Ricky Thornton Jr. came home second at Volunteer Speedway on Friday night, but felt like he should have been in victory lane if he had not been penalized on the initial start of the race.

Thornton had a great start to begin the race and was able to beat Chris Madden to turn 1, but World of Outlaws officials quickly called it back and penalized Thornton for jumping the start and putting him back a row.

That allowed Mike Marlar to move to the front row. On the next restart, Marlar was not able to capitalize on the improved starting position, but instead found himself fighting for fourth with Ryan Gustin. However, the entire race would be restarted again after Jimmy Owens spun and then flipped after receiving contact from Nick Hoffman and Tristan Chamberlain. 

Marlar did not let the opportunity pass. He got up on the wheel and took the lead from Madden and never looked back.

Thornton spoke to StockCarReport.com after the race and asked if he was satisfied with a second place finish, “I mean yes and no. I feel like I kinda got screwed there. Officials say I jumped the start. Had to start third. Felt like it didn’t really matter which one of us three: Madden, Marlar, and me got out front. I felt like that was who was gonna win. We’re so close anymore. It was kind of top dominant.

“Overall, not bad, but happy with the second. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”

Specifically discussing the initial start, Thornton said, “We get to the exact same spot where I started the heat race and the heat race was perfectly fine, but the feature isn’t. I don’t know if it’s ’cause Madden was so far back or what. He was lagging back trying to get a run, I would assume, and we took off, they called it back, put me third. So pretty much ruined our shot to win.”

As for whether he had anything for Marlar, Thornton shared, “Yes and no. The problem was a lap car was going to have to wreck him. Really, you had to slide the lap car. That was the only way you’re going to pass. I felt like I was probably a little better than he was, but once you get to within three, four car lengths of a guy, there’s really nothing you can do.”

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