Ricky Thornton Jr. completed a weekend sweep at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway with a victory in Saturday night’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned UNOH Clash on the Wabash finale. Thornton and his Koehler Motorsports team earned $65,000 over the two nights.
Thornton collected $50,000 for Saturday’s feature victory and an additional $5,000 bonus from Automotive Racing Products after winning Friday’s $10,000-to-win opener.
Devin Moran charged from 15th to second to keep his bid for a second consecutive series championship alive. He now trails Brandon Sheppard, who finished sixth, by 45 points heading into Carl Short’s Dirt Track World Championship next weekend at West Virginia Motor Speedway.
Josh Rice earned Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race honors by advancing from 23rd to third, rounding out the Big River Steel Podium despite lingering damage from the night’s first B-Main. Polesitter Dale McDowell led the first 25 laps and finished fourth, while Kyle Bronson edged Sheppard at the finish line for fifth.
Thornton crossed the finish line 1.213 seconds ahead of Moran to make his 64th career trip to Lucas Oil Wieland Victory Lane.
“Dale was really good from the get-go, and so was Nick (Hoffman). I kept watching the board, and I knew if Josh (Rice) was going to pass a bunch of cars, it was going to be around the top. So I kept watching for him up on the board, and I thought he was like seventh or eighth on the restart. I was like, all right, if I could get a good enough start—and the start before, Dale blocked the middle—if he doesn’t get a great restart this time, and if he goes in and blocks the middle again, hopefully I could just drive through the middle,” said the Chandler, Arizona, native.
“It worked out, but it doesn’t always work out like that. After that, I felt really good until I got to lapped cars. Then every time I got behind a lapped car, I felt like it slowed me down like five seconds. I needed to do a little better when I got to lapped cars. I had a setup a little different than I normally run here. It worked for us, and of course we had a yellow with three laps to go. I’m like, man, Devin is running around the bottom. I knew he wasn’t going to the top fast because I was already out there. So I knew I had to get out there and get a good restart and get off of turn two really well. I ran the last three laps as hard as I could.”
Moran earned $20,000 for his runner-up finish, keeping him firmly in championship contention heading into the season finale.
“Ricky is obviously pretty dang good. You know he is one of the best for a reason. He is rolling right now, and he was really good the last two nights. All in all, it was a great run. We have just got to figure out how to start up front. Honestly, I was driving really hard before I got to Sheppy, and then I caught him. I probably slid him one lap too early, and that got me into the fence. That really messed up my mojo there for a little while. If I would have waited, I could have gained myself five or six laps.”
Rice struck debris and hit the wall in the B-Main, forcing him to use a provisional to start the feature. His crew made enough repairs to get him back on track, and he gained 20 positions to finish third.
“I ran over something there, and I guess Bobby (Pierce) got it too. I actually didn’t even pull back into my pit stall. I figured it was too bad to even fix. Hats off to my guys for getting us fixed enough to race the feature. We had everything tight, and nothing fell off of it. I was kind of glad it was over. I pretty much got to where I was going to finish. I could tell on that restart that I was not going to be able to launch, and we held on for third. Actually, I thought I was catching Devin for the lead, and then I saw Ricky leading. I picked up a vibration, and I was ready for the race to be over.”
Thornton’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Knight’s Companies, Hoker Trucking, Capital Waste, Elite Ready Mix, Certified Inspection Services, Sunoco Race Fuels, Strange Oval, SI Towing and Recovery, and D&E Outside Services.
Completing the top 10 were Brandon Sheppard, Nick Hoffman, Tyler Erb, Jonathan Davenport, and Garrett Smith.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will conclude its 2026 season with the 46th Annual ARP Dirt Track World Championship presented by Summit Racing Equipment on October 16-17 at West Virginia Motor Speedway. Sheppard enters the final weekend with a 45-point advantage over Moran as the championship battle heads to its conclusion.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
The UNOH Clash on the Wabash | Night 2
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Eldora Speedway | Rossburg, OH
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Dale McDowell | 15.213 seconds (Overall)
Fast Time Group B: Nick Hoffman | 15.290 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[5]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 5. 95-Boom Briggs[4]; 6. 5J-Braden Jones[6]; 7. 97-Cody Overton[8]; 8. 8A-Rob Anderzack[9]; 9. 6-Clay Harris[2]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 5. 5T-Drake Troutman[5]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[7]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 8. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[8]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 2. 44M-Chris Madden[2]; 3. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[7]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 5. 12M-Ryan Montgomery[6]; 6. S21-Seth Daniels[4]; 7. 9 1 1-Freddie Carpenter[5]; 8. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[8]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 9H-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[7]; 6. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 7. 49M-Luke Morey[8]; 8. 17SR-Brody Smith[5]
MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 3. 74X-Ethan Dotson[4]; 4. 8S-Brian Shirley[7]; 5. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[6]; 6. 7T-Christian Thomas[5]; 7. 7*-Logan Hitt[3]; 8. 15C-Curt Schroeder[8]
Lucas Oil Products Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1. 93F-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 12J-Jason Jameson[3]; 4. 11-Josh Rice[6]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 7. 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 8. 555-Brock Pinkerous[7]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 3. 5T-Drake Troutman[5]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[1]; 5. 97-Cody Overton[10]; 6. S21-Seth Daniels[9]; 7. 9 1 1-Freddie Carpenter[12]; 8. 20-Jimmy Owens[8]; 9. 5J-Braden Jones[7]; 10. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[14]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[11]; 12. 8A-Rob Anderzack[13]; 13. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[15]; 14. 12M-Ryan Montgomery[6]; 15. 95-Boom Briggs[4]; 16. (DNS) 6-Clay Harris
