ROSSBURG, Ohio — It was no secret that Jonathan Davenport was oozing with confidence entering Saturday’s 49th annual World 100. During preliminary action for Dirt Late Model racing’s most prestigious event — during which the Blairsville, Ga., driver grabbed a $10,000 victory in one of four 25-lap features — Davenport suggested he had the car to beat come Saturday’s finale.

After Friday’s preliminary feature victory, Davenport said his Double L Motorsports Longhorn Chassis “was pretty spot on” despite suffering some minor frontend damage that required his team to change a spindle. He went on to earn the most points among the 98 entries thanks to his preliminary feature win and a runner-up finish in his other prelim.

On Saturday, he backed it up, though it was hardly a leisurely drive around Eldora Speedway’s famed half-mile. As old-school as his paint scheme was, Davenport had to drive much of the main event old-school as well, with faulty power steering.

Going from third to first on the 67th lap, Davenport manhandled his Six Pack throwback car the rest of the way for his third World 100 triumph. After losing his power steering on lap 30, Davenport muscled past Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., and Ricky Weiss of Headingly, Manitoba, on the frontstretch with 33 laps remaining and raced to a $52,000 payday.

Davenport, who has won the race every odd year since 2015, took the checkers 1.573 seconds ahead of Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., while Weiss, Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., and Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., rounded out the top five.

“I can’t even feel my arms and my fingers right now,” said Davenport, moments after climbing from his car, walking over to the wall in Eldora’s victory lane and hugging the large globe mural painted in the background. “I didn’t have power steering from lap 30. I almost pulled in. And Ricky (Weiss) got to me and I found me a line where I could use the brake pedal to turn left, and as long as I could counter-steer just a little bit, I was OK. I could just hold it on the right side of the steering wheel with both of my arms. The hardest part was under caution there trying to keep it straight.”

After starting seventh, Davenport steadily inched his way to the front. By lap 10 he was in fifth. Ten laps later he was fourth. On lap 22 he took the third spot from Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., and he grabbed second from polesitter John Blankenship of Knoxville, Tenn., on lap 29.

Davenport managed to pull ahead of Pierce in turn two on lap 30 following a restart, but Pierce rolled the topside and used the momentum to flash back in front at the flagstand by a scant 0.051 of a second. He finally led for the first time — officially — on lap 47, but it was short-lived as Pierce went back in front on lap 48.

Davenport led again on lap 62, but again Pierce had an answer. Pierce reclaimed the lead on lap 63, bringing with him a charging Weiss, who shuffled Davenport back to third on lap 64. Going on the attack again, however, Davenport slipped by them both three laps later and never trailed again.

“Man, I’ll tell you what, this is amazing,” said Davenport. “We took off there and I didn’t fire very good at all, and I was really loose. I thought I was in trouble, but I just stayed really patient and just let my tire come to me. … After that long green-flag run, it almost felt like (the track) was rubbered this (car) was stuck to the earth so much.”

Pierce, who led 64 of the first 66 laps, was a fading third when he hit the wall on lap 83 to draw the third of four cautions in the 100-lap race that drew a record crowd and record 50-50 ticket that eclipsed $80,000. The caution erased Davenport’s 3.176-second lead over Weiss, while Madden, who started 21st, was up to third. Owens was hanging close in fourth ahead of the unheralded Scott.

“I didn’t want that (lap-83 caution) that came out, because we had such a big lead,” continued Davenport. “But then, I could get in clean air, just as long as I knew I could get took off (on the restart). I didn’t want to hit Ricky or go down (into turn one) and couldn’t turn the car and ruin both of our chances. So it was a little nerve-wracking for sure, for me, and for me to not to wreck the field.”

A caution eight laps later, the fourth of the race, set up a short dash to the finish. Weiss restarted second after Frank Heckenast Jr.’s flat tire on the 91st lap, but he got into the wall, allowing Owens to grab the second spot while J.D. ran unchallenged the final nine laps. Owens, a two-time race winner was second for the second straight season.

“We got a good invert and threw some things at the car tonight, because I didn’t really feel like we were good enough to win the race the way we were,” he said. “We hit the nail on the head pretty good and was able to rally from 12th up to second. That last restart, (if) I probably could’ve had a little bit better takeoff, you might’ve seen some action in (turns) one and two.”

Instead, Owens fell in behind Davenport and the both began to distance themselves from the battle for the final podium spot, which was finally secured by Weiss.

“Davenport was good, he was good the whole time,” Weiss said. “We were kind of getting up there in a pretty good battle, and Pierce, I didn’t think he’d make it much past 75 laps after banging off the wall that much. It just looked like he couldn’t leave the corner and that’s where we could kind of gain (on Pierce) there. … Davenport, he was really searching around and I could just kind of judge off him where we could gain and where we could lose.”

