Ricky Thornton Jr. kicked off the 38th Annual IMCA Super Nationals at Boone (Iowa) Speedway on Monday night in triumphant fashion.
Piloting the Todd Cooney-owned No. 30 Spangler Automotive/ May Properties/ Capital Race Cars entry, Thornton won the opening night Late Model IMCA Super Nationals championship for the second consecutive year.
“It was really hard this year,. I tried high, I tried low and I was finally able to move by him (Aikey) for the lead,” Thornton said. “Every Super Nationals championship is special,” said Thornton, also the 2016 Modified king, “but this one means a lot because we really had to work for it.”
With 32 entries registered for the event, Thornton charged from sixth to grab a heat race victory, locking him into the seventh starting position for the 50-lap main event. Taking the lead from Jeff Aikey on the 32nd circuit, Thornton then led Richie Gustin through lapped traffic through the $3,000 checkers. Gustin was second, Aikey was third, while Andy Nezworski, and Jesse Sobbing rounded out the Top-5.
Full results from the event can be found at www.RaceBoone.com.
