5/16/2025
Eagle Raceway
Ricky Thornton Jr. & Anthony Roth Steal the safe on night one of the High Bank Heist
By Greg Soukup
Night one of the High Banks Heist presented by Malvern Bank and featuring the Lucas Oil Late Models was held last night at America’s Home Track Eagle Raceway. The support class for the evening was the Nebraska’s Best IMCA Modifieds but both classes showed the fans some of the best racing seen so far this year.
There was a large $10,000 top prize for the Late Models with $1000 going to the top Modified in the A Feature. A total of 37 Late Models and 25 IMCA Modifieds showed up to battle for supremacy. The first green flag flew at 7:30 and the final checkered waved at 10:00.
There were no serious incidents in any of the races.
The Lucas Oil Late Model A’s first circuit saw Hudson O’Neal’s #71 out front with Garrett Alberson second in the 58, Dylan Thorson’s 38T third and Blair Nothdurft fourth in the 76N. Nothdurft looped it in turn 4 on lap 2 to slow the action, moving the 49 of Jonathan Davenport into fourth. Nothdurft and the 19M of Spencer Hughes stopped on the front stretch and both went to the pits on the hook. Also going to the pits were Tyler Bruening’s 16 and the 60 of Dan Ebert. Thorson moved up to second on lap 4 as Ricky Thornton Jr. put the 20RT into fourth. Thornton Jr. advanced to third the following lap and took over second place after 1 more lap. Alberson fell back to fourth on lap 7. Davenport got past Alberson on lap 11 to regain fourth place. Thornton Jr. grabbed the lead the next time around. Davenport took over the third spot on lap 13 as the 99 of Devin Moran followed him into fourth. Brandon Sheppard stopped the next lap with a flat right rear tire and headed to the pits to have it replaced and he rejoined the action at the rear of the pack. Davenport took advantage of the restart to take over second place and set his sights on Thornton Jr. as Dylan Thornton moved up to fourth. Moran passed Dylan Thornton for the fourth spot on lap 24 and advanced to third 3 laps later. Kyle Bronson joined the lead pack the following circuit, putting the #40 into fourth. With just 8 laps left Davenport moved past Thornton Jr. for the lead but lost the spot back to him the next time around. Daulton Wilson’s 18D slowed to a halt on the front stretch with 5 circuits remaining for another caution. Moran regained fourth place on the restart with
Bronson holding down fourth. The yellow lights were lit in the corners again the next lap for debris on the track. The final change in the top 4 came on the restart when Bronson moved up to third making your final top 4 Thornton Jr., Davenport, Bronson and Moran.
Thornton Jr. is the defending champion of the Lucas Oil Late Models and this marked his 50th victory in the series. He said “We had a little bit of drama. I started in sixth and got up to second early in the race and tried to get by Hudson O’Neal for the lead. I felt really good and the got the track figured out. I got over the cushion in 3 and 4 and about killed the car but saved it and got going again. I was able to get back past O’Neal with a slider and then we got a yellow otherwise he would have passed me back. Then on the restart I started running as fast as I could on the top and it worked out for me. We’re really looking forward to the next 2 nights. Hopefully with similar track conditions”. I inquired about what he thought of Eagle Raceway, to which he replied “I love coming here! I was here 1 other time outside of the Late Model back in my modified days. I got to run one of Johnny the Jet’s cars. It was so cool to come here and see all of those guys, my modified and stock car buddies. After finishing second last year it was nice to come back and win the first night this year. I’m really looking forward to the next 2 nights”. Ricky’s sponsors include Longhorn Chassis, Bilstein Shock Absorbers, Clements Racing Engines, Cornett Racing Engines, Knight’s Companies, Coltman Farms Racing, Hoker Trucking LLC, Capital Waste, Ultimate Towing & Recovery, Jones Racing Products, Certified Inspection Service Co., Inc., Varsitee Screenprinting, D and E Outside Services, FK Rod Ends, Shocker Hitch, EMD Wraps, GoSunoco, Dynamic Drivelines, Excel Floor Coverings, Performance Bodies, Swift Springs, Buzze Performance, Dirtcarlift, Impact Racing, Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Ultra Shield Race Products, LLC, Sharp Advantage Safety Products, LLC, Team SRI Motorsports, MPI - Max Papis Innovations, Strange Oval and TireDemon.
Anthony Roth led the Nebraska’s Best Lawn and Landscape IMCA Modified A Main’s first lap in the 60IV with Brandon Verbeek’s 4B, the 40 of Shawn Harker and Ricky Stephan in the 25 rounding out the top 4. Stephan passed Harker for third on lap 3 but Harker regained the spot the next lap. Stephan and Harker again
took turns swapping third and fourth on laps 6 and 7. Stephan grabbed the spot for good with 3 to go making the top 4 Roth, Verbeek, Stephan and Harker.
