Motorsport News

Ricky Thornton Jr. Breaks Through After Golden Isles Loss

Ricky Thornton Jr.

Winning Moment: Ricky Thornton Jr. finally broke through for his first win of 2023 Sunday night (Jan. 29) at Bubba Raceway Park, staying out of trouble up front in a chaotic feature race and avenging heartbreak at Golden Isles Speedway the night before.

Dramatic Moment: That heartbreak Saturday night may well go down as one of the most dramatic nights of the 2023 season, with Brandon Overton executing a “hail mary” last-lap pass to win the $25,000 finale of the Super Bowl of Racing at Golden Isles.

Said Overton post-race, he was either going to knock the engine out of his car or get past Thornton using the high side the way he did.

In a Nutshell: Florida/Georgia Speedweeks kicked into high gear this weekend.

What They’ll Be Group Chatting About This Morning

If I’m in the Lucas Oil competition department, I’m doing everything I can behind the scenes to woo Overton to make a run at the series title in 2023. Saturday’s last-lap pass coupled with a genuine aww shucks attitude is a combination of personality and talent that belongs at the top echelons of dirt late model racing.

While the LOLMDS continues (in futility) to sell its convoluted playoff format for 2023, one change the series made that I will applaud is the decision to move away from a chalk start line for restarts in favor of a “restart zone” between two flags in turn 4. Yes, the restart zone allows for more gray area then a single solitary line, but seeing as I’ve never seen a dirt track in America actually call the start line the start line with that level of precision, giving the race leader discretion is a worthwhile rule.

I couldn’t help but chuckle hearing James Essex ask whether Lucas Oil could land a title sponsor for a “helmet toss” count after seeing Sylvester, Ga.’s Steven Roberts chuck his helmet at Kyle Bronson during a B-main Saturday at Golden Isles.

I will say this though, it’s odd that there was no video replay (at least that I could find) of the incident that got Roberts so angry as to chuck his headgear. That’s a big miss, and one could…

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