{"id":2653,"date":"2024-10-30T10:56:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T14:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldofoutlawsworldfinals.com\/?p=2653"},"modified":"2024-10-30T12:14:58","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T16:14:58","slug":"all-dirt-roads-ricky-thornton-jr-making-world-of-outlaws-sprint-car-debut-pulling-double-duty-at-world-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldofoutlawsworldfinals.com\/news\/all-dirt-roads-ricky-thornton-jr-making-world-of-outlaws-sprint-car-debut-pulling-double-duty-at-world-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"ALL DIRT ROADS: Ricky Thornton Jr. Making World of Outlaws Sprint Car Debut, Pulling Double Duty at World Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
Scanning the World of Outlaws World Finals<\/em> Sprint Car entry list you\u2019ll find a 10-time champion, a history-making rookie, the leading open-wheel drivers in the country and Ricky Thornton Jr.<\/p>\n The recent national Late Model champion will attempt to make his World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series debut at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Nov. 6-9, piloting Bernie Stuebgen\u2019s Indy Race Parts No. 71.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always something I wanted to do, just never had the right opportunity,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cI was fortunate enough to go test for three days, two of them at Charlotte. It\u2019ll help my learning curve a lot. Obviously, not being in dirty air, there\u2019s still a lot I\u2019ll have to learn. I feel like we\u2019re doing what we can to be as prepared as we can before World Finals.\u201d<\/p>\n Thornton\u2019s connection with Stuebgen stemmed from happenstance when the two parked next to each other during a race night two years ago. They kept in touch and waited for the right opportunity to work together.<\/p>\n Enter, 2024.<\/p>\n With his Late Model program in a place he was happy with, Thornton and Stuebgen targeted World Finals<\/em> as the site of their debut. However, with rain washing out one of Thornton\u2019s Late Model weekends, the duo decided to jump into an event at Lernerville Speedway. They didn\u2019t qualify for the Features, but the experience gave Thornton a better idea of what he\u2019ll be walking into at Charlotte.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing is a lot of like the way the car drives,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cWatching it and how the car feels in the seat, I feel, is completely different. Just figuring out that dirty air. Dirty air is big in the Late Model, but it is just as big in the Sprint Car, where if you lose air on the nose or lose air on the top wing\u2026 there\u2019s just a lot I had to learn in a really quick time. Where at least now, I feel a little more confident going to Charlotte, what I should do and what I should absolutely not do.\u201d<\/p>\n Thornton has only made four starts at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in a Late Model, but his last two saw him in Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models. They\u2019re two victories he\u2019ll try to defend as Thornton will also be pulling double duty all four nights, jumping back and forth the between the Sprint Car and the Koehler Motorsports No. 20RT Late Model.<\/p>\n