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 8S-Brian Shirley[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[4]; 3. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 4. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[12]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[9]; 7. 49M-Luke Morey[10]; 8. 7*-Logan Hitt[11]; 9. 15C-Curt Schroeder[14]; 10. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 11. 11-Josh Rice[3]; 12. 6-Clay Harris[16]; 13. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 14. 7T-Christian Thomas[8]; 15. 555-Brock Pinkerous[15]; 16. (DNS) 17SR-Brody Smith
The UNOH Clash on the Wabash | Night 2 | Feature Finish (50 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 3 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $56,300
2 – 15 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $21,300
3 – 23 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $11,000
4 – 1 – 17M – Dale McDowell – Chickamauga, GA – $8,000
5 – 7 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $7,900
6 – 4 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $7,000
7 – 2 – 9H – Nick Hoffman – Mooresville, NC – $4,500
8 – 19 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $4,000
9 – 12 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $3,800
10 – 9 – 10 – Garrett Smith – Madison, GA – $3,600
11 – 21 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $4,300
12 – 8 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $4,100
13 – 20 – 8S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $3,900
14 – 6 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $3,400
15 – 18 – 12J – Jason Jameson – Lawrenceburg, IN – $2,400
16 – 16 – 74X – Ethan Dotson – Bakersfield, CA – $2,300
17 – 17 – 20TC – Tristan Chamberlain – Richmond, IN – $2,200
18 – 5 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $2,100
19 – 13 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,900
20 – 22 – 99JR – Frank Heckenast Jr – Frankfort, IL – $2,000
21 – 11 – 44M – Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC – $2,000
22 – 25 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,000
23 – 10 – 19R – Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA – $2,000
24 – 24 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $2,900
25 – 26 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,000
26 – 14 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $3,400
27 – 27 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $100
Race Statistics
Entrants: 49
Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Dale McDowell
MD3 Lap Leaders: Dale McDowell (Laps 1-25); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 26-50)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Dale McDowell
Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Margin of Victory: 1.213 seconds
Hellraizer Jacks Cautions: Brenden Smith (Lap 11); Dillon McCowan
MyRacePass Series Provisional: Josh Rice, Dan Ebert
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisionals: Clay Harris, Dillon McCowan, Brenden Smith
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Josh Rice
Penske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Josh Rice, Dale McDowell, Kyle Bronson
Behrent’s One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Devin Moran, Josh Rice
PEM 4th Place Feature: Dale McDowell
Diversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Kyle Bronson
Wilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Nick Hoffman
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Brandon Overton
Velocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: Brian Shirley
XS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Jason Jameson
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Josh Rice (Advanced 20 positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (25 Laps) | Highest Finisher
Sunoco Race Fuels Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon Sheppard
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Josh Rice
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Dale McDowell | Lap 2 | 16.465 seconds
FK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Hudson O’Neal
Victory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Justin Tharp
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Max Blair | 15.355 seconds
Time of Race: 25 minutes 23 seconds
Big River Steel Championship Standings Presented by ARP:
Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Earnings
1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 7355 – $298,100
2 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 7310 – $402,474
3 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 7215 – $276,300
4 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 6945 – $327,025
5 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 6740 – $173,275
6 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 6670 – $178,225
7 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – 6475 – $232,075
8 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – 6260 – $173,550
9 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 6095 – $130,725
10 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – 5905 – $105,875
11 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 5825 – $107,375
12 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 5810 – $110,775
13 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 5690 – $155,175
14 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – 5605 – $121,450
15 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 4985 – $68,850
16 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – 4645 – $54,125
17 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 4345 – $34,475
Big River Steel Top 5 Bonus Standings Presented by ARP ($100,000):
Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Gap
1 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 695
2 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 675 – -20
3 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 590 – -105
4 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 540 – -155
5 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 500 – -195
Big River Steel 6th-15th Bonus Standings Presented by ARP ($25,000):
Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Gap
1 – 11 – Rice, Josh – Crittenden, KY – 635
2 – 111 – Blair, Max – Centerville, PA – 600 – -35
3 – 3s – Shirley, Brian – Chatham, IL – 555 – -80
4 – 93 – Ferguson, Carson – Lincolnton, NC – 510 – -125
5 – 40B – Bronson, Kyle – Brandon, FL – 500 – -135
6 – 60 – Ebert, Dan – Lake Shore, MN – 450 – -185
7 – 8 – McCowan, Dillon – Urbana, MO – 435 – -200
8 – 6 – Harris, Clay – Jupiter, FL – 415 – -220
9 – 58 – Alberson, Garrett – Las Cruces, NM – 390 – -245
10 – 22 – Hilsabeck, Daniel – Earlham, IA – 335 – -300
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