Davenport(6) and Bloomquist(0) have each won during SpeedWeeks
We are now more about two-thirds of the way through the Dirt Late Model phenomenon known as Georgia/Florida SpeedWeeks and some trends are now starting to take shape across the 2016 landscape. In particular, this writer has noticed something that appears to be much like last season.
Shortly into the 2015 campaign, the Longhorn Chassis became the focus of much attention across the dirt spectrum. Indeed, by the halfway point of last season, it was obvious that driver Jonathan Davenport and his K&L Rumley team were in the midst of a very special season as he won multiple crown jewel events and led the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings. And in the midst of that run, more than a few observers began to attribute the Blairsville, GA standout’s success to his chassis brand.
Indeed, it did appear as if there was something to that thought as other drivers such as Randy Weaver, Chris Ferguson and Casey Roberts experienced considerable success by winning races and championships in the Bobby and Terry Labonte manufactured Longhorns. However, by the end of the year, Scott Bloomquist in his Sweet/Bloomquist Race Car and Josh Richards in the Rocket Chassis house car had begun to chalk up impressive victories of their own. And further, Shane Clanton had been winning races on the World of Outlaws Late Models circuit all throughout the year in a Capital Race Cars chassis.
After two weeks of competition in the southeastern part of the country so far in 2016, it appears as if the trends that revealed themselves last season have carried into the current campaign.
First, Longhorn still appears to have an edge over the competition. Davenport has already chalked up four feature wins and has been the fast qualifier in seven of his ten SpeedWeeks appearances thus far. And perhaps most importantly to any race team, the No. 6 operation has amassed over $48,000 in payouts, not including what they earned during the Wild West Shootout in Arizona.
But Longhorn’s success has not been limited to Davenport’s triumphs. Mason Zeigler took a checkered flag during the LOLMDS action at East Bay Raceway Park. And more, Rick Eckert steered his car into World of Outlaws Late Models victory lane at Screven Motorsports Park this past Saturday evening.
Still, it has been proven that other brands of race cars can win.
Richards has found himself in victory lane in his Rocket on multiple occasions in 2016
Richards has experienced SpeedWeeks success very near to that of Davenport as he has taken three checkered flags thus far in the Rocket house car. And his efforts in the newly designed XR1 have proven to be slightly more lucrative than those of Davenport as he has accumulated earnings of almost $50,000 with one less start than his rival.
However, the No. 1 machine is the only Rocket to have won a race in the deep south so far this year.
While those two brands have scored multiple wins over the past two weeks, two other brands have scored lone wins despite having had fewer opportunities due to lesser numbers of entries. Scott Bloomquist tallied a victory in an LOLMDS main event at East Bay in a Sweet/Bloomquist Race Car while Shane Clanton put Capital Race Cars in victory lane in the WoO Late Models season opener at Screven.
Shane Clanton in his Capital
So what appears to be evident up to this early point in the 2016 Dirt Late Model racing season is that Longhorn is still very much a force when it comes to winning races even though Rocket may well have closed the gap just a bit. And further, it is possible to win races in makes other than those two. As has always been the case in racing, the quality of the driver and crew, an untold number of circumstances, and even luck(both good and bad) can be every bit as much of a determining factor in who wins a given race as the brand of chassis in use.
Note: This piece was written prior to Monday night’s race at Volusia which was won by Billy Moyer, Jr. Now, the Moyer Victory Chassis can be added to the list of winning brands during SpeedWeeks.
