Davenport Grabs Ocala Lucas Late Model Spoils

Jonathan Davenport (center) topped the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series podium Wednesday night. (Heath Lawson photo)

OCALA, Fla. – Jonathan Davenport secured his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing victory of the season on Wednesday during the Wieland Winter Nationals at Ocala Speedway.

The Blairsville, Ga., native earned $7,000 for his 84th career series win.

Reigning O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year Drake Troutman, who started ninth, traded positions with defending series champion Ricky Thornton Jr. for second place in the final two laps and took runner-up honors at the finish line.

Thornton finished third, while Tim McCreadie and Brandon Overton rounded out the top five.

Davenport started from the pole and took the lead as soon as the green flag dropped. In the first five laps, there were two caution flags, while Overton maintained second place behind the three-time series champion.

The final 24 laps ran without caution as Thornton, driving a brand-new car, moved into second place after passing Overton on lap 18.

With heavy traffic in front of the leader, Thornton was able to close the gap between himself and Davenport with 10 laps to go. Meanwhile, Troutman reached third by using the top line around the track, moving the G.R. Smith-owned entry to third on lap 21.

As Davenport navigated through traffic, the battle for second place heated up between Thornton and Troutman. The two swapped the second position multiple times in the last two laps, with Troutman managing to edge out Thornton in the end.

Davenport’s vicory made him the first driver in six races this year to lead every lap in the main event, winning for the fourth time in his Lucas Oil career at Ocala.

“The pace is so slow in turn four, and you feel like you're crawling around the bottom. You feel like you're spinning your wheels going around the top. We really didn’t know what to do,” noted Davenport in victory lane. “I saw Brandon (Overton) starting to run the top down (in turns three and four) and start passing some cars. I got around a couple of lapped cars, and I kind of died a little bit because the outside of turn one is wider.

“We still have a little bit of work to do, but man, we have been really consistent. I am just proud of my guys because they have done a good job for me.”

As the runner-up, Troutman got his best finish of the season after his hard-fought battle with Thornton.

“Man, I put my crew through the wringer last week at All-Tech [Raceway],” noted Troutman. “It’s pretty awesome that we’ve got a pretty good car. The track was awesome tonight, and it widened out there. I hope we put on a good show for the fans and, hopefully, get a little bit better for tomorrow night.”

Thornton, who took Tuesday night’s race off to finish up his new Longhorn Chassis, rounded out the podium in third.

“I need to get up on the wheel harder and longer, I guess,” admitted Thornton. “I was just riding there behind (Brian) Shirley, and I messed up I think twice and let Troutman get by me. We all got through traffic pretty well; you could kind of move high or low. But there at the beginning, I really didn’t know if I needed to be on the top of one and two or not. I tried it right away and lost a couple of spots.

“Overall, it was a great night, the first night on this thing. Hopefully, we can have a good run tomorrow and qualify well,” Thornton added. “Starting up front is kind of a premium here because everyone is really good, and the way the shape is here, you can really manipulate your car really well.”

Behind the top five, Daulton Wilson, Hudson O’Neal, Ross Robinson, Mark Whitener, and Max Blair finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The finish:

A-Main (30 laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport [1]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman [9]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr. [2]; 4. 9-Tim McCreadie [5]; 5. 76-Brandon Overton [3]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson [8]; 7. 71-Hudson O'Neal [10]; 8. 7-Ross Robinson [7]; 9. 5-Mark Whitener [13]; 10. 111-Max Blair [11]; 11. 1T-Tyler Erb [16]; 12. 60-Dan Ebert [14]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson [24]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [12]; 15. 76N-Blair Nothdurft [17]; 16. 1-Brandon Sheppard [6]; 17. 17SS-Brenden Smith [19]; 18. 58-Garrett Alberson [23]; 19. 8-Dillon McCowan [21]; 20. 3S-Brian Shirley [4]; 21. 93L-Cory Lawler [22]; 22. 93-Carson Ferguson [20]; 23. 81J-Jack Riggs [15]; 24. 15K-Wil Herrington [18].