A Battle of Inches: RTJ Defends His Buckeye Throne at Atomic Speedway

The air had that early‑season bite to it when the sun snuck behind clouds. The kind that sneaks up and reminds you it’s still March no matter how loud the engines get. The wind was rolling across the track from one and two toward the backstretch and across the pond, and you could feel the whole place waking up as it got closer and closer to hot laps. Before a single late model even fired, the evening already had weight to it. Devin Moran rolled in riding the high of his first win as a father the night before, still carrying that smile that hit every Ohio fan right in the chest. Ricky Thornton Jr showed up as the defending Buckeye Spring 50 champion, the man who owned this event last year and wasn’t planning on giving up the throne. And Brandon Sheppard, calm and sharp as ever, came in as the last Lucas Oil winner to tame Atomic back at last year's Independence 50. It felt like the kind of night where the story was already writing itself before the track even packed in.

The locals rolled in with that mix of pride and grit you only get around here. RJ Conley, the 2025 Atomic Speedway Late Model champion, parked it like he never left. “Hot” Rod Conley right there with him. Tyler Carpenter, Seth Daniels, Josh Bocook... even Kyle Moore showing up in a Winnebago with an open trailer like the most Ohio thing you’ve ever seen. The only thing missing was a beer in his hand hanging out the window as he rolled in. Justin Cooper and Dave Loudin joined the local crowd. It felt like a reunion and a proving ground all at once. Mixed in with them were Outlaws Drake Troutman, Tristan Chamberlain, and "Terbo" Tyler Erb hunting for a rare Sunday payday.

Qualifying told you everything you needed to know about how the track was going to race. Turn two was starting to get bumpy up high, the kind of bump that makes heroes or victims depending on how you hit it. Ricky spun coming back to the stripe on his first lap, meaning he only got one timed lap, and even then he still put it fourth in Group A. Troutman topped that group with Garrett Alberson taking the top spot in Group B. The wind kept kicking, the clay kept tightening, and the night kept building.

Heat races were where the fuse really lit. Sheppard rocketed to the lead in Heat 1 and never looked back, stretching it out by three car lengths before the field even settled. Heat 2 gave us the father‑son Kryptonite lineup of "Fast" Freddie and and "The Kamikaze Kid" Tyler Carpenter nose‑to‑tail, and the start was chaos! Tyler squeezing between Dallon Murty and Brenden Smith, Freddie and Chamberlain getting into each other up high, momentum stalling and spots bleeding everywhere. Overton and Huddy filed out one‑two and never let go. Heat 3 saw Alberson lean down into Terbo off the start, Rice making it three‑wide down the front, and Terbo ripping away with a massive lead. Moran held steady in fourth to transfer through like a man who knew exactly what he needed to do. And Heat 4 was pure RTJ... ripping the top through one and two taking the lead from Max Blair, and gapping the field by half the backstretch before anyone could blink. Kyle Moore ramped the wall in three and four like his car forgot how to turn right, but he brought it back down and kept rolling. The track was top‑dominant and the night was only getting louder.

By the time the B‑Main rolled out, the dust had just had the chance to settle and the whole place had that “last chance” tension hanging over it. Guys like Rod and RJ Conley, Seth Daniels, and Freddie Carpenter who usually don’t have to fight their way in around here were suddenly staring down ten laps with everything on the line. Clay Harris’ rough stretch kept right on rolling. After breaking a rocker arm at Brownstown, he was forced into the backup car and had to start deep in the field.

Jason Jameson looked sharp early, and with eight to go he sent it low on Dillon McCowan for the lead, sliding up just enough that it looked like he might shoot it too high and tag the wall halfway down the backstretch. Somehow he caught the cushion just right and kept it steady, ripping away like a madman on a mission. With five to go, Seth Daniels slowed in the middle of three and four, stacking up Justin Cooper behind him and forcing a restart. The best part of the whole thing, though, was watching two local legends, RJ and Freddie, fighting tooth and nail for fourth with three laps left. It felt like a throwback to a different era, two veterans refusing to give an inch. “Hot” Rod Conley missed the show by one spot, absolute heartbreak. Freddie made it in, but his car had to feel like it'd been through war. A bent rack, broken radiator, broken fan blade... and the crew had only minutes to patch it together before the feature. Clay Harris and Brenden Smith grabbed provisionals to make the big show, and a handful of locals were left loading up early, victims of a B‑Main that took no prisoners.

