Smoky Mountain Speedway
Davenport tops Cook for second straight SAS win
By Richard Allen
tennesseeracer.com
Jonathan Davenport (49) moves by Ray Cook on his way to victory. (Chad Wells)
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (March 23) — Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., is making himself comfortable on the Southern All Stars Series. The series points leader claimed the tour’s event at Smoky Mountain Speedway Saturday night, earning $5,000 his second consecutive series victory.
Making his first-ever start at Smoky Mountain, the pole-starting Davenport, who won last week’s Southern All Stars event at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Ala., outdueled fellow front-row starter Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., in a race-long battle at the high-banked 4/10-mile oval, grabbing the victory ahead of Cook and Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind. Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., was fourth with Billy Ogle Jr. of Knoxville, Tenn., rounding out the race’s top five finishers. | Slideshow | Video
“First time here racing — I’ve come testing here once or twice. I just didn’t know how much to tighten the car up and I was getting real free especially when we got in lapped traffic,” Davenport said of his winning performance. “But everything worked out good and hopefully we can keep this rolling.”
Davenport, who lowered the track record during time trials, settled into second early in the race behind Cook. The top two drivers then separated themselves from the pack in the early going, as the battle for race lead took shape.
The race’s pivotal moment came the eighth lap when Cook encountered slower traffic. With the leader briefly pinned behind another car, Davenport seized the opportunity and rocketed by to take the lead.
However, Cook was not ready to concede the race. The veteran driver fought back and actually drew even with Davenport on the outside of turn four at lap 13. But again Cook’s No. 53 was trapped behind a slower car and had to fall back in line behind Davenport.
A series of cautions during the race’s second half allowed Davenport to take advantage of having the front row to himself on double-file restarts and jump out to a lead of several car lengths each time the race went back green. Davenport and Cook eventually built a lead of a full straight away between the caution-free laps 25 to 38.
On lap 35, Cook had closed the margin on the leader and as he pulled right up to Davenport’s rear spoiler when the two again approached slower cars. But the caution again waved for the stopped car of David Payne of Murphy, N.C., on lap 38, giving Davenport clear track for the run to the finish.
“It was probably a good thing we saw that caution there,” Davenport said. “The lapped cars were there and we was running through a little bit of crumbs.”
While Davenport and Cook battled up front, there were also close battles for other positions among the top 10. McDowell, Ogle, Douglas, Hickman and Hiett swapped spots throughout the night, while Casebolt made the biggest move among the lead cars, using the high line in the late stages of the race to pick off cars one-by-one.
This race was also noteworthy in the attrition that took place before the feature even saw the green flag. Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., discovered a bent oil pump shaft when he fired his car to warm the engine for hot laps and was forced to withdraw from the event.
Vic Hill of Mosheim, Tenn., who won multiple feature races at Smoky Mountain in 2012, shredded a right rear tire in his B-main while running 3rd and had to settle for a provisional starting spot at the rear of the field. And defending series champion Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tenn., withdrew as cars were lining up for the feature with mechanical issues.
Notes: Davenport’s AES Racing Barry Wright Race Car is sponsored by En Compass Solutions, Mega Plumbing and Mega Electric, Ohlins Shocks and Hoosier Tire. ... Davenport earned his eighth-career Southern All Star victory. ... Davenport has three top five finishes in four Southern All Stars events this season with a worse finish of 10th. ... The Southern All Stars return to action April 6 with a $5,000-to-win event at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway.
SAS @ Smoky Mountain: (1) Jonathan Davenport, (2) Ray Cook, (3) Steve Casebolt, (4) Dale McDowell, (5) Billy Ogle Jr., (6) Mark Douglas, (7) Jason Hiett, (8) Riley Hickman, (9) Mike Weeks, (10) Tommy Kerr, (11) Stacy Boles, (12) Mark Vineyard, (13) Brett Miller, (14) Vic Hill, (15) Josh Collins, (16) Mark Rosner, (17) Bobby Giffin, (18) Bret Holmes, (19) David Payne, (20) Scott James, (21) David Crabtree, (22) Brad Hall, (23) Hunter Peacock, (24) Bo Shirley, (25) Randy Weaver. Fast qualifier (among 31 cars): Davenport, 14.932 seconds. Consolation winners: Ogle, Miller.
Correction: Fixes Davenport's chassis manufacturer and spelling of Jason Hiett's surname.
