Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Thornton rallies from ninth for Vegas victory
Ricky Thornton Jr. tunes up before his Vegas victory. (photofinishphotos.com)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 6) — Rallying from his ninth starting spot, Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., won a mid-race duel with Mike Kirby of Torrance, Calif., and pulled away for a $3,000 West Coast Late Model Shootout victory Wednesday night at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. | Slideshow
The 22-year-old Thornton, making a guest appearance in the Jeff Manka-owned No. 5m normally driven by fellow Arizona driver Anthony Madrid, captured the caution-free 25-lapper for notch his second career series victory. West Coast Shootout Late Models headlined Wednesday's undercard for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars event.
Kirby settled for second at the half-mile oval as LVMS kicked off a week of racing capped by Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup event at the big track. Mike Johnson of Lompoc, Calif., was third followed by pole-starting Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn., last year’s winner at Vegas. Outside front-row starter Mike Balcaen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, rounded out the top five finishers.
Shaw broke into the early lead, but Kirby caught him as the frontrunners worked lapped traffic to take command on lap 11.
Working toward the front from his fifth-row starting spot, Thornton dropped Shaw to third on the 12th lap, then battled side-by-side with Kirby for three laps before going ahead for good on lap 15.
From their Thornton cruised the rest of the way, improving on his runner-up finish last March at Las Vegas in a race that took less than nine minutes to complete.
Notes: Thornton’s Jeff Manka-owned Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Affordable Powder Coating, RideNow, Sunoco Race Fuels and Flexi-Flyer. ... Thornton’s previous WCS victory came Nov. 6, 2011, in the season finale at Canyon Speedway in Peoria, Ariz., when he also outran Mike Kirby. ... The feature started about 10:35 p.m. local time on a long night with three divisions in action. ... Eighteen of 20 starters were running at the finish with 13 on the lead lap. ... Don Shaw's crew chief Dave Mass, a multitime WISSOTA super stock champion, piloted Shaw’s No. 42 backup car and earned hard charger honors, rallying from 17th to finish ninth. ... The WCS event drew 25 drivers from eight states and Canada. ... Drivers failing to make the main event: Darryn Waldo, Mike Stadel (lost a wheel during the pace laps before the first heat), Larry Childress, Carla Laney and two-time and reigning WCS champ Clay Daly of Watsonville, Calif., who had motor problems in his heat race. ... Donny Schatz (WoO STP Sprint Cars) and Ken Schrader (IMCA modifieds) also notched feature victories. ... Next up for the West Coast Shootout is a Saturday event at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway to concluded a four-race stretch over nine days in opening the season on the Chris Kearns-promoted tour.
West Coast Shootout @ Las Vegas: (1) Ricky Thornton Jr., (2) Mike Kirby, (3) Mike Johnson, (4) Don Shaw, (5) Mike Balcaen, (6) Rob Sanders, (7) Garrett Alberson, (8) Brad Pounds, (9) Dave Mass, (10) Trevor Glaser, (11) Steve Drake, (12) Andy Obertello, (13) David Karst, (14) Jason Papich, (15) Tony Toste, (16) Randy Brown, (17) Dave Deetz, (18) Paul Guglielmoni, (19) Nick Bartels, (20) Rob Mayea. Heat race winners (among 25 cars): Shaw, Kirby, Sanders. Consolation winner: Mass.
