ROSSBURG, Ohio — With Eldora Speedway posting Dirt Late Model racing's richest purse, nobody wanted to be a millionaire more than Jonathan Davenport. But Tim McCreadie and Chris Madden were darn close.

Davenport repelled groove-swapping, lead-swapping challenges, first from McCreadie between laps 83-87 and then from Madden on a two-lap shootout to the checkers of the 101-lap Eldora Million to claim a whopping $1,002,022 payday at Tony Stewart-owned Eldora Speedway.

While he built leads of nearly seven seconds and lapped all but four competitors, Davenport couldn't relax or soak up the moment until reaching Eldora's victory stage, where a FaceTime call with wife Rachel back home revealed her wiping tears from her eyes.

"This is a life-changing moment for sure, just looking out and seeing all y'all listen to what I got to say is pretty incredible," Davenport said, thanking car owner Lance Landers and his Double L Motorsports teammates for his 101-lap victory. "I can't even put it into words yet and it probably ain't gonna sink in until we get that money in the bank account, but it's definitely gonna change my life, and hopefully, my son's ... me and Lance is going to take this million and make two with it."

In capturing his seventh crown jewel at Eldora — one that likely doubled his previous purse winnings at the historic track — Davenport took the checkers 0.878 of a second ahead of Gray Court, S.C.'s Madden, who rallied from the 19th starting spot and fell just shy of his first major Eldora victory.

Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, whose father Donnie was the first Eldora Million winner at the Earl Baltes-founded track 21 years ago, settled for third while Watertown, N.Y.'s McCreadie was fourth after a lap-99 right-rear tire blowout. Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., who like Davenport notched a $12,000 preliminary victory during the rain-postponed Thursday afternoon program, rounded out the top five.

"What a helluva race," Davenport said on the victory stage. "Man, these guys gave me one helluva race car. Me and Timmy, we're good friends, and when it comes to a million dollars, I wasn't going to wreck him, and he wasn't gonna wreck me either,  but we was gonna race each other hard. Then Madden, me and him, we've had our differences growing up and I think we finally put all that behind us. For him to slide me, and me slide him back with one or two (laps) to go, it was just a helluva feeling."

Getting the jump on polesitter and fellow front-row starter Hudson O'Neal at the outset, Davenport threatened to turn the race into a runaway, building a four-second margin over his closest pursuers after 10 laps, increasing it to more than six seconds after 20 laps and smoothly handling lapped traffic in a race that ran caution-free the first 83 laps.

It wasn't until the ninth-starting McCreadie took the second spot from Moran on lap 45 and slowly began reeling in the leader that Davenport had any company up front. The low-running McCreadie cut the margin to two seconds by lap 65 and then pulled to within a tenth of a second six laps later as Davenport abandoned his higher groove to stymie the charge of his fellow Longhorn Chassis driver.

A blowout for Jimmy Owens on the 83rd lap set up the race's first caution, and McCreadie shifted to the outside groove to lead lap 84. He caught a rut in turn two to allow Davenport back ahead, but McCreadie wrestled the lead away on lap 86 before another caution appeared for Gregg Satterlee's shredded left-rear tire.

Restarting on the outside, Davenport recaptured the strength he'd shown most of the race, using the high groove to swing around McCreadie and regain control and pull away before a third caution appeared with nine laps remaining for a spinning Ricky Weiss.

Davenport again pulled away from McCreadie on the restart and was on the verge of seeing the white flag when McCreadie's flat tire drew the fourth and final caution. With McCreadie pitting for fresh rubber and restarting fifth as the last driver on the lead lap, Madden inherited the second spot and started inside Davenport with two laps remaining.

Madden tried a slide job in turns one and two before backing off, then slung his No. 44 under Davenport entering turn three to briefly go ahead. Davenport's crossover move put him back out front at the white flag, and Madden couldn't summon another challenge on the last lap.

The final caution stirred memories of Davenport's losing of the lead to Scott Bloomquist in the 2015 Dream.

"I couldn't even imagine what (the caution) was. And unfortunately, it was Timmy. I hated it for him because second place still paid $100,000," Davenport said. "I couldn't believe it and I didn't know what lane to pick because I knew Chris has had one of the fastest cars in the country this year, so he just, at any time, he could beat me. He got a little bit better run than what I thought he did and slid me down there. And like I said, thank goodness he raced me clean and we got it done."

