PORT ROYAL, Pa. — For the second consecutive year, Ricky Thornton Jr. went to victory lane in the Battle in the Borough at Port Royal Speedway on Sunday night.
The reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion claimed the annual spring race at “The Speed Palace,” earning $10,000 for his sixth series win of 2025.
Jonathan Davenport, who led the first 14 laps of the 40-lap race, finished second with Devin Moran third. Garrett Alberson was fourth and Gregg Satterlee completed the top five drivers.
Davenport took the lead at the start of the race, with Alberson holding down the second spot early on. Alberson stayed in second until Thornton, who started third, wrestled the second spot away from him on lap 11.
A caution on lap 14 would change the race’s complexion. On the lap 15 restart, Thornton would dive to the inside of Davenport heading into turn three. Once in front, Thornton would start to pull away from Davenport and Alberson.
A caution with 32 laps complete would set up an eight-lap dash to finish. Thornton would again pull away to win by 3.6 seconds over Davenport as he took the checkers first for the second night in a row after winning the Conococheague 50 at Hagerstown on Saturday night.
“What a race car that was. I told the guys when we got here earlier that I felt like the race would be won around the middle,” Thornton said. “We just kept working to get a little better there in the heat race, those last couple of laps. I was fortunate enough to be able to move around a little bit and figure out what we needed to run. Obviously, those yellows helped me big time. I don’t think JD knew how good the bottom was getting into three,” said the Chandler, Arizona driver.
“Once the middle kind of cleaned up, you could start rolling again. I am probably thankful I wasn’t the leader at that point because I could move around and see what worked best. I feel like we are slowly getting better. A little fine tune could be your make or break, and luckily tonight it was good for us.”
Davenport completed his best finish of the weekend with his runner-up performance after leading the field for the first 14 laps of the race.
“We need to do a lot to contend with Ricky,” said the three-time series champion who is seeking a record tying fourth championship. “We was lucky enough to hang on for second. His car is really good right now, and we are just chasing him for sure. I was tight and loose at the same time, just depends on how the run went. The longer we went, the tighter I got. We started off a little free. I guess it’s just a balance issue. We have to go back and work on it some more. “
Moran maintains second place in the points coming into next weekend’s series races in Indiana and Kentucky.
“Without a doubt, it was a good weekend, we wish we were standing up there like we did on Friday night at Georgetown. I wasn’t very good at the start of the race. I was in a little bit of dirty air, and the track was a little dirty where they watered it, so it just took a little while to get going. On that long green flag run, I thought the car was really good. I actually could see Ricky and JD up there, so I knew I was making good time. But all-in-all, a great night for us for sure, every win matters this year, so Ricky is clicking them off the last couple of nights, but at least we got one on Friday night.”
The finish:
Feature (40 laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 5. 22G-Gregg Satterlee[5]; 6. 93-Carson Ferguson[10]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 8. 72-Michael Norris[6]; 9. 71-Hudson O’Neal[23]; 10. 24-Rick Eckert[13]; 11. 76-Brandon Overton[18]; 12. 4-Gary Stuhler[22]; 13. 2J-Justin Weaver[16]; 14. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[19]; 15. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 16. 1C-Alex Ferree[15]; 17. 79-Donald McIntosh[7]; 18. 18D-Daulton Wilson[17]; 19. 19M-Spencer Hughes[24]; 20. 6-Clay Harris[27]; 21. 48-Colton Flinner[21]; 22. 60-Dan Ebert[26]; 23. 21-Chad Myers[20]; 24. 66C-Matt Cosner[28]; 25. 22*-Drake Troutman[11]; 26. 7-Ross Robinson[25]; 27. D19-Dillan Stake[14]; 28. 1-Brandon Sheppard[12]
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