Ok…What’s he got that the others dont?

[Live4DLM]

I like Ricky Thornton. Does anyone wonder what’s going on. What the hell does he have? You don’t win this many races without having something better on the car side than the rest. Overton, Davenport too in the years past excluding the Davenport/Rumley experiment car. Just curious

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

That's a good question. Others racing against him would like to know also

[ftfiowa]

RTJ has the most feel in his butt pure and simple. he did the same thing in mods. HES THAT GOOD.

[KTMLew]

Cantilevered leaf springs on a swingarm. Obviously.

[Pennsboro32]

RTJ has the most feel in his butt pure and simple. he did the same thing in mods. HES THAT GOOD.

If it was talent alone, then Overton would still be winning like he was a couple years ago. Davenport would be winning like he was last year. Their talent didn’t just go away. Ricky is good too but the common denominator with all of these great seasons is that they’ve hit on something that nobody else has..

[Flathead]

I think it’s just his year. Good backing and good crew that obviously gels together. Rarely has a DNF or gets in a wreck. His setup that works for him may not work for others, it happens a lot in racing. The competition will catch up to him sooner or later.

[Live4DLM]

Excluding Bloomquist because I feel he was just leaps and bounds ahead in the thinking category plus top equipment. There seams to be guys that have these years. Lanigan, Owens, Moyer when he brought out the victory circle. I remember Clint Smith winning several in 2006 because he was on tires nobody else was using in Woo. And of course the Earl Pearson and Ricky Weeks tire doctoring years. It’s always something little extra these guys got

[Live4DLM]

I mean we were ready to claim Brandon Overton the second coming couple years ago now he is mediocre. Owens was most feared driver out there now he can barely race against mid level competition. Same for Babb….when the swing arm went bye bye so did his wins

[Mod Runner]

RTJ is just so smooth out there and does not get rattled. He knows how to find a good racing line and does not abuse his car. I must also add that he has adapted to driving a late model quicker than anyone I have seen.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I don't care what anyone from the modified world says, he's not that much better than anyone else. I've personally watched him lose a lot more mod races than he won. His car clearly handles a bit different and that clearly leads to a bit of an advantage.

[SLlDlNG SIDEWAYS]

^It's the same case with JD. Lol, nobody seems to get that though.

Too funny. Lol!

[SLlDlNG SIDEWAYS]

RTJ is just so smooth out there and does not get rattled. He knows how to find a good racing line and does not abuse his car. I must also add that he has adapted to driving a late model quicker than anyone I have seen.

Ricky seems to be a great kid but he ain't all that great behind the wheel. I get it a lot of people don't understand that but he's not as smooth as some try to portray him. He's as good as many but he's not as good as some...

He's no Jimmy Owens coming out of a mod but he's good...

[Pennsboro32]

I think it’s funny people think it’s just beating everyone on talent.

[King1]

If Thornton was to get in McCreadie’s car, he would produce the same results as McCreadie.

[Highside Hustler25]

It's interesting that whenever someone gets a new Longhorn, they're instantly fast out of the box. Then they start tweaking on them and seemingly get slower. I think that's a lot of guys problem.

[ftfiowa]

RTJ did things in a shaw modified you wouldnt have believed if you didnt see it yourself. then he ran other chassis and still dominated. Anyone who thinks he isnt super talented simply either never watched him race much or is a hater. jimmy owens doesnt have his resume in mods and didnt race against the level of competition he did either. Overton is good also but he isnt RTJ good. and yes RTJ can still get better and more polished. But i think the RTJ doubters were the same people who said kyle larson wouldnt do well in a late model. you were wrong then and you're wrong now. RTJ is a flat out wheelman. im a T mac fan 1st but ill admit RTJ is probably already better than him.

[Pennsboro32]

^

I don’t think anyone is saying he’s not good. He’s definitely good, but he’s not any better behind the wheel than the other sports best, and even if he was a tad bit better than them, he’s not win every race in dominating fashion better than them. He won just a handful of races last season. You can clearly watch the car and tell the car is really good.

[84wedge]

I'll be impressed if he can do it a few years in a row. One good season is an anomaly, multiple good seasons are a pattern.

[ftfiowa]

84wedge are you saying RTJ and his 22 wins(in Lucas alone) vs everyone in 2023 isnt impressive? this isnt "1 good season" , this is the best season ever by almost all metrics. only the little whiner 32p is even close. this year is better than any of supermans, overtons, t macs, pierce, bloomer, moyer, moran, swartz, purvis, inmon, phillips, farmer, owens, pearson jr, marlar, boggs, duvall, etc....its the best season ever and its not over. and tho i dont like him the little whiner is having a great season as well that might be the 2nd best season ever. I respect and know LM history and i cant think of a season better than RTJ is having. Davenport last year was great but i dont think he was this dominant.

[TS FAN]

Driver dominating a season is of course nothing new. The only thing that really gets my attention this year is how the car is good but often not great at the beginning of the race, but then comes on like gang busters the second half. The team has found something that other teams have not concerning that.

That is impressive.


Brownstown was a great example of this. Hudson passes him and takes control of the race. Whoops, the last few laps he comes back and it is not even a race to the finish.