Madden, who started in the 10th row with a provisional starting spot, said he'd preferred chasing Davenport in the final laps without the caution, but "when I slid him down here, I thought I had enough momentum going and I didn't realize he was able to turn off that cushion like he did. He got a big run down the front straightaway and then, you know, there was nothing I could do from there.

"Man, an awesome racetrack tonight. Hat's off to Tony and his crew for what they done to to be able to come through the field like that and make a charge for the win.

"I don't know, I mean, we can't get a win here. We can't win these big ones. I don't know why, but we still love it. My favorite place to come. I love to race here, love the fans, the atmosphere, everybody that supports this. Tony, thank you man for putting on a race like this for us. Hat's off to you, brother. That's a big step and we appreciate it very much."

McCreadie called the loss "very, very disheartening" after racing into contention.

"Just wish we could've rolled better (on the bottom). At the end, we couldn't roll. I don't even know what happened to the tire. I don't feel like I shredded it from blistering or chunking it. Just one of them nights. It's not meant to be," the Longhorn house car driver said. "(Davenport is) a professional. I heard him under me when he slid me, but he slid me, cleared me, and I tried to cross him back over. It was a good little race. I needed long runs unfortunately. The yellows at the end didn’t help. If we would’ve never had a yellow, I think we would have been really good. Whatever they could do early, I couldn’t. It’s like they fire back off (better). We’re OK. We’re not as good as we need to be."

Moran's best-ever major race performance at Eldora wasn't enough to duplicate his father's 2001 victory when Devin joined his family on stage, a moment he can't quite remember. He wasn't able to make a new memory.

"Man, I wanted to win this son of a gun so bad and just wasn't quite there, you know? Obviously congratulations to Jonathan (and the Double L Motorsports team). They did a helluva job and they've been really good," Moran said. "I just wish we could have restarted in second there (on lap 99). I definitely wouldn't have been quite as nice as Chris. I just wanted this one so bad. But this race car was just badass all day long. We had a really good piece and we put ourselves into contention and this is by far the best I've ever been here."

Moran and other drivers will refocus for Friday and Saturday's $128,000-to-win Dream, but the third-place finisher admitted that he was "pretty drained at the moment, you know, mentally and physically. So I'm just gonna get this thing loaded up and go back and get to bed and just chill for a little while.

"Yeah, it sounds bad, I don't really feel like racing tomorrow and Saturday, but we'll get it ready and we just got to get rolling again and maybe we'll up up there (on the victory stage)."

Eldora Million
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $1,002,022
2. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., Rocket, $100,000
3. Devin Moran (9), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $50,000
4. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $25,000
5. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., Team Zero, $15,000
6. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., Team Zero, $12.500
7. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., Longhorn, $10,000
8. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., Rocket, $8.750
9. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $7.500
10. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Rocket, $7,000
11. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Pierce, $6,500
12. Earl Pearson Jr. (46), Jacksonville, Fla., Longhorn, $6,000
13. Ricky Weiss (7), Headingley, Manitoba, Sniper, $5,875
14. Spencer Hughes (11), Meridian, Miss., Longhorn, $5,850
15. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., Rocket, $5,822
16. Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $5,800
17. Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., Rocket, $5,675
18. Darrell Lanigan (29), Union, Ky., Longhorn, $5,622
19. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Longhorn, $5,600
20. Trent Ivey (88), Union, S.C., Longhorn, $5,475
21. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., Team Zero, $5,450
22. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $5,422
23. Nick Hoffman (2), Mooresville, N.C., Barry Wright, $5,400
24. Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., Capital, $5,022
Lap leaders: Davenport 1-83, 85, 87-101; McCreadie 84, 86
Fast qualifier (among 124 cars): Marlar, 15.584 seconds
Heat race winners: Ferguson, Bronson, Pierce, Moran, Davenport, O’Neal
Consolation winners: Owens, McDowell
Provisional starters: Madden, Clanton

Correction: Fixes Eldora Millon purse throughout.