I mentioned to Anthony that it had been a long time since we had seen him at Eagle Raceway and he stated “Yes, absolutely!! It has been a long time, a couple years I think. We started second row in our heat race and won with a good run. I couldn’t really find my rhythm in the heat that I was looking for but we came in and put on a different set of tires for the feature and it was just set on cruise. I felt really good out there. It’s just our second night in a modified this year because we’ve been doing a lot of Late Model Racing and honestly I think that helps find my rhythm in the modified. The track was alright in the heat race with a little character but the Late Models cleaned it up and it was smooth top to bottom and very racey. I think I had a little different line from everybody else and it just fit my driving style tonight. I want to give a big shout out to my wife and kid, the rest of my crew, my family, Dad and Mom. We didn’t decide to come race here tonight until about 7 or 8 o’clock last night. We got off the plane after being on vacation all week. It was quite a turnaround for us, but here we are in victory lane ”. Anthony’s sponsors include Gaver Tire Pros, FastShafts, Fastenal Company, Shell Valley Classic Wheels, Crucible AG, Roth Racing Performance, Inc., Razor Chassis by Roth and Elite Mobile Blasting.
Tonight, May 16th brings you night 2 of the High Banks Heist presented by Malvern Bank. The Lucas Oil Late Models, along with the A1 Iron Stock Cars will both be in competition with $10,000 again on the line for the winner of the Late Model Feature and $ 1,000 for the first to cross the finish line in the A Main for the Stock Cars.
Front gates open at 5:30. General admission for adults (13+) is $30 with those 6-12 just $10 and children 5 and under free. Reserved adult (13+) is $35.
Pit gates open at 2:00, hot laps begin at 6:30 with the first race to begin at 7:30.
Following the races the Melon Bar will be open in the pits until 2 AM with entertainment provided by the Platinum Pearls Band.
RESULTS:
IMCA Modifieds 25 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:05:38.061 1. 60IV-Anthony Roth[2]; 2. 4B-Brandon Verbeek[1]; 3. 25-Ricky Stephan[3]; 4. 40-Shawn Harker[6]; 5. 60-Adam Armstrong[5]; 6. 8C-Chad Andersen[12]; 7. 96-Jaxon Saathoff[10]; 8. 1-Josh Most[7]; 9. 8A-Dustin Andersen[16]; 10. 3T Nate Thompson[4]; 11. 27-Clint Homan[8]; 12. 2T-Cameron Thompson[9]; 13. 96B-Cody Bril[11]; 14. 41A-Adam Wasserman[17]; 15. 21-Tracy Harr[15]; 16. 3-Dan Jackson[13]; 17. 74-Dewain Coleman[19]; 18. 13J-Jared Deterding[18]; 19. 81-Mike Densberger[14]; 20. 5S-Bob Zoubek[20]
B Feature 1 12 Laps | 00:04:28.542 1. 8A-Dustin Andersen[3]; 2. 41A-Adam Wasserman[2]; 3. 13J-Jared Deterding[5]; 4. 74-Dewain Coleman[6]; 5. 5S-Bob Zoubek[10]; 6. 12-Reed Payne[1]; 7. 5H-Shawn Hein[9]; 8. 1Z-Norm Ziegenbein[8]; 9. 21T-Tyler Harr[7]; 10. (DNS) 3J Jeremy Baker
Heat 1 10 Laps | 00:03:58.525 1. 60-Adam Armstrong[2]; 2. 27-Clint Homan[4]; 3. 96B-Cody Bril[1]; 4. 25-Ricky Stephan[6]; 5. 3-Dan Jackson[3]; 6. 12 Reed Payne[5]; 7. 3J-Jeremy Baker[8]; 8. 21T-Tyler Harr[9]; 9. 5S-Bob Zoubek[7]
Heat 2 10 Laps | 00:05:32.234 1. 40-Shawn Harker[1]; 2. 1-Josh Most[5]; 3. 96-Jaxon Saathoff[7]; 4. 2T-Cameron Thompson[3]; 5. 81-Mike Densberger[8]; 6. 41A-Adam Wasserman[6]; 7. 13J-Jared Deterding[4]; 8. 1Z-Norm Ziegenbein[2]
Heat 3 10 Laps | 00:02:45.607 1. 60IV-Anthony Roth[3]; 2. 3T-Nate Thompson[1]; 3. 8C-Chad Andersen[4]; 4. 4B-Brandon Verbeek[8]; 5. 21-Tracy Harr[2]; 6. 8A-Dustin Andersen[7]; 7. 74-Dewain Coleman[6]; 8. 5H-Shawn Hein[5]
Dirt Super Late Models 37 Entries LOLMDS A-Main 40 Laps | 00:26:38.424 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 4. 99-Devin Moran[9]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard[7]; 7. 71-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 8. 8-Dilon McCowan[22]; 9. 76-Brandon Overton[10]; 10. 93-Carson Ferguson[8]; 11. 93L-Cory Lawler[13]; 12. 6-Clay Harris[15]; 13. 38T-Dylan Thornton[3]; 14. 79-Donald McIntosh[16]; 15. 18D-Daulton Wilson[18]; 16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[23]; 17. 35D-Dylan Silman[20]; 18. 15-Clay Stuckey[14]; 19. 14S-Colen Winebarger[21]; 20. 18C-Chase Junghans[19];
- 16-Tyler Bruening[17]; 22. 60-Dan Ebert[12]; 23. 19M Spencer Hughes[24]; 24. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]
