Wayne County Speedway
Self-doubt lingering as RTJ, reunited crew tinker
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Ricky Thornton Jr. notched his fourth 2026 victory. (Emily Schwanke/woolms.com)
ORRVILLE, Ohio (May 28) — Who would've thought that Ricky Thornton Jr., given his superstar stature — a 34-win season in 2023, a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship in '24 and capturing the World 100 in '25 — would ever question himself behind the wheel? | RaceWire
Yet that's exactly where Thornton has found himself for much of the 2026 season: in a precarious — and at times powerless — position, second-guessing instincts that not too long ago came effortlessly. Even during Thursday’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory at Wayne County Speedway, he wasn't entirely decisive.
“The biggest thing, the last few weeks, I probably overdrove a little too much, where years prior, I didn’t really make those big mistakes,” said Thornton, who was able to reflect more clearly on his shortcomings after Thursday’s $12,000 victory in his debut at the 3/8-mile oval. “I feel like this year, I was (making those mistakes). Under one of the yellows (Thursday), I was actually thinking about that.”
Those mental miscues weighed on Thornton more heavily as Georgia-Florida Speedweeks wore on, especially during the March 4-7 Wieland Winternationals finale at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., where mistakes such as slipping from the pole to fourth in a heat race left him mired midpack and compounded his frustration.
“I just made a ton of mistakes,” Thornton said in later March when reviewing his Georgia and Florida performances. His winless Speedweeks sounded an alarm for Thornton, who had amassed nine victories during the wintertime swing over the previous two seasons combined.
More troubling was what Thornton's uncharacteristic errors did to the confidence and instincts he once trusted without hesitation. Regaining that complete assurance behind the wheel has been a slow climb for the driver who has mastered virtually every racing discipline he’s attempted.
Thursday’s performance at Wayne County certainly helps Thornton’s cause, marking his first flag-to-flag victory since last Aug. 31’s Baltes Classic at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. But as Thornton admitted, he still had to navigate some proverbial mental weeds — with more trust in his own judgment still to regain — to deliver Thursday’s victory.
Thornton led all 40 laps, but never fully separated himself from Brandon Sheppard (second from laps 6-37) and runner-up Nick Hoffman, who remained within striking distance much of the race.
“I feel like I’m probably under-driving now trying to be too safe, and it was letting those guys stay close to me,” Thornton said. “It was probably 10 or so to go, I was like, ‘All right I’m going to pick my pace up, see if the car can take it.’
“I felt like it did. I figured after that, if I hit the wall and got a flat, it was going to be my own fault. But I felt like we had a good shot to win. I don’t know, like I said, I felt like we were going to struggle coming here. Normally, this style of racetrack — Ohio and dirty dirt — I’m not very good. It took more driver than anything.”
While Thornton has spent much of the season scrutinizing his own performance, crew chief Anthony Burroughs isn't convinced his superstar driver deserves as much blame as he's willing to accept.
“Ricky's just hard on himself. Ricky ain’t lost a step,” Burroughs said. “He keeps saying that just to take a little pressure off us. We just got to get the car better for him, and you'll see Ricky do Ricky things.”
Rightfully so, the reunion between Thornton and Burroughs at Koehler Motorsports this season carried lofty expectations. The pair last worked together during Thornton’s 16-victory 2024 campaign, reeling off 11 wins in 17 races before his stunning departure from SSI Motorsports that July. Their partnership had left off on a crescendo with a commanding, 12-second victory in the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway — their final triumph together before eventually going separate ways two weeks later.
Many presumed the duo — along with former SSI mechanic Justin Tharp, who joined on the reunion — would resume instant success. But as Burroughs pointed out, it’s not necessarily that easy.
“We obviously haven't got off to the start everybody wants, but, man, this deal's hard and everybody's gotten better, and we've been testing a lot here in the last few weeks, since we basically left Florida,” Burroughs said. “Just finally starting to get things going our way a little bit. So hopefully it's just a sign. We’re still not where we want to be. We still got to test and get better. That’s our plan — just to just trying to keep improving and see what we can do.”
Many drivers have spoken this season about the ever-shrinking setup window, where even the slightest miscalculation can leave a team blundering in a competitive sport. Conversely, finding that sweet spot — that elusive window where everything clicks — can create a noticeable advantage.
Burroughs doesn't believe Koehler Motorsports has fully found that window just yet, but he feels they're getting close.
“It’s way tighter than it used to be. Everybody's better and everybody, now, where we, some of these people, they can just go out and buy the speed, and you just couldn't do that. And there's nothing wrong with that, by no means. So it just makes you work harder and harder and harder, and it's just harder to keep things to yourself.
“Just every team in this pit area is better, so it’s making us have to get better. And yeah, that’s what we're trying to do.”
While Thornton only reached the tail of the field twice, cautions on laps 20, 29 and 37 kept him from having to navigate lapped traffic.
“In the car, I probably slowed down a half second. Just being in clean air getting in his dirty air,” Thornton said. The dirty air was enough to create challenges of its own, particularly entering turn one while flirting with the cushion.
“One time I about knocked the fence down getting into turn one, trying to see that little bit of dirt,” Thornton said. “Just got into the wall. Kinda glad we didn’t get to traffic, not that it makes it easier. But at the same time, if you get a good restart, you have clean air and you can see where you’re going.”
Beyond that, Thornton's night went relatively smoothly. He lauded his team — “We unloaded really good,” he said — and only required few adjustments as the evening progressed.
“When you unload fast, it just makes your night easier,” Thornton said.
Thornton also put years of observing sprint car races at Wayne County to good use, spending much of the feature right along the treacherous cushion atop the 3/8-mile oval.
“A lot of laps watching those guys,” Thornton said. “I feel like every year when the World of Outlaws come here for the sprint cars, I’m always watching. It’s always going to be a barnburner. Just trying to learn what I could there.”
Next for Thornton is Mansfield (Ohio) Speedway's Friday-Saturday WoO doubleheader and its $57,000-to-win finale before next week's $100,000-to-win Dream at Eldora Speedway. Thornton's only previous Mansfield appearance came during the 2019 Dirt Million, where he failed to qualify for the feature.
The upcoming stretch should provide another measuring stick on bigger racetracks. After winning 10 times on half-miles during his 19-win 2025 season, Thornton's four 2026 victories have come on tracks 3/8-mile or smaller.
Regardless, Burroughs is doing his part to keep Thornton and the Mount Airy, N.C.-based team focused on the big picture.
“No matter what happens, I have 100 percent confidence in Ricky Thornton Jr.,” Burroughs said. “So I'm more worried about getting the balance of our car right. And last week, even in those (Show-Me 100) prelim nights, we didn't have the finishes, but we could tell our balance was getting better. So, you just can't get down. You got to stay positive, keep your guys positive, keep (Thornton) pumped up. We’ll turn it around.”
