IMPERIAL, Pa. (Oct. 5) — Jonathan Davenport wanted to make a statement so badly at this weekend’s 36th annual Pittsburgher 100 presented by Big River Steel he went with a strategy unbeknownst to anyone outside his Double L Motorsports team.

The 40-year-old summoned a special, well-known race machine that enabled him to obliterate Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition Saturday at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway en route to his first Pittsburgher triumph.

With two of the five playoff races at the sweeping Steel City half-mile, the Blairsville, Ga., veteran went bold by employing his Eldora Speedway race car. Yes, the same car that’s won five of his nine career Big E crown jewels since 2021.

“We wanted to have a really good weekend,” Davenport said in victory lane. “I sent Gavin (Landers) a text — and Cory (Fostvedt) and Lance Landers, we talked about it — but this is actually our Eldora car we brought up here because we knew we wanted to make a statement and bring our best piece to this big racetrack.”

Davenport insists “there ain’t nothing special about it,” but that “it’s an ol' girl I love and am confident in.” Davenport’s entered every Eldora crown jewel event since the fall of 2021 in that very car christened “Eldora,” which hasn’t raced elsewhere throughout that time.

Friday’s Pittsburgher winner Devin Moran finished second 1.864 seconds behind the winner, but Davenport still emerges from the weekend in the favorable spot he hoped to be in ahead of Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway’s Jackson 100 on Oct. 11-12, only 10 points behind Moran in the title race.

“It definitely helps for sure,” Davenport said. “Brownstown probably ain’t our best track, but we’ve ran good there before and ran really bad there. It’s kind of a crapshoot.”

Davenport did everything to create as much separation from Moran as possible Saturday. At one point, before Boom Briggs’s lap-42 canton, he led by more than seven seconds over Moran. Briggs’s caution was the only stoppage in the 70-lap feature commanded from start to finish by Davenport, who had his Eldora-tailored car just as dialed in around the slicked-off, bottom-dominant half-mile.

“She turns really well and that’s the biggest thing you gotta do here, be able to steer and tighten up the back of the car to get it in the racetrack,” Davenport said. “I didn’t really want to say anything to anybody until we got through the weekend. She definitely ain’t going to Brownstown, so we’re gonna put her back up and she’ll be back at Eldora.”

Davenport’s first Pittsburgher comes in his eighth attempt. He finished second to Scott Bloomquist in his first attempt in 2015, a race he led laps 38-85 before losing at the end. In 2023, he led laps 37-69 but finished eighth. On Saturday, minus the lap-42 restart that stacked up the 12th-starting, charging Moran behind him, there was little doubt.

“I can’t wait to check that box. It’s been a while, for sure,” Davenport said. “I’ve been coming here since 2015 with Kevin Rumley and fell in love with the place. This place is awesome. It’s big and wide. It raced like I would’ve never dreamed it’d race tonight. I would’ve thought for sure it would’ve moved back up the racetrack at some point. The tire combination they have us on now, once we kill those edges, it’s like we can’t make no speed, so we have to slow down to make the smallest circle possible.”

What stunted Moran’s shot at the win is the sluggish lap-42 restart when he went from second to fifth in a flash. Moran made his way back to second by lap 57, but by then, Davenport led by more than three seconds.

“On that one restart, I watch a ton of film, and the bottom got the top on restarts like 12 out of 15 times,” Moran said. “So I thought for sure that bottom would be good. The top was just cleaned up enough that Hudson (O’Neal) had a really good start and went down in the bottom of one and two and really got me jacked up.

“Had to get by him and Timmy (McCreadie) again. This Double Down Motorsports Longhorn was really good tonight. I felt like we had a good car, and J.D. did, too, obviously, so congrats to him. I think we’re definitely going to have a dog fight these last three races.”

McCreadie for a handful laps on the ensuing restart looked to challenge Davenport, pulling within a second of the eventual winner on lap 47. But Davenport knew, the longer the run, the more he liked his chances, especially with his ability to care for his tires.

“I knew we had a pretty good, long run there. Like I said before, the edges on our tires were killed,” Davenport said. “I figured the first couple laps there when it went green would be more momentum, so I tried to float out and kind of move around. But I didn’t feel in the racetrack as good as I needed to after my tires cooled down.”

Davenport ran around the innermost part of PPMS better than anyone all night, even in his heat race when he punched his No. 49 through a narrow window around Mason Zeigler along the bottom entering turn three. He hardly left the bottom during the feature.

“I just kept migrating down to the bottom there,” Davenport said. “It felt like he stayed with me for a while, then Cory started moving us up a bit right as we got to lapped cars. That’s when I stated puttin’ around the bottom again. It’s crazy for me to win this race riding around the inside guardrail. Normally I’d be the outside of one or floating through the middle. But as I said, hats off to the track crew. I just love a big, wide racetrack. We went six-wide for the parade lap.”

Max Blair, meanwhile, rounded out the podium in third, a rewarding finish for him considering he started seventh and rallied from slipping back to 11th at the beginning of the feature.

“The bottom had so much moisture in it, the first little while I think you kind of had to be in it and I wasn’t good enough to stay down there,” Blair said. “I just rode around for as long as I could, but once tat slowed down and you could run across the racetrack, this thing really came alive. I thought I was going to run second there for a minute, but we got into some lapped traffic and a lapped car raced us pretty hard and cost us a possible second. But to run third in the Pittsburgher is awesome for sure.”