Weiss was running second when the third-running Davenport slipped past to take the lead.

“That one time, we went three-wide there, and I finally had to lift — I was (in the middle of the) sandwich,” Weiss added. “Once he kind of cleared those three lapped cars and got away a little bit, and then the (lap-83) caution came out, and I thought, ’Maybe we have something.’ He fired off better, then the next one I fired off about dead even with him, and I figured I might as well go for it — second’s no fun.”

Besides the cautions for Pierce and Heckenast, two lap-30 yellows slowed the race, first for a Chase Junghans spin and again on the restart when Brian Shirley and Shane Clanton tangled exiting turn two.

Preliminary results and notes

49th annual World 100
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $52,000
2. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Rocket, $20,000
3. Ricky Weiss (7), Headingley, Manitoba, Bloomquist, $12,500
4. Stormy Scott (2s), Las Cruces, N.M., Bloomquist, $10,000
5. Chris Madden (0M), Gray Court, S.C., Bloomquist, $8,750
6. Scott Bloomquist (0), Mooresburg, Tenn., Bloomquist, $7,500
7. Chad Simpson (1), Mount Vernon, Iowa, Black Diamond, $6,500
8. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., Bloomquist, $6,000
9. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $5,500
10. Shanon Buckingham (50), Morristown, Tenn., Longhorn, $5,000
11. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Longhorn, $4,000
12. John Blankenship (23), Knoxville, Tenn., Longhorn, $3,000
13. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., Rocket, $2,950
14. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $2,900
15. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., Rocket, $2,875
16. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hills, Pa., Rocket, $2,850
17. Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., Capital, $2,825
18. Josh Richards (14), Shinnston, W.Va., Rocket, $2,800
19. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., Rocket, $2,775
20. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., Bloomquist, $2,750
21. Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., Bloomquist, $2,725
22. R.J. Conley (71c), Wheelersburg, Ohio, Rocket, $2,700
23. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., Rocket, $2,675
24. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Rocket, $2,650
25. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, Rocket, $2,625
26. Darrell Lanigan (29), Union, Ky., Club 29, $2,600
27. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., Rocket, $2,575
28. Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., Rocket, $2,550
29. Michael Norris (72), Sarver, Pa., Rocket, $2,525
30. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., Rocket, $2,500
Lap leaders: Pierce 1-47, 49-61, 63-66; Davenport 48, 62, 67-100
Fast qualifier (among 98 cars): S. Scott, 15.269 seconds
Heat race winners: H. O’Neal, S. Scott, Zeigler, McDowell, Pierce, Blankenship
Consolation winners: Madden, Sheppard
Consolation scramble winners: Zack Dohm, Chris Simpson
Provisional starters: D. Erb, Ferguson
Sept. 5 preliminary feature winners: H. O’Neal, Moyer
Sept. 6 preliminary feature winners: D. Erb, Davenport

Lap-by-lap

Lap 100: Davenport wins the World 100.

Lap 92: With Weiss tagging the turn-two wall on the restart, Owens moves to second.

Lap 91: Frank Heckenast Jr. slows with a flat tire to draw a caution. Davenport leads Weiss, Owens, Madden and Stormy Scott.

Lap 83: A yellow flag waves when third-running Pierce comes to a stop in turn two after tagging the wall. Starting 21st, Chris Madden will restart third. Only 10 cars run on the lead lap.

Lap 75: Davenport continues to lead Weiss, Pierce, Jimmy Owens and Shanon Buckingham.

Lap 67: The frontrunners in heavy lapped traffic, Pierce, Davenport and Weiss cross the line three-wide, Davenport holding the advantage.

Lap 63: Pierce retakes the lead.

Lap 62: Running the low side out of turn four, Davenport takes the lead.

Lap 49: Davenport edged ahead at the stripe to lead lap 48, with Pierce regaining the point on the following circuit.

Lap 46: The pair working through lapped traffic, Pierce and Davenport cross the line side-by-side, Pierce holding the advantage.

Lap 31: A yellow flag waves when Shane Clanton and Brian Shirley tangle on the backstretch. Pierce narrowly edged out Davenport to maintain his lead as the pair crossed the scoring line.

Lap 30: Chase Junghans spins in turns one and two to draw the first caution. Pierce leads Davenport, Blankenship, Ricky Weiss and Zeigler.

Lap 25: Pierce holds a 2.883-second lead, as Davenport begins challenging Blankenship for second.

Lap 15: As the frontrunners work through early lapped traffic, Pierce shows the way out front over Blankenship, Dale McDowell, Mason Zeigler and Jonathan Davenport.

Lap one: The green flag waves at 10:46 p.m. Bobby Pierce noses ahead of fellow front-row starter John Blankenship to lead the opening lap.

