Ricky Thornton Jr. teased a possible return to the Wild West Shootout following his night 1 one at the mini-series.

Thornton previously shared his schedule at the end of last week and revealed he’d only be competing in the opening night of the Wild West Shootout with his focus for the week being on the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

However, after outdueling Hudson O’Neal, Thornton teased a return for the event’s finale, “It’s definitely hard to not come back. We’ll definitely see. I was telling a lot of people tonight, ‘If we won, I feel like we have to come back.’ So who knows. Maybe we’ll see the 20RT again.”

He reiterated that a little bit later following his win. He was asked if he would return for the finale next Sunday and he answered, “You never know. We’ll kind of wait and see how the week goes with Daniel, but maybe we might be able to come back Sunday.”

🤠 @RThornton20rt reacts after winning Saturday’s @WildWShootout opener in Arizona#WildWestShootout pic.twitter.com/o9ug9CKHoA

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 11, 2026

Thornton was on track at the Tulsa Expo Center as the Chili Bowl Nationals had practice night earlier today.

Rippin’ with Ricky! Ride on-board with @RThornton20rt during #ChiliBowl practice. 🌶

Practice day coverage powered by @NosEnergyDrink. pic.twitter.com/P6GkZi140i

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 11, 2026

He’ll compete in the Race of Champions on Monday night and then will be back in action on Tuesday night for his Qualifier night. Depending on how well he does on Tuesday night will determine where he’ll start on Saturday.

Thornton shared that his goals for the Chili Bowl are “to at least make the show. I would love to be able to win the Chili Bowl, but I figure if-. I’ve been close to making the A-Main. Hopefully, we can at least make the A this year and then anything after that will be a bonus.”

NEXT: Bobby Pierce Breaks Down His Opening Night At The Wild West Shootout: “Not The Performance We Want”