Eldora Million lineup

(101 laps)

Row 1: Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport
Row 2: Devin Moran, Bobby Pierce
Row 3: Kyle Bronson, Chris Ferguson
Row 4: Mike Marlar, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 5: Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 6: Darrell Lanigan, Gregg Satterlee
Row 7: Shannon Babb, Spencer Hughes
Row 8: Johnny Scott, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 9: Trent Ivey, Ricky Weiss
Row 10: Chris Madden, Shane Clanton
Row 11: Jimmy Owens, Dale McDowell
Row 12: Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard

Pre-feature notes

Hudson O'Neal starts on the pole of the Eldora Million, just like his father Don O'Neal did 21 years earlier Don O'Neal led 25 laps and ended up eighth. ... Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., is the lone driver to start the original Eldora Million in 2001 and this year's version. He'll start 11th. ... Longhorn Chassis has 11 cars among the 24 starters followed by Rocket Chassis (six) and Team Zero (three). Four other chassis have one driver apiece: Capital, Barry Wright, Sniper and Pierce. … Illinois has four of 24 starters followed by Georgia (three) with three states having two drivers apiece: Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida. One driver each is from North Carolina, Arizona, Mississippi, New York, New Mexico, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Consolation results

First consolation: Jimmy Owens, Nick Hoffman, Mason Zeigler, Jason Feger, Kyle Strickler, Brandon Overton, Chase Junghans, Tyler Erb, Brian Shirley, Colton Flinner, Jeep Van Wormer, Ross Bailes, Tyler Millwood, Donny Schatz, Tyler Bruening, Ryan Gustin, Frank Heckenast Jr., Stormy Scott, Joseph Joiner, Tim Lance, Carson Ferguson, John Blankenship, Wil Herrington, Kye Blight.

Second consolation: Dale McDowell, Brandon Sheppard, Garrett Alberson, Chad Simpson, Zack Dohm, Ross Robinson, Chris Simpson, Max Blair, Ashton Winger, Steve Casebolt, Dustin Linville, Freddie Carpenter, Chub Frank, Mack McCarter, Kent Robinson, Victor Lee, Boom Briggs, Kenny Collins, Todd Brennan, John Henderson, Jerry Bowersock, Jake Timm, Mark Whitener, Jason Riggs.

Consolation lineups

(20 laps; top two transfer)
First consolation
Row 1: Jimmy Owens, Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Jason Feger, Kyle Strickler
Row 3: Mason Zeigler, Tyler Bruening
Row 4: Carson Ferguson, John Blankenship
Row 5: Jeep Van Wormer, Chase Junghans
Row 6: Will Herrington, Brandon Overton
Row 7: Brian Shirley, Tim Lance
Row 8: Heckenast Jr., Blight
Row 9: Colton Flinner, Ross Bailes
Row 10: Josh Joiner, Tyler Erb
Row 11: Ryan Gustin, Stormy Scott
Row 12: Donny Schatz, Tyler Millwood
Second consolation
Row 1: Ross Robinson, Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Dale McDowell, Chad Simpson
Row 3: Mark Whitener, Zack Dohm
Row 4: Ashton Winger, Steve Casebolt
Row 5: Garrett Alberson, Max Blair
Row 6: Chris Simpson, Dustin Linville
Row 7: Jake Timm, Victor Lee
Row 8: Chub Frank, Freddie Carpenter
Row 9: Boom Briggs, Kenny Collins
Row 10: Todd Brennan, Jerry Bowersock
Row 11: Mack McCarter, Jason Riggs
Row 12: John Henderson, Kent Robinson

Moran, J.D., O’Neal wins heats

Hall of Famer Billy Moyer’s bid to go two-for-two in Eldora Million feature starts ended on lap nine of the fourth heat when he slowed with a blown right-rear tire and residual bodywork damage on his Tim Lance-owned car. He was struggling in 12th place at the time of his demise. … A red flag was displayed on the Heat 2 restart following Moyer’s troubles for a multi-car tangle in turn one that saw NASCAR Cup Series regular Chase Briscoe get the worse of the encounter. Briscoe’s Billy Franklin-owned machine was hit by another car and came to rest against the inside wall with significant damage. … Devin Moran led all the way to capture the fourth heat, giving him the third starting spot in the feature. His father, Donnie, started from the outside pole in his 2001 Eldora Million winning run. … Jonathan Davenport secured the outside pole for the Million with his flag-to-flag run to victory in the fifth heat. He noted that his car “got really loose there in the run” and also remarked that he would “have to have a little conversation” with runner-up Darrell Lanigan about a scrape the two drivers had during the prelim. … Brandon Sheppard somehow avoided disaster on the first lap of Heat 5 when contact to his right from Mark Whitener sent him sideways at high speed. While Sheppard briefly had his car’s nose turned toward the outside wall and Whitener was sideways as well, both drivers regained control of their cars and continued. Neither driver transferred, however; Sheppard finished fourth after losing the third spot to Trent Ivey on a lap-seven restart and Whitener placed fifth in his self-owned Barry Wright car. … Scott Bloomquist’s hopes of improving upon his third-place finish in the 2001 Million were snuffed out on lap seven of the fifth heat when his stirring run from 14th to third ended abruptly due to a broken driveshaft. … Hudson O’Neal’s triumph in the sixth heat put him on the pole position for the feature — exactly the same position from which his father Don started the 2001 Million when Hudson was just 9 months old. … Josh Rice was battling for the third and final transfer spot on lap 11 of the sixth heat when his slider attempt on Ricky Weiss carried him into the outside wall in turn two. The resulting rear deck damage caused him to tumble to a 12th-place finish, ending his night.