10:34 p.m.: Driver introductions are complete and feature starters have been given the call to fire engines.

10:22 p.m. | Driver introductions

Drivers are in line to take the stage for pre-race driver intros.

10:17 p.m. | Pre-race tidbits

The 10-minute call for World 100 feature starters to begin heading to pre-race tire tech was given at 10 p.m. … Provisional starters for the World 100 are Dennis Erb Jr. and Chris Ferguson. They start 19th and 20th, respectively. … Eight former World 100 winners are in the feature field, including the top three starters (John Blankenship, Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell) as well as Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Scott Bloomquist and Shane Clanton. … The 50-50 raffle prize was an astounding $80,489, setting a new Eldora Speedway record. … Zack Dohm was a sullen winner of the first B-main Scramble. His DNQ ended his streak of World 100 feature starts at three. … Gregg Satterlee saw his weekend end with terminal engine trouble during the third heat. His car went up in smoke on lap three just after he reached second place; his sustained some left-side body damage as he was jostled around while slowing. “Everyone was gnawing at each other’s heads out there,” he said, “so blowing up at the front of the field was pretty bad.” … Josh Rice’s hopes of cracking the World 100 starting field for the first time were dashed early in the first heat when his car’s water pump broke off. “There was a big ball of mud in (the engine compartment) so I imagine that’s what did it,” said Rice, who mourned that the mechanical problem likely “cooked the motor.”

10:07 p.m. | Chassis, state representation

Rocket Chassis (among chassis manufacturers) and Illinois (among states) were on top in putting driving representatives into the World 100’s 30-car starting lineup.

Rocket, the Shinnston, W.Va., manufacturer founded by Mark Richards and Steve Baker, put 15 starters on the starting grid, far outdistancing Bloomquist Race Cars with seven drivers in the lineup. Longhorn Chassis (five starters) was next with single entries for Black Diamond, Capital and Club 29.

Illinois, led by outside front-row starter Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, put six racers in starting field followed by Tennessee (five), Georgia (three), New Mexico (two) and Pennsylvania (two). Overall 16 states and a Canadian province were represented with single entries for Indiana, New York, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Texas, Ohio and Canada’s Manitoba.

Notably, Rod Conley’s late charge in the final consolation race gave Ohio its lone starter, the first year since 1990 and only the second time in race history the Buckeye State has had a single starter.

10:01 p.m. | 10-minute call

DIRTcar offificials gave drivers the 10-minute call to get to tire tech.

10:01 p.m. | Feature lineup

Row 1: John Blankenship, Bobby Pierce
Row 2: Dale McDowell, Mason Zeigler
Row 3: Stormy Scott, Hudon O'Neal
Row 4: Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Weiss
Row 5: Kyle Bronson, Shannon Babb
Row 6: Shanon Buckingham, Jimmy Owens
Row 7: Tim McCreadie, Scott Bloomquist
Row 8: Mike Marlar, Chad Simpson
Row 9: Johnny Scott, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 10: Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Ferguson
Row 11: Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard
Row 12: Chase Junghans, Brian Shirley
Row 13: Darrell Lanigan, Tyler Erb
Row 14: Shane Clanton, R.J. Conley
Row 15: Josh Richards, Michael Norris

9:58 p.m. | Engine swapping

A very busy day for Scott Bloomquist and his crew continued when, after he transferred to the World 100 in his heat, he made the decision to change his car’s engine — for the second time in just hours.

Bloomquist pulled the trigger on a powerplant swap for the first time at mid-afternoon, not for a specific problem but in an effort to find the correct motor for the conditions. He said before his heat race that his engine ran a bit hot during hot laps so he changed a belt and went on to finish third in Heat 2, but afterward he felt another engine change was necessary for him to have his best shot at victory in the World 100.

Bloomquist’s team was in the process of buttoning up the engine in his No. 0 as the B-mains ended.

9:55 p.m. | History for Scott brothers

Twin brothers Stormy and Johnny Scott are making history at Eldora as first-time World 100 starters — the only first-timers in 2019 — and the first-ever race starters from New Mexico.

Not only that, but the 29-year-olds became just the third pair of brothers to make the starting lineup for the same World 100 and the first in 29 years.

Indiana racing brothers Russ and Gene Petro were the first brothers to make the same World 100 (1976) while a pair of Kentucky brothers Jack and Randy Boggs set a high standard by making five consecutive World 100s from 1986-90 (with Randy winning in ’87; Jack would become a winner in ’95).

Other brother pairs of been World 100 starters, but not in the same season (Iowa’s Chris and Chad Simpson as well as Ohio’s R.J. and Rod Conley).

