WEBSTER CITY – He’s arguably the hottest Modified driver in the country and he showed local race fans why as the Hamilton County Speedway opened up the 2016 season in front of an energized crowd Saturday night.

Ricky Thornton, Jr., of Chandler, Arizona, took the lead from Webster City driver Mark Elliott on the fifth lap and never looked back on his way to Victory Lane. In third was Scott Olson of Blairsburg with fourth going to Tim Ward of Gilbert, Arizona.

Thornton finished third in IMCA national points last season and is on a mission to claim the top honors in 2016. The 25-year-old won 57 percent of his starts and five championships a year ago.

Both Thornton and Ward will race exclusively in central Iowa this summer after hot starts in the western states.

The Deery Brothers Late Model series was also a part of Saturday’s program and a first-time winner was crowned.

Making just his 34th carer start in the Deery Brothers series, Scott Fitzpatrick earned his first victory by staying patient. Starting at the inside pole, Fitzpatrick fell back to fourth before leader Chad Holladay of Muscatine retired with a broken fan blade. On the restart, Fitzpatrick – driving out of Wheatland, Iowa – took the bottom line to the lead and the $2,000 win in the 40-lap feature.

Jeff Aikey out of Cedar Falls was second and Gilman driver Richie Gustin took third.

It took third-row starter Jared VanDeest the majority of the Sport Mod race to catcher leader Ty Griffith of Webster City, but once he worked his way through traffic, VanDeest slid under Griffith in turn No. 1 to claim the checkers.

Griffith was held up in lap traffic in his quest to regain the lead and had to settle for second. Devin Smith, out of Lake City, was third.

Grundy Center Stock Car driver Steve Meyer started on the inside pole, but ran high on the track throughout the feature to claim the win at the historic half-mile. On his bumper the entire race was second-place finisher Devin Smith of Lake City. Claiming third was Todd Fisher out of Norwalk.

Last year’s Hobby Stock track champion Myles Michehl of Fort Dodge led flag to flag in a convincing win over Mutt Mundt of Callendar. Bryce Sommerfeld, another Fort Dodge driver, was third.

The Late Model points season begins this weekend as drivers return for the second Saturday night of racing. Hot laps are set for 6:30 p.m., with heat and feature races to follow.