After a wild Show-Me 100, Moran declared race winner after Thornton’s post-race DQ

 

WHEATLAND, MO. (May 27, 2023) – The 31st annual Show-Me 100 Presented by Missouri Division of Tourism was wild and crazy, rough and tumble and had post-race controversy.

 

They’ll certainly be talking about this one for a while.

 

Devin Moran, second under the checkers, was declared the victor when apparent race-winner Ricky Thornton Jr. was disqualified in post-race inspection.

 

“What the hell?” Moran asked in victory lane after claiming the $50,000 first prize. “This is like the best, worst win of my life. I just won the frickin’ Show-Me 100 and $50,000, but Ricky was the best car in the field.”

 

Moran, of Dresden, Ohio, claimed the win in his SSI Motorsports Longhorn chassis after he finished just under one second behind Thornton. But a few moments later, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series officials announced that Thornton’s car was in violation of the “droop rule” regarding the height of the rear deck.

 

Tim McCreadie wound up officially in second with Spencer Hughes third, defending champion Chris Ferguson fourth and local favorite 19-year-old Dillon McCowan of Urbana was fifth.

 

Thornton, of Martinsville, Ind., led the final 43 laps in a race that turned into survival of the fittest with 13 caution flags and a track that had plenty of character – especially over the final half of the event.

 

Asked how long it was going to take for it to set in that he was a Show-Me 100 champion, Moran shook his head.

 

“I have no idea,” Moran said. “There might be an asterisk by it, but it’s gonna pay 50 grand one way or the other, so we’re gonna take it. And we’re gonna drink some beer tonight.”

 

The Ricky Thornton Jr. Facebook page posted afterward: “3/8th of an inch high on droop after the left rear chain broke. A $50,000 win taken away for less than half an inch after a parts failure on THAT track. sickening.”

 

The biggest question coming into the event was if anyone could beat Jonathan Davenport this week at Lucas Oil Speedway. Davenport started alongside Thornton on the front row and led the first 58 laps – after leading every lap in winning preliminary features.

 

Davenport survived nine caution flags to lead the first 58 laps in a race that took 50 minutes to complete 50 laps. Thornton pulled alongside Davenport on lap 54, but couldn’t complete the pass. The duo traded sliders the next time around with Davenport still hanging onto the point as Hughes watched from third.

 

Finally, for the first time this week, Davenport lost the lead as Thornton edged past on the inside out of turn four on lap 58. This was after Davenport had led 142 of 142 laps including the two preliminary night features.

 

Thornton, by contrast, had picked up 29 positions on Thursday and Friday. He was able to weave through lapped traffic to open a nearly one-second lead over Davenport by lap 66.

 

Then came caution No. 10 for a slowing Hudson O’Neal in turn two. O’Neal, the 2021 winner, had rallied from 20th to as high as sixth and was in eighth when he lost power.

 

Thornton was able to open up a 2.7-second lead by lap 72 as Davenport had a similar cushion over third-place Hughes. Davenport started to close the gap in lapped traffic, getting within one second by lap 79.

 

Davenport slipped way high in turn four on lap 83, almost hitting the wall. The cost him dearly as Thornton’s lead expanded to 5.3 seconds – or about a full straightaway’s margin.

 

By lap 90, it was a runaway as Thornton led by seven seconds as Davenport’s handling went away. Overton rode into second, but it appeared all Thornton’s race by then. But Chad Simpson hit the backstretch wall on lap 96 to bring out the caution and wipe out Thornton’s 5.3-second lead over Overton. That set up a four-lap shootout to determine the outcome.

 

They were unable to get a lap finished after the restart as Overton hit the wall while battling with Moran out of turn four.

 

“I drove like an idiot and wrecked the 76,” Moran said. “I’ll probably get a black eye when we get back to the pits, but the hell with it. We won the race, I guess.”

 

That sent Davenport back to second for the restart with Moran third and Hughes fourth. Davenport slowed on lap 98, apparently running out of fuel to bring out the 13th caution. Davenport, the 2015 winner, limped to the pits and settled for a 10th-place finish.

 

Thornton was able to hold on during the green-white-checkered finish and beat Moran to the checkers by .904 seconds. The race took one hour, 19 minutes to complete.

 

Then came the fateful trip to the tech building and Moran’s unsuspecting trip to victory lane.

 

“I want to thank Kevin Rumley and all of Longhorn,” Moran said of the renowned engineer from North Carolina and the chassis he was driving. “Our crew has worked their (butts) off. We’ve worked as many hours as you could imagine this week.”

 

McCreadie said he felt fortunate to win up second and pocket $20,000. His car jumped the cushion and he fell back to eighth on the restart that saw Moran and Overton’s incident bring out the caution.

 

“Another hip check and there it was, another guy stuck in the boards,” McCreadie said, using a hockey analogy. “We just do our best, we got some luck and we’ll take it. It’s a shame what happened to Ricky.”

 

Ferguson rallied from 16th to fourth, finding a different sort of race track that in his victory a year ago. He also was able to walk away feeling good, all things considered.

 

“We’re pretty happy. The crew has worked their butts off this weekend after we threw this car together in a couple of days,” Ferguson said. “We’d have loved to have seen that cushion go down a lot faster. I’m just blessed to be up here on the front stretch again.

 

“Congratulations to Devin. I know he’s been looking for a win like this for a while. I’m happy to see him get it. I hate it for Ricky. Any time the track is rough like that, you’re gonna have stuff happen. It was a good race, though. I know the fans thought it was exciting coming out of four there a couple of times”

 

McCowan, who was a Show-Me 100 spectator sitting in the grandstand two years ago and competing in a USRA Modified at the even in 2022, was overjoyed with his finish. He started sixth, fell back to 13th for a time and rallied late while staying out of trouble.

 

“It was awesome,” McCowan said of his weekend. “I couldn’t have scripted it out any better. I just wanted to make the show and not get lapped. This is pretty crazy It was a fun race. The track had a lot of character.”

Category: Missouri