9:53 p.m. | Sheppard wins second consolation

Tyler Erb blasted into the lead on the opening lap from his outside front row starting spot with Brandon Sheppard and Brandon Overton in tow. Erb pulled away over the first five laps until Sheppard began to reel him back in. Sheppard grabbed the lead with an inside pass on turn four as they headed to completed lap nine.  A lap-16 caution slowed the action and erased Sheppard’s 1.873-second lead. On the restart, Brian Shirley drove across the nose of Overton’s Rum Runner Motorsports machine, costing Georgia driver two positions. A lap later, the second caution waved. With a mad scramble on the lap-17 restart behind him, Sheppard pulled away to win ahead of Shirley, Erb, R.J. Conley and Michael Norris. Chris Simpson won the second five-lap scramble.

Finish (top five transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Tyler Erb, R.J. Conley, Michael Norris, Chris Simpson, Steven Roberts, Billy Moyer, Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Overton, Steve Casebolt, Duane Chamberlain, Brent Larson, Jason Jameson, Joey Moriarty, Gordy Gundaker, Austin Holcombe, Bob Gardner, Bryant Dickinson, Brian Birkhofer, Kyle Strickler, Rusty Schlenk, Josh Robertson, Dustin Nobbe.

9:24 p.m. | Madden wins first consolation

Polesitter Chris Madden began stretching his lead in the early running, as Shane Clanton and Jacob Hawkins battled door-to-door for second in the opening laps. Just as Hawkins made contact with the turn-two wall and lost ground on the third lap, a yellow flag waved for a tangle in turns one and two involving Ryan King and Will Roland. Madden held his lead on the restart, with Hawkins slowing off the pace to draw a caution on the fifth lap. It was a four-car battle for second when the race went back green, with Chase Junghans overtaking Don O’Neal to run in third. Madden held a 2.342-second lead at the halfway mark, with Clanton running a comfortable second. Unchallenged despite lapped traffic, Madden won the consolation, with Junghans overtaking a slowing Clanton on the final lap to finish runner-up. Darrell Lanigan rounded out the podium in third, while O'Neal cut a tire to fall out of a transfer spot on the last lap. Zack Dohm won the scramble.

Finish (top five transfer): Chris Madden, Chase Junghans, Darrell Lanigan, Shane Clanton, Josh Richards, Jason Feger, Zack Dohm, Jeep Van Wormer, Don O’Neal, Scott James, Rod Conley, Kye Blight, Tyler Carpenter, Jason Riggs, Jerry Bowersock, Casey Noonan, Blake Spencer, Rob Anderzack, Tyler Dietz, Billy Moyer Jr., Robby Hensley, Jacob Hawkins, Ryan King, Will Roland.

9:01 p.m. | Unexpected polesitter

John Blankenship was certainly happy to secure the pole position for the World 100 after winning the sixth heat, but he admitted that he didn’t see himself ending up as the driver who will lead the field to the green flag.

“I’m a little surprised after the last two nights I’ve had,” said Blankenship, who has struggled to get up to speed in his first action since June’s Dream.

The 2013 World 100 champion, Blankenship will make his first start in the sport’s most prestigious event since finishing 12th in 2014.

8:57 p.m. | Consolation lineups

(20 laps; top five transfer)
First consolation
Row 1: Chris Madden, Darrell Lanigan
Row 2: Jacob Hawkins, Shane Clanton
Row 3: Chase Junghans, Don O’Neal
Row 4: Billy Moyer Jr., Josh Richards
Row 5: Kye Blight, Jason Feger
Row 6: Jerry Bowersock, Jeep Van Wormer
Row 7: Jason Riggs, Ryan King
Row 8: Rob Anderzack, Zack Dohm
Row 9: Tyler Dietz, Rod Conley
Row 10: Robby Hensley, Jimmy Mars
Row 11: Blake Spencer, Corey Hedgecock
Row 12: Scott James, Casey Noonan
Second consolation
Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Brandon Overton, R.J. Conley
Row 3: Billy Moyer, Brian Shirley
Row 4: Steve Casebolt, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 5: Michael Norris, Kyle Strickler
Row 6: Brian Birkhofer, Chris Simpson
Row 7: Jason Jameson, Steven Roberts
Row 8: Rusty Schlenk, Austin Holcombe
Row 9: Gordy Gundaker, Duane Chamberlain
Row 10: Bob Gardner, Brent Larson
Row 11: Dustin Nobbe, Will Roland
Row 12: Joey Moriarty, Josh Peterson

8:56 p.m. | Pierce well positioned

Bobby Pierce is accustomed to starting deep in Eldora fields. When he became the race’s younger winner in 2016, in fact, he charged forward from the 22nd starting spot. So the 22-year-old driver is in almost uncharted territory after winning the fifth heat. The gave him the outside pole for the 100-lapper.

