Jonathan Davenport earned $50,000 at WVMS
Jonathan Davenport had very fast cars for the past couple of weeks but had slower traffic to cause him difficulties in his last two feature starts. That would not be the case on Saturday night when he completely dominated the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Historic 100 at West Virginia Motor Speedway.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Blairsville, Georgia earned a hefty $50,000 from a race held on the 5/8 mile Mineral Wells, WV track and shown live by MavTV.
A total of 32 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Jonathan Davenport(20.054), 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Mike Marlar, 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Gregg Satterlee, 6. Daulton Wilson, 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Ricky Thornton Jr., 9. Garrett Alberson, 10. Ryan Montgomery
Group B Results- 1. Brandon Overton(20.651), 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Tyler Erb, 5. Ross Robinson, 6. Justin Duty, 7. Ashton Winger, 8. Rod Conley, 9. Bryan Bernheisel, 10. R.J. Conley
Heat 1 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Gregg Satterlee, 4. Tim McCreadie
Heat 2 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Daulton Wilson
Heat 3 Results: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Ashton Winger, 4. Ross Robinson
Heat 4 Results: 1. Tyler Erb, 2. Rod Conley, 3. Doug Drown, 4. Freddie Carpenter
B-main Finish: 1. Spencer Hughes, 2. Justin Duty, 3. Bryan Bernheisel, 4. R.J. Conley, 5. Kyle Strickler, 6. G.R. Smith
Feature Re-cap: Davenport shot to the early lead at the start of the 50-lap main event with Overton, Thornton, Erb and Pearson in his tire tracks. Pearson passed Erb for fourth on the second circuit leaving Erb to fall back into the clutches of Marlar.
Davenport seemed to be slipping away from his pursuers until the found himself among slower traffic which allowed Overton to close in.
Overton moved in to challenge Davenport on lap 12 but the No. 49 fought that attempt off and then began to once more build a big lead. However, the slowing car of G.R. Smith would erase that advantage on lap 19. On the restart, Davenport continued to lead Overton and Pearson as Moran and Marlar jumped up to fourth and fifth respectively.
Alberson slid into the turn four wall to bring out a yellow flag just one lap past the halfway point. Davenport jetted away from the pack when green flag racing resumed as he led Overton, Pearson, Moran and Satterlee.
Pearson went side-by-side with Overton for second on lap 30 and that fight continued for multiple laps until Pearson emerged with the position. But by that time, Davenport’s lead was almost five seconds ahead of those who chased him.
Again, though, caution would erase the lead held by Davenport on lap 34. Overton returned to second on the restart with Pearson falling back to third while Satterlee rose to fourth.
The story of Davenport building a lead then having it erased by a yellow flag continued on lap 38 when O’Neal and Winger tangled in turn two. On the restart, Davenport quickly built a lead of more than two seconds ahead of Overton and Pearson.
Ultimately, there would be no issues with slower traffic or anything else as Davenport sailed to victory in the lucrative Historic 100. It was the fourth win in his last five visits to WVMS and his first Lucas Oil feature win of 2022.
“It’s huge for sure,” Davenport said in victory lane. “It’s great for me, for my team, for my sponsors. It definitely will make the ride home a whole lot easier tonight. We’ve had a great car the past two months, my guys have really worked hard and we’ve been trying stuff. They’ve hit on something just about everywhere we go no matter if it’s a super speedway here in West Virginia or a little bullring. Our car has been really, really good.”
Feature Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Earl Pearson Jr., 4. Gregg Satterlee, 5. Devin Moran, 6. Ricky Thornton Jr., 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Mike Marlar, 9. Tyler Erb, 10. Spencer Hughes, 11. Ross Robinson, 12. Daulton Wilson, 13. Rod Conley, 14. Brandon Sheppard, 15. R.J. Conley, 16. Bryan Bernheisel, 17. Ashton Winger, 18. Hudson O’Neal, 19. Pete Crum, 20. Garrett Alberson, 21. Doug Drown, 22. Justin Duty, 23. Freddie Carpenter, 24. G.R. Smith, 25. Kyle Strickler
Please consider also reading:
Jonathan Davenport looking to kick the habit as big money races approach
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.
