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Daily Dirt 05/16/2025 18:26:52

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May 9
Farmer City Raceway,
Farmer City, IL
Sanction: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (Farmer City 74) - $25,000
Information provided by: Kyle McFadden, series and track reports (last updated May 10, 5:23 pm)
RTJ slips by Sheppard, snatches Farmer City 74
Farmer City 74
  1. Ricky Thornton Jr.
  2. Brandon Sheppard
  3. Hudson O'Neal
  4. Brian Shirley
  5. Devin Moran
  6. Tyler Erb
  7. Jonathan Davenport
  8. Dennis Erb Jr.
  9. Ethan Dotson
  10. Garrett Alberson
  11. Donald McIntosh
  12. Mike Marlar
  13. Cody Overton
  14. Drake Troutman
  15. Daulton Wilson
  16. Brandon Overton
  17. Jason Feger
  18. Daniel Hilsabeck
  19. Spencer Hughes
  20. Mike Spatola
  21. Shannon Babb
  22. Mike Spatola
  23. Ryan Unzicker
  24. Donny Walden
  25. Kyle Bronson
  26. Bobby Pierce
presented by
Ryan Roberts
Ricky Thornton Jr. celebrates winning the Farmer City 74 for the second straight year.
What won the race: Sneaking by race-long pacesetter Brandon Sheppard in lapped traffic on lap 66, Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., emerged victorious in Friday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Farmer City 74 at Farmer City Raceway. The national tour’s defending champion beat Sheppard by 1.177 seconds to pocket the $25,000 top prize for capturing the quarter-mile oval’s Illinois Speedweek event for the second consecutive year.
Quotable: “Honestly, I think them moving the (inside) tires back out (was key),” Thornton said. ”Once they did, I was kind of mad, like, ‘Man, I feel like it’s really gonna kill this middle,’ but it actually let it try to clean up a little bit. I started working around that top of one and two, and I was like, ‘Man, if I can ever get a good run, I’m gonna slide him.’ And then I got a really good run (into turn three) … I’m like, ‘It’s now or never.’”
Key notes: Thornton reached second place with a lap-27 restart pass of Brian Shirley and chased Sheppard until finally slipping underneath the leader entering turn three amid slower traffic and surging ahead for good on lap 66. … It was Thornton’s seventh win of 2025 and the 42nd of his career on the Lucas Oil Series. … Sheppard settled for runner-up money in the Rocket1 machine less than a month after winning Farmer City’s World of Outlaws-sanctioned Illini 100. … Hudson O’Neal advanced from the 17th starting spot to finish third. He reached the position on lap 68. ... Shirley held on to place fourth after running in the top five throughout the race and Devin Moran finished fifth after slipping past Tyler Erb on lap 68. … Seven caution flags slowed the feature, all coming between laps 22 and 50. … Five of the cautions were for drivers slowing with flat right-rear tires: Spencer Hughes (laps 22 and 35), Carson Ferguson (lap 26), Bobby Pierce (lap 36) and Ryan Unzicker (lap 37). Additional cautions flew for debris on laps 27 and 46. … Pierce was running fifth on lap 36 when he shot up the track and slowed due to a cut right-rear tire. He pitted but retired from the race shortly thereafter. … Shannon Babb ran at the back end of the top 10 for over half the distance before pulling off on lap 50 with left-side damage. … Illinois Speedweek concludes Saturday with a $30,000-to-win Lucas Oil Series event at Fairbury Speedway.
On the move: Hudson O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., started 17th and finished third.
Winner's sponsors: Thornton’s Koehler Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from Coltman Farms Racing, Hoker Trucking, Capital Waste, Excel Floor Covering, Five Star Metal Buildings, Ultimate Towing, FK Rod Ends, Dynamic Drivelines, Ultrashield Race Products, Sharp Advantage Safety Products, Winning Edge Carburetion, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, Midwest Sheet Metal and EMD Wraps.
Points chase: After Farmer City: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (2,835); 2. Devin Moran (2,720); 3. Jonathan Davenport (2,585); 4. Garrett Alberson (2,390); 5. Brandon Overton (2,355); 6. Hudson O'Neal (2,325); 7. Brandon Sheppard (2,230); 8. Daulton Wilson (2,215); 9. Tyler Erb (2,035); 10. Carson Ferguson (1,965); 11. Daniel Hilsabeck (1,940); 12. Spencer Hughes (1,890).
Current weather: Clear, 55°F
Car count: 44
Fast qualifier: Brandon Sheppard
Time: 12.423 seconds
Polesitter: Brandon Sheppard
Heat race winners: Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr., Brian Shirley, Jonathan Davenport
Consolation race winners: Hudson O'Neal, Drake Troutman
Provisional starters: Garrett Alberson, Daulton Wilson
Next series race: May 10, Fairbury Speedway (Fairbury, IL) $30,000
Editor's note: Corrects 21st- to 23rd-place finishers.

Feature lineup

Row 1: Sheppard, Shirley
Row 2: Thornton, Davenport
Row 3: Babb, T. Erb
Row 4: Pierce, Bronson
Row 5: Moran, B. Overton
Row 6: C. Overton, Ferguson
Row 7: Feger, Marlar
Row 8: Dotson, D. Erb
Row 9: O'Neal, Troutman
Row 10: McIntosh, Hughes
Row 11: Unzicker, Spatola
Row 12: Alberson, Wilson

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