May 29, 2024 | By Ben Sheton

Thornton Jr. Tops Wild Castrol® FloRacing Night in America Macon Opener

MACON, Ill. — Taking the lead after a turn one melee on the 38th circuit that left race-long leader, Bobby Pierce spun, Ricky Thornton Jr. paced the final 13 laps to win Tuesday night’s Castrol® FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota opener at Macon (Ill.) Speedway.

Thornton Jr. collected $20,000 for his fourth-career miniseries win.

“Honestly I didn’t mean to get into Bobby (Pierce) there and turn him around,” Thornton Jr. 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.

“It was a pretty wild night. The track was racy but there was chaos happening everywhere it seemed. Big shoutout to Anthony (Burroughs), DJ (Williams) and (Justin) Tharp for working hard to give me another great car tonight.”

In a 50-lap feature that was plagued by a dozen cautions, Bobby Pierce paced the first 37 laps from the outside-front-row before being forced to the back of the pack after drawing the lap 38 caution. He rebounded to finish sixth.

Jason Feger, Hudson O’Neal, Myles Moos, and Tyler Erb completed the Top-5 finishers on the rough-and-tumble night at the 1/5-mile oval.

Castrol® FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota continues the 2024 season at Eldora (Ohio) Speedway with a complete $20,000-to-win / $1,000-to-start program on Wednesday, June 5.

The event serves as a stand-alone lead-in to the 30th Dirt Late Model Dream weekend which spans June 6 – 8 and culminates with a $100,030-to-win finale on Saturday, June 8.

The pit gate opens at 11 a.m. ET with the grandstand gate opening at 2 p.m. The driver’s meeting is at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps at 6 p.m. and racing action to follow.

The tech line in the pits opens at 12 p.m. ET.

2024 Castrol FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota Standard Purse
1)$20,000 2)$10,000 3)$5,000 4)$4,000 5)$3,000 6)$2,750 7)$2,500 8)$2,300 9)$2,200 10)$2,000 11)$1,500 12)$1,250 13)$1,100 $14)1,050 15-24)$1,000
Total - $68,650

Entry Fee: $100 | Non-Qualifier Money: $50

The Super Late Model tire rule for the event is as follows:
Left Front: Any Hoosier Tire
Right Front: NLMT2 (90), NLMT3 (90)
Left Rear: NLMT2 (90), NLMT3 (90)
Right Rear: NLMT2 (92), NLMT3 (92), NLMT4 (92)

For more information on the facility, please visit www.EldoraSpeedway.com .

For complete Castrol® FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota details, visit the series website at www.FloSeries.com. For other questions, contact Ben Shelton at msrmafia@gmail.com or 901-335-3037.


Castrol® FloRacing Night in America presented by Kubota
Macon (Ill.) Speedway

May 28, 2024

A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[8]; 4. 84-Myles Moos[6]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[10]; 6. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson[12]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson[15]; 9. 19-Spencer Hughes[4]; 10. 1-Tim McCreadie[18]; 11. 122-Timmy Dick[14]; 12. 93-Carson Ferguson[13]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[22]; 14. 27-Greg Kimmons[21]; 15. (DNF) 10-Garrett Smith[3]; 16. (DNF) T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[16]; 17. (DNF) 28-Dennis Erb Jr[17]; 18. (DNF) 111-Max Blair[11]; 19. (DNF) 11-Ryan Miller[24]; 20. (DNF) 38J-Jake Little[7]; 21. (DNF) 24-Ryan Unzicker[20]; 22. (DNF) B5-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 23. (DNF) 18B-Shannon Babb[19]; 24. (DNF) 3S-Brian Shirley[23]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18B-Shannon Babb[2]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 3. 27-Greg Kimmons[4]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[5]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[9]; 6. 11-Ryan Miller[7]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[3]; 8. 4D-Doug Tye[8]; 9. 15B-Bob Sidener[6]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 2. 19-Spencer Hughes[2]; 3. 38J-Jake Little[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 5. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 6. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 7. 24-Ryan Unzicker[7]; 8. 27-Greg Kimmons[8]; 9. 11-Ryan Miller[9]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 4. 111-Max Blair[3]; 5. 122-Timmy Dick[4]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb[6]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 9. (DNF) 4D-Doug Tye[9]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 84-Myles Moos[3]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 6. 1-Tim McCreadie[7]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[8]; 8. 15B-Bob Sidener[9]; 9. (DNF) 3S-Brian Shirley[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 25-Jason Feger, 00:10.323[8]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:10.414[24]; 3. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:10.450[13]; 4. 19-Spencer Hughes, 00:10.513[10]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:10.522[16]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:10.542[4]; 7. 38J-Jake Little, 00:10.618[2]; 8. 111-Max Blair, 00:10.638[7]; 9. 84-Myles Moos, 00:10.638[1]; 10. 93-Carson Ferguson, 00:10.702[5]; 11. 122-Timmy Dick, 00:10.714[23]; 12. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:10.723[12]; 13. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:10.749[6]; 14. 71-Hudson O'Neal, 00:10.763[17]; 15. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:10.782[19]; 16. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:10.787[26]; 17. 18B-Shannon Babb, 00:10.806[3]; 18. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:10.814[18]; 19. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:10.833[14]; 20. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:10.900[9]; 21. 1-Tim McCreadie, 00:10.913[20]; 22. 27-Greg Kimmons, 00:10.927[25]; 23. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:11.012[11]; 24. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:11.101[22]; 25. 11-Ryan Miller, 00:11.150[27]; 26. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:11.368[15]; 27. 15B-Bob Sidener, 00:11.765[21]


Entries: 27

Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fast Time: Bobby Pierce (10.746 sec.)
Sunoco Race Fuels Fast Qualifier: Jason Feger (10.323 sec.)
Integra Racing Shocks Heat Race #1 Winner: Jason Feger
K1 Race Gear Heat Race #2 Winner: Bobby Pierce
Buzze Racing Heat Race #3 Winner: Garrett Smith
Coltman Farms B-Main Winners: Shannon Babb
Lap Leaders: Bobby Pierce (1-37), Ricky Thornton Jr. (38-50)
Hoosier Tire Winners: Hudson O’Neal, Shannon Babb
$150 Drawing Winners: Doug Tye, Garrett Alberson