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“Superman” Jonathan Davenport Claims First Career Win at Knoxville!

“Superman” Jonathan Davenport Claims First Career Win at Knoxville!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
“Superman” Jonathan Davenport Claims First Career Win at Knoxville!
by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, September 25, 2014 – “Superman” Jonathan Davenport of Mount Airy, North Carolina picked up his first career feature at the famed Knoxville Raceway on Thursday night on night one of the 11th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Davenport led the entire 25-lap distance, and pocketed $7,000 for his victory.

Davenport led at the outset with Brian Birkhofer and Kent Robinson in tow. By lap six, defending Late Model Nationals champion, Darrell Lanigan was in third. The only slowdown of the event came with eight laps complete when debris on the track brought a caution.

Davenport led Birkhofer, Lanigan, Robinson and Earl Pearson Jr. back to green. A lap later, Lanigan shot around Birkhofer for the runner-up position, but could never mount a serious challenge to Davenport.

Davenport’s win came over Lanigan, Birkhofer, Pearson and hard-charger, Brandon Sheppard, who came from the 22nd starting spot to fifth. Robinson, Scott Bloomquist, Eddie Carrier Jr., Frank Heckenast Jr. and Tim McCreadie rounded out the top ten.

Dale McDowell and Carrier set quick time in their respective groups, while Brady Smith, John Blankenship, Brandon Overton, Davenport, Mike Marlar and Rick Eckert won heat races. Chris Simpson won the D main, while Terry Phillips captured the C. Chad Simpson won the B main.

Davenport and Lanigan tied for the point lead after night one with 488 points, followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Birkhofer, Carrier, Robinson, McDowell, Bloomquist, Heckenast and Steve Francis.

“It’s really big for me and the team,” said Davenport in Victory Lane. “I had a little bit of problems with the car, but got them figured out. We’ve definitely had some hard luck lately. You definitely don’t want anything to go wrong in these big races. Those lapped cars are tough. You just lose so much air on the nose.”

“To come out and run second here…it’s definitely an awesome place,” said Lanigan. “You always think you’ve got something (for the leader). You’re going to try something. He was good on top, and we’ll see what we can do with 100 laps.”

“It’s a podium and a decent paycheck,” said Birkhofer. “This gives us something to work with. Last year was terrible. It’s great, because I already have a couple things in my head for Saturday. We wanted to get the best finish we could, and that way we could concentrate on getting better tomorrow.”

Join us Friday night, September 26 for night #2 of the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. For more information, log on to www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

Late Models Results

Group A Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 17M, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA (31), 17.635; 2. 28E, Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, IL (9), 17.845; 3. 44, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (8), 17.884; 4. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (27), 17.885; 5. 23, John Blankenship, Williamson, WV (20), 17.902; 6. 1W, Wendell Wallace, Batesville, AR (36), 17.912; 7. 7R, Kent Robinson, Bloomington, IN (40), 17.926; 8. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (34), 17.953; 9. 5X, Brandon Overton, Appling, GA (17), 18.077; 10. 00, Jesse Stovall, Billings, MO (33), 18.101; 11. 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (6), 18.112; 12. 15X, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (1), 18.148; 13. 18, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (7), 18.152; 14. 18C, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (19), 18.161; 15. 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA (24), 18.211; 16. 91P, Jason Papich, Nipomo, CA (11), 18.259; 17. 56E, Andy Eckrich, Iowa City, IA (28), 18.318; 18. 14M, Morgan Bagley, Longview, TX (13), 18.319; 19. 2, Brady Smith, Solon Springs, WI (21), 18.373; 20. 22, Greg Satterlee, Indiana, PA (2), 18.380; 21. 58E, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (26), 18.392; 22. 93, Jay Johnson, West Burlington, IA (4), 18.462; 23. 48, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (10), 18.590; 24. 32C, Vic Coffey, Caledonia, NY (3), 18.635; 25. 15R, Brian Harris, Davenport, IA (23), 18.655; 26. 1V, Will Vaught, Crane, MO (38), 18.674; 27. 81, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (18), 18.728; 28. 21B, Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL (35), 18.828; 29. 5D, John Duty, Happy Valley, OR (22), 18.985; 30. 1M, Rob Moss, Iowa City, IA (12), 19.035; 31. 3X, Skip Frey, Swisher, IA (15), 19.039; 32. 27, Greg Kimmons, Pleasant Plains, IL (5), 19.052; 33. 25L, Steve Lance Jr., Cuba, IL (14), 19.205; 34. 15C, Curt Schroeder, Ames, IA (32), 19.720; 35. 9, Lyle Zanker, Rockford, IL (29), 19.910; 36. 82, Roger Brickler, Springfield, IL (16), 20.669; 37. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (25), NT; 38. 10, Junior Coover, Norfolk, NE (37), NT; 39. 29X, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (39), NT; 40. 38, Jordan Heiman, Sioux Falls, SD (30), NT.

