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| WHEATLAND, MO (July 11, 2025) – Ricky Thornton Jr. returned to Lucas Oil Victory Lane on Friday night as he won night one of the 19th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Wieland. Thornton’s winless drought with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing extended back to his last victory with the series on May 17 at Eagle, Nebraska. Thornton led all 40 laps to secure his 10th Series win of 2025, earning $15,000. Jonathan Davenport finished second, while Clay Harris moved up from the 11th starting position to earn his first Big River Steel Podium of the season. Garratt Alberson, who won the previous night at 34 Raceway, finished fourth, and Devin Moran rounded out the top five. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 52nd time in his career, the defending series champion, now trailing Davenport by 50 points heading into Saturday night’s $25,000-to-win main event. “Man, I felt like I was on different tires than he (Davenport) was, and I was thinking, man, he’s so good here. Did I really make a bad decision to be on different tires? We took off, and he was a little better than I was at times, which kind of surprised me. I felt like I should be a little better on the bottom. I almost overdrove the straightaways, and it was wheelspinning really bad. That caution kind of saved me. It calmed me down and let me think about what I needed to do. I had a good restart and thought the top in one and two looked really good, but it was right on the edge. One time when I entered three, I felt like I was going to end up in the wall,” said the Chandler, Arizona native. Davenport, who is aiming for his record-tying fourth National Championship, finished second after initially fighting off Brandon Overton early in the race and Clay Harris in the final laps. “I think it was about tires. It’s so crazy. I don’t know; you think you know a little about tires, and then all of a sudden, something like tonight happens. Clay did an awesome job coming from where he did on as soft as tires as you could run. Ricky did a good job too, and he had on soft tires as well. I really thought we were sitting in the catbird’s seat with the hard tires, but it was just a little different night. They had a lot of water on the track, and obviously, you can still see it’s kind of brown all the way across; it was quite shiny black, yet. Hats off to the track crew.” Harris, who earlier in the day took delivery of another engine after mechanical issues on Friday night at 34 Raceway, nearly matched his best career finish with the series by finishing second at Ocala in 2024. “It means a lot to come home third tonight. We worked all day, and without Cameron and Chad, I wouldn’t be able to run this well. I didn’t think we’d finish the Lucas season because we broke a motor last night, but the guys stepped up and bought us a new motor today, so we ran good, and I’m happy about it.” The winner’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Knight’s Companies, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Elite Ready Mix, Capital Waste, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Rae Fuels, EMD Wraps, and Certified Inspection Services. Completing the top ten were Brandon Overton, Daulton Wilson, Hudson O’Neal, Cade Dillard, and Brandon Sheppard. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary 19th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Wieland | Night 1Friday, July 11, 2025Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton Jr. | 15.012 seconds (Overall)Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport | 15.073 seconds Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 3. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[2]; 4. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 5. 50-Kayden Clatt[3]; 6. 4W-Tyler Wolff[9]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 8. 65-Jon Binning[8]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[4] Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[3]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 11-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 7. 98-Justin Wells[9]; 8. 31C-Cole Henson[7]; 9. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[8] Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 6. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[8]; 8. 0-Jake O’Neil[7]; 9. 28-Jim Greenway[9] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[2]; 2. 19M-Spencer Hughes[1]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 6. 87-Darron Fuqua[7]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[6]; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]; 9. (DNS) 805-Rob Hough Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 2. 50-Kayden Clatt[1]; 3. 98-Justin Wells[6]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 5. 4W-Tyler Wolff[3]; 6. 1/4J-Jaxon Ertel[10]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 8. 65-Jon Binning[7]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[9]; 10. 31C-Cole Henson[8] UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[1]; 2. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[3]; 3. 15L-Payton Looney[5]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 5. 0-Jake O’Neil[7]; 6. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[6]; 8. 87-Darron Fuqua[4]; 9. (DNS) 28-Jim Greenway; 10. (DNS) 805-Rob Hough 19th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Wieland | Night 1 Feature Finish(40 Laps): Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay1 – 1 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $15,0002 – 2 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $7,1003 – 11 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $5,0004 – 10 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $4,0005 – 7 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $3,0006 – 3 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,5007 – 6 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $2,4008 – 12 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,3009 – 14 – 97 – Cade Dillard – Robeline, LA – $2,20010 – 5 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $2,10011 – 15 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – $2,00012 – 16 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $1,80013 – 19 – 50 – Kayden Clatt – Edina, MO – $1,60014 – 17 – 11 – Gordy Gundaker – St. Charles, MO – $1,50015 – 24 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $1,40016 – 23 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $1,30017 – 9 – 1XM – Aaron Marrant – Richmond, MO – $1,20018 – 8 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – $1,10019 – 4 – 8K – Tyler Kuykendall – Warsaw, MO – $1,00020 – 13 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $1,00021 – 21 – 98 – Justin Wells – Aurora, MO – $1,00022 – 20 – 56 – Tony Jackson Jr – Lebanon, MO – $1,00023 – 18 – 11T – Trevor Gundaker – St. Charles, MO – $1,00024 – 22 – 15L – Payton Looney – Republic, MO – $1,000 Race Statistics Entrants: 36Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Ricky Thornton Jr.MD3 Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton Jr. (Laps 1 – 40)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ricky Thornton Jr.Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton Jr.Margin of Victory: 3.26 secondsColtman Farms Racing Cautions: Kayden Clatt (Lap 3)Series Provisionals: Daniel Hilsabeck, Dan EbertFast Time Provisional: n/aEmergency Provisional: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Devenport, Clay HarrisPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Clay Harris, Garrett Alberson, Devin MoranPEM 4th Place Feature: Garrett AlbersonDMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Devin MoranWilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Daulton WilsonWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Donald McIntoshDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Kayden ClattMD3 24th Place Feature: Payton LooneyHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Dan Ebert (Advanced 9 Positions)MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton Jr.Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan DavenportO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntoshPro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport | Lap 2 | 16.444 secondsSlicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Clay HarrisFresh Roof Hard Luck Award: n/aOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Zach FrieldsARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Trevor Gundaker | 15.848 secondsTime of Race: 13 minutes 51 seconds Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Pay1 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 5285 – $258,4002 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 5235 – $281,4503 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 4980 – $190,4494 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 4945 – $146,4755 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 4770 – $114,3506 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 4645 – $122,5007 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 4565 – $98,7008 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – 4305 – $80,3259 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 4115 – $67,92510 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – 3960 – $53,90011 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 3855 – $49,72512 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – 3560 – $47,62513 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 3525 – $40,70014 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 3395 – $43,45015 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 3110 – $30,725 |