Ricky Thornton Jr

[KTMLew]

You can shed misalignment with the difference in weight transfer alone. You definitely don't want to be "catching" your rr as you are trying to enter the corner.

You also don't want runaway thrust vectors where there's no feedback loop with the weight the tire is carrying. That leads to very inconsistent axle alignment unless you are trying really hard to alter it with shocks that are not functioning as a shock. Again, that has the potential to be very bad to compliance.

MonroeMatics are good enough.

[EvelB7]

A: If he was running different RR geometry, it would be easy to spot, especially since LH's only have ~3 holes for adjusting bar anglesB: I am not convinced that the RR anti-squat settings need "fixing". When you're going down the straightaway (lat accel approaches 0) you need to shed rear axle misalignment and wedge.. which the current config does pretty well.

Not sure on what Ricky has figured out, but in response to (A). Realize they use shear plates for several reasons, one is to make your mounting points more versatile (not just 3 holes)...change a shear plate and everything looks close to the same but is not.

[Austin34471]

You can shed misalignment with the difference in weight transfer alone.

Not following. I agree you can change the heading of the thrust vector of the rearend with Δrear wheel weight, but you can’t change the direction of the snouts.

You definitely don't want to be "catching" your rr as you are trying to enter the corner.

Not sure how you can say this definitively. You may be elastically “catching” the RR, but not inelastically.. and not sure that’s inherently bad.

You also don't want runaway thrust vectors where there's no feedback loop with the weight the tire is carrying. That leads to very inconsistent axle alignment unless you are trying really hard to alter it with shocks that are not functioning as a shock. Again, that has the potential to be very bad to compliance.

It can only “runaway” until you get to the end of straight away. RR 4 link bar thrust angle and lateral acceleration have a nicely inverted relationship. Gotta do something with all that wedge once you get to the straightaway. I agree with your fundamentalist stance of wanting the shock absorbers to actually absorb shocks, but I think the tires are floppy enough to sufficiently band aid all of these other band aids. I’d love to think there’s a simple solution to this, but the dirt racing hive mind has spit out and optimized this configuration for some reason, and I’d hazard a guess it would be harder to fix than you are implying.

[jog49]

MonroeMatics are good enough.

Hey, you can get those at AutoZone and they're not $2000 a pop!!!! LOL!!!!

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

The snouts change direction based on the steer that results from the weight transfer.

You runaway until you hit a physical limit. Hitting a physical limit is bad.

Catching the rr on entry can be elastic, inelastic, I don't care. Either way you have to travel a bit to reload the rr. That relatively sudden height and steer change, just as you are trying to ramp the load on that wheel, is a lot to balance and sort out.

We put up with the same negative aspects on the lr to put the right attack angle in the aero package. There is no good reason to run around with your rr also on a travel limiter or play around with wheel displacement resulting from thrust vector. Just let the suspension do it's job.

My limited application of my perspective has only encouraged me. The dewedge and steer argument can only go so far. It's impossible to be optimally loaded at all points on the lap. You make the best load and alignment compromise you can at all points to get the best lap time you can.

[Pennsboro32]

Tell me you never watched Ricky race Mods without telling me you never watched Ricky race Mods. Same thing. RTJ is a generational dirt racing talent. He has amazing vision and timing. He also has the uncanny ability to find the fastest lines on the track. His car is really not any different. There are no secrets in this game anymore.

It has more to do with the car than it does his driving ability. He’s good, they’re all good. But they’ve hit on something just like JD did a couple years ago, just like Overton did, etc. you can tell by just watching the car lol

[chopter33]

It has more to do with Ricky. He's the difference.

[KTMLew]

It has more to do with Ricky. He's the difference.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Sorry...board needs x amount of letters in a reply.

[Pennsboro32]

It has more to do with Ricky. He's the difference.

Yeah because you go from winning 4 races to 35 races in the matter of a 3 month off season.

[Highside Hustler25]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Anthony Buroughs. When the 2 hooked up, that's about the time he started dominating.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Anthony Buroughs. When the 2 hooked up, that's about the time he started dominating.

I heard here on 4m that he was why Bowyer cars sucked. I also heard the guy who was Thornton crew chief in early SSI days was Rumley light.

[LM1]

Ricky is one of the best at his craft but these cars are so close nowadays that everyone has an off night here or there. Doesn't seem like RTJ has many if any of those so far in 2024, he has to be doing something that nobody else is. Its just not normal to pull cars like he was at Port Royal when everyone has the best of the best equipment.

[KTMLew]

Ricky is one of the best at his craft but these cars are so close nowadays that everyone has an off night here or there. Doesn't seem like RTJ has many if any of those so far in 2024, he has to be doing something that nobody else is. Its just not normal to pull cars like he was at Port Royal when everyone has the best of the best equipment.

Fiberglass leaf springs & torque arm?

[blncfn57]

I heard here on 4m that he was why Bowyer cars sucked. I also heard the guy who was Thornton crew chief in early SSI days was Rumley light.

He had good equipment and good drivers to work with at Bowyers and they weren't that great...... he didn't exactly light the world on fire with Stuckey either. He has made a name for himself with Ricky and I give him all the props in the world, BUT he wasn't always able to make winners out of his drivers. He's done a good job gaining experience on his way to Indiana, for sure.

[chopter33]

Most racers and fans have a hard time admitting that someone is just better then them. I enjoy watching how the seasons play out. No matter if 1 driver dominates or spread out among the field. Rtj and Bobby are the class of the dlm world. Nick dominating ump mods like he did was fascinating to me.