Photo Credit - Ryan Roberts Photography
Ricky Thornton Jr. led all 49 laps last night at Georgetown Speedway in Georgetown Delaware to pick up his fourth series win of the 24 racing season. Chasing Thornton to the line was Devin Moran and Garrett Alberson.
40 Lucas Oil Series Late Models were on hand with Hudson O'Neal topping qualifying in his newly formed team. Heat wins went to RTJ , Davenport , Moran , and Ross Robinson. B Main winners were Tyler Erb and Justin Weaver.
At the drop of the green Thornton blasted out to the lead that he would not lose. The early top five was Thornton,Moran,Davenport,Robinson,and Jimmy Owens. Most of the guys in the top 10 were committed to the bottom but the guys mid pack were trying the outside. Kyle Larson was the first one to find success on the top side charging from his 15th starting spot to break into the top 10.
The first yellow waved for Brenden Smith as he slowed down on the backstretch on lap 12. On the restart Garrett Alberson used the high line to move into fourth on lap 16 from his 10th starting spot. Meanwhile Larson continued to move up through the field breaking into the top 5 on lap 18.
Just past halfway Drake Troutman pulled up in turn 2 with a soft RF tire to bring out the caution. Top 5 was RTJ , Moran , Davenport , Alberson , and Larson. Thornton was just catching the rear of the field each time the yellow came out as Moran was reeling in the leader.
On the restart Davenport fired off better than Moran and took 2nd but Moran got it back on the next lap. The yellow would wave once again this time for Hudson O'Neal as his RF was going down on lap 34. Running order was the same other than Larson starting falling back from 5th and now Ross Robinson was back in fifth.
On the restart Garrett Alberson had a strong restart and passed Davenport for third as Robinson took over fourth. Thornton was pulling away from Moran as he was just a little bit quicker than the 99. The yellow would wave again on lap 40 as Kyle Larson came to a slow as he continued to fall back through the field as it seemed he burnt up RR but under Lucas Oil rules since it wasn't flat he was not allowed to change the tire so he called it a night.
As the field took the green Mike Marlar spun in turn 2 as everyone was jockeying for position. Marlar pulled into the hot pit as the crew looked over the car and made sure no sheet metal was on the tires and he rejoined the field. Marlar currently sits in fifth place in the points just one spot outside of the cutoff for the Championship.
One more restart for the leader Thornton and it was another good one as he would pull away to take the checkers. Thornton also won this race last season as he would say in victory lane that he really likes this place and wish they would come more often. The SSI Motorsports Longhorn with Clements power was the consistently the best car during the 49 lap feature. He only left the bottom one time as he tested the top side in turns 3&4 and went right back to the bottom. Timely cautions for the leader also helped him out as he stayed in clean air and didn't have to fight lapped traffic.
The series will go to Hagerstown for $15,000 to win tonight. Catch all the action on FloRacing if you can't be there in the stands.
Melvin l. Joseph Memorial
RICKY THORNTON JR.
Moran
Alberson
Davenport
Robinson
Owens
Erb
McCreadie
Wilson
Blair
Harris
Eckert
McLaughlin
O'Neal
Sheppard
Ferguson
Briggs
Marlar
Troutman
Larson
Cosner
Weaver
Yoder
Zeigler
Smith
Lawler
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