ROSSBURG, Ohio — Bringing a new car to a big weekend of racing is no guarantee of success, but it couldn’t have worked out much better at Eldora Speedway for Ricky Thornton Jr. and his Bobby Koehler-owned team.

Winning for the second night in a row at the UNOH Clash on the Wabash on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the Chandler, Ariz., driver led the last 25 laps Saturday to grab the $50,000 winner’s prize. Adding Friday’s $10,000 victory and Saturday’s $5,000 bonus from ARP, the eight-race series winner enjoyed his richest weekend of the season and his first back-to-back victories in 14 months.

“This thing was a bare frame on Monday and it was an idea,” Thornton said Saturday on Eldora’s victory stage. “Any time Bob gives you an idea, ‘Hey, I think we should go do this,’ normally you listen to him. I'm glad we definitely did.”

Thornton dove under polesitter and race-long leader Dale McDowell in turn one after a midrace restart and wasn’t seriously challenged, surviving a restart with three laps remaining to hold off deep rallies by runner-up Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio (from 15th) and Josh Rice of Crittenden, Ky. (from 23rd). The winning margin was 1.213 seconds.

McDowell, of Chickamauga, Ga., settled for fourth while Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., was fifth for his first back-to-back top-five finishes since August 2025.

Among Lucas Oil Series points contenders, Moran’s runner-up performance cut Brandon Sheppard’s points lead to 45 with a single race remaining. New Berlin, Ill.’s Sheppard finished sixth to maintain the points lead while Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., was virtually eliminated when he retired after 11 laps after losing a valve in the engine of his SSI Motorsports ride.

The third-starting Thornton reached second after a dozen laps and plotted his move on McDowell at a midway restart.

“On the start before Dale like blocked the middle. I'm like, all right, if he doesn't get the great start and he goes to block the middle again, hopefully I can just drive in far enough and slide and get to the curb and take off. And it worked out,” said Thornton, who struggled in traffic but maintained his lead. “It don't always work out like that, but after that, then I felt really good and I got to lapped cars and every time we get to lapped cars you slow down about five seconds. I felt like I needed to be a little better once I got to the lapped cars. We're so different setup-wise than what I normally am here, so I feel like I was really good in clean air and I just struggled a little bit in dirty air, so, it worked out for us.”

The third and final caution on the 48th lap set up a three-lap shootout to the finish with Moran and Rice hot on his heels. He knew a good restart was key, saying “that was gonna kind of make or break the finish for me. And I feel like I did a good start, was able to get off turn two really well and then I just ran the last three laps as hard as I could without just trying to make a huge mistake.”

Moran’s rally was one thing, but overtaking Thornton was another.

"Ricky is obviously pretty dang good, you know, he's one of the best for a reason, and yeah, he's rolling right now. He was really good the last two nights. So all in all, a great run. Just we've got to figure out how to start up front,” said Moran, who got into the backstretch wall just past halfway but survived to keep moving forward. "I was driving really hard before that and then I caught (Sheppard) and I probably slid him one lap too early and that got me in the fence and really that messed up my mojo there for a little while. So if I would have waited another lap, I think I would have gained myself five or six laps.”

After hitting the wall between turns three and four in his consolation race, Rice wasn’t sure he could drive his car in taking a provisional starting spot.

"I actually didn't even pull back in the pit stall. I figured it was too bad to even fix, but hats off to these guys for getting it fixed,” he said. “It was kind of chaos there. Luckily we had everything tight and nothing fell off of it.”

While he had the fastest car for portions of the race, Rice was fortunate to hang onto third late.

“I got it in the wall down there in (turns) three and four with — I don't know eight or 10 (laps) to go — and then I kind of picked up a vibration and I could just tell I was like, all right, I'm ready for this to be over,” he said. “But heck of a comeback.”

Notes: Three cautions slowed the race, the first on the 12th lap for a slowing Brenden Smith. On the 25th lap, Dillon McCowan slowed and retired. The final yellow appeared on the 48th lap for Dan Ebert's flat right-rear tire. … The 25-minute feature concluded at 9:04 p.m. ... Eighteen drivers completed 50 laps. ... Clay Harris utilized a series provisional after fighting transmission issues in preliminary action. ... Tyler Erb won the night's first consolation after swapping an engine following a fourth-place heat finish; he rallied to eighth in the 50-lapper. ... The top two drivers late in the second consolation, Bobby Pierce (flat tire) and Rice (hit wall), retired. ... Mike Marlar, Brock Pinkerous and Christian Thomas had a grinding crash in the second consy.