Group B Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 28, Eddie Carrier Jr., Salt Rock, WV (2), 17.836; 2. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (33), 17.842; 3. 29, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (7), 17.922; 4. 75, Terry Phillips, Springfield, MO (3), 17.925; 5. 15B, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA (28), 17.945; 6. 12, Jason Hughes, Watts, OK (14), 17.991; 7. 6, Jonathan Davenport, Mount Airy, NC (17), 18.022; 8. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfurt, IL (22), 18.022; 9. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (12), 18.077; 10. 777, Jared Landers, Batesville, AR (38), 18.083; 11. 5, Don O'Neal, Martinsville, IN (19), 18.089; 12. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (26), 18.102; 13. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (5), 18.160; 14. 50, Denny Eckrich, Oxford, IA (39), 18.172; 15. B5, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (27), 18.203; 16. 58D, AJ Diemel, Elk Mound, WI (1), 18.215; 17. 83, Scott James, Harrison, IL (8), 18.219; 18. 25Z, Mason Zeigler, Chalk Hill, PA (18), 18.226; 19. 85D, Mark Dotson, Cameron, MO (25), 18.227; 20. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (29), 18.323; 21. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (31), 18.384; 22. 22B, Jonathan Brauns, Muscatine, IA (24), 18.386; 23. 20S, Rodney Sanders, Happy, TX (32), 18.462; 24. 1, Rick Eckert, York, PA (15), 18.508; 25. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (34), 18.651; 26. 21F, Todd Frank, Montrose, IA (9), 18.654; 27. 20X, Jake Meier, Tipton, IA (21), 18.682; 28. 32, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (36), 18.759; 29. 51, Matt Furman, Columbus, OH (23), 18.930; 30. 56, Chris Spieker, Massena, IA (6), 18.961; 31. 31, Jason Utter, Columbus Junction, IA (35), 19.016; 32. 19R, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (37), 19.024; 33. 22CC, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (20), 19.029; 34. 5M, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (13), 19.222; 35. 15D, Justin Duty, Happy Valley, OR (11), 19.255; 36. 58, Ray Guss Jr., East Moline, IL (30), 19.302; 37. 6H, Al Humphrey, Giltner, NE (16), 19.371; 38. 77, Jordan Yaggy, Rochester, MN (10), 19.492; 39. 14W, Dustin Walker, Peculiar, MO (4), 19.668.

Group A Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:48.0: 1. Brady Smith (2); 2. Kent Robinson (6); 3. Dale McDowell (8) / 4. Steve Francis (7); 5. Jesse Stovall (5); 6. Jason Papich (3) / 7. Jay Johnson (1); 8. Brian Harris (9); 9. Rich Bell (10) / 10. Skip Frey (11); 11. Shannon Babb (4); 12. Curt Schroeder (12); DNS – 13. Billy Moyer 14. Jordan Heiman

Group A Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:49.6: 1. John Blankenship (7); 2. Will Vaught (9); 3. Chase Junghans (4) / 4. Dennis Erb Jr. (8); 5. Greg Satterlee (2); 6. Tim Lance (1) / 7. John Duty (10); 8. Greg Kimmons (11); 9. Lyle Zanker (12) / 10. Jimmy Mars (6); 11. Andy Eckrich (3); 12. Tyler Bruening (5); DNS - Junior Coover (13)

Group A Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:49.5: 1. Brandon Overton (6); 2. Earl Pearson Jr. (8); 3. Vic Coffey (1) / 4. Morgan Bagley (3); 5. Wendell Wallace (7); 6. Jason Rauen (4) / 7. Brian Shirley (9); 8. Donny Schatz (5); 9. Dave Eckrich (2) / 10. Rob Moss (10); 11. Steve Lance Jr. (11); 12. Roger Brickler (12); 13. Spencer Diercks (13)

Group B Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:50.6: 1. Jonathan Davenport (6); 2. AJ Diemel (3); 3. Eddie Carrier Jr. (8) / 4. Mark Dotson (2); 5. Jared Landers (5); 6. Billy Moyer Jr. (4) / 7. Terry Phillips (7); 8. Jason Utter (11); 9. Tim McCreadie (9) / 10. Chris Simpson (10); 11. Jonathan Brauns (1); 12. Al Humphrey (13); 13. Mike Fryer (12)

Group B Heat two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Mike Marlar (2); 2. Brian Birkhofer (7); 3. Frank Heckenast Jr. (6) / 4. Don O'Neal (5); 5. Denny Eckrich (4); 6. Chad Simpson (8) / 7. Rodney Sanders (1); 8. Scott James (3); 9. Jordan Yaggy (13) / 10. Todd Frank (9); 11. Justin Duty (12); 12. Matt Furman (10); 13. Ryan Gustin (11)

Group B Heat three (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Rick Eckert (1); 2. Scott Bloomquist (6); 3. Darrell Lanigan (8) / 4. Mason Zeigler (3); 5. Brandon Sheppard (4); 6. Ray Guss Jr. (12) / 7. Jake Meier (9); 8. Charlie McKenna (11); 9. Chris Spieker (10) / 10. Dustin Walker (13); 11. Jimmy Owens (5); 12. Jason Feger (2); 13. Jason Hughes (7)

