Thornton claims first Jackson 100 win at Brownstown

Ricky Thornton Jr. of Martinsville regained the lead from Hudson O’Neal with 18 laps remaining and then pulled away to win the richest race in Brownstown Speedway history by scoring the victory in the $30,000-to-win 44th Annual Jackson 100 on Sept. 23. The top two in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points put on a fierce battle for the lead in front of a packed house at the Jackson County Fairgrounds oval.

It was Thornton’s first win in the annual race that has been held every year since it’s inception in 1980. O’Neal, racing on his home track for the first time since winning his first World 100 two weeks at Eldora Speedway, crossed the line in second. O’Neal, who led 28 laps during the mid-part, could not hold off Thornton, who went on to win by 2.167 seconds.

Devin Moran rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third, with defending Jackson 100 champion Tim McCreadie finishing fourth and Cory Hedgecock rounding out the top five.

Thornton jumped to lead at the start of the race, with Mike Marlar and Devin Moran holding down the second and third positions. Marlar was running in the runner-up position and was still within striking distance of Thornton until a flat right rear tire with 54 laps scored, ending his hopes of a Brownstownsweep for the weekend after winning Friday Night’s C.J. Rayburn Memorial Race.

On the restart after Marlar’s caution, O’Neal exploded to the front and went to the top side and went to the lead on Lap 58 by Thornton. O’Neal led until Lap 82, and that’s when Thornton went back to the lead. From then, Thornton cruised on for his 21st LOLMDS win of the season. The win in the Jackson 100 was the second for his car owners Todd and Vickie Burns, who went to Victory Lane in 2019 with O’Neal driving.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 26th time in his career, Thornton led 72 laps to take home the win out of a $100,000 feature purse.

“Once (O’Neal) got by me, I thought the race was over,” Thornton said. “I moved up to his lane, and he kind of just drove off. I just kind of kept my cool. He made one little mistake over there off (Turn) 2, and I think it kind of broke his concentration I think a little bit and then he started searching around. It’s pretty awesome to win this race. I felt like I had a pretty good car early. I didn’t know what to do on the restart, whether I needed to be high or low. He got by me, and I thought I just gave this one away. It’s pretty cool for Todd and Vickie to get their second Jackson win here.”

O’Neal, who remains second to Thornton in the Big River Steel Chase to the Championship Presented by ARP Fasteners, nearly pulled off his second career Jackson 100 victory.

“After the weekend we’ve had, we just haven’t been where we needed to be, and we just kept working and working and my guys really worked their tails off trying to get better. We had a great race car there, just unfortunately, I just didn’t quite have as good as a race car as Ricky did there in lapped traffic.” O’Neal said. “I felt pretty good whenever I was out by myself and able to roll that top. Whenever I got behind people I just kind of struggled a little bit. Man, we will take second after starting 10th we were able to pass a lot of good guys. It just happened that we led some laps and compete for the win.”

Completing the top 10 were Michael Chilton, Daulton Wilson, Tanner English, Nick Hoffman and Max Blair.

Brayden Watson of Bedford picked up his second win of the year in Signals Driving School Modifieds. Jacoby Hines jumped to the early lead, with Watson looking to make his move. Watson took the lead on Lap 12 and never looked back. Brent Lee, John Demoss, Jerry Davis and Zachary Stalker rounded out the top five.

Derek Groomer of Bloomington in Pewter Hall Super Stock action would record his second win of the year. J.T. Huffman jumped to the lead at the start of the feature, with Groomer looking to pass. Groomer took the lead on Lap 5, and then Branden Carr joined in on the action. Groomer and Carr traded the lead a couple times before Groomer took the lead for good and got the win. Branden Carr ended up second, with Matt Boknecht, Tanner Chastain and Huffman following.

Modified Feature Results: Brayden Watson, Brent Lee, John Demoss, Jerry Davis, Zachary Stalker, Michael Wesselman, Steve Haefke, Thomas Mulvaney, Mike Bechelli, Levi Kissinger, Logan Mounce, Jarod Deckard, Blake Davis, David Winters Jr., Jacoby Hines, Caleb Demoss, Jack Dossey, Troy Davis, Travis Shoulders-DNS, A.J. Pace-DNS.

