What won the race: Twice overtaking race-long leader Hudson O'Neal on laps 41 and 42 before pulling away in the rest of the 50-lapper, Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., grabbed a $15,000 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory at Circle City Raceway. The pair swapped the lead twice before making contact at the flagstand with Thornton edging away to win by 2.015 seconds for his second series victory of the season.

Quotable: "I feel like, by watching so many midget and sprint car races here, like once it gets so technical around the top, the bottom's gonna come in," Thornton said, later adding that "it was just gonna take a little bit of traffic to slow (Hudson O'Neal) down and have to move around. I don't know. It worked out for us."

Key notes: Ricky Thornton Jr. notched his 51st career full-field Lucas Oil Series victory; his previous victory came March 29 at Atomic Speedway near Chillicothe, Ohio. ... Thornton dove under O'Neal in turn three to lead lap 41; O'Neal, the outside front-row starter, went back ahead in turns one and two on the next lap, but Thornton muscled back ahead in turn four with the frontrunners coming together slightly at the start-finish before Thornton pulled away. ... The winner made a key move in traffic with four to go to put several slower cars between him and the pursuing O'Neal. ... Third-finishing Max Blair notched his ninth straight top-five finish in series action. ... Three cautions slowed the action, the first on the fifth lap for Jason Jameson's driveline failure. ... A retiring Dave Hess Jr. pulled up on the 24th lap. ... On the 30th lap, Dillon McCowan and Brian Shirley went around between turns three and four. ... The series made its second visit to the Marion County Fairgrounds facility; Brandon Overton won in 2025. ... The 23-minute feature finished about 8:50 p.m.

On the move: Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., started 18th and finished 11th.

Winner's sponsors: Thornton’s Koehler Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Knight’s Companies, Hoker Trucking, Capital Waste, Certified Inspection Service, Coltman Farms Racing, Elite Ready Mix, Five Star Metal Buildings, D&E Outside Services, SI Towing & Recovery, Velocity Manufacturing Group, Jones Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier Tire South, Henry’s Headers & Exhaust, High Performance Lubricants, Strange Oval, Sharp Advantage Safety Products, DirtCarLift, Midwest Sheet Metal and Slicker Graphics.

Points chase: After Circle City: T1. Devin Moran (2,300); T1. Hudson O’Neal (2,300); 3. Brandon Overton (2,110); T4. Brandon Sheppard (2,100); T4. Ricky Thornton Jr. (2,100); 6. Max Blair (2,095); 7. Garrett Alberson (1,835); 8. Kyle Bronson (1,825); 9. Clay Harris (1,815); 10. Carson Ferguson (1,800).

Current weather: Scattered Clouds, 52°F

Car count: 26

Fast qualifier: Mike Marlar

Time: 12.073 seconds

Polesitter: Mike Marlar

Heat race winners: Mike Marlar, Hudson O'Neal, Devin Moran

Consolation race winners: Dave Hess Jr.

Provisional starters: Clay Harris, Freddie Carpenter

Next series race: May 2, Florence Speedway (Union, KY) $25,000