LOCUST GROVE, Ark. (Aug. 20) — It’s Jonathan Davenport’s world and every other Dirt Late Model competitor is living in it.
For yet another summer night on Saturday at Batesville Motor Speedway, the Blairsville, Ga., driver dubbed Superman lived up to his moniker in juggernaut form, as Davenport led all 100 laps from the pole to notch his first career Topless 100 with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
It’s Davenport’s third straight crown jewel victory in wire-to-wire fashion, off the strength of wins at the USA Nationals on Aug. 6 and North-South 100 on Aug. 13. That’s not to mention earlier crown jewel triumphs in the Eldora Million and Silver Dollar Nationals, as well as additional $50,000 paydays April 23 at Florida’s All-Tech Raceway and June 4 at West Virginia Motor Speedway.
All told, Davenport went for win No. 17 on the season, seven of those paychecks now being $50,000 or more, with five wins coming in the nine races he’s logged this month.
“It just shows how good these guys prepare this race car,” Davenport said “It’s been really good because we’ve been able to start up front (and) time well. Even when we don’t draw very good, we still have a fast enough car to overcome that. It’s just … remarkable. The season we’ve had, hopefully we can keep it going, keep everybody together, and who knows what the future will bring.”
Of the 300 straight laps that Davenport’s led in crown jewels, runner-up Hudson O’Neal made the final 12 laps of Saturday’s affair perhaps the most interesting of the Georgian’s unblemished stretch. The 16th-starting O’Neal and reigning Topless 100 winner struggled Friday in his preliminary night, barely earning the final outright transfer spot among the top 16 lock-ins from Friday’s prelims into Saturday’s main event.
But during a 22-lap run from laps 73 to 89, the top-happy O’Neal rose from four seconds back of Davenport in sixth to second and in the tire tracks of the sport’s indomitable force as the leaders worked traffic.
Once O’Neal moved around Dale McDowell for second, he lurked behind Davenport for five laps until Stormy Scott brought out the caution with six laps remaining. Davenport crossed the finishing line 1.120 seconds ahead of O’Neal, but besides the final lap, the Georgian’s lead never amassed more than a second over O’Neal the final 10 laps.
“That was a lot closer than I wanted it to be,” Davenport said. “I guess Hudson came from way back, so congratulations to him. I couldn’t quite run the top as good down there. I never really went all the way out there. There was a whole lot of flat (tires) I’ve seen. I had that in the back of my mind. I didn’t want to run over a rock or something and get a flat leading it. That would’ve really sucked.”
O’Neal didn’t mind the eight previous cautions to help him pick off cars on ensuing restarts, but the ninth and final caution he did not want to see.
“I felt like I stood a better chance anyway whenever we were racing before we had that caution,” O’Neal said. “Once that caution came out, (Davenport) was just a really good clean air car. I knew it was going to be really, really hard for me to get by him unless he made a mistake, or I put together a good couple laps. We’ll take second from where we started. … Congrats to (Davenport). We were in this same situation last year. It was just flip-flopped. He’s had a heckuva year. That’s the guy we’re all chasing. I was happy I was able to get close to him tonight.”
Davenport led by as many as 2.3 seconds on Saturday, as Spencer Hughes, Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb, Tim McCreadie, Dale McDowell and O’Neal all shared the runner-up position at some point.
Outside the 22-lap run that allowed O’Neal the time and space to rise through the field, Davenport never went longer than eight laps in traffic on Saturday. That stretch was between laps 36 and 44, when Owens had been in second and slowly catching Davenport amid dirty air.
Periodic cautions, on the other hand, turned out in Davenport’s favor by the end. On restarts, Davenport would race to the apex of turns one of two and diamond the corner to generate a good head of steam down the backstretch as the battle for second panned out behind.
That sequence on ensuing restarts created enough space and momentum for Davenport to shake free every time, making him virtually uncrackable at the point as O’Neal and those who followed behind couldn’t quite get their wish of staying in traffic long enough.
“The cautions helped me some as much as they’d hurt me.” Davenport said. “Once I’d get a big lead, I’d get in a rhythm. This place is so aero (dependent). It’s a circle. Those lapped cars really slowed me up. They could gain on me pretty quick. I just kept moving around, try to get a run on them when I could, and block the guys behind me … try to not make a big mistake.
“Thanks to everybody for coming out. This is an awesome race. … Man, this is just so awesome for Lance and Laura Landers. I can’t thank him enough for giving me this opportunity. This one’s definitely special.”
Notes: Jonathan Davenport's earned his 64th career Lucas Oil Series victory on Saturday in a feature that spanned one hour, three minutes. ... Brandon Overton of Evansville, Ga., retired from the race on lap seven and finished 26th. ... Four-time Topless 100 winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., brought out the race's first caution on the opening lap and only lasted 26 laps on the night. ... Winner of the first consolation Mason Oberkramer was disqualified after failing the droop rule but earned a starting position via a provisional based on Friday’s points. … Brian Rickman was slated to start 25th after taking a Comp Cams Series provisional, but moved to the rear after switching to his brother Rick’s car. ... Both Kyle Beard and David Payne started the feature via a Comp Cams Super Dirt Series emergency provisional, which is refelcted in their pay. ... Saturday was the 30th annual COMP Cams Topless 100 co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Comp Cams tour, which was a record winner's share at $50,000 for the special event requiring drivers to race without a roof. ... COMP Cams and Nutrien Ag Solutions were presenting sponsors.