“Starting front row of this thing, there’s nowhere to go but backwards,” he said. “But we’re looking to go forward one spot.”

8:51 p.m. | Blankenship wins final heat

John Blankenship of Knoxville, Tenn., drove to a convincing victory in the sixth and final heat, finishing 1.387 seconds ahead of runner-up Jimmy Owens. Owens finally cleared Brian Shirley, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Chris Simpson to grab the second spot, but he couldn’t catch Blankenship who pulled away to win the caution-free heat by a half straightaway. Owens finished second, with Frank Heckenast Jr. grabbing the final transfer spot. Shirley faded to sixth, while Simpson, who started second, faded to eighth.

Finish (top three transfer): John Blankenship, Jimmy Owens, Frank Heckenast Jr., Brandon Overton, Chris Ferguson, Brian Shirley, Michael Norris, Chris Simpson, Rusty Schlenk, Duane Chamberlain, Dustin Nobbe, Josh Robertson, Bryant Dickinson, Jeff Curl.

8:41 p.m. | Pierce wins fifth heat

Outside polesitter Bobby Pierce charged an early lead, with fourth-starting Shanon Buckingham sliding ahead of polesitter Billy Moyer out of turn four to take second on the opening lap. Making contact with the turn-two wall, Moyer continued to lose ground on the fourth lap, as Johnny Scott moved into a transfer spot. Cruising out front, Pierce held more than a 2-second lead at the halfway mark, catching the rear of the field on the ninth lap. Leading by nearly a full straightaway, Pierce won the heat, with Buckingham finishing second. Scott took the third and final transfer spot.

Finish (top three transfer): Bobby Pierce, Shanon Buckingham, Johnny Scott, Tyler Erb, Dennis Erb Jr., Billy Moyer, Earl Pearson Jr., Brian Birkhofer, Steven Roberts, Gordy Gundaker, Brent Larson, Joey Moriarty, Jackie Boggs, Tim Lance.

8:34 p.m. | McDowell grabs third heat

On the third attempt to get the third heat started, Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., went from third to take the lead ahead of polesitter Chad Simpson. McDowell pulled away unto a caution on lap 10 for a slowing Chad Stapleton slowed the pace. McDowell pulled away again on restart as Shannon Babb took second from Simpson. McDowell won the heat, finishing 1.535 seconds ahead of Babb, who started fifth. Simpson held on to finish third, while 2019 Dream winner Brandon Sheppard was fourth. Jason Jameson, who started second, slid high into the outside wall on the backstretch on the opening lap of the first start and collected Doug Drown, Dalton Polston and Steve Casebolt among others. The melee required a complete restart. Jameson jumped the start on the next go-around and was docked a row, moving Brandon Sheppard to the front row.

Finish (top three transfer):  Dale McDowell, Shannon Babb, Chad Simpson, Brandon Sheppard, R.J. Conley, Steve Casebolt, Kyle Strickler, Jason Jameson, Austin Holcombe, Will Roland, Chad Stapleton, Nick Hoffman, Doug Drown, Dalton Polston, John Tweed.

8:28 p.m. | Zeigler apologizes

Mason Zeigler worked hard to win the third heat — he shot from fifth to first on the opening lap, fell to second and then rallied to regain command from Kyle Bronson on lap 11 — but he didn’t wear much of a smile during his post-race interview. The Pennsylvania driver couldn’t shake off his roll in a multi-car tangle on a lap-three restart.

According to Zeigler, his car “got loaded up” and he “pushed like a dump truck” through turns one and two, sending him into Michael Page. Page then slapped the outside wall off turn two, slid sideways and was hit by several cars.

Zeigler said he took the blame for triggering the accident and was hoping that “not too many cars” were damaged.

8:20 p.m. | Zeigler wins chaotic third heat

With front-row starters Michael Page and Kyle Bronson making contact exiting turn four, fifth-starting Mason Zeigler pulled ahead to lead the opening lap. A yellow flag waved on the second lap when Kent Robinson got into the wall in turns three and four. It was chaos on the restart, with Page making contact with the turn-two wall and spinning on the backstretch to collect several cars, including Blake Spencer. With heavy damage, Page’s car was towed off the track. As the race went back green, Bronson slid head of Zeigler in turns three and four to lead lap three. Another yellow flag waved on the third lap when Gregg Satterlee slowed his smoking No. 22 off the pace. Bronson held his lead on the restart, with Don O’Neal falling out of a transfer position after making contact with Jacob Hawkins. The frontrunners entering lapped traffic, Zeigler slid back ahead of Bronson to lead lap 11, with eighth-starting Mike Marlar taking third from Hawkins. Zeigler won the heat, with Bronson and Marlar running second and third to transfer to the feature.

