Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader and Dirt Late Model star Ricky Thornton Jr. will jump onto the pavement Wednesday night, August 14 for Wednesday Night Thunder at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.  

“RTJ” has gathered experience in a Midget over the past couple years, mostly at the Chili Bowl Nationals, where he has made it into a Saturday night B-Main for each of the past two years. He also made a USAC National Midget start with Keith Kunz Motorsports one month ago at Jefferson County Speedway. However, Wednesday night at IRP will be his first Midget start on pavement.

Thornton currently leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in wins in 2024 with 11. Along with Lucas Oil, he’s also the points leader with Castrol FloRacing Night in America. Away from Late Model competition, he also won the $250,000 Stock Car Challenge at Clay County Fair Speedway in May, taking home the winner’s share of $25,000, beating out over 100 cars in the process.

He joins a star-studded field that includes the likes of seven-time USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson, past IRP Midget winner Bobby Santos and Jake Trainor, USAC Triple Crown champion Jerry Coons Jr., USAC Silver Crown winner Kaylee Bryson and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Sammy Swindell.

Wednesday Night Thunder just got LOUDER! The High Performance Lubricants Midget All Star Spectacular joins us Aug. 14th with stars from across motorsports. This unique race will feature FOCUS/EcoTech's battling it! PLUS a 30-Lap feature w/National Pavement Midgets. pic.twitter.com/odpGsvfCLQ

— Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (@RaceIRP) July 29, 2024

Wednesday night’s National Pavement Midget event is race three of the four-race series held at IRP. Jake Trainor won the opener during Carb Night on Memorial Day weekend, while Kody Swanson won Thursday Night Thunder on June 27. A champion will be decided on Saturday, October 19 as part of Championship Saturday.

All four Midget races count towards the track’s overall AJ Foyt Championship, as do the 500 Sprint Car Tour championship race in October and both USAC Silver Crown races. The recently-retired Tanner Swanson is the reigning AJ Foyt champion.

Practice is set to begin at 6:00pm Wednesday night, with qualifying at 7:45 and racing to begin just after 8:00.

Fans unable to make it out to the Indianapolis oval will be able to watch the race live on FloRacing. If you’re not already a FloRacing subscriber, click here to sign up.