Jonathan Davenport’s #6 Longhorn.
*Story composed from DirtonDirt.com video and various social media reports.
The East Alabama Motor Speedway hosted its 40th annual National 100 race for Super Late Models this weekend with a winner’s purse of more than $20,000 up for grabs.
And after what proved to be an intense and nerve tingling feature, Jonathan Davenport laid claim to the third National 100 triumph of his career and the first for his Kevin Rumley owned team.
Dennis ‘Rambo’ Franklin set fast time in qualifying on Saturday night then went on to earn the pole for Sunday’s 100-lap feature when he beat out Scott Bloomquist in his heat race. Dale McDowell, Randy Weaver and Chris Madden also garnered top positions on the starting grid by winning their respective heats during preliminary action.
Kelly Guy beat out Randle Chupp to win the lone B-main used to set the remainder of the feature starting lineup.
At the start of the 100 lap main event, Franklin immediately went to the lead on the ‘hammer down’ track with a hornet’s nest of activity behind him as McDowell, Madden, Dennis Erb, Jr. and Weaver mixed it up early for positions within the top-5. Rambo’s driving style seemed well suited to the wet and tacky conditions of the track that had been watered and groomed by officials following racing in a number of classes earlier in the day.
A total of seven cautions slowed the action during the first half of the race which allowed the lead cars to stay free of lapped traffic during the early stages of the event.
With Franklin leading, the better battles on the speedway involved Weaver and Davenport who fought for the runner-up spot throughout most of the race’s first half. Also, Erb, McDowell, Bloomquist, Madden, Shane Clanton and Don O’Neal exchanged positions within the top-10.
But it was in the second 50 laps where the story of this race would be written. At that point, the racing surface began to show signs of black rubber being laid down as the event went through a stretch of 41 circuits between laps 37 and 78 without a yellow flag being shown to the field. It was during that stretch in which Davenport got by Franklin for the race lead at the halfway mark in a move that would be followed in one lap intervals by Weaver and Bloomquist as those three drivers assumed the top-3 positions in the running order.
Over the course of the final 22 laps, right rear tires would become the most valuable asset on the racing machines as no fewer than six drivers would suffer flats as the abrasive surface took its toll. Those to experience trouble in the race’s final quarter included early front runners such as McDowell, Clanton, Weaver and Rick Eckert. Some would change tires and come back out while others simply retired for the night.
During the final 20 laps, Davenport would have to hold off the advances of Madden and Bloomquist as those drivers attempted to take advantage of repeated opportunities on restarts brought on by the tire issues of others. But in the end, Davenport held on to capture the lucrative victory.
At the finish, it was Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden, Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, Rick Eckert, Dennis Erb, Jr., Chase Junghans, Clint Smith, Anthony Burroughs and Eric Jacobsen making up the top-10.