Heats 4-6 results

(15 laps; top three transfer and 4-11 to consolation races)
Fourth heat: Devin Moran, Earl Pearson Jr., Dennis Erb Jr., Shane Clanton, Ross Robinson, Chad Simpson, Ashton Winger, Max Blair, Jake Timm, Freddie Carpenter, Todd Brennan, Jason Riggs, Billy Moyer, Chase Briscoe, Jason Jameson, Bump Hedman, Cade Dillard, Ryan Missler, Manny Falcon, Gregg Haskell, Dustin Smith.

Fifth heat: Jonathan Davenport, Darrell Lanigan, Trent Ivey, Brandon Sheppard, Mark Whitener, Steve Casebolt, Chris Simpson, Victor Lee, Boom Briggs, Jerry Bowersock, John Henderson, Ryan Scott, Jimmy Sharpe Jr.,  Austin Neely, Parker Martin, Scott Bloomquist, Daulton Wilson, Mike Benedum, Dylan Thompson, Chase Frohnhapel.

Sixth heat: Hudson O’Neal, Gregg Satterlee, Ricky Weiss,  Dale McDowell, Zack Dohm, Garrett Alberson, Dustin Linville, Chub Frank, Kenny Collins, Mack McCarter, Kent Robinson, Josh Rice, Cameron Weaver, Coleby Frye,  Austin Kirkpatrick, Cody Overton, Fast Eddy, Kyle Hammer, Jay Johnson, Jeremy Shaw.

Fergy, Bronson, Pierce win heats

Preliminary feature winner Chris Ferguson continued his superb day, pulling off a late-race pass of Mike Marlar to assume command and win the first heat. “I hated to throw a slider,” said Ferguson, who will start sixth in the A-main. “But when (Shannon) Babb was under me (for second), I thought, Well, we gotta get what we can get.” … Heat 2 polesitter Chris Madden dropped back to third on the race’s first lap and then tangled on a restart that same circuit with Tyler Erb — his left-rear to Erb’s right-front — with enough force to immediately cut Madden’s left-rear tire. While Madden is assured the 19th starting through a provisional for being second in preliminary program points, Erb failed to transfer after pitting to mend right-front fender damage and change a cut tire but salvaged a 10th-place finish to move on to a B-main. … A red flag was displayed briefly on lap one of the second heat due to a medical emergency in the stands. … Kyle Bronson was pumped up after holding on to win the second heat over Ricky Thornton Jr. “Man, I’m ready to roll,” the Floridian said. “It would be a damn good time to become a millionaire.” … Mason Zeigler went from bidding for second to finishing fifth in Heat 2 after losing momentum in lapped traffic over the final two circuits. … Bobby Pierce rolled to victory in the third heat, beating Tim McCreadie to the finish line by 6.316 seconds. Harkening the Talladega Nights character Ricky Bobby played by Will Ferrell in his post-race interview, the 25-year-old cracked (with tongue planted in cheek), “I’m just gonna tell you how it is — I wake up in the morning and piss excellence.” … Brandon Overton, the winner of two Dreams and a World 100 last year at Eldora, picked up just one spot to finish third in Heat 3. He’ll have to make more headway in a B-main to crack the Million’s starting lineup.

Heats 1-3 results

(15 laps; top three transfer and 4-11 to consolation races)
First heat: Chris Ferguson, Mike Marlar, Shannon Babb, Jimmy Owens, Kyle Strickler, Carson Ferguson, Chase Junghans, Brian Shirley, Kye Blight, Joseph Joiner, Stormy Scott, Doug Drown, Dona Marcoullier, Jimmy Mars, Michael Page, Rod Conley, Jensen Ford, Mike Provenzano, Tyler Stevens, Zane DeVilbiss, Bryant Dickinson.

