Ricky Thornton, Jr., Finishes Off Desert Thunder Nationals Sweep in Sunday Finale at Central Arizona Speedway
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (November 22, 2020) – Ricky Thornton, Jr., finished off a sweep of Central Arizona Speedway’s three-day Seventh Annual Desert Thunder Nationals by thundering to victory lane in Sunday afternoon’s 25-lap IMCA Modified feature event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval.
While Thornton, Jr., completed the trifecta, Bo Partain foiled a second consecutive Cody Thompson sweep attempt in the IMCA Modified ranks with Donald Comstock besting the Pure Stocks while Shon Deskins and Tuesday Calderwood claimed victory honors in the Power 600 Micro Sprints.
In the IMCA Modified portion, Ricky Thornton, Jr., completed a sweep of the three-day Desert Thunder Nationals by winning Sunday afternoon’s 25-lap finale, denying his brother the win in the process.
Thornton, Jr., spent the first half of the race chasing his brother Jeremy Thornton before working his way into the lead on the 14th round. Ricky Thornton, Jr., led the field the rest of the way with Jeremy Thornton fending off Jake O’Neill for runner-up honors with Jeff Larson and Austin Kuehl rounding out the top five.
“It’s pretty awesome to run one-two,” Thornton, Jr., said of sibling sweep of the top two positions.
Bo Partain gunned into the lead at the outset of the 25-lap IMCA Modified feature and led throughout after fighting off a late-race restart challenge from Illinois’ Austen Becerra. Becerra settled for runner-up honors with Speedy Madrid in the show position.
Vying for a second consecutive Desert Thunder Nationals three-day sweep, Cody Thompson fell three spots short in his rally from 22nd to fourth with Shelby Alves rounding out the top five.
“It was a new car we brought out Friday night and had a few bugs, we had a good car last night and went back to the drawing board and it worked out,” Partain commented in victory lane.
Donald Comstock worked his way past Friday night winner Nelson Morrow in the early stages of the 20-lap Pure Stock feature and then held off the charges of Jack Lacy, taking the win by mere inches as the checkered flag flew with Steve Shumaker, Virgil McArthur and Andy Wheat filling out the top five.
In Power 600 Micro Sprint action on the inner oval, Shon Deskins improved one position from his Saturday night runner-up finish to take the Sunday afternoon win ahead of R.J. Johnson and Chris Rahe with Cameron La Rose crossing the stripe in fourth after topping the opening two legs of Desert Thunder Nationals action. In the Restricted division, Tuesday Calderwood became the third different winner of the weekend by taking the checkered flag ahead of Corbin Rueschenberg and Elijah Gile.
Central Arizona Speedway – November 22, 2020 Seventh Annual Desert Thunder Nationals Day Three Results:
IMCA Modifieds:
Heat One: 1. 0-Jake O’Neill, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 118-Jesse Patterson, 4. 82-Easton Whistler, 5. 8m-Doug Meeks, 6. 5w-Wes Meeks, 7. 93-Kelly Johnson, 8. 18ak-Bob Jauhola, 9. 82sb-Sherman Barnett.
Heat Two: 1. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 2. B1-Jeff Larson, 3. 19sb-Lance Mari, 4. 71s-Brent Schlafmann, 5. 15-Chris Carroll, 6. 93ar-Anthony Smith, 7. 2x-Roy Poeling, 8. 15s-William Sclocum.
Heat Three: 1. 44T-Tanner Black, 2. 75-Spencer Wilson, 3. 75jr-Chaz Baca, 4. 5m-Zachary Madrid, 5. 12a-Matt Aukland, 6. 18jr-Ricardo Olague, Jr., 7. 5-Jeff Taylor, 8. 61-Chad Stevens.
Heat Four: 1. 99-Shawn Strand, 2. 18jt-Jeremy Thornton, 3. 27-Mark Carrell, 4. 6-Eric Center, 5. 10s-Rick Spencer II, 6. 55ak-Scott Sluka, 7. 89-Tony Steward, 8. 02-Kobe Lamasney.
Heat Five: 1. 44k-Kelsie Foley, 2. 44-Christy Barnett, 3. 55b-Mike Brandon, 4. 23c-Chuck Grohnke, 5. M22-Sean Stacy, 6. 4x-Dalon Helm, 7. 157-Joel King, 8. 30-Adam Fischer (DNS).
