Ricky Thornton Jr. and his Koehler Motorsports team announced that they will not compete at this week’s upcoming USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway with the World of Outlaws Late Models.

Thornton and team made the announcement in a post to Facebook, “Live by the cushion, die by the cushion .”

“Started 13th last night- driver wanted to ride around near the top 10 until it was go time,” the team continued. “Unfortunately we had a left rear go down just after lap 50 which made that a little more challenging. Went back to 23rd, drove all the way to 4th, and then rode up the wall and made extremely hard contact with the backstretch wall, ending our night. Hate it so much for owners, crew, partners, and fans.”

“Unfortunately as a result of the wreck, our Koehler Motorsports team will not be in attendance at Cedar Lake as the car will need go to back to Longhorn to get fixed up,” the team announced. “Thank you thank you thank you to those who used their hard earned money to vote for us in the FANS Fund- very sorry to disappoint- we look forward to returning next year!”

As Thornton’s team noted, he made it up to 4th with less than 5 laps left in the race. A late race caution appeared to give them an opportunity at a podium finish if not a win given how hard he was racing against the cushion. Unfortunately, the cushion bit him. Thornton made contact with the Fairbury wall coming out of turn 2, the car’s front end then twisted around and he drove up and over the outside wall and into the catch fence before coming back down and to a stop in the middle of the back stretch. 

Following the wreck, the car’s entire rear end appeared destroyed. 

Thornton had competed in the USA Nationals over the last few years. He made his debut at the race in 2023 where he finished 20th. In 2024, he vastly improved and finished 8th. He repeated that 8th place finish again in 2025.

With Thornton not competing in the USA Nationals, he will likely next be in action at the North/South 100 at Florence Speedway, the next race on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule. The race takes place from August 6-8. Thornton has yet to win the crown jewel, but he’s been very competitive in the race. Last year, he finished second behind Bobby Pierce. In 2024, he finished 8th. He was second again to Pierce in 2023. In 2022, he was fourth. In 2021, he finished 10th. His worst finish and the only time he finished outside the top 10 was in his debut appearance in 2020, where he finished 19th.

While the North/South 100 is likely the next event for Thornton and his Koehler Motorsports team, the team did advise that they would be releasing a schedule sometime this week.

Thornton currently sits 6th in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points standings. He is 635 points behind current leader Brandon Sheppard and 80 behind Max Blair. That fifth place is important given the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has a $275,000 miniseries that only the top five drivers in the championship points will compete in. The winner of the miniseries will take home $100,000 while second through fifth will receive $40,000, $30,000, $20,000, and $10,000 respectively.

Drivers in 6th through 15th in the points standings will be eligible for a separate miniseries that pays $25,000 to the winner, $15,000 to second, and $10,000 to third.

Both of the miniseries will encompass the final five Saturday night races on the schedule, which includes races at Knoxville Raceway, Brownstown Speedway, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, Eldora Speedway, and the Dirt Track World Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway.

NEXT: Kyle Bronson Pulls Out Of USA Nationals After Hurting Motors During Prairie Dirt Classic