Greg Taylor[10]; 5.
13-Amber Gilpatrick[9]; 6. 327-Shyan Lichlyter[7]; 7. 14-Opie
Barndt[5]; 8. 20-Anthony Brown[8]; 9. 11-Emma Coffey[2]; 10. 2-Dale
Dunn[4]; 11. 5X-Troy Davenport[3]
(MRM Racing Photos)
(MRM Racing Photos)
(MRM Racing Photos)
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