February 3, 2026 | By Matt Skipper, DIRTcar Racing PR

Thornton Bags $2,500 in DIRTcar Nationals UMP Modified Makeup Feature

BARBERVILLE, Fla.—Through three nights of the 55th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Ricky Thornton Jr has proven his hunger for a second career Big Gator title.

The Chandler, AZ driver scored his second Golden Gator trophy behind the wheel of the Koehler Motorsports No. 20RT DIRTcar UMP Modified on a night when he recovered from an early exit in Monday Feature #2 after damaging the front nose.

Thornton and former Big Gator champion Tyler Nicely brought the field to the initial green flag, with Nicely’s first-turn momentum from the cushion giving him an advantage over Thornton for the lead. However, a caution for an accident in the back forced a complete restart.

On the second attempt to start the 25-lap Feature, Thornton stayed equal to Nicely on the bottom through Turns 1-2, then overpowered Nicely in Turns 3-4 to take the lead in his protection.

While Nicely charged at Thornton by driving his No. 25 Elite Chassis deep into the corners, his strategy hurt momentum as he slid to the top side off each exit – scrubbing his speed in the process.

Nicely’s struggles allowed fellow Kentucky natives Charlie Mefford and Cole Falloway to capitalize by taking second and third place, respectively, on Lap 13.

When the caution waved with 12 laps remaining, Thornton was tasked with blocking any sort of passing attack from Mefford or Falloway on the restart. Entering the first corner, Thornton made a car-length’s space to Mefford across the backstretch, then the Belton, KY driver sent his No.13 Modified to the top of the cushion as Thornton slid up the surface. The two made slight contact, but Thornton’s Modified continued pacing the field as Mefford kept second place.

Thornton’s line around the top gave him an extension of the lead by over one second as he completed the night with a $2,500 payday and a fifth career Golden Gator trophy.

“The driver’s not doing his job,” Thornton said. “Simple as that. I’ve killed two noses pretty much just driving too easy. I think I need to drive a lot harder right there. I probably wasn’t the best car, but I knew at the end, the top was actually way better. No one was gonna go out there, and I’m like, ‘Well, you know what? There’s only a handful of laps, so I might as well get out there, make some speed, and try to make myself a gap.’”

Up Next: The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds tackle Tuesday at Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals with six Features on deck for Feb. 3 as the hunt for the Big Gator marches forward. Grandstand gates will open at 4 p.m ET, and Hot Laps will receive the green flag at 5:30 p.m.

How can you watch every lap of racing at Volusia Speedway Park? Live on DIRTVision.


DIRTcar UMP Modifieds

Monday, February 2, 2026

Saturday Make-Up Feature (25 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 13-Charlie Mefford[3]; 3. 66-Cole Falloway[5]; 4. 99H-Justin Haley[12]; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 6. 35A-Michael Altobelli[9]; 7. 72H-Tristan Chamberlain[23]; 8. 77D-George Dixon[11]; 9. 45H-Kyle Hammer[15]; 10. 777-Trevor Neville[7]; 11. 90-Jason Beaulieu[22]; 12. 56-Chris Wilson[16]; 13. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[24]; 14. 114K-Evan Koehler[13]; 15. 57-Charlie Sandercock[21]; 16. 25-Tyler Nicely[2]; 17. 35-David Stremme[8]; 18. 114-Jordan Koehler[20]; 19. 05-Dave Wietholder[18]; 20. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[14]; 21. 96M-Mike McKinney[17]; 22. (DNF) K9-Will Krup[6]; 23. (DNF) 12L-Lucas Lee[19]; 24. (DNS) 97-Mitch Thomas

Last Chance Showdown 1 (8 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 57-Charlie Sandercock[5]; 3. 15X-Justin Stone[4]; 4. 14-Dalton Lane[14]; 5. 11D-Brian Diveley[12]; 6. (DNF) 3G-Bryce Graber[13]; 7. (DNS) 09-Michael Ledford; 8. (DNS) 17C-Coleman Evans; 9. (DNS) 72-Todd Neiheiser; 10. (DNS) 17T-Tyler Evans; 11. (DNS) 17X-Richard Michael Jr; 12. (DNS) 7G-Seth Geary; 13. (DNS) 21B-Hunter Breland; 14. (DNS) 15H-Gator Hise; 15. (DNS) 2ONE-Tim Czarneski; 16. (DNS) 77-Jim Shipman; 17. (DNS) 55-Blaze Melton