Feature lineup

(70 laps)

Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie
Row 2: Michael Norris, Garrett Alberson
Row 3: Mason Zeigler, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 4: Max Blair, Mike Marlar
Row 5: Daulton Wilson, Hudson O'Neal
Row 6: Ross Robinson, Devin Moran
Row 7: Logan Zarin, Drake Troutman
Row 8: Jimmy Owens, Clay Harris
Row 9: Carson Ferguson, Rick Eckert
Row 10: Cody Overton, Gregg Satterlee
Row 11: Boom Briggs, Logan Roberson
Row 12: Brenden Smith, Cory Lawler

Consolation results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Carson Ferguson, Cody Overton, Boom Briggs, Jared Miley, Colton Flinner, Tyler Wyant, Ryan Markham, Jon Hodkiss, Brenden Smith, Ron Hall, Ron Fink.

Second consolation: Rick Eckert, Gregg Satterlee, Logan Roberson, Alex Ferree, Kyle Lukon, Tony Musolino, Cory Lawler, Chris Schneider, Levi Yetter, Tony White. Scratched: Ryan Christoff.

Heat race recap

Second-starting Jonathan Davenport slid by early leader Mason Zeigler and paced the final four laps to win the first heat race by 1.589 seconds over Zeigler, who led the opening four circuits. Davenport will start on the pole for Saturday’s $50,000-to-win Pittsburgher as he chases his first career PPMS victory. Daulton Wilson and Logan Zarin held serve and rounded the top-four finishers, punching their ticket into the 70-lap main event. … Second-starting Michael Norris led all eight laps and narrowly repelled a late-race challenge from pole-starting Max Blair to beat him by 0.021 of a second. Fourth-starting Ross Robinson grabbed third from Jimmy Owens, as they claimed the final two transfer positions. … Tim McCreadie cruised to lead the entire way in heat three, winning by 3.798 seconds over second-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. Hudson O’Neal started and finished third, while Drake Troutman improved one spot for the final transfer. Troutman was penalized a starting row after a deck height violation in postqualifying technical inspection. … Garrett Alberson earned a convincing flag-to-flag victory in the fourth and final heat race, winning by 1.587 seconds over third-starting Mike Marlar. Devin Moran, winner of Friday’s $10,000 opener, slipped to third, while sixth-starting Clay Harris climbed to grab the fourth and final transfer spot. … Each heat race was completed without incident and lasted less than three minutes, individually; the four heats combined to last 10 minutes and 46 seconds.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Jonathan Davenport, Mason Zeigler, Daulton Wilson, Logan Zarin, Carson Ferguson, Cody Overton, Jon Hodgkiss, Ryan Markham, Brenden Smith, Ron Hall.

Second heat: Michael Norris, Max Blair, Ross Robinson, Jimmy Owens, Boom Briggs, Colton Flinner, Jared Miley, Tyler Wyant, Ron Fink.

Third heat: Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O'Neal, Drake Troutman, Rick Eckert, Cory Lawler, Kyle Lukon, Levi Yetter, Tony Musolino, Tony White.

Fourth heat: Garrett Alberson, Mike Marlar, Devin Moran, Clay Harris, Alex Ferree, Logan Roberson, Gregg Satterlee, Chris Schneider. Scratched: Ryan Christoff.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa., 18.469
2. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 18.755
3. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 18.830
4. Michael Norris (02), Sarver, Pa., 18.887
5. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., 18.965
6. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 18.973
7. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 19.159
8. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., 19.240
9. Carson Ferguson (93F), Lincolnton, N.C., 19.328
10. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 19.351
11. Cody Overton (97), Evans, Ga., 19.368
12. Jared Miley (10m), Pittsburgh, Pa., 19.412
13. Jon Hodgkiss (69), Pittsburgh, Pa., 19.704
14. Tyler Wyant (24), Oil City, Pa., 19.820
15. Brenden Smith (17ss), Dade City, Fla., 19.887
16. Colton Flinner (48), Allison Park, Pa., 19.923
17. Ryan Markham (5m), Ashland, Ohio, 20.431
18. Ron Fink (ez1), Cumberland, Md., 20.620
19. Ron Hall (01), Hookstown, Pa., 20.990
Group B
1. Tim McCreadie (1), Watertown, N.Y., 18.728
2. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 18.768
3. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 18.800
4. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 18.922
5. Drake Troutman (7T), Hyndman, Pa., 18.924
6. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 18.993
7. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 19.242
8. Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., 19.287
9. Rick Eckert (0), York, Pa., 19.403
10. Alex Ferree (1c), Saxonburg, Pa., 19.454
11. Levi Yetter (9y), Cabot, Pa., 19.869
12. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 19.876
13. Kyle Lukon (184), Burgettstown, Pa., 19.967
14. Logan Roberson (17), Waynesboro, Va., 19.969
15. Tony Musolino (36), Pittsburgh, Pa., 20.351
16. Chris Schneider (55), Lower Burrell, Pa., 20.644
17. Cory Lawler (93), Hanover, Pa., 21.144
18. Ryan Christoff (10), Canonsburg, Pa., 21.499
19. Tony White (27T), Aliquippa, Pa., no time

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
11:30 a.m. - Pits cleared
Noon - Pits reopen
3 p.m. - Grandstands open
4:30-5:15 p.m. - Drivers’ autograph session
5:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- RUSH Crate hot laps
- Super Late Model hot laps
Opening ceremonies
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- RUSH Crate time trials (2 laps)
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- RUSH Crate heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- RUSH Crate dash (6 laps)
- RUSH Crate consolations (10 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- 36th annual Pittsburgher (70 laps)
- RUSH Crate feature (40 laps)
- RUSH Crate non-qualifier (15 laps)