30th annual Comp Cams Topless 100
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $50,000
2. Hudson O'Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Rocket, $20,000
3. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., Team Zero, $10,000
4. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $8,000
5. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $7,000
6. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Rocket, $6,000
7. Spencer Hughes (11), Meridian, Miss., Longhorn, $4,500
8. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., Black Diamond, $4,000
9. Earl Pearson Jr. (1), Jacksonville, Fla., Black Diamond, $3,800
10. Kyle Beard (86), Trumann, Ark., Capital, $1,700
11. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., Longhorn, $3,400
12. Mason Oberkramer (93), Broseley, Mo., Capital, $3,200
13. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, Rocket, $3,000
14. B.J. Robinson (1), Shreveport, La., Black Diamond, $2,500
15. Brian Rickman (86), Columbus, Miss., Rocket, $2,400
16. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $2,300
17. Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., Rocket, $2,200
18. Jared Landers (777), Batesville, Ark., Longhorn, $2,100
19. Stormy Scott (2s), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $2,000
20. Billy Moyer Jr. (21), Batesville, Ark., Longhorn, $2,000
21. David Payne (7), Cabot, Ark., Rocket, $100
22. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., Longhorn, $2,000
23. Morgan Bagley (14m), Longview, Texas, Black Diamond, $2,000
24. Tyler Stevens (2), Searcy, Ark., Rocket, $2,000
25. Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., Longhorn, $2,000
26. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., Longhorn, $2,000
27. Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., Black Diamond, $2,000
28. Scott Crigler (12), Alton, Mo., Capital, $2,000
Lap leader: Davenport 1-100
Preliminary feature winner (among 48 cars): Davenport
Consolation winners: B.J. Robinson, Smith
Provisional starters: R. Robinson, Rickman, Bagley, Oberkramer, Beard, Payne
Feature lineup
(100 laps)
Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Spencer Hughes
Row 2: Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb
Row 3: Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 4: Dale McDowell, Brandon Overton
Row 5: Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson
Row 6: Stormy Scott, Brandon Sheppard
Row 7: Jared Landers, Cade Dillard
Row 8: Billy Moyer, Hudson O’Neal
Row 9: B.J. Robinson, Garrett Smith
Row 10: Tyler Stevens, Scott Crigler
Row 11: Billy Moyer Jr., Daulton Wilson
Row 12: Ross Robinson, Mason Oberkramer
Row 13: Morgan Bagley, Kyle Beard
Row 14: David Payne, Brian Rickman
Consolation results
(15 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation: B.J. Robinson, Tyler Stevens, Billy Moyer Jr., Jon Kirby, Morgan Bagley, Rick Rickman, Neil Baggett, Johnny Scott, Kyle Beard, Dewaine Hottinger, Bryan Glaze, Jeremy Tharp, Brian Rickman, Ross Robinson, Dustin Holmes, Mason Oberkramer (DQ, droop rule).
Second consolation: Garrett Smith, Scott Crigler, Daulton Wilson, Hayden Ross, Joseph Long, Jeff Sloan, Geoff Aitken, Eckie Harrison, Colby Moore, David Payne, Travis Ashley, Manny Falcon.
Saturday’s consolation lineups
(15 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation
Row 1: Mason Oberkramer, Tyler Stevens
Row 2: Johnny Scott, Daulton Wilson
Row 3: B.J. Robinson, Brian Rickman
Row 4: Neil Baggett, Kyle Beard
Row 5: Billy Moyer Jr., Jon Kirby
Row 6: Rick Rickman, Bryan Glaze
Row 7: Ross Robinson, Jeremy Tharp
Row 8: Dewaine Hottinger, Dustin Holmes
Second consolation
Row 1: Scott Crigler, Garrett Smith
Row 2: Kylan Garner, Morgan Bagley
Row 3: Hayden Ross, Preston Farmer
Row 4: Cole Farmer, Colby Moore
Row 5: Joseph Long, David Payne
Row 6: Eckie Harrison, Manny Falcon
Row 7: Blake McClain, Jeff Sloan
Row 8: Geoff Aitken, Travis Ashley
Saturday’s schedule
3:30 p.m. - Pits close
4 p.m. - Pits reopen
4:30 p.m. - Grandstand gates open
7 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
7:30 p.m. - Competition
- Late Model hot laps (B-main cars)
- Modified hot laps
Opening ceremonies
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (15 laps)
- Late Model hot laps (A-main cars that transferred via points)
- Modified consolation (12 laps)
- Modified feature (20 laps)
- Topless 100