Last Chance Showdown 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12L-Lucas Lee[1]; 2. 72H-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 3. 77B-Ray Bollinger[3]; 4. 27-Jason Garver[6]; 5. 17-Chris Wilson[9]; 6. 99W-Wade Olmsted[12]; 7. 17W-Mikey Wilson[7]; 8. X-Wyatt Scott[8]; 9. 52-Mikey Kopka[10]; 10. 23-Josh Sanford[5]; 11. 21C-Drew Charlson[16]; 12. 29C-Joey Cotterman[15]; 13. T9-Zack Tate[14]; 14. (DNS) 5CS-Curt Spalding; 15. (DNS) 24-Zeke McKenzie; 16. (DNS) 71-Pierce McCarter; 17. (DNS) 7J-Justin Allgaier

Last Chance Showdown 3 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Dave Wietholder[3]; 2. 90-Jason Beaulieu[6]; 3. 51-Dalton Lanich[2]; 4. 1H-Ben Harmon[4]; 5. 43A-Mark Anderson[1]; 6. 28B-Jason Brookover[8]; 7. 25B-Greg Belyea[14]; 8. 26-Adam Ogle[10]; 9. 1-Eric Kinney II[9]; 10. 155-Peyton Harlow[5]; 11. (DNS) 0-Glenn Styres; 12. (DNS) 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt; 13. (DNS) T23-Keith Tincher; 14. (DNS) 54-Zachary Hawk; 15. (DNS) 9B-Thomas Berry Jr; 16. (DNS) 60F-Shannon Fisk

Last Chance Showdown 4 (8 Laps): 1. 114-Jordan Koehler[2]; 2. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[3]; 3. 8S-Kyle Strickler[16]; 4. 7-Brad DeYoung[5]; 5. 9-Ken Schrader[8]; 6. 11-Dylan Drake[12]; 7. 3F-Rob Fuqua[10]; 8. 5B-Bobby Bagley[9]; 9. 01-Aidan Hinds[13]; 10. 60-Jim Manka[14]; 11. 10X-Billy Uptegraff[11]; 12. 8-Jimmy Lennex Jr[7]; 13. 28-Mason Lobb[6]; 14. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[4]; 15. (DNS) 99-Cole Hilton; 16. (DNS) 114B-Clayton Bryant




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Monday DIRTcar UMP Modifieds (97 entries) 

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 13-Charlie Mefford[3]; 2. 71-Pierce McCarter[1]; 3. 8S-Kyle Strickler[5]; 4. 10Y-Trent Young[2]; 5. 66F-Cole Falloway[8]; 6. 15X-Justin Stone[12]; 7. 60F-Shannon Fisk[14]; 8. 99W-Wade Olmsted[11]; 9. 8-Jimmy Lennex Jr[15]; 10. 66-Adam Wright[7]; 11. 78-Rich Pratt[10]; 12. 21C-Drew Charlson[13]; 13. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[6]; 14. 54-Zachary Hawk[9]; 15. (DNS) 5CS-Curt Spalding; 16. (DNS) 72-Todd Neiheiser; 17. (DNS) 81K-Kyle Cole

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[3]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[1]; 3. 45H-Kyle Hammer[9]; 4. 114-Jordan Koehler[5]; 5. 99H-Justin Haley[10]; 6. 01-Aidan Hinds[8]; 7. 35H-Michael Altobelli[11]; 8. 7J-Justin Allgaier[2]; 9. 114K-Evan Koehler[14]; 10. 60-Jim Manka[13]; 11. 29C-Joey Cotterman[15]; 12. 99-Cole Hilton[12]; 13. 5B-Bobby Bagley[7]; 14. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 15. 56-Chris Wilson[6]; 16. (DNS) 0K-Damian Kiefer

