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Ricky Thornton Jr. takes $25,000 Wild West Shootout opener

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Jan. 10, 2026) — The 20th-annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts kicked off Saturday evening as more than 160 cars filled the pits at Central Arizona Raceway (Casa Grande, Ariz.) for opening night.

Ricky Thornton Jr., Cade Dillard, and Blake Adams took opening night victories.

Teaming up with Adam Family Motorsports for the event, Arizona native Ricky Thornton Jr. wasted no time taking the spotlight in his home state, collecting the $25,000 winner’s check in the opening round along with $13,000 in Rio Grande Waste Services Lap Leader Loot for a $38,000 payday.

Thornton Jr. led the opening 16 circuits of the Super Late Model feature before Hudson O’Neal took command on lap 17. O’Neal held the lead for 24 laps to earn $12,000 in lap money before RTJ reclaimed the top spot and pulled away to the checkered flag.
“I could tell he (Hudson O’Neal) was running about 75%, and I was running pretty hard,” Thornton Jr. said in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “Whenever I slid him, I knew he was going to cross me, and I figured if I could race him hard into three … and catch enough traction, I could ride back by him.”

RTJ earned his second Wild West Shootout triumph, adding to his 2021 victory at Arizona Speedway, with Adam Family Motorsports collecting its first WWS trophy.

Hudson O’Neal took runner-up honors in the Rumley Enterprises machine, while Cade Dillard stormed from the 16th-starting position to finish third. Ryan Gustin and Mike Marlar completed the top five.
In the Shocker Hitch X-Modifieds division presented by Border Tire, second-row starter Blake Adams took the lead on lap eight and led the final 18 circuits to a $1,000 payday over Jake Smith and Rob Mosely.

The Mesilla Valley Transportation Modifieds closed out the first night of action with Cade Dillard leading all 25 laps from the pole position. Reece Solander, Tanner Mullens, Dustin Sorensen, and Gary Christian rounded out the top five.

Action resumes tomorrow evening, January 11, at Central Arizona Raceway (Case Grande, Ariz.) for the second installment of the 2026 Wild West Shootout.

Single-day reserved tickets are still on sale now at www.WildWestShootout.net.

If you can't make it out to Arizona in January to enjoy the amazing racing and beautiful weather, you can watch every lap on FloRacing. Sign up and watch here. https://flosports.link/4evwNYI.

Wild West Shootout | Night #1 | Feature Results

Black Diamond Racecars Late Model division presented by Malvern Bank:
A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 6-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[16]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[18]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[8]; 6. 15S-Clay Stuckey[7]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 8. 22*-Drake Troutman[10]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[9]; 10. 86-Kyle Beard[23]; 11. 1-Tyler Erb[6]; 12. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 13. 32-Bobby Pierce[13]; 14. 0-Jake O'Neil[19]; 15. 96-RC Whitwell[12]; 16. 75A-Daniel Adam[15]; 17. 13-Bricen James[20]; 18. 82-Eston Whisler[5]; 19. 128-Kylan Garner[25]; 20. 18-Chase Junghans[21]; 21. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[22]; 22. B5-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 23. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[24]; 24. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 25. 49-Jonathan Davenport[17]

Mesilla Valley Transportation Modified division:
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. 5-Reece Solander[2]; 3. 85-Tanner Mullens[16]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[10]; 5. 58X-Gary Christian[17]; 6. 20S-Rodney Sanders[7]; 7. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 8. 7G-Gabe Hodges[3]; 9. 0G-Tripp Gaylord[8]; 10. 19SB-Lance Mari[11]; 11. 97A-Cole Anderson[14]; 12. J17-Jake Gallardo[4]; 13. 2SS-Mark Smith[18]; 14. 4W-Tyler Wolff[15]; 15. 44N-Jason Noll[23]; 16. 50-Robert Adams[19]; 17. 10M-Talan Willis[21]; 18. 85D-Mark Dotson[20]; 19. 20-Cole Queensland[22]; 20. 91-Joe Duvall[9]; 21. 75-Terry Phillips[13]; 22. 112-Brennan Gave[24]; 23. 29-Chris Spalding[12]; 24. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[5]

Shocker Hitch X-Modified division presented by Border Tire:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 2. 21-Jake Smith[18]; 3. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 4. 3J-Josh Cain[5]; 5. 32C-Curtis Stieh[12]; 6. 22-Keenan Glasser[15]; 7. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[24]; 8. 19-Lucas Rodin[17]; 9. 94-Tyler Potter[8]; 10. 34-Brandon Rehill[23]; 11. 29-Alan Farley[10]; 12. 81-Scott Francoeur[14]; 13. 0-Dakota Girard[21]; 14. 413-Tate Johnson[19]; 15. 77-Chance Kodet[2]; 16. 11DW-Danny Wagner[20]; 17. 28-Scott Tofte[11]; 18. 50-Braydon Whitfield[22]; 19. 14J-Jacob Hodges[4]; 20. 12-Mike Rosales[9]; 21. 79-Jaden Christ[13]; 22. 75-Tyler Johnson[7]; 23. 57-Duke Erickson[16]; 24. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]

The Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts is made possible by Rio Grande Waste Services, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Pit Boss, FK Rod Ends, Low Voltage Solutions, Malvern Bank, Black Diamond Race Cars, Hoker Trucking, ShockerHitch.com, Penske Racing Shocks, Merry’s Home Furnishings, Shaw Trucking, Schaeffer Oil, AM-1 Roofing, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Border Tire, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Swift Springs, Dirt Pro Grading & Padwork, Contractors & Developers (C&D) Bonding, Whisler Construction, Shocks by Hammer, Midwest Sheet Metal, Speedway Motors, Day Motor Sports, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, Pro Power Engines, Beaver Stripes, Arizona Differential, Gorsuch Performance Solutions, Don Frank Floors, Toste Construction, Winning Edge Carburetion, The Joie of Seating, Needmore Speedway, DirtDraft.com, AC Designs, Hochatown Saloon, and FloRacing.

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