Arizona racer finds groove to earn $20K at speedway

A good time was had by all in a week of modified racing at Batesville Motor Speedway in the inaugural Race for Hope 74, which concluded Saturday with the 74-lap main event.

Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., won Saturday night’s event in front of a near capacity crowd, collecting $20,000 after holding off Kyle Strickler of Mooresville, N.C., for the victory.

In a division of racing where most winner’s purses are measured in hundreds, not thousands, of dollars, the event drew drivers from across the nation. That was thanks mostly to a lucrative payback in the feature: Seventh place paid $10,000 and every driver in the finale pocketed at least $2,000.

“It’s definitely the top of the list,” Thornton told imca. tv when asked where the victory ranks in his career. “It’s by far the most money I’ve ever won.”

Afterward, track promoter Mooney Starr and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin — whose Mark and Arlene Martin Hope for Arkansas Foundation presented the event — said the race would return next year from Sept. 24-29.

“I came from right here,” said Martin, whose racing career began in 1974 on the same site where Batesville

Motor Speedway sits. “I’m one of these guys. I want them to know that. I wanted to put something together that they could be proud of … get a big check, get a bunch of big checks, really. I’d like for this to be the Daytona 500 for mods.”

Starr said while he had hoped for a bigger car count — 107 drivers took part, but he had hoped for around 300 — he still thinks it was a success.

“Financially, no,” he said, chuckling. “But the racers loved it, and I’m proud that they loved the race track. Very disappointing car count, but I’m sure the car count will go way up when they hear how good the racing was all week.”

Thornton, who finished second in Thursday night’s preliminary feature to qualify for the main event, said he accidentally discovered a groove on the track early in the race that allowed him to take the lead.

“I kind of messed up and slipped too high, and I found a little rubber,” he said. “That let me get by Justin Kay and Kyle Strickler. Once I got the lead and we kept having yellows, I knew if I hit my marks, I’d be OK.

“I was running really hard, but I actually got faster when I calmed myself down and started running slow. Once I did that, the car really took off.”

Strickler took second and late model regular Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., was third. Kay, of Wheatland, Iowa, was fourth and Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., fin- ished fifth.

Desha’s Peyton Taylor was the highest finishing Arkan- san in sixth after starting 14th. Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, finished seventh and Cave City’s Jeff Taylor, Peyton’s older brother, was eighth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jason Beaubieu of Campbell River, British Columbia, and Brian Mullen of Seymour, Wis.