Ricky Thornton Jr. and his Koehler Motorsports team are heading to Eldora Speedway this weekend with a chance to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship. And while it hasn’t been confirmed yet if Thornton will be back with Koehler Motorsports in 2025, we do know one thing for certain: “RTJ” will have a new crew chief next season. 

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That news was confirmed in the comment section of a Facebook post on the Ricky Thornton Jr. page earlier this week when a fan asked if crew chief Chris Madden would be “coming back next year.” The answer to that question was that he will not be returning and instead will “pursue some business ventures.”

The page also added that the RTJ/Madden driver/crew chief combination was “always just a partnership for 2024.”

Justin Fiedler picked up on the news and brought it to light during Wednesday's edition of his DIRTRACKR Daily. 

Thornton joined Koehler Motorsports in the middle of July after it was announced that he and SSI Motorsports were parting ways. At the time, Thornton was leading both the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Castrol FloRacing Night in America points standings. 

Since joining Koehler Motorsports, Thornton and Madden together have visited victory lane three times with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Florence Speedway, Batesville Motor Speedway, and most recently at Brownstown Speedway in the CJ Rayburn Memorial. 

Thornton, who had a record-setting season in 2023 before losing the Lucas Oil championship in the winner-take-all finale, currently leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points standings by 50 points over Jonathan Davenport and Devin Moran, and by 165 points over Tim McCreadie. 

The championship will be decided on Saturday, October 19 in the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway. Should Thornton win it, it would be his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title.