Fast Shafts B-Main 1 10 Laps | 00:05:39.739 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 18C-Chase Junghans[3]; 3. 14S-Co len Winebarger[4]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 6. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 7. 18-Jesse Sobbing[9]; 8. 10-Junior Coover[10]; 9. 28W-Ian Whisler[6]; 10. (DNS) 7D Dusty Leonard; 11. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman UNOH B-Main 2 10 Laps | 00:01:58.212 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 2. 35D-Dylan Silman[4]; 3. 8-Dilon McCowan[3]; 4. 28-Sam Mars[1]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 6. 6J Jake Neal[6]; 7. 07-Ben Sukup[8]; 8. 71M-Michael Morton[10]; 9. (DNS) 30G-Jordan Grabouski; 10. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Penske Shocks Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:01:57.710 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 4. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 6. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 7. 19M-Spencer Hughes[7]; 8. 7D-Dusty Leonard[9]; 9. 18-Jesse Sobbing[8]; 10. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman
Summit Racing Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:50.513 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[6]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 14S-Colen Winebarger[7]; 7. 28W-Ian Whisler[3]; 8. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 9. 10-Junior Coover[9]
Cool-It Thermo Tec Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:05:55.491 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[4]; 5. 28-Sam Mars[5]; 6. 8-Di lon McCowan[6]; 7. 04-Tad Pospisil[7]; 8. (DNS) 30G-Jordan Grabouski; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Simpson Race Products Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:01:54.776 1. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 6. 35D-Dylan Silman[6]; 7. 6J-Jake Neal[8]; 8. 07-Ben Sukup[5]; 9. 71M-Michael Morton[9]
Qualifying | GROUP A | 00:00:28.990 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal, 00:13.513[14]; 2. 38T-Dylan Thornton, 00:13.610[19]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:13.671[10]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:13.703[3]; 5. 99-Devin Moran, 00:13.766[18]; 6. 28W-Ian Whisler, 00:13.841[5]; 7. 18C-Chase Junghans, 00:13.894[4]; 8. 40B-Kyle
Bronson, 00:13.970[6]; 9. 93L-Cory Lawler, 00:13.987[16]; 10. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:14.062[13]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:14.211[1]; 12. 6-Clay Harris, 00:14.216[2]; 13. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:14.221[17]; 14. 14S-Co len Winebarger, 00:14.337[11]; 15. 18-Jesse Sobbing, 00:14.548[15]; 16. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:14.558[9]; 17. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:14.694[7]; 18. (DNS) 10-Junior Coover; 19. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman Qualifying |
GROUP B | 00:00:28.313 1. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:13.409[3]; 2. 76N-Blair Nothdurft, 00:13.409[4]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:13.438[16]; 4. 60 Dan Ebert, 00:13.440[7]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:13.486[12]; 6. 93-Carson Ferguson, 00:13.585[10]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey, 00:13.693[14]; 8. 79-Donald McIntosh, 00:13.725[13]; 9. 28-Sam Mars, 00:13.726[17]; 10. 07-Ben Sukup, 00:13.895[11]; 11. 8-Di lon McCowan, 00:13.933[8]; 12. 35D-Dylan Silman, 00:13.974[1]; 13. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:14.068[18]; 14. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:14.132[6]; 15. 30G-Jordan Grabouski, 00:14.138[2]; 16. 6J-Jake Neal, 00:14.199[9]; 17. 45D-Dan Battaglia, 00:14.768[15]; 18. 71M-Michael Morton, 00:15.567[5]
Hot Laps | GROUP 1 | 00:00:44.729 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 4. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 5. 28W-Ian Whisler[5]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[9]; 7. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 8. 7D-Dusty Leonard[7]; 9. (DNS) 10-Junior Coover; 10. (DNS) 49 Jonathan Davenport
Hot Laps | GROUP 2 | 00:00:48.798 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 2. 19M-Spencer Hughes[7]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[8]; 4. 38T-Dylan Thornton[9]; 5. 14S-Co len Winebarger[1]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[6]; 8. 18J-Jarrett Getzschman[2]; 9. (DNS) 18-Jesse Sobbing
Hot Laps | GROUP 3 | 00:00:44.133 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 4. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 5. 8-Di lon McCowan[8]; 6. 6J-Jake Neal[9]; 7. 30G-Jordan Grabouski[2]; 8. 35D-Dylan Silman[1]; 9. 71M-Michael Morton[5]
Hot Laps | GROUP 4 | 00:00:46.823 1. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[7]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil[9]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 5. 20RT-Ricky
Thornton Jr[3]; 6. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 7. 07-Ben Sukup[2]; 8. 28-Sam Mars[8]; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Article Credit: Greg Soukup
Submitted By: Racine Thompson
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