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 36-Kenny Wallace[2]; 2. 17-Chris Wilson[5]; 3. 35-David Stremme[3]; 4. 7D-Brad DeYoung[9]; 5. 77D-George Dixon[6]; 6. 1H-Ben Harmon[13]; 7. 3S-Josh Sanford[11]; 8. 7-Evan Taylor[8]; 9. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[12]; 10. T9-Zack Tate[14]; 11. 70B-Ty Norder[10]; 12. 90-Jason Beaulieu[1]; 13. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[15]; 14. 25-Tyler Nicely[4]; 15. 52-Mikey Kopka[7]; 16. (DNS) 2K-Taylor Kuehl

Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. J82-Treb Jacoby[6]; 2. 77B-Ray Bollinger[1]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie[3]; 4. 05-Dave Wietholder[5]; 5. 46-Matt Crafton[12]; 6. X-Wyatt Scott[8]; 7. 155-Peyton Harlow[11]; 8. 88-Cody Thornhill[15]; 9. 43J-Jacob Hall[10]; 10. 3F-Rob Fuqua[14]; 11. 0-Glenn Styres[2]; 12. T23-Keith Tincher[16]; 13. 17C-Coleman Evans[9]; 14. (DNF) 5T-Jonathan Taylor[4]; 15. (DNF) 114B-Clayton Bryant[7]; 16. (DNF) 10X-Billy Uptegraff[13]

Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. 97-Mitch Thomas[2]; 2. K9-Will Krup[4]; 3. 17X-Richard Michael Jr[7]; 4. 12L-Lucas Lee[10]; 5. 28-Mason Lobb[1]; 6. 11D-Brian Diveley[12]; 7. 17T-Tyler Evans[5]; 8. 84-Ryan Toole[11]; 9. 1-Eric Kinney II[15]; 10. (DNF) 55-Blaze Melton[14]; 11. (DNF) 26-Adam Ogle[9]; 12. (DNF) 21B-Hunter Breland[3]; 13. (DNF) 99K-Ray Kable[6]; 14. (DNF) 43A-Mark Anderson[8]; 15. (DNF) 3G-Bryce Graber[13]; 16. (DNS) 11N-Gene Nicholas

Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 72H-Tristan Chamberlain[1]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman[2]; 3. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[3]; 4. 17W-Mikey Wilson[9]; 5. 27-Jason Garver[5]; 6. 28B-Jason Brookover[4]; 7. 51-Dalton Lanich[8]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas[17]; 9. 11-Dylan Drake[12]; 10. 25B-Greg Belyea[14]; 11. 14-Dalton Lane[11]; 12. 9-Ken Schrader[10]; 13. (DNF) 57-Charlie Sandercock[6]; 14. (DNF) 77-Jim Shipman[13]; 15. (DNF) 00B-Buzzie Reutimann[15]; 16. (DNS) 09-Michael Ledford; 17. (DNS) 81C-Christopher Cole

Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 5CS-Curt Spalding, 00:17.414[34]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:17.555[19]; 3. 25-Tyler Nicely, 00:17.696[48]; 4. 13-Charlie Mefford, 00:17.714[38]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney, 00:17.739[5]; 6. 35-David Stremme, 00:17.758[30]; 7. 10Y-Trent Young, 00:17.836[31]; 8. 7J-Justin Allgaier, 00:17.841[1]; 9. 36-Kenny Wallace, 00:17.843[4]; 10. 71-Pierce McCarter, 00:17.864[9]; 11. 777-Trevor Neville, 00:17.924[15]; 12. 90-Jason Beaulieu, 00:17.952[13]; 13. 8S-Kyle Strickler, 00:17.955[41]; 14. 114-Jordan Koehler, 00:17.991[8]; 15. 17-Chris Wilson, 00:17.992[33]; 16. 1TS-Tyler Spalding, 00:18.002[37]; 17. 56-Chris Wilson, 00:18.062[49]; 18. 77D-George Dixon, 00:18.069[24]; 19. 66-Adam Wright, 00:18.084[45]; 20. 5B-Bobby Bagley, 00:18.101[25]; 21. 52-Mikey Kopka, 00:18.211[6]; 22. 66F-Cole Falloway, 00:18.244[21]; 23. 01-Aidan Hinds, 00:18.263[20]; 24. 7-Evan Taylor, 00:18.269[2]; 25. 54-Zachary Hawk, 00:18.291[40]; 26. 45H-Kyle Hammer, 00:18.292[14]; 27. 7D-Brad DeYoung, 00:18.299[42]; 28. 78-Rich Pratt, 00:18.312[28]; 29. 99H-Justin Haley, 00:18.313[16]; 30. 70B-Ty Norder, 00:18.323[3]; 31. 99W-Wade Olmsted, 00:18.344[29]; 32. 35H-Michael Altobelli, 00:18.386[23]; 33. 3S-Josh Sanford, 00:18.387[43]; 34. 15X-Justin Stone, 00:18.405[11]; 35. 99-Cole Hilton, 00:18.415[7]; 36. 31G-Stephen Pedulla, 00:18.481[26]; 37. 21C-Drew Charlson, 00:18.492[10]; 38. 60-Jim Manka, 00:18.567[46]; 39. 1H-Ben Harmon, 00:18.621[36]; 40. 60F-Shannon Fisk, 00:18.641[35]; 41. 114K-Evan Koehler, 00:18.684[32]; 42. T9-Zack Tate, 00:18.695[18]; 43. 8-Jimmy Lennex Jr, 00:18.711[12]; 44. 29C-Joey Cotterman, 00:18.825[44]; 45. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt, 00:18.861[27]; 46. (DQ) 72-Todd Neiheiser, 00:18.344[39]; 47. (DNS) 0K-Damian Kiefer; 48. (DNS) 2K-Taylor Kuehl; 49. (DNS) 81K-Kyle Cole

Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 5T-Jonathan Taylor, 00:17.635[27]; 2. K9-Will Krup, 00:17.753[35]; 3. 28B-Jason Brookover, 00:17.853[43]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie, 00:17.927[32]; 5. 21B-Hunter Breland, 00:17.942[8]; 6. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski, 00:17.943[34]; 7. 0-Glenn Styres, 00:17.949[11]; 8. 97-Mitch Thomas, 00:17.959[30]; 9. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 00:17.972[38]; 10. 77B-Ray Bollinger, 00:18.023[39]; 11. 28-Mason Lobb, 00:18.031[28]; 12. 72H-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:18.074[6]; 13. 05-Dave Wietholder, 00:18.085[16]; 14. 17T-Tyler Evans, 00:18.086[46]; 15. 27-Jason Garver, 00:18.101[7]; 16. J82-Treb Jacoby, 00:18.158[3]; 17. 99K-Ray Kable, 00:18.175[5]; 18. 57-Charlie Sandercock, 00:18.190[45]; 19. 114B-Clayton Bryant, 00:18.217[33]; 20. 17X-Richard Michael Jr, 00:18.277[2]; 21. 09-Michael Ledford, 00:18.283[41]; 22. X-Wyatt Scott, 00:18.296[40]; 23. 43A-Mark Anderson, 00:18.298[21]; 24. 51-Dalton Lanich, 00:18.321[17]; 25. 17C-Coleman Evans, 00:18.349[25]; 26. 26-Adam Ogle, 00:18.377[18]; 27. 17W-Mikey Wilson, 00:18.392[15]; 28. 43J-Jacob Hall, 00:18.417[9]; 29. 12L-Lucas Lee, 00:18.422[22]; 30. 9-Ken Schrader, 00:18.453[1]; 31. 155-Peyton Harlow, 00:18.459[31]; 32. 84-Ryan Toole, 00:18.525[19]; 33. 14-Dalton Lane, 00:18.537[12]; 34. 46-Matt Crafton, 00:18.579[14]; 35. 11D-Brian Diveley, 00:18.762[13]; 36. 11-Dylan Drake, 00:18.989[20]; 37. 10X-Billy Uptegraff, 00:19.013[29]; 38. 3G-Bryce Graber, 00:19.019[42]; 39. 77-Jim Shipman, 00:19.169[23]; 40. 3F-Rob Fuqua, 00:19.272[10]; 41. 11N-Gene Nicholas, 00:19.319[48]; 42. 25B-Greg Belyea, 00:19.573[47]; 43. 88-Cody Thornhill, 00:19.616[37]; 44. 55-Blaze Melton, 00:19.650[44]; 45. 00B-Buzzie Reutimann, 00:19.793[24]; 46. T23-Keith Tincher, 00:19.971[36]; 47. (DQ) 1-Eric Kinney II, 00:18.880[26]; 48. (DNS) 81C-Christopher Cole