Jonathan Davenport led all the way for his first Lucas Oil win of the season
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series moved to the Port Royal Speedway for the River Valley 40 on Sunday night to close out a two-race weekend. After leading all the way and holding off a late challenge, it was Jonathan Davenport who ended the evening as the feature winner at the Pennsylvania track. The Blairsville, GA driver headed home from a race shown live by Lucas Oil Racing TV $10,000 richer.
A total of 44 cars were signed in for competition.
Group A qualifying was led by Mike Marlar who went around the half-mile clay oval in 18.141 seconds to outperform Chris Ferguson, Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, and Kyle Bronson.
Brandon Sheppard topped Group B time-trials with a lap of 18.457 seconds to top Shane Clanton, Stormy Scott, Gregg Satterlee, and Josh Richards.
Jonathan Davenport earned the pole position for the feature when he won out in the first heat over Mike Marlar, Kyle Bronson, and Tim McCreadie while Devin Moran was victorious in the second preliminary ahead of Chris Ferguson, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Tyler Erb.
Brandon Sheppard would start the main event from the outside of the front row by virtue of his third heat win over Stormy Scott, Josh Richards, and Mason Zeigler just before Shane Clanton defeated Gregg Satterlee, Ross Robinson, and Andy Haus in the fourth and final heat race.
Jimmy Owens bested Michael Norris and Earl Pearson Jr. in the first B-main then Jeff Rine topped Trever Feathers and Gary Stuhler in the final B-main to set the remainder of the starting lineup.
When the 40-lap main event got underway, it was Davenport who immediately went to the race lead with Sheppard, Clanton, Scott, and Moran in arrears. Satterlee took the fifth position away from Moran on the third lap.
Sheppard and Clanton engaged in a fierce battle for second that would go on for several laps as Davenport slipped away from his pursuers. At the same time, Scott and Satterlee continued to run in the fourth and fifth spots respectively.
Further back in the top-10, Ferguson and Marlar took each other on for position.
Davenport found himself having to work hard among slower traffic after lap 14. On a couple of occasions the No. 49 car had some close calls with lapped cars but was able to get by each one at a time.
A lap 20 caution for the slowing car of Flinner gave the leaders a brief reprieve from slower traffic. On the restart, Clanton blasted to second while Satterlee, Moran, and Ferguson. Eventually, Ferguson would win out and move into the top-5.
Over the closing laps, Davenport continued to lead while Clanton stalked. With two laps remaining, the No. 25 closed in and appeared poised to make a move but was never able to draw alongside.
Davenport ultimately sailed under the checkered flag to take the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Shane Clanton, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Chris Ferguson, 5. Stormy Scott, 6. Gregg Satterlee, 7. Josh Richards, 8. Jimmy Owens, 9. Tim McCreadie, 10. Mike Marlar, 11. Kyle Bronson, 12. Devin Moran, 13. Ricky Thornton Jr., 14. Tyler Erb, 15. Hudson O’Neal, 16. Michael Norris, 17. Jeff Rine, 18. Earl Pearson Jr., 19. Andy Haus, 20. Ross Robinson, 21. Dylan Yoder, 22. Gary Stuhler, 23. Trever Feathers, 24. Mason Zeigler, 25. Colton Flinner
