Photo Credit - Todd Boyd
Ricky Thornton Jr. said in driver intros that he hopes he doesn't runaway with it for the fans but RTJ did that after taking the lead for good on lap 23 after swapping the lead with fifth place starter and three time Knoxville Nationals champion Mike Marlar. "The Winfield Warrior" would finish runner up almost five seconds behind the winner with last weekend's World 100 winner Hudson O'Neal rounding out the podium. Hard charger Jonathan Davenport would finish fourth from his 18th starting spot and Brandon Overton finishing fifth.
When the green flag waved Thornton Jr. quickly jumped out to the early race lead with the home state underdog Chad Simpson following. Marlar jumped into third place as they completed lap 2 as he was low riding each end of the track as the top 2 was using a higher line.
Lap 9 the leaders entered lapped traffic and Marlar used that to his advantage seeing where to go as Ricky was losing his momentum trying to figure out where the slower traffic were going to run. Mikey took the lead for the first time on lap 11 but Thornton would take it back two laps later.
On lap 15 Overton would take over the fourth spot moving under Devin Moran until Moran took it back on lap 18 as Marlar would reclaim the lead almost at the same time. Top five running order on lap 20 was Marlar , Thornton Jr , Simpson , Overton , and Moran.
Lap 23 Thornton would once again pass Mike Marlar as this was the last swap for the lead. From here Thornton was in control but had to survive some restarts as the first yellow waved for the smoking Spencer Hughes as he had an oil line come loose. He would dive down to the hot pit for some elbow grease from a wrench and rejoined the tail of the field for the restart.
On the restart Marlar got some dirty air and fell back to fifth before charging back to regain second on lap 31. Kyle Bronson would then make his charge from his seventh starting spot and passing Marlar on lap 35. His good friend Brian Shirley would break into the top 5 on lap 38 and on lap 40 the yellow would wave for the second time as Daulton Wilson came to a snail's pace as he would come in for a chassis adjustment. Hughes would once again come in as they added oil to his machine.
On the restart a scary crash involving Tyler Bruening , Cory Hedgecock , Chris Ferguson , and Wilson in turn four resulting in a red flag situation as the red twenty five was on its side leaning against the famous tall Knoxville wall. Bruening had a little discomfort in his lower back but did not require any medical attention.
Lap 41 would see the Rocket1 of O'Neal break into the top 5 then claimed fourth a few laps later as Kyle Bronson lap after lap was the quickest car on the track reeling in the huge lead that Thornton had until lap 59 Bronson destroyed his car while battling in lapped traffic in turn four. The entire front end of the 40B was damaged requiring a roll back to load it up as he walked away from the scene thankfully uninjured.
One final yellow would wave eight laps from the finish for Ryan Gustin giving Marlar one last shot for the win but Thornton would pull away and cruise to the win sweeping Knoxville for the first time since 2010 when Moyer did it. It was Thornton's 20th win in the series for the 20RT.
The series goes to Brownstown Speedway (IN) next weekend for two separate shows starting on Friday for the C.J. Rayburn Memorial then the next night is the Jackson 100.
KNOXVILLE NATIONALS
Ricky Thornton Jr.
Marlar
O'Neal
Davenport
Overton
Junghans
Shirley
Moran
McCreadie
Sheppard
Erb
Alberson
Chad Simpson
Wilson
Chris Simpson
Hughes
Pearson Jr
Hilsabeck
Blair
Lance
Gustin
Bronson
Cooney
Ferguson
Bruening
Hedgecock
Zeitner
Robinson
Heckenast
Furman
Briggs
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