Ricky Thornton Jr. saw his chances of repeating as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion evaporate yesterday at Eldora when he got into the outside wall in turn 1 with 39 laps left to go in the Dirt Track World Championship.

Thornton blew a right front tire that sent him into the outside wall and significantly damaged the car’s right front suspension. It took his team 14 laps to repair the damage and get him back on the track. He ended up finishing the race in 18th.

🤯 Uh oh! TROUBLE for @RThornton20rt and @TheFast49 at @EldoraSpeedway @lucasdirt #LUCASDirt pic.twitter.com/b7ZYcwP1pg

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) October 18, 2025

Thornton assessed his race while speaking to DirtonDirt.com, “Track was different than it’s been the last few times we’ve been here, just way faster. I just overtightened myself. I got in the wall a couple times and finally I blew the right-front out, just clobbered the wall pretty good.”

Thornton added, “I hate for that to happen for my guys. You plan to come out here and have a good night and just try to win the championship. Obviously it didn’t work out, but congrats to Devin. We’ll get her beat and battered back up to be ready for next time and give it another shot next year.”

Thornton will next be in action this upcoming weekend at Central Arizona Raceway for the Western World Championships. However, he won’t be in a dirt late model, but will be in a USAC Sprint Car fielded by Jerry Petty of Petty Performance Racing. Thornton said of the opportunity at the time, “I’ve always wanted to run the Western World Championships and just never had the opportunity. When Jerry offered a car, I knew I had to accept.”

As for when he’ll be back in a late model, his schedule indicates it will be for the FloRacing Night in America Series at Senoia Raceway on November 14th and 15th. That means he might not be at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for the World Finals which take place between November 5th and 8th. Thornton was a force at the event last year winning the 35-lap feature on night 1, finishing fourth on night 2, and ending up 1 spot short on the final night in a heated battle with Chris Madden.

NEXT: Terbo Tyler Erb Puts Full Blame On Max Blair For Heat Race Wreck At Eldora Speedway