Lonnie Wheatley, PEORIA, Ariz. (August 31, 2014) – Ricky Thornton, Jr., has been a dominant force in IMCA Modified action at Canyon Speedway Park in 2014.
So it as only fitting that the Chandler, AZ, racer flex his muscle in the Pure Stock ranks as well, taking the $2,000 winner’s share in Sunday night’s Rips Napa Auto Parts Stock Car Shootout 100 finale atop the 1/3-mile CSP clay oval.
Not only did Thornton, Jr., take the big money in the Stock Car Shootout, he also added his 12th overall IMCA Modified win of the year atop CSP clay with other Sunday night winners including Virgil McArthur in Renegades, Bobby Marcum in Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Chaz Baca, Jr., in Mod Lites and Eric Winemiller in X Mods.
After setting quick time among the Pure Stock ranks and advancing from sixth to win his qualifying race on Saturday night, Thornton, Jr., started from the pole position in the Stock Car Shootout 100-lapper before ultimately taking the win.
Thornton, Jr., took the checkered flag ahead of Steve Bitting, with outside front row starter Anthony Madrid claiming the show position. Jeff Stafford raced from 22nd to fourth with Jerry Bullis rounding out the top five.
After having his seven race win streak in IMCA Modified action snapped the night before, Thornton, Jr., went to work on a new streak by charging forward from the 12th starting position for his 12th CSP win of the year in Modified action ahead of Chaz Baca, Jr., Cody Center, Ryan Roath and “B” Main winner Mike Strobl.
With the top six from Saturday’s Renegade feature already locked in, Virgil McArthur ran second in Sunday’s qualifying race to earn the eighth starting position for the main event and then charged to the front to take the $300 winner’s share.
McArthur beat pole starter Chris McCurdy, Jr., to the line with John Romero, Chris McCurdy, Sr., and Joe Peterson in the top five.
Bobby Marcum denied Matt Lundy a sweep of the weekend in Challenge Cup Sprint Car action, taking the win ahead of Lundy and Dustin Burkhart.
Runner-up in the Modified ranks, Chaz Baca, Jr., scored the win in AMA Mod Lite action ahead of Brenden Priest, Tyler Merrill, Austin Kuehl and Adam Etcher.
Eric Winemiller finished off a sweep of the weekend’s X Mod action by racing to the checkered flag ahead of Nolan Morrow and Trevor Miller.
Racing action continues at Canyon Speedway Park on September 19-20 with the 26th Annual IMCA Desert Classic featuring the IMCA Modifieds along with Pure Stocks, Renegades, Dwarf Cars and AMA Mod Lites.
Canyon Speedway Park
Stock Car Shootout Night Two
August 31, 2014 Results:
Pure Stocks:
Last Chance Race: 1. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 2. 40sr-Bubba Stafford, 3. 13-Robert McClelland, 4. 53-Justin Thornton, 5. 28x-Donnie Yates, 6. 51-Donald Carter, 7. 41-Rob Munoz, 8. 22-Craig Ebers.
Stock Car Shootout 100: 1. 5m-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 7-Steve Bitting, 3. 08-Anthony Madrid, 4. 40sr-Jeff Stafford, 5. 33az-Jerry Bullis, 6. 19w-John Thomas, 7. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 8. 47-Daren Olney, 9. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 10. 51-Donald Carter, 11. Z28-Ty Weidner, 12. 17L-Nick Langer, 13. 28-Mike Herrera, 14. 13-Robert McClelland, 15. 3z-Zack Madrid, 16. 92p-John Parmeley, 17. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 18. 15-Speedy Madrid, 19. 3-Ashley Stafford, 20. 41-Rob Munoz, 21. 01-Ty Warner, 22. 24-Josh Carter, 23. 00-Lonnie Foss, 24. XX-Chuck Thornton, 25. 55-Jason Schwader, 26. 21m-Matt Martinez, 27. 53-Justin Thornton.
Renegades:
Qualifying Race: 1. 14m-Mark Kilian, 2. 47-Virgil McArthur, 3. 65-John Romero, 4. 75-David Irwin, 5. 14-Don Berner, 6. 9-Paul O’Connor, 7. 13-Jason Crowe, 8. I8-1-Tom Grassi, 9. 69r-Sara Reblin, 10. 99-Trenton Setelin, 11. 10-Michael Soboski, 12. 57a-Tate Allen, 13. 64s-Jonathan Stalhut, 14. 51-Ross Krajack, 15. 73-Craig Carrajat.
“A” Feature: 1. 47-Virgil McCarthur, 2. 18bm-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 3. 65-John Romero, 4. 24-Chris McCurdy, Sr., 5. 85-Joe Peterson, 6. 13-Jason Crowe, 7. 3-David Harrington, 8. 16b-Richard Bennett, 9. 99-Trenton Setelin, 10. 14-Don Berner, 11. 75-David Irwin, 12. 75-Craig Carrajat, 13. 57a-Tate Allen, 14. 14m-Mark Kilian, 15. 69r-Sara Reblin, 16. 16x-John Foster, 17. 51-Ross Krajack, 18. I8-1-Tom Grassi, 19. 10-Michael Soboski, 20. 9-Paul O’Connor, 21. 64a-Jonathan Stalhut.
