53,000 Silver Dollars for Davenport

53,000 Silver Dollars for Davenport

Story By: Jeremy Shields/LOLMDS

Photos By: Heath Lawson/LOLMDS

GREENWOOD, NEBR. (July 21, 2018) – Jonathan Davenport picked up his second-career, Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals victory at I-80 Speedway on Saturday night.

Davenport passed Bobby Pierce for the lead on lap 77 after Pierce began to lose momentum due to mechanical problems under the hood. Pierce’s car ultimately stopped for good on lap 78. Davenport then sailed to the $53,000 victory at the Kosiski Family promoted facility. Ricky Weiss settled for second with Jimmy Owens surviving a three-wide battle on the final lap to finish in the third position. Hudson O’Neal and Earl Pearson Jr. rounded out the top five.

Davenport; who won the race in 2016; returned to the event after a year’s absence and picked up his eighth series win of the season after starting in 12th. “WOW, what a race car! Like I have said before, Jason Durham and Kevin Rumley have given me a great car. After we hot lapped I knew I had a good car. I was just biding my time for a while at the start of the race. I knew I had a shot to win it. We just rode and rode, waiting for the right moment which is probably the hardest thing to do in a race. To let all of those guys get that far out in front.”

“Ricky [Weiss] and Bobby [Pierce] did a heck of a job out there tonight. I didn’t want to go that fast early. I knew the top would be there. That is probably where the race was going to be won. I just wanted to have the best tire there at the end. I really hate it for him [Pierce]. I really do for him and the whole Dunn-Benson Team. Before I passed him, I had really started to pick the pace up.”

Weiss pocketed $20,000 for his second-place performance. “We were really good tonight. I started to roll through the middle and I thought heck I might be a little quicker. I have done this before and burnt the tires off and then the middle started to go away a little bit. When I got to Scott [Bloomquist] I was a little quicker than him, so I just rolled by him. I think the tow got knocked out of it a little bit. I saw Bobby [Pierce] starting to smoke and then Jimmy [Owens] went by me, so I thought we might have a shot to win. To finish second in the race against this type of competition is a big boost to our race team.”

Owens had a shot at second-place at the end of the 80-lap event but wound up in third. “We had a pretty decent car tonight. I just was riding around the back in the first part of the race. We just got up on the wheel and started running harder. We had a great car. We probably waited a little too long to get to the front,” said the driver of the Ramirez Motorsports, Rocket.

The winner’s Lance Landers Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by: Crop Production Service, Spartan Mowers, Valvoline, ASC Warranty, Penske Racing Shocks, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, Sunoco Race Fuels and Hawkeye Trucks.

Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, Tim McCreadie, Gregg Satterlee, and Chris Simpson.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, Nebr.

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND ONE Finish: Chad Simpson, Jonathan Davenport, Chase Junghans, Billy Moyer, Tad Pospisil, Matt Buller, Allan Hopp, Corey Zeitner, Chris Simpson, Andrew Kosiski

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND ONE Finish: Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson, Jr., Mason Zeigler, Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jared Landers, Josh Richards, Junior Coover, Charlie McKenna, Jimmy Mars

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND ONE Finish: Ricky Weiss, Tyler Bruening, JC Wyman, Scott Ward, Kyle Berck, Tim McCreadie, Robbie Andersen, Al Humphrey, John Anderson

QA1 ROUND ONE Heat Race #4 – ROUND ONE Finish: Scott Bloomquist, Darrell Lanigan, Don O’Neal, Shane Clanton, Terry Phillips, Shannon Babb, Kyle Bronson, Bobby Pierce, Justin Duty

DirtOnDirt.com Heat Race #5 – ROUND ONE Finish: Gregg Satterlee, Jimmy Owens, Jason O’Brien, Kent Robinson, Chris Spieker, Jake Neal, Dave Eckrich, Justin Zeitner, Bob Millander

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND TWO Finish: Jared Landers, Shane Clanton, Earl Pearson, Jr., Corey Zeitner, Chad Simpson, Jason O’Brien, Terry Phillips, JC Wyman, Bob Millander, Robbie Andersen

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND TWO Finish: Mason Zeigler, Scott Bloomquist, Tim McCreadie, Billy Moyer, Chris Simpson, Junior Coover, Kyle Berck, Jake Neal, Justin Duty

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND TWO Finish: Kent Robinson, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Weiss, Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce, Jimmy Owens, Scott Ward, Andrew Kosiski, Jimmy Mars

QA1 Heat Race #4 – ROUND TWO Finish: Kyle Bronson, Chase Junghans, Hudson O’Neal, Gregg Satterlee, Justin Zeitner, Al Humphrey, Matt Buller, Darrell Lanigan, Charlie McKenna

DirtOnDirt.com Heat Race #5 – ROUND TWO Finish: Don O’Neal, Dennis Erb, Jr., Shannon Babb, Josh Richards, Dave Eckrich, John Anderson, Tyler Bruening, Tad Pospisil, Chris Spieker, Allan Hopp

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Shannon Babb, Darrell Lanigan, Kyle Berck, Matt Buller, Corey Zeitner, Justin Zeitner, Tad Pospisil, Al Humphrey, Junior Coover, Allan Hopp, Tyler Bruening, Josh Richards, Bob Millander, Robbie Andersen, Charlie McKenna-DNS

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jason O’Brien, Scott Ward, JC Wyman, Chris Simpson, Tim McCreadie, Dave Eckrich, Justin Duty, Jake Neal, Terry Phillips, Bobby Pierce, John Anderson, Chris Spieker, Andrew Kosiski-DNS, Jimmy Mars-DNS

Al Belt Custom Homes Belt Bash Non-Qualifiers Race Finish (20 Laps): Tim McCreadie, Justin Zeitner, Justin Duty, Dave Eckrich, Chris Spieker, Al Humphrey, John Anderson, Junior Coover, Robbie Andersen, Bob Millander, Jake Neal-DNS, Terry Phillips-DNS, Allan Hopp-DNS, Tyler Bruening-DNS

Race Statistics
Entrants: 47
Lap Leaders: Scott Bloomquist (Laps 1 – 15); Ricky Weiss (Laps 16 – 20); Scott Bloomquist (laps 21 – 41); Bobby Pierce (Laps 42 – 43); Scott Bloomquist (Laps 44 – 49); Bobby Pierce (Laps 50 – 77); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 78 – 80)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Margin of Victory: 1.958 seconds
Cautions: Dave Eckrich (Lap 3); Dennis Erb Jr., Brandon Sheppard (Lap 8); Mason Zeigler (Lap 12); Kyle Bronson (Lap 67); Bobby Pierce (Lap 78)
Series Provisionals: Josh Richards, Bobby Pierce
Series Emergency Provisionals: N/A
I-80 Speedway Provisionals: Corey Zeitner, Tad Pospisil
Belt Bash Non-Qualifiers Race Provisionals: Tim McCreadie, Justin Zeitner, Dave Eckrich
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Advanced 14 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan Davenport
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Jimmy Owens
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jonathan Davenport
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Kyle Bronson
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jason Durham (Jonathan Davenport)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Scott Bloomquist (Lap #9 – 18.4068 seconds)
STEEL-IT Most Laps Led: Scott Bloomquist (42 Laps)
Dirty Girl Racewear Farthest Traveler: Kyle Bronson
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Scott Bloomquist
Time of Race: 46 minutes 07 seconds