What won the race: Pole-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., stormed to a commanding flag-to-flag victory in Friday's 49-lap, $19,049 second annual Melvin L. Joseph Memorial at Georgetown Speedway. Thornton's second straight event triumph is his fourth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season and the 27th of his career.

Quotable: “I love coming here. I wish we would run here more often honestly,” Thornton said. “I don’t know, something about this place just kinda fits me. I don’t know if we, for sure, had the best car or not, but I feel like those yellows kinda helped me. I feel like once I got to traffic I got slowed down quite a bit. Overall, the car was really good.”

Key notes: Second-starting runner-up Devin Moran lost the second spot momentarily to Jonathan Daveport on a lap-25 restart before regaining it and finishing second, 1.679 seconds back. ... Davenport challenged Moran for second on lap 25 before fading to fourth. ... Tenth-starting Garrett Alberson placed third after overtaking Davenport on a lap-34 restart. ... Hometown driver Ross Robinson completed the top-five. ... Clay Harris overcame a lap-40 restart tangle with Mike Marlar to finish 11th; Marlar pitted before returning and finished 18th, the last driver running. ... NASCAR star Kyle Larson ran as high as fourth at halfway before fading to 12th and slowing to draw the race's fourth caution on lap 39; Larson was unable to return after attempting to change a tire that series officials deemed to still be inflated. ... Debuting his new team, Hudson O'Neal slowed from 12th with a flat right-front tire on lap 33 finished 14th. ... Drake Troutman's flat right-front brought out the second stoppage on lap 24. ... Brenden Smith slowed to draw the race's first yellow on lap 12. ... Five cautions dotted a 32-minute race. ... Prior to the race the series announced Troutman, Harris, Smith, Carson Ferguson and Cory Lawler have each applied to contend for this year's $20,000 Lucas Oil Series Rookie of the Year award presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts.

On the move: Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, started 17th and finished seventh.

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 Georgetown: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (2,035); 2. Jonathan Davenport (1,990); 3. Devin Moran (1,960); 4. Hudson O’Neal (1,880); 5. Daulton Wilson (1,805); 6. Mike Marlar (1,795); T7. Brandon Sheppard (1,755); T7. Jimmy Owens (1,755); 9. Tim McCreadie (1,740); 10. Garrett Alberson (1,695); 11. Tyler Erb (1,645); 12. Clay Harris (1,500).

Current weather: Clear, 46°F

Car count: 40

Fast qualifier: Hudson O'Neal

Time: 17.817 seconds

Polesitter: Ricky Thornton Jr.

Heat race winners: Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Ross Robinson

Consolation race winners: Tyler Erb, Justin Weaver

Provisional starters: Boom Briggs, Brenden Smith, Cory Lawler, Rick Eckert

Next series race: April 27, Hagerstown Speedway (Hagerstown, MD) $15,000