The Dirt Track at Charlotte
Breakdown, analysis of Thornton’s Charlotte win
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Ricky Thornton Jr. flashes under the checkered flag first at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. (joshjamesartwork.com)
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 5) — Takeaways and analysis from Thursday’s 19th Dave Smith Motors World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte, a $15,000-to-win feature captured by Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz. (RaceWire):
RTJ STRIKES AGAIN: Just when Ricky Thornton Jr. appears to be coming back down to earth, he pulls that off — an eyebrow-raising fifth-to-first surge in two laps to complete an advance from 12th for his seventh straight victory. RTJ wasn’t too pleased with timing ninth in his group in both Wednesday qualifying sessions, and with track position at such a premium, I wondered then if a victory this week might be out of reach. So much for that. The turning point came during the lap-17 red flag for rain. WoO officials permitted tire changes under the holding pattern, so the Koehler Motorsports team switched from an NLMT-4 to a softer NLMT-3 right-rear and from NLMT-3s to NLMT-2s on the other three corners. That softer combination helped Thornton blitz race-long leader Brandon Overton, who remained on harder tires all around, along with Chris Ferguson, Nick Hoffman and Bobby Pierce — no slouches themselves. It felt like quintessential RTJ at the height of his SSI Motorsports run, when any victory seemed within reach, regardless of his starting spot.
RENEWED OPTIMISM: Could you imagine the scene had Brandon Overton won his very first night in a Rocket XR2? I’m not sure even Overton could fully envision it. He’s still under the Longhorn Chassis banner with Riggs Motorsports and isn’t ready to make any definitive decisions about a change. This is a test, an opportunity offered by longtime friend and former car owner Billy Franklin of Calera, Ala. Amid another down season, how could Overton turn it down? If the rain hadn’t come, I thought he had Thursday’s feature won. He set a pace that was difficult to match and could move around in traffic. Even after the tire choices swung the advantage to Ricky Thornton Jr., Overton caught back up in the closing laps and never let him get away. Rocket Chassis co-owner Mark Richards was also very hands-on with Overton throughout the night. You could tell the investment was there. I’ve been around Overton a lot this year, often when things were merely OK — not bad, but not great either. I haven’t seen him that chipper in a while, and I think that says plenty about what Thursday’s run meant to him. Talking with him afterward, you could tell this runner-up finish felt like a win.
TITLE EFFORT: Don’t ever count out Bobby Pierce. After a faulty spark plug derailed his qualifying night, Pierce rallied from 11th to third in Thursday’s World Finals opener — one spot ahead of Nick Hoffman, who set overall quick time for the program. His turnaround began with two breaks in his heat. Outside polesitter Jordan Koehler couldn’t make the call to staging due to terminal engine trouble, moving Pierce from fifth to fourth. Then Kyle Strickler, running second on the initial start, was penalized to fourth for firing early, promoting Pierce to third before he completed a lap. Pierce capitalized by passing Garrett Alberson for second, securing a feature berth and avoiding a consolation. What looked like an opening for Hoffman instead became another two points for Pierce, whose championship lead grew to 78 with two races remaining. Finishing 19th or better in both features guarantees Pierce the title, even if Hoffman sweeps both heats and features, because Pierce holds the wins tiebreaker. A finish of 13th or better Friday would leave Pierce needing only to attempt to qualify Saturday to secure the championship.
RED RESET?: Is it just me, or should teams not be allowed to change tires during a red flag? Tire selection is part of the game, and an unexpected stoppage like Thursday’s 35-minute rain delay shouldn’t give teams a chance to undo a decision that wasn’t working — or bolt on softer tires and turn it into a different race. I understand allowing a change for a flat or damaged tire, with the penalty of being sent to the rear. Otherwise, teams should resume on the tires they had when the race stopped. Policing that gets tricky when cars return to their trailers during a holding pattern. Maybe keep them in the staging area — off turns three and four in Charlotte’s case — with covers on until the rain passes? I don’t have the perfect solution, but giving teams that much freedom to rework their cars during an unexpected red flag doesn’t sit right with me. (From the WoO side, series director told DirtonDirt’s Kevin Kovac that the tour allows teams to makes changes in situations like Thursday’s red flag for rain for the sake of consistency across all tracks.)
SCARY TUMBLE: Dale McDowell’s scary flip in Thursday’s sixth heat was only the third of his career, according to his brother Shane McDowell. The Chickamauga, Ga., veteran’s previous flips came at Fayetteville in 2003 and Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., in 2013. Shane said Dale escaped serious injury Thursday but was sore and a little beat up once the adrenaline wore off. Here’s hoping his recovery allows him to return to the seat soon.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Ricky Thornton Jr.’s charge from 12th marked the deepest winning start in a World Finals feature since Scott Bloomquist won from 19th in the inaugural event's opener in 2007.