Finish (top three transfer): Mason Zeigler, Kyle Bronson, Mike Marlar, Jacob Hawkins, Don O’Neal, Kye Blight, Jeep Van Wormer, Rob Anderzack, Rod Conley, Blake Spencer, Casey Noonan, Jonny Hodgkiss, Gregg Satterlee, Michael Page, Kent Robinson, Justin Shipley.

8:14 p.m. | K-Rob unhappy

The contact with Don O’Neal that sent Kent Robinson hard into the wall between turns three and four on lap one of the third heat left normally unflappable Kent Robinson mincing no words in an interview over the track’s p.a. system.

“I just got Don O’Neal’d,” said Robinson, who escaped injury but was left with a heavily damaged car. “It seemed like a pretty aggressive move that early in the race.”

Robinson also threw a verbal dart toward Clint Bowyer Racing’s O’Neal: “The bad thing is I gotta pay for my own stuff, and (O’Neal’s) never had to pay for a thing in his life.”

8:05 p.m. | Stormy’s smiling

Three months after making his Eldora debut at the Dream XXV, Lucas Oil Series rookie Stormy Scott put his Bloomquist Race Car in the World 100 starting field with a Heat 2 victory.

“It’s a dream for anyone to just make the World 100,” Scott said, “so to win a a heat is awesome.”

Scott noted that he’s been fast all weekend but couldn’t convert the speed into strong finishes. He “finally got some clean air” in the heat to show his strength as he became the first New Mexico driver to make the World 100 finale.

7:56 p.m. | Scott dominates second heat

Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., jumped to an early lead in the second heat, pulling polesitter Scott Bloomquist and fifth starting Ricky Weiss, who dove under Josh Richards on the first lap, with him to lead a three-car Bloomquist Race Cars breakaway. Scott James of Bright, Ind., slapped the turn one wall on lap three, collecting Jimmy Mars in the process to draw the first caution. Bloomquist had a terrible restart, slipping back to fifth. He battled back to fourth, before finally getting by Darrell Lanigan for the final transfer spot. Scott won the heat, with Weiss finishing 1.735 seconds back in second and Bloomquist third. Lanigan finished fourth, just outside a transfer spot.

Finish (top three transfer): Stormy Scott, Ricky Weiss, Scott Bloomquist, Darrell Lanigan, Chase Junghans, Josh Richards, Jerry Bowersock, Ryan King, Tyler Dietz, Jimmy Mars, Scott James, Tyler Carpenter.

7:54 p.m. | Hud stays hot

After winning a heat race for the third straight night on a track he called “fast and top-dominant,” Hudson O’Neal was wearing a big smile.

“It rode around their awesome,” said the 19-year-old, whose only previous World 100 feature start came in 2017 when he finished 18th after starting from the pole position. “Hopefully we stay this good for the feature tonight.”

7:45 p.m. | Hudson O’Neal wins first heat

Polesitter Hudson O’Neal charged to the front of the field at the drop of the green flag, with Jonathan Davenport advancing from fifth to second on the opening lap. It was a tight battle for fourth on the third lap, with Chris Madden challenging Shane Clanton for the position. A yellow flag flew on the fifth lap when Josh Rice slowed off the pace. O’Neal held his lead on the restart, with Clanton nosing ahead at the line for third. Tim McCreadie slid ahead of Clanton to reclaim the position on the seventh lap, as Davenport closed in on the race leader. The top two cars distancing themselves from the field, O’Neal held off Davenport to win the heat. McCreadie edged Madden at the line to take the third and final transfer spot.

Finish (top three transfer): Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie, Chris Madden, Shane Clanton, Billy Moyer jr., Jason Feger, Jason Riggs, Zack Dohm, Robby Hensley, Corey Hedgecock, Vern LeFevers, Josh Rice, Josh Hampton.

7:35 p.m. | Zeigler scrambles

Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., and his crew were sent into scramble mode after he slowed with mechanical trouble during hot laps. The team found that his car’s rearend broke, forcing them to make a hasty swap to a new rearend assembly before he hits the track in the fifth starting spot of the third heat.

Zeigler is third in the World 100 points standings, putting him in line for a provisional spot in the feature if Jonathan Davenport or Ricky Weiss transfers.

7:31 p.m. | Open ceremonies complete

Opening ceremonies are complete and engines have fired in the staging lane. Heat races will get under way shortly.

7:17 p.m. | Georgian injures hand

Steven Roberts of Jesup, Ga., didn’t let a pit-are mishap end his World 100 weekend.

While using box cutters late Friday afternoon to “cut a body piece in a hurry,” Roberts sliced the palm of his left hand below his thumb. With blood spewing from his hand, he headed quickly to the infield care center for evaluation of what he had done. He ended up having the gash cleaned, closed up with seven stitches and wrapped by a doctor, and less than two hours later he was tossing his car around the racetrack.

