Jonathan Davenport charged from his 9th starting spot to claim the win.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series made its annual visit to the Tazewell Speedway on Friday night and staged an unforgettable show in front of a big crowd on the high-banked east Tennessee oval. In the end, it was Jonathan Davenport who came away with the win but only after one of the sport’s top stars walked away from a spectacular crash.
Scott Bloomquist began the night’s action by posting the fastest overall lap in qualifying when he toured the third-mile facility in 10.926 seconds to lead Group A time-trials. Chad Ogle was fastest in Group B after he recorded a lap of 11.243 seconds.
Bloomquist won the first heat race of the night ahead of Earl Pearson, Jr., Jonathan Davenport and Eric Wells. As a result of his win in this preliminary, Bloomquist earned the right to start the feature from the pole position.
Stacy Boles won the second heat by beating out Jared Landers, Billy Ogle, Jr. and Brad Neat.
Steve Francis secured a front row starting spot in the feature by beating out Don O’Neal, Chad Ogle and Jeff Wolfenbarger in the third heat race of the evening.
Jimmy Owens took the win in the final heat of the night over Eddie Carrier, Jr., Mack McCarter and Devin Moran.
At the start of the 50-lap feature, Bloomquist blasted to the early lead ahead of Francis, Owens, Boles and O’Neal. However, it did not take long for the jockeying for position to get started.
Pearson, Boles and O’Neal go three-wide seconds before the crash.
As the cars circulated around the track for the second time, Pearson went low as O’Neal went to the high side of the track to pass Boles. The three cars came in contact with each other and Pearson’s car was sent up the track sideways and in front of oncoming traffic. The No. 1 machine hit the outside guardrail head on then went airborne and began rolling over wildly. The car eventually slammed down on its roof then was banged into by Neat, who came along with no way to avoid the prone racer.
After a few tense moments in which a hush fell over the crowd, Pearson was extracted from the car and walked into a waiting ambulance under his own power.
Track officials work to overturn Pearson’s wrecked machine.
Once the race resumed, Bloomquist went back to the lead with Francis, Owens and O’Neal left to battle for the runner-up position. Meanwhile, the ninth starting Davenport began making his move toward the front on lap 16 when he passed Billy Ogle, Jr. for seventh then drove by Carrier for sixth just three laps later.
At the race’s halfway point, Bloomquist appeared to be in total command as he worked traffic and built a lead of almost a full straightaway over the second and third running Francis and O’Neal. But still, Davenport was surging forward.
On lap 25, Davenport moved around both Francis and Owens to position himself behind Bloomquist and now second running O’Neal. And the Blairsville, GA driver’s charge was far from over. On lap 30, Davenport moved by O’Neal to claim second and immediately set his sights on the race leader.
Bloomquist(0) and Davenport fight for the lead on Tazewell’s high banks
A brief three way battle saw Davenport attempt to get around Bloomquist only to open the door for O’Neal to almost reclaim the second spot. However, Davenport powered by his rivals on lap 34 to take the lead.
A couple of late race cautions gave Bloomquist chances to reassume his position at the top of the scoreboard but Davenport was able to fend off those advances and drive on to the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Scott Bloomquist, 3. Don O’Neal, 4. Steve Francis, 5. Jimmy Owens, 6. Jared Landers, 7. Eddie Carrier, Jr., 8. Billy Ogle, Jr., 9. Jeff Wolfenbarger, 10. Donald McIntosh, 11. Chris Brown, 12. Devin Moran, 13. Dennis Erb, Jr., 14. Brandon Sheppard, 15. Chad Ogle, 16. Brian Smith, 17. Eric Wells, 18. Mack McCarter, 19. Tommy Bailey, 20. Stacy Boles, 21. Brent Hensley, 22. Earl Pearson, Jr., 23. Brad Neat, 24. Wade Howerton
Davenport and crew celebrate their win.
