Jonathan Davenport added yet another win to his 2015 total in Charlotte.
The Dirt Track at Charlotte once again served as the host of the season finale for the World of Outlaws Late Models Series. More than 80 cars and drivers descended on the track located in Concord, NC to end the 2015 campaign with a pair of $12,000-to-win events.
Brandon Sheppard won the first feature of the weekend when he drove an unfamiliar car to victory on Friday night. However, rain forced track and series officials to postpone Saturday’s scheduled races to Sunday afternoon.
When all was said and done on Sunday, it was Jonathan Davenport who walked away with the winner’s share of the prize money and the big trophy. For the Blairsville, GA driver it was his 22nd victory of this storied season.
Darrell Lanigan, competing for the first time with his new Clint Bowyer Racing team, set fast time in Group A and overall qualifying on Thursday night when he posted a lap of 14.999 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. He was followed in that group by Randy Weaver and Casey Roberts.
Josh Richards led the way in Group B time-trials with a time of 15.145 seconds. He bested Jimmy Owens and Billy Moyer, Jr. in that group.
The winner of each of six heat races would be sent to a redraw to determine the first three starting rows in the feature.
Lanigan beat out Chris Brown and Scott Bloomquist in the first heat of the night to transfer to the main event. Shane Clanton won the second heat ahead of Casey Roberts and Gregg Satterlee to move to the big show while Davenport scored the win in heat three over Rick Eckert and Will Vaught.
Chris Madden bested Josh Richards and Brandon Overton in the fourth preliminary of the evening to earn their way into the main event. Owens won heat number five over Steve Francis and Eric Wells while Moyer Jr. rounded out the preliminary races with a victory over Don O’Neal and Chris Ferguson.
Chase Junghans, World of Outlaws Sprint Cars star Donny Schatz and Dale McDowell each won the B-main races that were used to fill out the remainder of the field for the main event.
Lanigan secured the pole position for the feature by virtue of the previously mentioned redraw with Madden, Clanton, Moyer, Owens and Davenport filling in the positions behind the lead driver.
At the start of the 50-lap feature, Madden used his outside front row starting spot to his advantage as he went to the early lead ahead of Lanigan and a hard charging Davenport with Moyer and Owens in tow. However, a couple of early cautions would keep the action in check at first, but the intensity level picked up when green flag conditions remained for several consecutive circuits.
Langian and Davenport spent the early portion of the race swapping the second position just behind the leading Madden machine while Owens and Moyer held station in the top-5. At the same time, Roberts, Clanton and Richards were poised to strike as they trailed behind that lead group.
On a lap 10 restart following the event’s third caution period, Lanigan made a charge on the outside and swept to the lead, leaving Davenport and Madden to fight for second. During this green flag stanza, Roberts also began to rumble as he moved to sixth place and immediately began challenging the top-5 runners.
A lap 18 restart provided Davenport with the opportunity to secure the second position as he got by Madden while Roberts moved into fourth around both Moyer and Owens. At that point, the top-3 cars began to separate themselves from the pack until slower traffic became a factor.
On lap 30, Davenport saw an opening as Lanigan worked around those he intended to lap. The No. 6 machine bolted to the inside and seized the top spot. Further back, Roberts worked his way passed Madden to capture third.
However, Roberts’ night would end prematurely as his car slowed to bring out the race’s final yellow flag on lap 41. By that point, the track had become bottom lane dominant and Davenport was able to drive away from the competition to earn the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Darrell Lanigan, 3. Chris Madden, 4. Jimmy Owens, 5. Don O’Neal, 6. Gregg Satterlee, 7. Josh Richards, 8. Rick Eckert, 9. Shane Clanton, 10. Chris Brown, 11. Donny Schatz, 12. Billy Moyer, Jr., 13. Scott Bloomquist, 14. Dennis Erb, Jr., 15. Chub Frank, 16. Steve Francis, 17. Brandon Overton, 18. Dale McDowell, 19. Boom Briggs, 20. Chase Junghans, 21. Nick Latham, 22. Morgan Bagley, 23. Eric Wells, 24. Chris Ferguson, 25. Casey Roberts, 26. Brandon Sheppard, 27. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 28. Will Vaught, 29. Jordan Yaggy, 30 Tim McCreadie, 31. James Rice