Feature lineup

(50 laps)

Row 1: Dale McDowell, Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Ricky Thornton Jr., Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Chris Ferguson, Carson Ferguson
Row 4: Kyle Bronson, Max Blair
Row 5: Garrett Smith, Ryan Gustin
Row 6: Chris Madden, Jonathan Davenport
Row 7: Garrett Alberson, Hudson O'Neal
Row 8: Devin Moran, Ethan Dotson
Row 9: Tristan Chamberlain, Jason Jameson
Row 10: Tyler Erb, Brian Shirley
Row 11: Brandon Overton, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 12: Josh Rice, Dan Ebert
Row 13: Clay Harris, Dillon McCowan
Row 14: Brenden Smith

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top two transfer)

First consolation: Tyler Erb, Brandon Overton, Drake Troutman, Brenden Smith, Cody Overton, Seth Daniels, Freddie Carpenter, Jimmy Owens, Braden Jones, Dustin Nobbe, Daniel Hilsabeck, Rob Anderzack, Jon Hodgkiss, Ryan Montgomery, Boom Briggs. Scratched: Clay Harris.

Second consolation: Brian Shirley, Frank Heckenast Jr., Earl Pearson Jr., Jerry Bowersock, Dillon McCowan, Dan Ebert, Luke Morey, Logan Hitt, Curt Schroeder, Bobby Pierce, Josh Rice, Clay Harris, Mike Marlar, Christian Thomas, Brock Pinkerous. Scratched: Brody Smith.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top three transfer)

First heat: Dale McDowell, Kyle Bronson, Garrett Alberson, Brenden Smith, Boom Briggs, Braden Jones, Cody Overton, Rob Anderzack, Clay Harris.

Second heat: Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Smith, Devin Moran, Tyler Erb, Drake Troutman, Jimmy Owens, Daniel Hilsabeck, Dustin Nobbe.

Third heat: Chris Ferguson, Chris Madden, Tristan Chamberlain, Brandon Overton, Ryan Montgomery, Seth Daniels, Freddie Carpenter, Jon Hodgkiss.

Fourth heat: Nick Hoffman, Max Blair, Hudson O'Neal, Bobby Pierce, Frank Heckenast Jr., Earl Pearson Jr., Luke Morey, Brody Smith.

Fifth heat: Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Gustin, Ethan Dotson, Brian Shirley, Jerry Bowersock, Christian Thomas, Logan Hitt, Curt Schroeder.

Sixth heat: Carson Ferguson, Jonathan Davenport, Jason Jameson, Josh Rice, Mike Marlar, Dan Ebert, Dillon McCowan, Brock Pinkerous.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., 15.213
2. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 15.225
3. Chris Ferguson (22F), Mount Holly, N.C., 15.236
4. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 15.353
5. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 15.356
6. Chris Madden (44m), Gray Court, S.C., 15.386
7. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 15.398
8. Garrett Smith (10), Madison, Ga., 15.403
9. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 15.422
10. Boom Briggs (95), Bear Lake, Pa., 15.449
11. Tyler Erb (1T), New Waverly, Texas, 15.487
12. Seth Daniels (s21), Jackson, Ohio, 15.489
13. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 15.516
14. Drake Troutman (5T), Hyndman, Pa., 15.526
15. Freddie Carpenter (9-11), Parkersburg, W.Va., 15.573
16. Braden Jones (5J), Cherryville, N.C., 15.606
17. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 15.624
18. Ryan Montgomery (12m), Fairmont, W.Va., 15.645
19. Brenden Smith (17ss), Dade City, Fla., 15.653
20. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 15.663
21. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 15.672
22. Cody Overton (97), Evans, Ga., 15.951
23. Dustin Nobbe (5n), Batesville, Ind., 16.111
24. Jon Hodgkiss (69), Pittsburgh, Pa., 16.188
25. Rob Anderzack (8A), Swanton, Ohio, 16.634
Group B
1. Nick Hoffman (9H), Mooresville, N.C., 15.289
2. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 15.311
3. Carson Ferguson (93F), Lincolnton, N.C., 15.329
4. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 15.430
5. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 15.436
6. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 15.445
7. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 15.482
8. Logan Hitt (7*), Buckhannon, W.Va., 15.511
9. Jason Jameson (12J), Lawrenceburg, Ind., 15.512
10. Earl Pearson Jr. (1p), Jacksonville, Fla., 15.535
11. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., 15.538
12. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 15.545
13. Brody Smith (17sr), Dade City, Fla., 15.551
14. Christian Thomas (7T), Wake Forest, N.C., 15.660
15. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 15.673
16. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 15.674
17. Jerry Bowersock (95J), Wapakoneta, Ohio, 15.708
18. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., 15.709
19. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 15.750
20. Brian Shirley (8s), Chatham, Ill., 15.767
21. Brock Pinkerous (555), Ellenville, N.Y., 15.802
22. Luke Morey (49m), Zeeland, Mich., 15.970
23. Curt Schroeder (15c), Newton, Iowa, 16.241
24. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., 16.338

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
1 p.m. - Pits open
2 p.m. - Tech and registration open
2 p.m. - Church outreach service
4 p.m. - Grandstands open
4:30 p.m. - Tech and registration close
4:45 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Modified group qualifying
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Modified consolations (8 laps)
Feature events
- Late Models (50 laps)
- Modifieds (20 laps)