“Luckily it didn’t go as deep as I thought when I got in there,” said Roberts, who finished 17th in Friday’s first preliminary feature. “It didn’t feel great (after treatment), but you don’t think about it when you’re out there (racing). When you come in and park (in the pits), that’s when it hurts.”

Roberts starts ninth in tonight’s fifth heat as he searches for his first starting berth in the World 100 A-main.

7:10 p.m.| K-Rob uncovers problem

Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind., felt something going wrong under the hood of his car as he raced to a runner-up finish in Thursday’s first 25-lap preliminary feature. It took him another 24 hours to figure out exactly what was causing his trouble.

Robinson and his crew initially changed carburetors before Friday’s program, but that didn’t eliminate the feeling he was experiencing. After falling short of a transfer spot in a B-main, however, his team dug deeper and found that the engine’s intake was cracked in half.

With help from engine builder Jay Dickens, Robinson and Co. repaired the powerplant by installing the intake from his backup engine. He starts sixth in tonight’s third heat.

7 p.m. | Rice feeling good

Making his first Eldora crown jewel appearance since 2015 — when he made waves by finishing sixth in the Dream as a 16-year-old rookie before failing to qualify for that year’s World 100 — Josh Rice of Verona, Ky., flashed some of the speed he showed more than four years ago in Friday’s second 25-lap preliminary feature as he led the first 14 circuits before fading to an eighth-place finish.

While slipping backward was disappointing, the 21-year-old talent who drove an XR1 Rocket car fielded by Sunesis Construction’s Rick Jones “still had fun” and asserted that “we’re still gonna celebrate” his performance.

“They know who we are now I think,” Rice said. “We weren’t very good (Thursday), so we come a long way. It’s still cool to lead laps here.”

Rice felt he “learned a little bit” for Saturday’s finale with his Friday run.

“I think we probably should’ve moved down when we caught those lapped cars (while leading) to get out of the dirty air,” said Rice, who starts seventh in the very stacked first heat. “We started catching those lapped cars and I just got to where I could hardly steer anymore. I think we got so much heat in the tires that I could feel the car going away and we started tailing off.”

6:45 p.m. | Other scratches

Georgia drivers Ashton Winger and Donald McIntosh, home-state racer Kody Evans and Kentucky’s Shannon Thornsberry are among the drivers joining Jonathan Henry as scratches from Saturday’s World 100 program.

Winger, the 19-year-old son of GW Performance shock guru Gary Winger, smacked the turn-two wall hard after catching a rut in a Friday B-main. While the damage his car sustained was not too severe to be repaired, the team decided to load up and save their equipment for several lucrative upcoming races in their southern region. For Winger, his first attempt at cracking the World 100 lineup was chalked up as a learning experience.

McIntosh suffered a similar fate as Winger when a rough spot on the track sent him into the outside wall. McIntosh’s family-owned 007 mount received additional damage, however, when he was clipped by the passing Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga. — and with the torn-up car on top of starting 10th in the second heat, he decided to call off his competition.

Evans and Thornsberry, meanwhile, were left with heavily damaged vehicles after Friday-night wrecks. Evans was swept up in the feature tangle with Jonathan Henry while the front end of Thornsberry’s car was thoroughly crunched in a B-main incident.

6:30 p.m. | Lanigan’s turn?

As the driver who owns the most World 100 feature starts (24) without a victory in the race, Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., would seem to be long overdue to join the list of victors. Could this finally be the year for the 48-year-old World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series regular?

“I sure hope so,” Lanigan said. “We had a pretty good car last night so we’ll see what happens.”

Lanigan actually felt his Club 29 Race Car was fast enough to win Friday’s second 25-lap preliminary feature. But just before the race’s final restart, on lap 19, he felt his power steering give up on him. While he managed to hang on to finish second, it wasn’t easy.

“I almost pulled off (under the caution), but I figured since I was starting on the inside I could stay out of everybody’s way if I couldn’t steer it,” said Lanigan, who starts fourth in Heat 2. “I definitely got a work out those last few laps. When you don’t power steering it definitely makes you drive smooth because you can’t turn the steering wheel very much.”

6:20 p.m. | Henry sidelined

Jonathan Henry didn’t merely lose Friday night’s first 25-lap preliminary feature when he tangled with the lapped Kody Evans while leading the race on lap 11. The incident also ended his weekend driving a Heckenast Racing entry sponsored by Ohio’s Jim Weber.

After a thorough post-race examination of the XR1 Rocket, the determination was made to scratch the Ada, Ohio, from further action.

“I feel so bad for him,” Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., Henry’s teammate for the weekend, said before Saturday afternoon’s autograph session. “He was really fast. He’s so good here. It’s really amazing how he can just come back here after barely racing all year and be so competitive.”

