11/12/2022
Ricky Thornton Jr
Thornton cruises in Peach State Classic at Senoia, pockets $53,053
Ricky Thornton Jr. decimated the Castrol FloRacing Night in America field on Saturday night to claim the $53,053 Peach State Classic victory aboard his SSI Motorsports No. 20RT Dyno One Inc./ Excel Floor Covering/ Sub-Surface of Indiana/ Longhorn Chassis/ Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model.
Against a talent-laden field he crossed the finish line more than 10 seconds in front of his nearest pursuer in the 75-lap affair to bag his sixth win of the year.
"My crew guy was jumping up and down, telling me to slow down, so I knew (my lead) was pretty good," Thornton said. "I got to Ricky Weiss and I kinda got stuck and I just didn't know what I needed to do, finally once I got by him, then I felt like I picked my pace back up. We tried (a suspension setup) that (Anthony) Burroughs (crew chief) wanted to do, and it was really good for us. With the finish we also locked up second in the series point standings, so that’s another nice bonus here late in the year.
“A big thank you goes out to SSI Motorsports and all of our great sponsors for making all of this possible. I’m going to head out West to race the Modified the next few weeks before we come back to the Dome (Gateway Dirt Nationals) in December.”
Ricky Thornton Jr. returned to the driver’s seat of the SSI Motorsports No. 20RT Late Model on Friday afternoon as the Castrol FloRacing Night in America miniseries wrapped up the 2022 campaign at Senoia Raceway (Senoia, Ga.) with the Peach State Classic.
With 52 Late Models entered for the doubleheader weekend, Ricky followed up the 17th-fastest qualifying effort in his group with a sixth-to-third run in his heat race.
Earning the 15th-starting position for Friday’s $20,000-to-win preliminary feature, Thornton advanced forward six spots in the 50-lapper to register a ninth-place finish.
On Saturday, Thornton stopped the clock third-fastest in his group before placing first in his heat race.
Earning the pole for the Peach State Classic finale, Ricky blasted into the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looked back, soaring to a flag-to-flag victory in the 75-lap affair.
Winning by more than a 10-second margin, Thornton earned a $53,053 payday ahead of Hudson O’Neal, Devin Moran, Ashton Winger, and Chris Madden.
On the heels of a successful weekend, Ricky Thornton Jr. finished second in the Castrol FloRacing Night in America point standings, which comes with a $15,000 prize.
Full results from the weekend are available at www.FloSeries.com.
This Friday through Sunday “RTJ” will travel west to Central Arizona Raceway (Casa Grande, Ariz.) for a triple header. The Showdown event features three days of IMCA Modified racing with a $1,000 winner’s check on the line on Friday and Saturday, while Sunday’s finale posts a $3,000 top prize.
Article Credit: Josh James Artwork image
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