Thornton Defeats Sheppard to Secure Second Straight Farmer City 74

admin | May 10, 2025

FARMER CITY, IL (May 9, 2025) – Reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion and current points leader, Ricky Thornton Jr., passed Brandon Sheppard for the lead on lap 66 and went on to win the Farmer City 74 on Friday at Farmer City Raceway. The win marked his second consecutive victory in the annual May race, as the Chandler, Arizona native earned $25,000 for his seventh series win of 2025.

Sheppard, who led the first 65 laps from his pole starting position, finished in second, 1.177 seconds behind the winner. Hudson O’Neal earned the Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race, coming from his 17th starting position to round out the Big River Steel Podium in third. Brian Shirley, who ran in second for the first 27 laps of the race, finished in fourth, with Devin Moran rounding out the top five drivers.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 49th time in his career, Thornton stalked Sheppard for several laps before he could finally take the lead with nine laps to go.

“Honestly, moving the tires back out in one and two. Once they did, I was kind of mad. I was like it’s really going to kill this middle, but actually it let the track clean up a little bit. I started working around the top in turns one and two, and I was like man if I could ever get a good run, I am going to slide him. I got to him twice, and I’m like I am not going to clear him, and then I really got a good run when he got bottled up in traffic. I went for it and luckily I cleared him.”

Sheppard was left wondering what could have been, as he was in control for most of the race and came home in second.

“Leading that race there, I was just kind of running the line I always run here. I wasn’t moving around at all. I was just trying to maintain my own pace and try to get away from them, but my crew showed me they were getting closer. When they moved the tires out in one and two that kind of messed me up a little bit, but I still felt I was getting through there o.k., and now we have the right rear tire about half flat. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it or not. He (Thornton) definitely found the better part of the track there late in the race in three and four.”

O’Neal, who charged through the field from the inside of row seven, couldn’t get close in the final laps to make a bid for the win.

“We rode around in the back for a long time until the race track really started to slow down, and we could move around a little bit, and that’s when I really started passing cars. Thankfully, we had a lot of restarts, and that helped tremendously, and I was just able to get one or two every restart, and right there at the end, I felt like I had a shot to get up there and mix it up with them. I was on Sheppard’s back bumper, and then it got kind of lane dominant down in three. I tried to get a run going into one, but I just had to fall in line.”

The winner’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine is sponsored by Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Elite Ready Mix, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Knight’s Companies, Capital Waste, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, EMD Wraps, and Certified Inspection Services.

Tyler Erb, Jonathan Davenport, Dennis Erb Jr., Ethan Dotson, and Garrett Alberson completed the top ten.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Farmer City 74
Friday, May 9, 2025
Farmer City Raceway – Farmer City, IL

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard | 12.423 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Brian Shirley | 12.806 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 4. 25F-Jason Feger[5]; 5. 79-Donald McIntosh[7]; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 7. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]; 9. 55-Jeep VanWormer[8]; 10. 6-Clay Harris[11]; 11. 62-Randy Shuman[9]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 3. 2-Cody Overton[3]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[5]; 5. 24-Ryan Unzicker[6]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 7. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 8. 122-Timmy Dick[8]; 9. 81-Jason Riggs[9]; 10. 7S-Morgan Staggs[11]; 11. 11-Gordy Gundaker[10]

Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 6. 89-Mike Spatola[9]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 8. 31-Tyler Millwood[11]; 9. 09-Michael Leach[8]; 10. 17A-Austin Howes[10]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 3. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 5. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 6. 75-Mike McKinney[7]; 7. 5S-Kyle Hammer[6]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[9]; 9. 1W-Donny Walden[11]; 10. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 11. 10N-Rob Sanders[10]

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 79-Donald McIntosh[1]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker[2]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 5. 122-Timmy Dick[8]; 6. 55-Jeep VanWormer[9]; 7. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 8. 6-Clay Harris[11]; 9. 7S-Morgan Staggs[12]; 10. (DNF) 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 11. (DNF) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[7]; 12. (DNF) 62-Randy Shuman[13]; 13. (DNS) 11-Gordy Gundaker; 14. (DNS) 81-Jason Riggs

UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 2. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 3. 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[5]; 5. 75-Mike McKinney[4]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[9]; 7. 31-Tyler Millwood[7]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[8]; 9. 5S-Kyle Hammer[6]; 10. 17A-Austin Howes[11]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[13]; 12. 1W-Donny Walden[10]; 13. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[12]; 14. 10N-Rob Sanders[14]

Farmer City 74 Feature Finish (74 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay
1 – 3 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $26,200
2 – 1 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $10,800
3 – 17 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $6,800
4 – 2 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $4,000
5 – 9 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $4,500
6 – 6 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $2,700
7 – 4 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $3,600
8 – 16 – 28 – Dennis Erb Jr – Carpentersville, IL – $2,300
9 – 15 – 74X – Ethan Dotson – Bakersfield, CA – $2,200
10 – 23 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,800
11 – 19 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – $2,800
12 – 14 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $1,900
13 – 11 – 2 – Cody Overton – Thomson, GA – $1,800
14 – 18 – 22* – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $1,700
15 – 24 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $2,300
16 – 10 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,200
17 – 13 – 25F – Jason Feger – Bloomington, IL – $1,500
18 – 25 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $800
19 – 20 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – $2,200
20 – 12 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $2,200
21 – 5 – 18 – Shannon Babb – Moweaqua, IL – $1,500
22 – 22 – 89 – Mike Spatola – Manhattan, IL – $1,500
23 – 21 – 24 – Ryan Unzicker – El Paso, IL – $1,500
24 – 26 – 1W – Donny Walden – Towanda, IL – $1,500
25 – 8 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $1,500
26 – 7 – 32 – Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – $1,500

Race Statistics
Entrants: 44
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Brandon Sheppard
MD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1-65); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 66-74)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Brandon Sheppard
Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Margin of Victory: 1.177 seconds
Coltman Farms Racing Cautions: Spencer Hughes (Lap 22); Carson Ferguson (Lap 26); Debris (Lap 27); Spencer Hughes (Lap 35); Bobby Pierce (Lap 36); Debris (Lap 46); Ryan Unzicker (Lap 50)
Series Provisionals: Garrett Alberson; Daulton Wilson
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisional: Daniel Hilsabeck
Track Provisional: Donny Walden
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal
Penske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Brian Shirley, Devin Moran
PEM 4th Place Feature: Brian Shirley
DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Devin Moran
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Jonathan Davenport
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Donald McIntosh
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Cody Overton
MD3 24th Place Feature: Donny Walden
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Hudson O’Neal (Advanced 14 Positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (65 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntosh
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Lap 4 | 14.077 seconds)
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Fresh Roof Hard Luck Award: Spencer Hughes
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Zach Frields
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jonathan Davenport (12.407 seconds)
Time of Race: 41 minutes 24 seconds

Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:
Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Pay
1 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 2835 – $152,000
2 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 2720 – $137,849
3 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 2585 – $83,500
4 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2390 – $49,950
5 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 2355 – $56,050
6 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 2325 – $49,675
7 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 2230 – $45,300
8 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – 2215 – $43,550
9 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – 2035 – $30,100
10 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 1965 – $30,075
11 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 1940 – $21,850
12 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – 1890 – $24,350
13 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – 1875 – $20,900
14 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 1700 – $15,750
15 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 1645 – $18,150
16 – 7 – Ross Robinson – Georgetown, DE – 1555 – $20,300
17 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 1510 – $9,775