What won the race: Slipping by early leader Bill Leighton Jr. as he was mired in lapped traffic, pole-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., led the rest of Wednesday's 35-lap Ben Nothdurft Memorial at Huset's Speedway. Thornton ran away over the final 20 laps, taking the checkers by 5.174 seconds ahead of Leighton to win $6,000 and his first victory on the Repairable Vehicles.com Tri-State Late Model Series.

Quotable: “Justin Zeitner has been wanting me to run his stuff for a while. We kinda had this on our list to do and as long as everything went good earlier in the week, we were gonna come and do it,” Thornton said. “I figured the top was gonna be better (at the start) and (Bill) Leighton really took off and I was just trying to keep pace with him. I kinda found the middle (line) there in (turns) three and four, I could stay next to him. I knew if he ever got himself in a bad spot and got stuck behind someone, I’d be able to sneak by.”

Key notes: Thornton piloted Justin Zeitner's backup Longhorn Chassis, a former SSI Motorsports car that he won last year's Jackson 100 at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway with plus the 2020 Pittsburgher at Pittsburgh's Pa. Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa. ... Leighton got the jump from the outside front row and led the opening 15 laps before giving way to Thornton out of turn four as they battled through heavy traffic. ... Fifth-starting Tad Pospisil rounded out the podium finishers. ... Corey Zeitner was the final driver to complete 35 laps in the nine-minute feature that was completed green-to-checkered. ... The event honored Ben Nothdurft, of Sioux Falls, S.D., who owned and sponsored many cars and drivers over his years as a dirt track racing enthusiast. He was able to see his son (Troy) and grandson (Blair) enter into the racing season again before dying on Feb. 2, 2018 at the age of 84. Blair started 11th and finished seventh. ... Justin Boomsma was the only competitor who failed to finish.

On the move: Justin Zeitner of Malvern, Iowa, started 17th and finished fourth.

Winner's sponsors: Thornton's Justin Zeitner-owned Longhorn Chassis carries sponsorship from Zeitner & Sons Refrigerated Transport, ZSI Logistics, Liek’hus Lawn LLC, D.J.’s Dugout, Big Ty’s Smoked Meats, Tree Services of Omaha, JP Nelson Painting, LLC, Hi-Temp Products Company, Midwest Carrier Transportation Companies and Malvern Bank.

Points chase: After Huset’s Wednesday: 1. Blair Nothdurft (628); 2. Scott Ward (611); 3. Corey Zeitner (603); 4. Chase Alves (541); 5. Trevor Anderson (539).

Current weather: Few Clouds, 63°F

Car count: 44

Fast qualifier: Bill Leighton Jr.

Time: 13.111 seconds

Polesitter: Ricky Thornton Jr.

Heat race winners: Ben Sukup, Josh Leonard, Tad Pospisil, Bill Leighton Jr., Corey Zeitner, Ricky Thornton Jr.

Consolation race winners: Trevor Anderson, Chris Palsrok

Provisional starters: Shane DeMey

Next series race: August 2, Park Jefferson Speedway (Jefferson, SD) $1,500