Last season’s lengthy Dirt Late Model silly season will perhaps never be topped again in uncanny developments and sheer craziness.

But if there’s anything 2025 has over 2024, it’s been speculation over the plans of nearly a dozen drivers deciding between the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series or the World of Outlaws Late Model Series before the first tour-conflicting weekend of the season with Friday events for Lucas Oil at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway and WoO at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway.

Until Thursday, Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., was at the center of that speculation. The reigning Lucas Oil champion has pledged his commitment to defend his title on the FloRacing-streamed tour, the series he’ll follow for the fifth straight season.

Friday’s $15,000 Buckeye Spring 50 victory at Atomic Speedway continues Thornton's solid start in his chase for a second straight title, but before he announced Thursday’s tour decision, the potential of changing course and becoming a World of Outlaw regular was real.

“We were leaning both ways and were weighing out the options. Both pay really well. Both have big races,” the 34-year-old Thornton said prior to Friday’s program at Atomic. “The hard part for me is figuring out what’s going to be the best later in the year, and stuff like that. It was a decision we made this week. We were up in the air. 

“That’s why we went to Smoky Mountain (for last week’s WoO event), which we would’ve been at Smoky Mountain even if we weren’t running the Outlaws. I think we decided for sure Tuesday or Wednesday. Now we’re here at Atomic.”

If Thornton would’ve followed the World of Outlaws — he signed the tour’s platinum agreement for the first time and after six events stood third in the standings, 26 points behind leader Bobby Pierce — the implications would’ve shaken up both tours. Besides eliminating the chance for a back-to-back Lucas Oil champion, it also would've likely opened up a playoff spot in the Big River Steel Big Four, perhaps for 2024 Big Four outsiders Garrett Alberson, Hudson O’Neal and Daulton Wilson, among others.

For the WoO circuit, it would’ve set up a blockbuster title chase between the sport’s dominators the last two years in Thornton and Oakwood, Ill.’s Pierce, the 2023 tour champ. But as much fun as that would’ve been for Thornton to pit his talents against Pierce more often, changing things up wasn’t in his best interest.

What lured the Koehler Motorsports driver back to the Lucas Oil tour, in part, is crew inexperience. Nathan Sletto, the 22-year-old Minnesotan who assisted Thornton to five victories in 15 events during Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, stepped down as crew chief and returned home.

For now, Thornton has a thin road crew of general mechanic Zach Frields, who occasionally assisted Thornton during his time at SSI and last season with Koehler, and tire specialist Skylar Cooper, who’s replaced D.J. Williams, a key crew member during Thornton’s 34-victory season with SSI in 2023.

For the weekend at Atomic and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, Thornton also gets a hand from 20-year-old Seth Hunter, a University of Northwestern Ohio student majoring in high performance technology.

Without a crew chief, depending upon a trusty notebook for the Lucas Oil tracks Thornton knows well is more conducive to success than switching tours.

“A lot of it comes down to not having the guys who have been on the road enough and knows all these racetracks, and stuff like that,” Thornton said. “For me, being the driver-crew chief-setup role, this makes more sense to stay Lucas. I’ve been to a lot of these places I struggle at. But there’s also a lot of places I’m good at. Figured it’d be the best route for us right now. You never know, at some point in the future we might do something different. As of now, we’re what, 15 points out of the point lead? We’re not far out at all. Heck, I was talking with someone, and any of the top four win tonight, they’re the point leader.”

With how schedules and rainouts have fallen in recent seasons, undecided national touring teams haven’t had to make officially pick a path — Lucas Oil or WoO — this soon since 2017, the last year there was conflicting WoO and Lucas Oil events during winter's Georgia-Florida Speedweeks.

Last season, national touring events didn’t conflict until Memorial Day weekend.

While Thornton is back with Lucas Oil, three drivers on last year’s circuit made the move to WoO: former WoO champ Tim McCreadie (Briggs Transport) of Watertown, N.Y., Max Blair (Centerline Motorsports) of Centerville, Pa. and last year’s Lucas Oil Rookie of the Year Drake Troutman (Team 22 Inc.) of Hyndman, Pa.

Other drivers who tentatively weighed tour swaps stayed put: Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla. (WoO), Carson Ferguson of Lincolnton, N.C. (Lucas Oil), Daulton Wilson of Fayetteville, N.C. (Lucas Oil).

A few other potential national tourers are Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. (WoO or Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series), Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa (Lucas Oil or independent; he ran WoO last season) and Spencer Hughes of Meridian, Miss. (Lucas Oil or independent).

What does Thornton think of the national touring dynamic where a driver can run both series and prolong their touring commitment?

“I think it’s good. I think the publicity and drama that comes with it is really good,” Thornton said. “The downside I’d say is if you are on the Lucas Oil or World of Outlaws, it’s hard to promote the guys who aren’t committed to your series. That side of it is kind of a bummer for them. For the drivers side and stuff like that, whenever you go get sponsors at the end of the year or whenever it might be, you want to have it set in stone on this what you’re going to do, like this is how much exposure you’re going to get and where you’re getting your exposure.

“I don’t know, I think it’s cool. It’s nice at the same time to do have options, where I feel like a lot of times anymore you’re stuck doing one thing and it’s repetitive. At least we have different scenarios.”

Thornton and his family are in the process of moving out of their Martinsville, Ind., home as an April 1 closing day approaches. They haven’t found their next home yet, but Thornton plans on returning to Iowa, the state where he lived much of his formative IMCA modified years.

Thornton would like to have a house custom-built somewhere in Iowa where he’d have a big enough home for his three children and wife Shae, along with a race shop on the property. Until then, the Thorntons will be staying with Shae’s family in Iowa City, Iowa, and, of course, living out their motorhome while they’re racing on the road.

“We want to do it right, so not sure if we’re gonna build a new place with a shop,” said Thornton, whose Koehler Motorsports team is based in Mount Airy, N.C. “Eventually, my ultimate goal is, if we’re on a swing in Illinois or something like that, we can just go to my place (in Iowa) after and not always have to go back to North Carolina. But we’re just trying to get everything situated on that.”

When the Thorntons are at the Koehler Motorsports shop, team owner Bobby Koehler has apartments for the Thornton family and the team's road crew.

“We have somewhere we can be in the meantime, but the ultimate goal is to have our own place by August,” Thornton said. “That way so when next school year gets going when both boys are in school, we have a gameplan.”