“B” Main One: 1. 8m-Doug Meeks, 2. 5-Jeff Taylor, 3. M22-Sean Stacy, 4. 55ak-Scott Sluka, 5. 93-Kelly Johnson, 6. 82sb-Sherman Barnett, 7. 15s-William Slocum, 8. 93ar-Anthony Smith, 9. 02-Kobe Lamasney, 10. 157-Joel King.
“B” Main Two: 1. 15-Chris Carroll, 2. 10s-Rick Spencer II, 3. 2x-Roy Poeling, 4. 61-Chad Stevens, 5. 89-Tony Steward, 6. 18ak-Bob Jauhola, 7. 4x-Dalon Helm, 8. 18jr-Richard Olague, Jr., 9. 5w-Wes Meeks, 10. 30-Adam Fischer.
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 18jr-Jeremy Thornton, 3. 0-Jake O’Neill, 4. B1-Jeff Larson, 5. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 6. 19sb-Lance Mari, 7. 99-Shawn Strand, 8. 75-Spencer Wilson, 9. 10s-Rick Spencer II, 10. 5-Jeff Taylor, 11. 71s-Brent Schlafmann, 12. 118-Jesse Patterson, 13. 23c-Chuck Grohnke, 14. 8m-Doug Meeks, 15. 44-Christy Barnett, 16. 44T-Tanner Black, 17. 6-Eric Center, 18. 5m-Zachary Madrid, 19. 15-Chris Carroll, 20. 75jr-Chaz Baca, 21. 44k-Kelsie Foley, 22. 82-Easton Whistler, 23. 27-Mark Carrell, 24. 55b-Mike Brandon.
IMCA Sport Modifieds:
Heat One: 1. 5-Ron Schreiner, 2. 15-Speedy Madrid, 3. 99-Adam Echter, 4. 1s-Shelby Alves, 5. 56b-Sheyne Bradley, 6. 06-Rex Hasley, 7. 17z-Luke Silber.
Heat Two: 1. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 2. 22-Austen Becerra, 3. 69-Jackie Frye, 4. ZERO-Darin Center, 5. 69x-Marcos Bojorquez, 6. 303-Kyler Reynolds, 7. 10x-Michael Soboski (DNS).
Heat Three: 1. 79J-Joey Jock, 2. 06w-Michael Wrightsman, 3. 8-Drew Costa, 4. 85jr-Brian Bullis, 5. 7x-Casey Murdoch, 6. 25c-Cody Thompson, 7. 8w-Dylan Newberg.
Heat Four: 1. 11-Wes Meeks, Jr., 2. 75c-Bo Partain, 3. 111-J.J. McCarty, 4. 316-Brandyn Johnson, 5. 0-Dakota Girard, 6. 53-Scott Walker, 7. 45m-Eric Murphy.
Heat Five: 1. 3-Terry Belcher, Jr., 2. 14e-Justin Erickson, 3. 100-Crystal Hemphill, 4. 83g-Gerry Glenn, 5. 22x-Bryan Miller, 6. 12rh-Robert Holmes, 7. 7-Scott Kepner.
“B” Main: 1. 56b-Sheyne Bradley, 2. 25c-Cody Thompson, 3. 0-Dakota Girard, 4. 69x-Marcos Bojorquez, 5. 303-Kyler Reynolds, 6. 12rh-Robert Holmes, 7. 7x-Casey Murdoch, 8. 53-Scott Walker, 9. 8w-Dylan Newberg, 10. 22x-Bryan Miller, 11. 45m-Eric Murphy, 12. 7-Scott Kepner, 13. 17z-Luke Silber, 14. 06-Rex Hasley.
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 75c-Bo Partain, 2. 22-Austin Becerra, 3. 15-Speedy Madrid, 4. 25c-Cody Thompson, 5. 1s-Shelby Alves, 6. 5-Ron Schreiner, 7. 111-J.J. McCarty, 8. 99-Adam Echter, 9. ZERO-Darin Center, 10. 100-Crystal Hemphill, 11. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 12. 83g-Gerry Glenn, 13. 316-Brandyn Johnson, 14. 69x-Marcos Bojorquez, 15. 85jr-Brian Bullis, 16. 79J-Joey Jock, 17. 8-Drew Costa, 18. 14e-Justin Erickson, 19. 0-Dakota Girard, 20. 56b-Sheyne Bradley, 21. 3-Terry Belcher, Jr., 22. 06w-Michael Wrightsman, 23. 69-Jackie Frye, 24. 11-Wes Meeks, Jr.
