Davenport Outduels Overton For Another Ocala Win

Jonathan Davenport (49) battles Brandon Overton Thursday night at Ocala Speedway. (Heath Lawson/LOLMDS photo)

OCALA, Fla. – Three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Jonathan Davenport secured his second consecutive Wieland Winter Nationals feature win Thursday night at Ocala Speedway.

Davenport fended off Brandon Overton to capture the $10,000 victory.

The final box score will show that Davenport led all 40 laps, but Overton caught up to Davenport as they approached the white flag. However, he could never pass him to steal the win from the fellow Georgian, who triumphed by .538 seconds at the finish line.

Kyle Bronson achieved his best series finish of the year, taking third, followed by Brandon Sheppard and Devin Moran.

Thursday marked Davenport’s 85th series win and fifth at Ocala, the most all-time for any late model driver during Speedweeks at the egg-shaped track.

“He (Overton) made me more worried than I should have been. I didn’t know he was coming like that at the very end,” admitted Davenport. “It was kind of slimy around the bottom, so he just kept chasing it down and blowing it out. That was why I didn’t think we could move, and since I was in front, I couldn’t tell what everyone else was doing.

“Once I got to the lapped cars, I didn’t think I could pass any on the outside. I think they finally rolled in a little of that slime through one and two,” he added. “It was a little better through the middle, but it was kind of bumpy. As long as your car wouldn’t bounce too badly, I guess that was why he got a good run.

“Other than that, I was just blocking.”

Overton, in his return to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series this year, became the third different driver to run second during the 40-lap race, joining Sheppard and Bronson in that category.

“I felt like I was doing everything I could. I almost made a move on him there, but I just got my right rear quarter-panel in the wall and couldn’t get low enough to take the lead,” said Overton. “It was an awesome race. If the fans didn’t enjoy that, they might as well stop coming.

“The wins are on the way for us. I feel like I have the best crew in the business. I just want to win one; I mean, we’re really close to winning one.”

Bronson was looking for his first series win since taking the Silver Dollar Nationals in 2021, and regained third place on lap 33 to ultimately round out the podium.

“It definitely feels good to get a good finish. I have been down on myself a little bit,” said Bronson. “We’ve got everything we need to win; we just need to put the right pieces in the right places and go after it.”

Behind Moran, Spencer Hughes, Ross Robinson, Tyler Bruening, Tanner English, and Dillon McCowan made up the balance of the top 10 finishers.

Moran holds a 45-point lead over Davenport in the standings through the season’s first seven races.

The finish:

A-Main (40 laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport [1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton [4]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson [2]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard [3]; 5. 99-Devin Moran [7]; 6. 19M-Spencer Hughes [5]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson [15]; 8. 16-Tyler Bruening [18]; 9. 96-Tanner English [13]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan [12]; 11. 111-Max Blair [23]; 12. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck [10]; 13. 1T-Tyler Erb [21]; 14. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr. [6]; 15. 76N-Blair Nothdurft [17]; 16. 71-Hudson O'Neal [25]; 17. 79-Donald McIntosh [19]; 18. 93-Carson Ferguson [27]; 19. 18D-Daulton Wilson [22]; 20. 58-Garrett Alberson [11]; 21. 15K-Wil Herrington [20]; 22. 3S-Brian Shirley [8]; 23. 5-Mark Whitener [16]; 24. 60-Dan Ebert [24]; 25. 22*-Drake Troutman [9]; 26. 9-Tim McCreadie [14]; 27. 17SS-Brenden Smith [26].