Ricky Thornton Jr. of Marfinsville held off a hard charging Hudson O’Neal of Hope to win the $25,000 Dirt Late Model Dream preliminary race on June 6 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
Ricky Thornton Jr. of Martinsville held off a hard charging Hudson O’Neal of Hope to win the $25,000 Dirt Late Model Dream preliminary race on June 6 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
Submitted photo
Ricky Thornton Jr. opened the 30th Annual Dirt Late Dream weekend on June 6 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, holding off Hudson O’Neal of Hope for the victory.
Thornton led the first 15 laps of the race until Bobby Pierce took command of the 50-lap $25,000-to-win race. But Pierce did not make it to the finish line as mechanical issues knocked him out of the lead and the race with 13 laps remaining.
O’Neal, who started 15th in the race, charged to the front, climbing to third before Pierce’s demise, which moved the defending World 100 winner to second. A restart with four laps to go saw Thornton outgun O’Neal to the checkers to take the win.
Josh Rice finished in third, followed by Chris Madden and Max Blair. Completing the top 10 were Shane Clanton, Kyle Bronson, Cade Dillard, Tim McCreadie and Brandon Overton.
Action resumes tonight at the Eldora with the 100-lap 30th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream Race, paying $100,000 to win. The race will be streamed live on floracing.com
Axsom wins at Putnamville
Emerson Axsom of Franklin won the Indiana USAC Midget Week on June 6 at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville. Ryan Timms, who won the night before at Lawrenceburg, was second, followed by Daison Pursley, Cannon McIntosh and Taylor Reimer.
Timms wins at Lawrenceburg
Ryan Timms of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, won the Indiana USAC National Midget Week race on June 5 at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Daison Pursley was second, followed by Axsom, Cannon McIntosh and Hayden Reinbold.
C.J. Leary of Greenfield won the sprint car feature over Ricky Lewis, Luke Hill, Nick Bilbee and Shawn Westerfeld.
Lawrenceburg is off tonight. There next scheduled race is June 22.
Melvin wins at Bloomington
Rodney Melvin of Benton, Illinois, won the late model feature on May 31 at Bloomington Speedway. Jordan Wever was second, followed by Tyler Collins, Jared Bailey and Dustin Linville.
Completing the top 10 were Kent Robinson, Cyle Fogy, Larry Martin Jr., Zac Gibbs and Chad Stapleton.
Jacoby Hines of Trafalgar won the open wheel modified feature over Brayden Watson, Tyler Loughmiller, Cole Parker and Rob Fuqua. Alex Wilson won the hornet division feature over Michael Brewer, Ty Bland, Cordell Moore and Connor Garrison.
O’Neal wins in Ohio
O’Neal won the late model feature on June 1 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio. It was his fifth win of 2024. Adam Stricker was second, followed by Rod Conley, Rusty Schlenk and R.J. Conley.
This week in racing history
From 70 years ago in 1954 at Columbus Speedway, Jim Quillen won the feature race over Loren Hurley, Bobby Baker, Ted Pfeiffer and Red Carmichael.
From 60 years ago in 1964 at Brownstown, Gene Petro won the late model feature.
Also from 60 years ago at Paragon, Orville Yeadon won the super-modified feature over Jim Waltz, Bob Papoy, Gene Henson and Steve Cannon. Boyd Koontz won the stock car feature over Sheldon Kinser, Louis Mitchell and Kenny Baker.
From 50 years ago in 1974 at Brownstown, Gene Petro won the late model feature over John Warner, Russ Petro, Luther Burton and Dennis Boknecht.
Also from 1974 at Haubstadt, Cliff Cockrum (sprints) and Tom Helfrich (late models) won their respective division feature races.
From 50 years ago at Whitewater Valley Speedway in Liberty, Billy Teegarden won the late model feature over Floyd Gilbert, Bubby James, Chuck McWilliams and Dick DeBolt.
From this weekend in 1984 at Twin Cities, Steve Boley won the late model feature over Scott McKeand, Merrill Wilson, Dee Kramer and Robert Brison. Darrell Smallwood won the modified street stock feature over Earl Plessinger, Bill Franks, Larry Gingery and Oscar Gray. Gregg Lyle won the street stock feature over Ray Hughes, Randy Lucas and Joe Johnson.
From 40 years ago in 1984 at Brownstown, Gerald Dixon won the late model feature over Kenny Simpson, Kevin Claycomb, Paul Crockett and Charlie Sentman. Merrill Downey won the modified street stock feature over Don Barnett, Dan Londeree, Bobby Johnson and Mike Bechelli.
