ALMA, OH (March 29, 2026) – Ricky Thornton Jr. took the lead with five laps remaining, passing Brandon Sheppard and holding him off by just 0.167 seconds at the finish line to capture his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season Sunday night at Atomic Speedway. Thornton, who also won last year’s Buckeye Spring Classic at Atomic, earned $15,000 for his 57th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory. Sheppard, who led the opening 45 laps, finished second. Brandon Overton reclaimed third from Josh Rice on the final lap to round out the Big River Steel podium. Rice and Max Blair completed the top five.Starting fourth, Thornton charged to his second overall win of 2026 and his first since the opening round of the Wild West Shootout in January. “I felt like Tyler (Erb) was really good early, and then I was racing Brandon (Overton), and I’m not sure what happened to him,” said the Chandler, Arizona native. “He got back around me off turn two and then slowed down – didn’t look like anything broke. On the restart, I debated whether to go top or bottom. I felt like the top would be better, but if the bottom got a run, they’d slide you. So I chose the top and drove as hard as I could into turn one to make sure Overton couldn’t slide me.” “I didn’t feel like I was any better than Shep, but once we got to lapped traffic, I thought those guys were racing hard and might hold me up. One of the lapped cars made a small mistake entering turn three, which slowed Shep just enough for me to get underneath him. From there, I just focused on not making a mistake. I wasn’t sure if we needed to go back to the bottom in turns one and two, but I tried it because Overton had almost passed me there earlier. It really picked up my pace. The track was different than usual, but it raced really well.” Sheppard, who led a combined 59 laps between Brownstown on Saturday and Atomic on Sunday, came within half a car length of Thornton at the finish. “We had a really good car – definitely capable of winning,” Sheppard said. “I got to the 19M and the 6, and they were running side-by-side and entering a little low. I couldn’t get enough of a run to make a move and got stuck there for too long. I knew someone had to be right behind me. Congrats to Ricky—he capitalized on my mistake. I’m disappointed in myself because my crew works their tails off and gives me a great race car every night. Still, this is the best we’ve been in the slick here in a long time, so we’re happy with the car.” Overton held off Rice after briefly losing third place late in the race. “I was catching the leaders by running a different lane,” Overton said. “I started ripping around the top and getting a good run. Josh slid me, so I knew I had to go. It was a heck of a race, and thanks to Josh for racing me clean. The track was awesome again – I’ve never been here when it wasn’t good.” Thornton’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and backed by Knight’s Companies, Hoker Trucking, Capital Waste, Certified Inspection Services, Strange Oval, SI Towing and Recovery, Coltman Farms Racing, and Sunoco Race Fuels. Completing the top ten were Hudson O’Neal, Garrett Alberson, Drake Troutman, Devin Moran, and Brian Shirley. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Buckeye Spring 50Sunday, March 29, 2026Atomic Speedway | Waverly, OH Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Drake Troutman | 13.217 seconds (Overall)Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson | 13.223 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 6. 71C-RJ Conley[5]; 7. B1-Josh Bocook[8]; 8. S21-Seth Daniels[7] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 3. 13-Dallon Murty[3]; 4. 28-Tyler Carpenter[6]; 5. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[8]; 6. C4-Freddie Carpenter[4]; 7. 19M-Brenden Smith[5]; 8. 6-Clay Harris[7]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 11-Josh Rice[3]; 4. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 5. 12J-Jason Jameson[5]; 6. 71R-Rod Conley[6]; 7. 00-Justin Cooper[7]; 8. 12L-Dave Loudin[8]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 111-Max Blair[1]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 93L-Cory Lawler[7]; 7. (DNS) 1*-Kyle Moore Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 12J-Jason Jameson[2]; 2. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[3]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[4]; 4. 71C-RJ Conley[5]; 5. C4-Freddie Carpenter[7]; 6. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 7. 71R-Rod Conley[6]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[8]; 9. B1-Josh Bocook[9]; 10. 19M-Brenden Smith[11]; 11. 6-Clay Harris[15]; 12. S21-Seth Daniels[13]; 13. 00-Justin Cooper[10]; 14. 12L-Dave Loudin[14]; 15. (DNS) 1*-Kyle Moore Buckeye Spring 50 Feature Finish (50 Laps):Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings1 – 4 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $16,3002 – 1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $7,9003 – 3 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $5,9004 – 10 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $4,9005 – 8 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $3,9716 – 7 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $3,8007 – 6 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $3,3008 – 5 – 22* – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $2,3009 – 14 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $3,60010 – 9 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $3,07111 – 12 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $2,90012 – 11 – 13 – Dallon Murty – Chelsea, IA – $1,80013 – 20 – 71C – RJ Conley – Wheelersburg, OH – $1,60014 – 23 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $2,40015 – 17 – 12J – Jason Jameson – Lawrenceburg, IN – $1,40016 – 16 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $2,20017 – 24 – 19M – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $2,10018 – 19 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,10019 – 13 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $1,90020 – 22 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,90021 – 21 – C4 – Freddie Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – $1,00022 – 18 – 20TC – Tristan Chamberlain – Richmond, IN – $1,00023 – 2 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $1,10024 – 15 – 28 – Tyler Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – $1,000 Race Statistics Entrants: 31Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Brandon SheppardMD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1-45); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 46-50)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Brandon SheppardWieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Margin of Victory: 0.167 secondsHellraizer Jacks Cautions: Tyler Carpenter (Lap 12); Tyler Erb (Lap 12 restart)MyRacePass Series Provisional: Clay Harris, Brenden SmithFast Time Provisional: Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Brandon OvertonPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton, Josh Rice, Max BlairBehrent’s One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Brandon OvertonPEM 4th Place Feature: Josh RiceDiversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Max BlairWilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Garrett AlbersonWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Dan EbertVelocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: RJ ConleyXS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Jason JamesonHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Clay Harris (Advanced 6 positions)MD3 Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (45 Laps)Sunoco Race Fuels Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Devin MoranO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/aPro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard | Lap 4 | 14.482 secondsFK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Tyler ErbVictory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Anthony BurroughsARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brandon Sheppard | 13.0675 secondsTime of Race: 19 minutes 03 seconds Big River Steel Championship Standings Presented by ARP:Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Earnings1 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 1625 – $107,5002 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 1610 – $85,3003 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 1530 – $40,7504 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 1525 – $50,3505 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – 1450 – $34,8716 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 1440 – $48,8007 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 1375 – $35,1008 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 1350 – $29,8009 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – 1295 – $20,37510 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – 1260 – $21,22511 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – 1245 – $21,67112 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 1235 – $22,45013 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 1205 – $21,87514 – 19M – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – 1080 – $15,10015 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – 1045 – $11,37516 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 1005 – $14,22517 – 13 – Dallon Murty – Chelsea, IA – 985 – $9,75018 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 890 – $9,32519 – C4 – Freddie Carpenter – Parkersburg, WV – 850 – $3,600 |