IMCA Modifieds:
First Heat: 1. 27-John Brinkley, 2. 45-Ryan Roath, 3. 198-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 4. T39-Lupe Gomez, 5. 3-Brad Whitfield, 6. 59-Mark Stewart, 7. 19x-Kenny Gill, 8. 41-George Fronsman.
Second Heat: 1. 53x-Nick Bruce, 2. $-Cody Center, 3. 87-Clifton Maggard, 4. 21r-Ryan Eaden, 5. 13-Gene Freeman, 6. 8-Nate Warren, 7. 45h-Jason Hickingbottom, 8. L8-Brian Schultz.
Third Heat: 1. 12-Guy Norton, 2. 53-Justin Thornton, 3. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 4. 24-Mike Martin, 5. X04-Mike Strobl, 6. 78-Steve Stultz, 7. 39-Derek Huggins, 8. 15-Michael Alread.
“B” Feature: 1. X04-Mike Strobl, 2. 41-George Fronsman, 3. 3-Brad Whitfield, 4. 78-Steve Stultz, 5. L8-Brian Schultz, 6. 8-Nate Warren, 7. 39-Derek Huggins, 8. 13-Gene Freeman, 9. 15-Michael Alread, 10. 59-Mark Stewart, 11. 19x-Kenny Gill, 12. 45h-Jason Hickingbottom.
“A” Feature: 1. 198-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 3. $-Cody Center, 4. 45-Ryan Roath, 5. X04-Mike Strobl, 6. 87-Clifton Maggard, 7. 53x-Nick Bruce, 8. 78-Steve Stultz, 9. 24-Mike Martin, 10. 3-Brad Whitfield, 11. 13-Gene Freeman, 12. 21r-Ryan Eaden, 13. 53-Justin Thornton, 14. 27-John Brinkley, 15. T39-Lupe Gomez, 16. 39-Derek Huggins, 17. 12-Guy Norton, 18. 41-George Fronsman, 19. L8-Brian Schultz, 20. 8-Nate Warren.
Challenge Cup Sprint Cars:
First Heat: 1. 85-Bobby Marcum, 2. 99-Matt Lundy, 3. 22-Dustin Burkhart, 4. 88-Adam Jones, 5. 9-Johnny Shelton, Jr., 6. 40-Vince Perez, 7. 5-Mike Visser, 8. 63-Don Keesler, 9. 17-Joe Scheopner, 10. 11T-Lonnie Oliver.
“A” Feature: 1. 85-Bobby Marcum, 2. 99-Matt Lundy, 3. 22-Dutin Burkhart, 4. 9-Johnny Shelton, Jr., 5. 88-Aaron Jones, 6. 40-Vince Perez, 7. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 8. 5-Mike Visser, 9. 63-Don Keesler, 10. 17-Joe Scheopner.
Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 69-Michael Humphreys, 2. 96-Hayden Bender, 3. 9-Mark Hammill, 4. 36-Mike Smith, 5. 17-Steve Moriarty, 6. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 7. 67-Austin Zeppen.
Second Heat: 1. 51-Brenden Priest, 2. 15-Ken Young, 3. 75-Chaz Baca, Jr., 4. 116-Jim Hock, 5. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 6. 95-Collin Bender, 7. 7-Mike Schmidt.
Third Heat: 1. 99-Adam Etcher, 2. 14-Josh Rivera, 3. 30-Lexus Gann, 4. 88-Tyler Merrill, 5. 19-Anthony Platt, 6. 97-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 7. 55-Erin Harrison.
“A” Feature: 1. 75-Chaz Baca, Jr., 2. 51-Brenden Priest, 3. 88-Tyler Merrill, 4. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 5. 99-Adam Etcher, 6. 14-Josh Rivera, 7. 19-Anthony Platt, 8. 97-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 9. 17-Steve Moriarty, 10. 15-Ken Young, 11. 116-Jim Hock, 12. 96-Hayden Bender, 13. 95-Collin Bender, 14. 7-Mike Schmidt, 15. 36-Mike Smith, 16. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 17. 9-Mark Hammill, 18. 55-Erin Harrison, 19. 69-Michael Humphreys, 20. 67-Austin Zeppen, 21. 30-Lexus Gann.
X Mods:
First Heat: 1. 2-Nolan Marrow, 2. 75c-Bo Partain, 3. C11-Chris Caldwell, 4. 4-Eric Winemiller, 5. 57-Ron Poe, 6. 09-Cole Peterson, 7. 4g-David Farley, 8. 28-Ben Miller, 9. 26-Trevor Miller, 10. 29-Jinger Kesler.
“A” Feature: 1. 44-Eric Winemiller, 2. 2-Nolan Marrow, 3. 26-Trevor Miller, 4. 4g-David Farley, 5. 57-Ron Poe, 6. C11-Chris Caldwell, 7. 28-Ben Miller, 8. 75c-Bo Partain, 9. 09-Cole Peterson, 10. 29-Jinger Kesler.
- administrator on Sep 01, 2014
- Article Date: 8/31/2014 by Lonnie Wheatley