New details have surfaced regarding the confrontation between Ricky Thornton Jr. and Chris Madden that resulted in security getting called following the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Chris Madden and Ricky Thornton Jr. battle for the lead at the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
There was no love lost between Madden and Thornton, who were recently crowned Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champions, at the World Finals with the two having a run in on Friday night on the track and things escalating even further on Saturday night.
During Friday night’s feature Thornton found himself at the top of a three-wide with Madden in the middle above Ethan Dotson coming out of turn 4. Madden got into Thornton’s door and had him sideways.Thornton did an amazing job of saving the car and only lost a single position to Dotson.
Meanwhile, Madden had to check up and then played bumper cars off Jonathan Davenport’s door.
On Saturday night, Madden passed Thornton for the lead on lap 3 and Thornton took exception to the way he was passed giving Madden a shot to the left rear quarter panel as soon as Madden got around him.
The animosity did not stop there. At lap 32, during a long green flag run, Thornton was able to track Madden down and again gave him a shot in the left rear quarter panel.
Following the race, Thornton, who finished second, was clearly not happy with Madden. When asked by Hannah Newhouse what he needed to win, Thornton said, “I guess guys quit throwing yellows or whatever the hell they were doing around the top. I don’t know if they were blowing tires or what, but I feel like every time we get a little bit of a run we get a yellow. Of course, right when we get to traffic.”
He then appeared to direct his ire towards Madden, “I don’t know, second left side he needs. I guess he needs them more than I do. So, hopefully he goes to Senoia next week, we’ll take care of it.”
Ricky Thornton Jr. via DirtVision.com
A post race photo from Saturday night shared by Tyler Erb showed both Thornton and Madden appearing to have words with each other as third place finisher Mike Marlar stood by.
Terbo Tyler Erb on Facebook
DirtonDirt.com’s Kevin Kovac reported that following the finish, “the pair exchanged words in victory lane and later in the pits they were separated by security.”
A source also informed Stock Car Report that a crew member for Madden informed Thornton that he didn’t belong there and then shoved him. Security was then called to intervene.
Ricky Thornton Jr. via FloRacing.com
Now, Kyle McFadden at FloRacing.com reports that Thornton did indeed take issue with the way Madden passed him on Lap 3 of Saturday night’s feature. Thornton informed Madden he didn’t like “how I got ran over earlier in [Saturday’s] race” and that the contact “killed [Thornton’s] left-front” suspension.
Thornton also shared that Madden “clobbered me” and explained the suspension damage saying “Instead of my steering being straight, it was turned to the right by a quarter of a turn.”
He continued, “It knocked it pretty far out. After that, I got to him a couple times, and he kind of chopped me. When he chopped me, it killed the nose and knocked the whole right-front bumper way up. After that, I couldn’t turn down the corner like I needed to. This place, you need so much speed, any time you lose part of your nose like that is not ideal. Other than that, if we could’ve got to traffic, we might’ve had a shot to try something.”
Ricky Thornton Jr. and his team celebrate their 2024 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship. Photo Credit: Lucas Oil Late Model Series.
Madden countered telling FloRacing that Thornton “left the door open in one and two, and I filled the hole. And he tried coming on back when I was there.”
He added, “We barely touched. If he calls that something, then he has a lot ahead of him in the racing world. He tried to crash me twice after that. That’s not racing, man.”
Madden also made a point to reference Friday night to counter Thornton’s accusation of running him over, “[Friday] he spun out up here in one and two. I’m in the middle of the racetrack, and he comes back across the racetrack. And he’s plumb sideways. I guess he thinks I ran into him then. He’s the one that spun out, was all up in the cushion, whatever. It is what it is. He can think what he wants to. I ain’t going to lose no sleep over it.”
Interestingly, Madden made a point that it wasn’t just Thornton who was mad at him, but Bobby Pierce was as well, “Bobby tried to wreck me in the dash. I just drove by them. I didn’t have to be aggressive with nobody.”
Chris Madden via World of Outlaws Late Models on X
In regards to what was happening in the photo shared by Tyler Erb, which was taken by DirtonDirt.com photographer Zach Yost, Thornton shared with FloRacing, “We were discussing the race. He wasn’t happy with me. I wasn’t happy with him.”
“We left it at that and parted ways, and then his crew guy wants to start fighting. Kind of is what it is,” Thornton added.
As far as Madden’s perspective, he said, “I ain’t listening to nobody’s mouth.”
Chris Madden via DirtVision.com
What do you make of what what Ricky Thornton Jr. and Chris Madden had to say following their run-ins at World Finals?