Heckenast, who is scheduled to start sixth in Heat 6, said Henry’s car was damaged from front-to-back after he bounced off the inside wall in turns three and four and slid across the track into the outside concrete. While the team “could have stayed up all night to fix it,” Heckenast said the car “still probably wouldn’t have been right” and Henry agreed to call it a weekend.

“We’ll take it home and strip it down,” Heckenast said.

6:05 p.m. | Pre-race tidbits

With pre-race ceremonies beginning on the homestretch stage, racing is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m …. Weather conditions continue to be ideal; for the third straight day the high temperature is in the 70s and the threat of rain is nearly nil. … Jonathan Davenport and Ricky Weiss are currently the only two drivers guaranteed starting spots in the World 100 because they accumulated the most points during the two preliminary program. If they transfer through their heats, the two provisionals for the 19th and 20th starting positions will go to the next highest-ranked drivers in the combined points standings. … Saturday’s six 15-lap heat races have a five-car inversion. … The tire rule for the event requires Hoosier LM20 tires on all corners but the right-rear, which allows either a LM20 or harder LM40. … The minimum weight requirement for the World 100 is 2,300 pounds. … A total purse of $189,600 is on the line for the World 100.

Heat race lineups

(15 laps; top three transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Hudson O’Neal, Tim McCreadie
Row 2: Shane Clanton, Chris Madden
Row 3: Jonathan Davenport, Zack Dohm
Row 4: Josh Rice, Jason Feger
Row 5: Ashton Winger, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 6: Jason Riggs, Cory Hedgecock
Row 7: Robby Hensley, Vic Hill
Row 8: Larry Greer, Vern LeFevers
Row 9: Josh Hampton
Second heat
Row 1: Scott Blooomquist, Stormy Scott
Row 2: Josh Richards, Darrell Lanigan
Row 3: Ricky Weiss, Chase Junghans
Row 4: Scott James, Jimmy Mars
Row 5: Kody Evans, Donald McIntosh
Row 6: Ryan King, Jerry Bowersock
Row 7: Tyler Carpenter, Jay Johnson
Row 8: Tyler Dietz, Zak Blackwood
Row 9: Paul Stubber
Third heat
Row 1: Michael Page, Kyle Bronson
Row 2: Don O’Neal, Jacob Hawkins
Row 3: Mason Zeigler, Kent Robinson
Row 4: Gregg Satterlee, Mike Marlar
Row 5: Jeep Van Wormer, Kye Blight
Row 6: Rod Conley, Casey Noonan
Row 7: Blake Spencer, Justin Shipley
Row 8: Rob Anderzack, Jon Hodgkiss
Fourth heat
Row 1: Chad Simpson, Jason Jameson
Row 2: Dale McDowell, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Shannon Babb, Nick Hoffman
Row 4: Kyle Strickler, Doug Drown
Row 5: Steve Casebolt, R.J. Conley
Row 6: Chad Stapleton, Dalton Polston
Row 7: Will Roland, Bob Gardner
Row 8: Austin Holcombe, John Tweed
Fifth heat
Row 1: Billy Moyer, Bobby Pierce
Row 2: Tyler Erb, Shanon Buckingham
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Johnny Scott
Row 4: Brian Birkhofer, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 5: Steven Roberts, Freddie Carpenter
Row 6: Brent Larson, Gordy Gundaker
Row 7: Jackie Boggs, Joey Moriarty
Row 8: Shannon Thornsberry, Tim Lance
Sixth heat
Row 1: John Blankenship, Chris Simpson
Row 2: Jimmy Owens, Brian Shirley
Row 3: Chris Ferguson, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 4: Jonathan Henry, Michael Norris
Row 5: Rusty Schlenk, Greg Johnson
Row 6: Duane Chamberlain, Brandon Overton
Row 7: Dustin Nobbe, Jeff Curl
Row 8: Josh Robertson, Bryant Dickinson

Saturday schedule

6 a.m.-6 p.m.: Showers open (front of Lot 2)
7-11 a.m.: Breakfast at turn four concessions
9 a.m.: Turn one camping load-in
10 a.m.: Turn-three race registration opens (pit passes and media credential sign-in)
10 a.m.: Main gate ticket office opens (tickets, pit passes and will call)
10 a.m.: Turn-four ticket office opens (tickets and pit passes)
10 a.m.: All ADA parking opens (permit required)
11 a.m.: Grandstand cleared and secured for grand opening
Noon: All admission gates/suites/concessions open
Noon: Turn-three pit gate open
3:30 p.m.: Autograph session in Fan Zone
4:30 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting in Fan Zone
7 p.m.: Start of program
- Six heat races (top three transfer)
- Two consolation races (top five transfer)
- 100-lap main event