Michael Moats and I offered our predictions for the upcoming Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season in our latest edition of the Turn 2 Blog posted on this site earlier in the week. And since we had a chance to guess which drivers we thought would win the most races and take home the championship on this national touring series, I thought I would give fans that same opportunity.
In a poll question posted on Twitter, fans were given a chance to pick among four drivers regarding who they thought would win the most LOLMDS features in 2018.
Jonathan Davenport
The question read as such: What driver will win the most @lucasdirt races in 2018?
Respondents were offered the choices of Scott Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce and Josh Richards.
Of the 523 people who voted, 39% selected Jonathan Davenport to win the most Lucas Oil sanctioned events in 2018. A total of 30% chose defending LOLMDS champion Josh Richards as the season’s big race winner with 24% opting for Scott Bloomquist as the driver to earn the most victories. Only 7% believed that Bobby Pierce would win the most races in his first full season on this national tour.
Unfortunately, Twitter only allows four choices on their polls. That means drivers such as Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Don O’Neal and Darrell Lanigan were left out of the survey. And no doubt, many of those who saw the online poll might have wanted to pick one of those Dirt Late Model stars. With 60 races on the schedule for this year, it would seem quite possible that each of those drivers could score multiple wins.
But the bottom line would appear to be that many fans have confidence in Davenport to win numerous races. Considering that he has been reunited with setup guru Kevin Rumley, who he teamed with in 2015 to post a record setting season, there is certainly reason for such optimism. The duo who powered the K&L Rumley ride in 2015 will be working for the team owned by Arkansas businessman Lance Landers in the upcoming campaign.
Further, remember that Davenport earned some significant wins in 2017(World 100 and Hillbilly 100) while driving in what amounted to a part-time role for car owner G.R. Smith.
Jonathan Davenport’s new ride
Davenport has the talent. Rumley has the wisdom. Landers is providing the resources. The fans may very well be right in their prediction.
However, there are other drivers and teams with those same ingredients. The real bottom line is that this promises to be quite a season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The series opens its 2018 campaign this weekend at the Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, GA.