Second heat: Kyle Bronson, Ricky Thornton Jr., Spencer Hughes, Nick Hoffman, Mason Zeigler, John Blankenship, Wil Herrington, Tim Lance, Colton Flinner, Tyler Erb, Donny Schatz, Robby Hensley, Tyler Courtney, Andrew Reaume, Dustin Nobbe, Trevor Landrum, Daniel Hilsabeck, Chris Madden, David Webster, G.R. Smith, Eric Midkiff.

Third heat: Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie, Johnny Scott, Jason Feger, Jeep Van Wormer, Brandon Overton, Tyler Bruening, Frank Heckenast Jr., Ross Bailes, Ryan Gustin, Tyler Millwood, Scott James, Gordy Gundaker, Dakotah Knuckles, Jason Miller, Brenden Smith, Steven Roberts, Cla Knight, Logan Roberson, Chad Thrash, Mario Gresham.

Heat race lineups

(15 laps; top three transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Mike Marlar, Chris Ferguson
Row 2: Shannon Babb, Kyle Strickler
Row 3: Carson Ferguson, Jimmy Owens
Row 4: Brian Shirley, Chase Junghans
Row 5: Doug Drown, Joseph Joiner
Row 6: Kye Blight, Stormy Scott
Row 7: Michael Page, Dona Marcoullier
Row 8: Tyler Stevens, Jensen Ford
Row 9: Rod Conley, Mike Provenzano
Row 10: Bryant Dickinson, Jimmy Mars
Row 11: Zane DeVilbiss
Second heat
Row 1: Chris Madden, Kyle Bronson
Row 2: Mason Zeigler, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 3: Spencer Hughes, Tyler Erb
Row 4: Nick Hoffman, Wil Herrington
Row 5: Colton Flinner, Tyler Courtney
Row 6: Andrew Reaume, John Blankenship
Row 7: Donny Schatz, Dustin Nobbe
Row 8: Tim Lance, G.R. Smith
Row 9: Trevor Landrum, Robby Hensley
Row 10: Daniel Hilsabeck, Eric Midkiff
Row 11: David Webster
Third heat
Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie
Row 2: Johnny Scott, Jason Feger
Row 3: Tyler Bruening, Ryan Gustin
Row 4: Frank Heckenast Jr., Brandon Overton
Row 5: Ross Bailes, Jeep Van Wormer
Row 6: Brenden Smith, Tyler Millwood
Row 7: Gordy Gundaker, Jason Miller
Row 8: Chad Thrash, Cla Knight
Row 9: Logan Roberson, Mario Gresham
Row 10: Steven Roberts, Dakotah Knuckles
Row 11: Scott James
Fourth heat
Row 1: Devin Moran, Shane Clanton
Row 2: Earl Pearson Jr., Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 3: Cade Dillard, Ashton Winger
Row 4: Billy Moyer, Ross Robinson
Row 5: Freddie Carpenter, Jake Timm
Row 6: Chad Simpson, Jason Jameson
Row 7: Chase Briscoe, Max Blair
Row 8: Ryan Missler, Bump Hedman
Row 9: Gregg Haskell, Todd Brennan
Row 10: Manny Falcon, Jason Riggs
Row 11: Dustin Smith
Fifth heat
Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Darrell Lanigan
Row 2: Brandon Sheppard, Trent Ivey
Row 3: Daulton Wilson, Mark Whitener
Row 4: Boom Briggs, Austin Neely
Row 5: John Henderson, Steve Casebolt
Row 6: Jerry Bowersock, Victor Lee
Row 7: Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Scott Bloomquist
Row 8: Parker Martin, Dylan Thompson
Row 9: Mike Benedum, Chase Frohnhapel
Row 10: Ryan Scott, Chris Simpson
Sixth heat
Row 1: Hudson O’Neal, Kenny Collins
Row 2: Josh Rice, Gregg Satterlee
Row 3: Ricky Weiss, Dale McDowell
Row 4: Dustin Linville, Zack Dohm
Row 5: Kent Robinson, Kyle Hammer
Row 6: Cameron Weaver, Chub Frank
Row 7: Mack McCarter, Jay Johnson
Row 8: Coleby Frye, Austin Kirkpatrick
Row 9: Garrett Alberson, Cody Overton
Row 10: Fast Eddy, Jeremy Shaw