What won the race: Sliding across the nose of race-long leader Bobby Pierce and sending him spinning, fifth-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., led the final 13 laps to win Tuesday's $20,000 Castrol FloRacing Night in America season opener at Macon Speedway, notching his fourth career series victory.

Quotable: “Honestly I didn’t mean to get into Bobby (Pierce) there and turn him around,” Thornton said. “I got a good run down the front straightaway and I thought for sure he’d see me under him and just lift and cross me over, but I think he was already too committed at that point. Obviously it sucks for him. You never want to take a guy out of the win especially, but especially Bobby.”

Key notes: The second-starting Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., paced the opening 37 laps before spinning following Thornton's turn-one slider that went awry. He climbed back to finish sixth. ... Eighth-starting Hudson O'Neal overcame having to pit with right-front damage under a lap-eight caution to complete the podium. ... The feature was slowed by 12 separate incidents, the largest being a 20-minute red flag for cleanup when Myles Moos bounced off the backstretch after a scrape with Tyler Erb while battling for a top-five position on a lap-one restart attempt. Moos's stopped car collected Garrett Alberson, Jake Little, Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Shannon Babb and Ryan Unzicker; the impact caused Sheppard's car to flip over onto its roof on top of Alberson's machines while Shirley's car came to rest on its right side. Alberson and Shirley were among drivers assisting with getting Sheppard out of his Longhorn; the only reported injury was a small laceration above Shirley's left eye — likely sustained while assisting Sheppard out of his car — and it is not believed to be serious. ... Moos recovered to finish fourth. ... The feature lasted 78 minutes with 11 competitors completing the distance.

On the move: Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., started 18th and finished 10th.

Winner's sponsors: Thornton’s SSI Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from Dyno One, Hoker Trucking LLC, Coltman Farms Racing, Sub-Surface of Indiana, Big River Steel, Murty Farms, High Performance Lubricants, West Side Tractor Sales, Bilstein, Sunoco Race Fuels, FK Rod Ends, Allstar Performance, Dirt Car Lift, Midwest Sheet Metal and EMD Wraps.

Points chase: After Macon: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (87); 2. Jason Feger (81); 3. Hudson O'Neal (78); 4. Myles Moos (75); 5. Tyler Erb (72).

Current weather: Scattered Clouds, 72°F

Car count: 27

Fast qualifier: Jason Feger

Time: 10.323 seconds

Polesitter: Jason Feger

Heat race winners: Jason Feger, Bobby Pierce, Garrett Smith

Consolation race winners: Shannon Babb

Next series race: June 5, Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH) $20,000