Pure Stocks:
Heat One: 1. 44s-Steve Shumaker, 2. 7x-Casey Murdoch, 3. 47-Virgil McArthur, 4. 33-Andy Wheat, 5. 51r-Ross Krajack, 6. 9-Don Stersuteel, 7. 505-Brittany Manson, 8. 87J-Jared Wilson.
Heat Two: 1. 01-Nelson Morrow, 2. 28-Donald Comstock, 3. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 4. 2jr-Jack Lacy, 5. 25jr-Albert Saenz, Jr., 6. 124-Bud Marshall, 7. 82-Clay Arseneau, 8. 16b-Richard Bennett, 9. 53-Ricky Thornton, Sr.
“A” Main: 1. 28-Donald Comstock, 2. 2jr-Jack Lacy, 3. 44s-Steve Shumaker, 4. 47-Virgil McArthur, 5. 33-Andy Wheat, 6. 7x-Casey Murdoch, 7. 16b-Richard Bennett, 8. 51r-Ross Krajack, 9. 505-Brittany Manson, 10. 124-Bud Marshall, 11. 01-Nelson Morrow, 12. 87J-Jared Wilson, 13. 25jr-Albert Saenz, Jr., 14. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 15. 53-Ricky Thornton, Sr., 16. 82-Clay Arseneau, 17. 9-Don Stersuteel.
Power 600 Non-Wing Micro Sprints:
Heat One: 1. 43e-Eddie Hamblin, 2. 33-Rowdy Ladd, 3. 05-Josh Spatola, 4. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg, 5. 35-Logan Calderwood, 6. 06-Matt Sanchez.
Heat Two: 1. 24-R.J. Johnson, 2. 52-Cameron La Rose, 3. 36-Tuesday Calderwood, 4. 88g-Grant Schaadt, 5. 7J-Jacob Kirchoff, 6. 21x-George Zills.
Heat Three: 1. 20-Shon Deskins, 2. 3x-Chris Rahe, 3. 15d-Dylan Schaadt, 4. 8-Jake Branum, 5. 8x-Dylan Beal.
“A” Main: 1. 20-Shon Deskins, 2. 24-R.J. Johnson, 3. 3x-Chris Rahe, 4. 52-Cameron La Rose, 5. 05-Josh Spatola, 6. 33-Rowdy Ladd, 7. 88g-Grant Schaadt, 8. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg, 9. 35-Logan Calderwood, 10. 43e-Eddie Hamblin, 11. 7J-Jacob Kirchoff, 12. 8x-Dylan Beal, 13. 06-Matt Sanchez, 14. 15d-Dylan Schaadt, 15. 8-Jake Branum, 16. 36-Tuesday Calderwood, 17. 21x-George Zills.
Power 600 Restricted Micro Sprints:
Heat One: 1. 78-Brody Wake, 2. 7J-J.W. Henderson, 3. 1-Casey Bauman, 4. 13-Elijah Gile, 5. 16-Connor Jacobs, 6. 28-Mike Gile, Jr., 7. L8-Ethan Stevens.
Heat Two: 1. 36-Tuesday Calderwood, 2. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg, 3. 75T-Tyler Johnson, 4. 7-Jesse Johnson, 5. 99-Justin Spears, 6. 24-Hudson Storment.
“A” Main: 1. 36-Tuesday Calderwood, 2. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg, 3. 13-Elijah Gile, 4. 7J-J.W. Henderson, 5. 75T-Tyler Johnson, 6. 78-Brody Wake, 7. 28-Mick Gile, Jr., 8. 16-Connor Jacobs, 9. 7-Jesse Johnson, 10. 1-Casey Bauman, 11. 99-Justin Spears, 12. L8-Ethan Stevens, 13. 24-Hudson Storment (DNS).
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley, Central Arizona Speedway PR