Eldora Speedway
Tharp soaks up first victory as Koehler crew chief
By Kevin Kovac
DirtonDirt senior writer
Koehler Motorsports crew chief Justin Tharp (second from right). (heathlawsonphotos.com)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (Oct. 9) — Justin Tharp isn’t the most talkative person in the Dirt Late Model pit area, but words weren’t necessary Friday to understand his joy at Eldora Speedway.
In his second race since being named Ricky Thornton Jr.’s crew chief at Koehler Motorsports, Tharp stood on the winner’s stage at one of the country’s most famous dirt tracks. Thornton captured Friday’s 40-lap opener of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Clash on the Wabash, and the moment left the Chandler, Ariz., star’s newly-installed head wrench in a dream-like state.
“I’m just speechless,” Tharp said in the midst of his postrace duties following Thornton’s $10,000 triumph. “I love doing this. I’ve wanted to do it my whole life … and I’m here.”
A 40-year-old native of Dubuque, Iowa, Tharp suddenly finds himself as the top mechanical hand for a former Lucas Oil Series champion. He was elevated to the position less than two weeks ago when Anthony Burroughs, a former Dirt Late Model driver who has worked with many of the sport’s best drivers since shifting his focus to crew-chiefing over a decade ago, departed Mount Airy, N.C.-based Koehler Motorsports to oversee the efforts of Lucas Oil Series regular Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla.
Tharp joined the Koehler team alongside Burroughs, 52, prior to the 2026 season, reuniting Thornton with two crew members who worked together helping Thornton at SSI Motorsports for the first half of the ’24 campaign before Thornton was released from the ride. Burroughs had previously brought along Tharp to the Riggs Motorsports Longhorn house car operation with driver Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., in ’25 after the pair finished the ’24 season at SSI with Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., but Tharp didn’t stay with Burroughs this time.
The opportunity to put “crew chief” on his resume kept Tharp in the Koehler fold. Thornton was pleased to maintain Tharp’s assistance.
“I got to be around Tharp at SSI,” Thornton said. “Once I got let go (from SSI) and I came to Koehler, obviously, we’ve always wanted to have a guy like Tharp. He can drive the truck, he can work on the car, he can work on the motor. He can do everything. He was a crew chief without being a crew chief title, essentially.
“When (Burroughs departed), I’m just glad he stayed and can be my crew chief. Hopefully he’ll be here with us until one of us retires.”
Tharp is relatively new to the national Dirt Late Model scene, but he’s been toiling a crewman on the cars for years. He raced regionally on weekends around the Hawkeye State with his good friend Jeremiah Hurst while working a full-time construction job, then in 2023 went on the Lucas Oil Series road with driver Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., and the Roberts Motorsports team, which previously employed Hurst as a driver.
Joining SSI Motorsports in ’24 and developing a relationship with Burroughs over the past three years hastened Tharp’s learning curve at the highest level of the sport.
“I learned a lot from Anthony,” Tharp said. “Other than Ken Roberts getting me started on the road with Garrett, Anthony has been the biggest influence on me. Anthony took me under his wing and taught me a lot.”
Tharp witnessed Burroughs’s well-known work ethic, strict schedule-setting and team leadership. He hopes he can put those ideals to use as he steps into the crew-chief role.
“He’s really meticulous,” Tharp said of Burroughs. “I’ve seen what he does. It’s a lot detail, a lot of work, a lot of hours, but it all pays off in the end.”
Tharp already realizes how talented Thornton is behind the wheel. As a crew member or rival, he’s had a closeup view of the sublime racer for four seasons, so he understands what RTJ is capable of every time he hits the track.
“He can drive anything,” Tharp said. “He’s one hell of a driver. You just give him what he wants and he can handle it.”
Thornton, meanwhile, has already developed a level of comfort with Tharp, who debuted as Thornton’s crew chief in Oct. 3’s Pittsburgher at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial (Thornton finished fifth).
“Both of us have just kind of kept open minds,” Thornton said. “Like, I know he knows all the stuff about the car and he trusts me when it comes to all the setup stuff, so we’ve worked really good so far. We haven’t had any big hiccups. Obviously, eventually you’re going to, but so far it’s been smooth and everything’s been really good.”
Thornton’s Friday triumph was his first since Aug. 28 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, though he’s been performing very well over the past month with five runner-up finishes among his eight top-five runs over nine starts between Port Royal and Eldora. The driver and crew chief relished the victory, but there was no dwelling on it. That’s going to continue to be there method of operation.
“It’s funny because I feel like we’re both about the same,” Thornton said. “Like, we get excited, but we’re already thinking of what we can do to be better for tomorrow.
“Obviously, we're going to have some burgers and brats here in a little bit and he’ll have a couple drinks and I’ll have a couple waters and we’ll relax and just go over our night,” added Thornton, who will chase Saturday’s $50,000 finale at Eldora. “Obviously we’re super excited, but there’s a lot of money on the line and (team owner) Bob (Koehler) comes in tomorrow, so tomorrow will be the one where we really need to show out.”
Thornton noted that Tharp is reserved, but he’s seen the fire inside the mechanic and expects him to become more forceful as his confidence in the crew-chief position rises.
“He just kind of goes along with the flow and all that,” Thornton said. “But at the same time, if something is wrong, like he’s not gonna get mad and fight and argue or anything like that. He’s just going to fix the problem and go on with this day. Not saying that Anthony didn’t, but Burroughs is a lot more outspoken where Tharp’s quiet.
“We’ll have to get him a little louder at times,” he added with a laugh, “but he does a really good job. He knows exactly what we need to do, so I’m just fortunate that he stayed and I’m looking forward to our future together.”