Super Stock Feature Results: Derek Groomer, Branden Carr, Matt Boknecht, Tanner Chastain, J.T. Huffman, Tucker Chastain, Isaiah Sasser, Zach Sasser, Greg Amick, Trey Chastain, Craig Markel, Tim Eddelman, Colton Sullivan, Webb Lee, Tom Plotz, Addie Stitsworth, Blake Hull, Bryson Clark, Dalton Fleenor, Skyler Cohee.

Marlar wins Rayburn Memorial

Mike Marlar and the late C.J. Rayburn were longtime friends and on Sept. 22, Marlar paid the best tribute he could to one of his racing mentors as the won the 40-lap Second Annual C.J. Rayburn Memorial at Brownstown Speedway. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event drew 45 cars to the historic Southern Indiana facility.

Marlar, from Winfield, Tennessee, grabbed the lead from Nick Hoffman on Lap 9 when Hoffman slipped off the frontstretch. Marlar then went on to take the $10,000 victory ahead of Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport and Hoffman. The race went green to checkers without any caution flags.

Hoffman jumped to the lead at the start of the race, and he held the lead the first eight circuits until he got off the track on the frontstretch, allowing Marlar to take over the lead. Hoffman held the second spot behind Marlar for several laps, with Brandon Overton, Thornton and Moran all in the hunt.

Thornton outdueled Overton moving to third and then passed Hoffman for second. Thornton then caught Marlar, bringing Moran and later Davenport into the fray. At one point, the top four were separated by mere seconds as Marlar would fight off challenges for the win, which was the 21st career series.

Marlar’s third win this season with the LOLMDS was arguably the most emotional of his racing career.

“I will try to keep it together. C.J.’s special to us and when he passed away, I took it as hard as when my granddad or anybody,” Marlar said. “I fought hard there, I didn’t have the best car, but he (C.J.) was up there helping me out. I was just making it happen. I am just glad that C.J.’s family and all of these supporters of Brownstown Speedway. He (C.J.) means so much to all of us and we hated to lose him, but nobody ever lived as good as he did. So, I just really miss him, and miss him everyday honestly and I was glad to get this race won. It’s definitely one of the biggest ones for sure.”

Completing the top 10 were Brandon Overton, Tim McCreadie, Jason Jameson, Josh Rice and Daulton Wilson.

Cain wins Bowman 50

Tyler Cain of Seymour has been on fire in Graphix Indiana Late Model Series Pro Late Models, and that did not change Sept. 22. Cain recorded his second career Bowman 50 win to be the only two-time time winner of the annual event.

Chad Stapleton jumped to the early lead, but on Lap 6, Cain took the point and went on to win his fourth ILMS feature out of the past five races. Tyler Neal, Marty O’Neal, Jug Wethington and Derek Groomer rounded out the top five.

Crate Late Model Feature Results: Bowman Family: Tyler Cain, Tyler Neal, Marty O’Neal, Jug Wethington, Derek Groomer, Tyler Collins, Steve Peeden, Chad Stapleton, Shelby Miles, Zack Burton, Dwight Smith, Rohn Moon, Alan Magner, Patrick Shumaker, Elliott Despain, Brian Wilhite, Caleb Schryer, Tory Collins, Skylar Marlar, Keaton Streeval, Robert Rainey.

Hamilton wins Downey Memorial

Matt Hamilton won the 12th Annual Merrill Downey Memorial on Sept. 23 at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Cole Falloway was second, followed by Kyle Schornick, Scotty Kincaid and Ben Harmon. Bill Sheets won the late model feature over Joey Kramer, Dustin Nobbe, Trent Green, and Jim Couch. Monty Ferriera won the 305 RaceSaver sprint car feature over Bradley Galedrige, Rod Henning, Jeremy Snow and Kayla Martin.

This week in racing history

From 20 years ago in 2003 at Eldora Speedway, Jac Haudenschild won the “Mopar Million” for sprints over Stevie Smith, Dickie Gaines, J.J. Yeley and Rob Chaney.

Also in 2003 at Bloomington, Randy Moore won the super stock feature, and John DeMoss grabbed the modified main event.

Upcoming local racing schedule

Today: Brownstown Speedway — Crown Vic Shootout-crown vics, crate late models, super stocks, pure stocks and hornets. For more information, visit brownstownspeedway.com

Today: Paragon Speedway — Amati Classic–sprints, super stocks, bombers, and hornets. For more information, visit paragonspeedway.com

Today: Circle City Raceway — crate late models, modifieds, mod lites, super stocks and All-Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets.

James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected]