ROSSBURG, Ohio (Oct. 10) — Ricky Thornton Jr. might not have anything to race for in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship picture anymore. He hasn’t for much of the season, really, having fallen 165 points behind following Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, 390 points back entering June and now 410 points behind with only the season finale remaining.But there’s still a sizable fortune awaiting the 34-year-old at the season finale. As much as $345,000, in fact.That’s the potential haul for the Chandler, Ariz., driver at the Oct. 16-17 Dirt Track World Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway, where a $100,000 winner’s purse, another $120,000 in potential bonuses and a $125,000 fourth-place championship points-fund payout could push Thornton’s total Lucas Oil earnings beyond $670,000.Watch Live2026 Lucas Oil DTWC at West Virginia Motor SpeedwaySuch a windfall would surpass even his 2024 championship season, when he amassed $642,169 on the tour, and would project him to finish as the highest series earner despite being out of the title hunt. For a driver whose championship aspirations unraveled virtually from the outset, that would be quite the consolation prize. And after sweeping Eldora Speedway’s UNOH Clash on the Wabash with $65,000 in purse and bonus money, Thornton couldn’t be entering the lucrative finale with much more momentum.“At least we’re making up a little bit of the money that we’ve lost the car owner all year,” Thornton said. “Hopefully, we can do good the next few weeks and get that down to a minimum. … There’s a lot of money next week, so hopefully we can put our cars in the right area and be good.”The largest bonus at stake is $100,000 through the Big River Steel Bonus Program presented by ARP, a $275,000 incentive program for the top-five Lucas Oil drivers in the standings following Aug. 29’s event at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, rewarding their performances across the season’s final five crown jewel races. Thornton trails Devin Moran by 20 points in the bonus standings entering the finale.Thornton, meanwhile, leads Moran by 15 points in the Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup, a separate season-long points competition among Lucas Oil regulars at events paying at least $50,000 to win. The Crown Jewel Cup champion earns $15,000, while another $5,000 awaits the highest-finishing eligible Lucas Oil driver in the DTWC through the Big River Steel Bonus Program.Thornton is among the few national touring drivers yet to compete on the shortened third-mile layout at WVMS in Mineral Wells, W.Va., which hosted the World of Outlaws Late Model Series on June 12-13 and the Hillbilly Hundred last month.But considering his recent surge — a sterling 2.5 average finish over his last 11 features and semifeatures — he’s arguably the most consistent driver in the country right now and figures to be a formidable threat regardless of his unfamiliarity with the track.If anything, Thornton sure wishes the Lucas Oil season had a
