Jonathan Davenport won his second Dream
Jonathan Davenport won the Dirt Late Model Dream back in 2015 but that was only after Scott Bloomquist came up light at the scales. On Saturday night at Eldora Speedway the driver who has had so much success at the ‘Big E’ scored another crown jewel victory without a tech issue. Chris Madden harassed the eventual winner throughout the second half of the feature but ‘The Fast 49’ fought off that challenge on what proved to be a one lane track and held off all threats to his supremacy at the historic facility.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Blairsville, Georgia earned $129,000 for his efforts on the track located in Rossburg, Ohio in a race aired live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 96 cars were signed in for competition
Heat race lineups were set according to points accumulated during the racing action held on Thursday and Friday.
Heat 1 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Carson Ferguson
Heat 2 Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Ashton Winger, 3. Stormy Scott
Heat 3 Results: 1. Josh Rice, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Kyle Strickler
Heat 4 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Ricky Thornton Jr., 3. Ryan Gustin
Heat 5 Results: 1. Devin Moran, 2. Shane Clanton, 3. Kyle Bronson
Heat 6 Results: 1. Mason Zeigler, 2. Tyler Erb, 3. Mike Marlar
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Dennis Erb Jr.
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Nick Hoffman, 2. Tanner English, 3. Dustin Sorensen
Feature Re-cap: Zeigler took the lead in the early going with Pierce, Moran, O’Neal and Davenport trailing. O’Neal passed Moran for third on the second lap opening the door for Davenport to also get through.
Pierce moved up to challenge Zeigler for the race lead on lap 5 and those two drivers battled for several laps with Zeigler holding the spot. Further back, Madden entered the top-5 on lap 13 as the leaders began to battle through slower traffic,
The top-4 maneuvered through the lapped cars 20 laps into the race with the top-5 of Zeigler, Pierce, O’Neal, Davenport and Madden running in tight formation.
Pierce took the lead from Zeigler at the race’s quarter mark just as Madden grabbed fourth away from O’Neal. Two laps later, Davenport moved by Zeigler for second. Then on lap 30 he made what ultimately proved to be the race winning move when he passed Pierce for the lead.
With the race still running caution free at the halfway mark, the front runners found themselves working in and around slower cars with Davenport, Pierce and Madden running nose to tail.
Ricky Thornton Jr. looked to insert himself into the fray at the halfway point when he engaged in a fight with Madden for fourth but Madden would eventually hold on to that position.
The slowing car of Josh Rice brought out the race’s one and only caution on lap 62. On the restart, Madden jumped to second. For the remainder of the feature, Madden appeared to be keeping Davenport in his sights, perhaps sizing him up for a late race move, but that move would never come on a track that only allowed racers to effectively use the bottom lane.
Although Madden closed to the leader’s rear spoiler in the closing laps, Davenport held the lead and sailed under the checkered flag to lay claim to another Eldora Speedway win.
Feature Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Bobby Pierce, 4. Ricky Thornton Jr., 5. Mason Zeigler, 6. Tyler Erb, 7. Hudson O’Neal, 8. Devin Moran, 9. Shane Clanton, 10. Stormy Scott, 11. Mike Marlar, 12. Carson Ferguson, 13. Nick Hoffman, 14. Dale McDowell, 15. Ashton Winger, 16. Brandon Sheppard, 17. Daulton Wilson, 18. Tanner England, 19. Josh Rice, 20. Ryan Gustin, 21. Tim McCreadie, 22. Kyle Strickler, 23. Dennis Erb Jr., 24. Jimmy Owens, 25. Kyle Bronson, 26. Dustin Sorensen
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