Thornton stars at Central Arizona 

By Lonnie Wheatley CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 22) – Ricky Thornton, Jr., finished off a sweep of Central Arizona Speedway’s seventh annual Desert Thunder Nationals, thundering to victory lane in Sunday afternoon’s 25-lap IMCA Modified feature event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval. Thornton, already on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot, had topped $1,000 to win features on Friday and Saturday leading up to Sunday’s $3,000 checkers and denying brother Jeremy the win in the process. Ricky Thornton Jr. spent the first half of the race chasing Jeremy Thornton before working his way into the lead on the 14th round.  He led the field the rest of the way with Jeremy Thornton fending off Jake O’Neill for runner-up honors and 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.  While Thornton completed the trifecta, Bo Partain foiled a second consecutive Cody Thompson sweep attempt in the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod ranks. Bo Partain gunned into the lead at the [Read More]

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Jan. 21) – Winning the first feature of the night helped Zachary Madrid win the last one. Madrid was a double winner in the 2022 lidlifter at Central Arizona Speedway, topping both the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event and the IMCA Modified headliner. While he’s won two IMCA features twice on the same night before at other venues, Friday marked the first time he accomplished the feat at Casa Grande.  “The track was heavy. Running the Stock Car feature first helped me a ton figuring out where to run and what line I should follow in the Modified,” Madrid said. “I ran high in (turns) three and four, the middle to bottom in one and two, and wherever I could to get through traffic.” He crossed the stripe ahead of Scott Sluka and Eric Lloyd in the Stock Car feature. Jacob Pace and Kelsie Foley ran 2-3 in the Modified finale. “Everything worked out for us pretty good,” said Madrid, who earned Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility along with the [Read More]

By Mike Spieker CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Feb. 12) – He already has wins at many of IMCA’s biggest events on his resume. Ricky Thornton Jr. added another when he took the $1,500 Karl Performance Arizona IMCA Modified Tour checkers Monday night at Central Arizona Speedway. Thornton started outside of row two and quickly made his way to the front. By lap four of 25 circuits, Thornton had reeled in leader Ryan Gaylord. Thornton executed a perfect slide job in turns three and four to take the lead while Casey Arneson ran within striking distance in third. Once out front, Thornton set sail and checked out from the field throughout the remainder of the caution-free main event. Further back in the top five, Arneson and Hunter Marriott, battled for third. The door opened for Marriott when Arneson pushed up the track in turn two. Marriott took the position and set his sights on Gaylord for the runner-up spot. Marriott quickly erased Gaylord’s advantage but had trouble maneuvering by the no. 7R in lapped traffic. With six to [Read More]