Then came the Buckeye Spring 50 Feature. The wind died down just enough to let the sound settle in your chest. The field rolled off three‑wide on the start, Sheppard taking the early lead with Terbo and RTJ lined up behind him like three different versions of the same threat. Sheppy hit traffic early behind Freddie with 41 to go but cleared him clean, and RTJ slid past without losing a heartbeat. Devin was rolling the bottom like he had extra real estate down there... because he did after ripping Charlie for it at the end of last season, and you could see the confidence building as he seemed to use each inch of it in every corner.

A caution flew with 38 to go as Tyler Carpenter slowed and a banner came off the backstretch wall. McCowan found it and dragged it into the hotpit like a man doing community service. The Kamikaze Kid was out of fuse with a driveline failure. On the restart, Erb and RTJ fought for second until Erb slowed out of two and brought out another caution. Max from the Atomic crew pushed him into the hotpit where the team said it was either a rear end or a transmission. Either way, his night was over.

RTJ inherited second and went to work. Alberson tried to fight Overton for third but couldn’t make it stick, opening the door for Huddy to take fourth. And then there was Josh Rice, absolutely on rails, scraping his quarterpanel on the wall out of four every lap like he was trying to sand it down. Sheppy hit traffic again with 30 to go, picking off McCowan, but RTJ followed him through like he was tied to him with fishing line.

With 27 to go, RTJ hit that infamous turn‑three rut and bounced hard, losing ground but somehow keeping the car pointed straight and keeping second. Freddie slapped the wall in one and two a few laps later but kept it rolling. And then the race tightened like a rubber band. Sheppy, RTJ, and Overton all within a car length or two, slicing through the corners three‑wide from 24 to 22 to go like they were deciding who wanted the lead more.

Rice took fourth from Huddy with 17 to go, and the whole race shifted again. With 11 to go, Sheppy got hung up lapping Clay Harris, and RTJ closed the gap like a man who’d been waiting for that exact moment. Rice started working on Overton for third. And with 5 to go, RTJ finally took the lead on the inside, navigating traffic just a little cleaner than Sheppy could. The final laps were a knife fight nose to tail, door to door, two of the best in the country trading inches. But RTJ held him off by a nose, defending his Buckeye Throne and winning for the second straight year, bringing his Atomic win total to two.

In victory lane he said, “If you hit it right you feel like a hero getting off turn four. If you hit it wrong it was like you had a slug behind you.” And Sheppy, calm as ever, said he just couldn’t get the run he needed on the 19 and the 6 when they were side‑by‑side. Overton gave Rice a nod for racing him clean. The wind picked back up. The night exhaled. And Atomic, once again, reminded everyone why the Buckeye Spring 50 isn’t just a race. It’s THE damn event of the Spring.

The Ohio Valley Legend Cars cars rolled out for their feature with their motorcycle engines buzzing like a swarm of angry bees, and if you’ve never watched these things live, you don’t realize how much momentum matters until you see someone lose it. The feature started with a caution as Jessee Parker spun, and the restart turned into a chain‑reaction mess. Steven Partin into the back of Colton Brock, Brock spinning, Jesse Sines piling in, and Bret Hickel coming in hot with nowhere to go, plowing into Sines’ door and bringing out the only red flag of the night. Crews rushed to Sines' aide and the ambulance was signaled to roll from the infield. It was one of those moments where the whole place goes quiet in an instant. After a long few minutes, Sines climbed out under his own power and into the ambulance to get his shoulder checked over, and the whole crowd exhaled at once.

When they got rolling again, Quinten Adams led the restart but Quade Schoonover was the story. He restarted fourth, ripped the top like it owed him money, and freight‑trained his way to second with Partin following him through. Eli Geidel slowed twice to draw cautions. No apparent reason either time, just one of those nights, and each restart turned into a three‑car knife fight between Adams, Schoonover, and Partin. Schoonover finally cleared Adams and Partin followed, and from there it was a momentum chess match. Partin tried everything - low entries, diamonding the corner, timing the runs, but Schoonover kept that Legend glued to the high side and refused to give up the air. One to go, Partin sent it low into turn one trying to slide him out of two, but he couldn’t make it stick and Schoonover brought it around one final time to claim the checkered. Schoonover nearly looped it after the flag but saved it and rolled into victory lane like a man who earned every inch of it.

Nights like this are why Atomic sits in its own category. It’s not the biggest track, not the flashiest, not the one with the corporate shine, but it’s the one that sets the tone for the whole damn year. The Buckeye Spring 50 didn’t just deliver a race. It delivered a statement. The locals showed their teeth, the Outlaws came swinging, the legends reminded us why they’re legends, and RTJ walked out with the crown still in his hands. If this is how the season starts, buckle up. We’re in for something special.

Ricky Thornton Jr celebrates his second straight Buckeye Spring 50 victory at Atomic Speedway. Photo courtesy FloRacing Broadcast.