From 40 years ago at Lawrenceburg, Greg Staab won the sprint car feature over Ken Rice, Troy Link, Jimmy White and Tim Bipes. Matt Gilardi won the late model feature over Danny Eichler, Gary Herbert, C.J. Rayburn and Jeff Herbert. Jim Coffey won the street stock feature over Jeff Caudill, Chandler Southerland, Sam Johnson and Willie Klepper.
Also in 1984 at Paragon, Jack Zeigler won the sprint car feature over Kevin Thomas, Mike Johnson, Mickey Smith and Gary Fisher. Marvin O’Neal won the stock car feature over Jim Nichols, Gary Barrow Albert Illg and Jesse Dichman. Mike Gibbs won the street stock feature race.
From 30 years ago in 1994 at Brownstown, Mike Jewell won the late model feature over Lee Fleetwood, Marty O’Neal, Doug Ault and Jim Curry. Randy Petro won the street stock feature over Earl Plessinger, Jeff Wolson, Scott Patman and Darren Davis. Scott Smith won the modified feature over Danny Eichler, Daryl Herbert, Lee Fleetwood and Alan Magner. Bruce Turner won the bomber feature over Ernie Niemoeller, Adam Sasser, Bobby Johnson and Larry Pratt.
From 40 years ago at I-65 Speedway in Scottsburg, Kenny Simpson won the late model feature over Ray Godsey and Gerald Dixon. Danny Blackwell won the modified street stock feature over Bill Norton and Dan Londeree.
Also in 1994 at Haubstadt, Larry Bland won the sprint car feature over Joey Nash and J.C. Sulawske. Doug McCammon won the late model feature over Greg Williams and Rick Carneal. Everett Bradham won the modified feature over John Davis and Jay Jones.
From 30 years ago at Paragon, Kevin Thomas won the USAC Sprint Car feature over Tray House, Dave Darland, Bill Rose and Jon Stanbrough. Vince McClure won the street stock feature over Eddie Kindred, Bill Babcock, Aaron Zellers and Jerry Hepworth.
Also from 1994 at Martin County Speedway in Loogootee, Denny Campbell won the street stock feature over Charlie Tuell, Eddie Lake, Joe Deckard and Randy Wininger. Danny Claycomb won the modified feature over Lee Hobbs, Ralph Klem, Ron Hoffman and Don Boyles. Troy Cannon won the bomber feature over Morgan Huebner, Dale Hobbs, Todd Kempf and Curtis Knieriem.
From 20 years ago in 2004 at Brownstown, Rohn Moon won the late model feature over Dan Sturgeon, Steve Barnett, Frankie Coomer and Brad Barrow. Mike Fields won the super stock feature over Jay Deckard, Tim Clark, Kevin Applegate and Mike Cawood. Matt Cummings won the bomber feature over Clifton Barron, Jason Combs, Ray Godsey Jr. and Bub Walters.
Also in 2004 at Bloomington, Kevin Huntley won the sprint car feature over Kevin Briscoe, Derek Scheffel, Eric Shively and Bryan Clauson. Matt Boknecht won the modified feature over Shelby Miles, Brady Short, Ralph Groomer and Lee Hobbs. Greg Kendall won the super stock feature over Chris Hillman, Ben DuBois, Anthony Walker and Kevin Arthur.
At Lawrenceburg in 2004, Mike Miller won the sprint car feature over Eric Shively, Brandon Petty, Casey Shuman and Dustin Smith. J.D. Largent won the modified feature over Roger Williams, Scotty Mattlin, Jerry Back and Brad Wieck.
Upcoming local racing schedule
Today: Brownstown Speedway — no racing.
Today: Paragon Speedway — no racing.
Today: Lawrenceburg Speedway — no racing.
Today: Eldora Speedway — Rossburg, Ohio – 30th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream, $100,030 to win. For ticket information, visit eldoraspeedway.com
Today: Jennings County Kart Track, Jennings County 4-H Fairgrounds in North Vernon — second points race of the season for all divisions.
Today: Tri-State Speedway — Haubstadt – USAC Indiana Midget Week race. For more information, visit tristatespeedway.com
Sunday: Kokomo Speedway — USAC Indiana Midget Week race. For more information, visit kokomospeedway.com
Friday: Bloomington Speedway — sprints, hornets, Racesaver sprints and IMCA mod-lites. For more information, visit racebloomingtonspeedway.com
Friday: Paragon Speedway — Dave Peeden Memorial, crate late models, super stocks and modifieds. For more information, visit paragonspeedway.com
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected]