D main (started), 10 Laps, 3:20.3: 1. Chris Simpson (6); 2. Jonathan Brauns (2); 3. Shannon Babb (9); 4. Ryan Gustin (10) / 5. Rob Moss (1); 6. Matt Furman (8); 7. Justin Duty (11); 8. Skip Frey (3); 9. Mike Fryer (12); 10. Steve Lance Jr. (5); 11. Roger Brickler (7); 12. Todd Frank (4); 13. Dustin Walker (13); 14. Jimmy Owens (14) DNS - Jimmy Mars, Jason Hughes, Tyler Bruening, Jason Feger, Andy Eckrich, Curt Schroeder, Billy Moyer, Junior Coover, Al Humphrey, Spencer Diercks, Jordan Heiman

C main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Terry Phillips (2); 2. Scott James (4); 3. Tim McCreadie (8); 4. Donny Schatz (1); 5. Ryan Gustin (22); 6. Brian Shirley (9); 7. Chris Spieker (12); 8. Brian Harris (7); 9. Rodney Sanders (6); 10. Shannon Babb (21); 11. Rich Bell (11); 12. Jay Johnson (5); 13. Jason Utter (14); 14. Charlie McKenna (16); 15. Jake Meier (10); 16. Chris Simpson (19); 17. Jonathan Brauns (20); 18. Dave Eckrich (3); 19. Jordan Yaggy (18); 20. John Duty (13); 21. Greg Kimmons (15); 22. Lyle Zanker (17)

B main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Chad Simpson (2); 2. Jared Landers (4); 3. Steve Francis (3); 4. Brandon Sheppard (12); 5. Jason Rauen (9); 6. Tim McCreadie (21); 7. Wendell Wallace (5); 8. Dennis Erb Jr. (1); 9. Jason Papich (11); 10. Jesse Stovall (7); 11. Greg Satterlee (15); 12. Morgan Bagley (13); 13. Scott James (20); 14. Denny Eckrich (10); 15. Tim Lance (17); 16. Donny Schatz (22); 17. Mark Dotson (16); 18. Don O'Neal (6); 19. Mason Zeigler (14); 20. Ray Guss Jr. (18); 21. Terry Phillips (19); 22. Billy Moyer Jr. (8);

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Jonathan Davenport (2); 2. Darrell Lanigan (6); 3. Brian Birkhofer (4); 4. Earl Pearson Jr. (5); 5. Brandon Sheppard (22); 6. Kent Robinson (1); 7. Scott Bloomquist (0); 8. Eddie Carrier Jr. (8); 9. Frank Heckenast Jr. (10); 10. Tim McCreadie (24); 11. Dale McDowell (7); 12. Steve Francis (21); 13. Brady Smith (13); 14. Mike Marlar (16); 15. Rick Eckert (18); 16. AJ Diemel (14); 17. Will Vaught (17); 18. Jared Landers (20); 19. John Blankenship (3); 20. Jason Rauen (23); 21. Vic Coffey (15); 22. Brandon Overton (9); 23. Chad Simpson (19); 24. Chase Junghans (11). Lap Leader: Davenport 1-25. Hard-charger: Sheppard.

Points after Night #1

1. 6, Jonathan Davenport 488
2. 29, Darrell Lanigan 488
3. 44, Earl Pearson Jr. 487
4. 15B, Brian Birkhofer 485
5. 28, Eddie Carrier Jr. 480
6. 7R, Kent Robinson 475
7. 17m, Dale McDowell 474
8. 0, Scott Bloomquist 469
9. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr. 464
10. 15, Steve Francis 463
11. 23, John Blankenship 456
12. B5, Brandon Sheppard 452
13. 5x, Brandon Overton 442
14. 2, Brady Smith 440
15. 25, Chad Simpson 439
16. 58D, AJ Diemel 437
17. 157, Mike Marlar 436
18. 777, Jared Landers 436
19. 1, Rick Eckert 426
20. 28E, Dennis Erb Jr. 425
21. 18c, Chase Junghans 422
22. 98, Jason Rauen 419
23. 1w, Wendell Wallace 416
24. 1v, Will Vaught 415
25. 39, Tim McCreadie 410
26. 32c, Vic Coffey 408
27. 00, Jesse Stovall 402
28. 91P, Jason Papich 389
29. 5, Don O’Neal 387
30. 50, Denny Eckrich 386
31. 75, Terry Phillips 386
32. 14m, Morgan Bagley 385
33. 22, Greg Satterlee 380
34. 15x, Donny Schatz 377
35. 83, Scott James 373
36. 85D, Mark Dotson 373
37. 25z, Mason Zeigler 371
38. 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. 369
39. 48 Tim Lance 363
40. 18 Shannon Babb 328
41. 58 Ray Guss Jr. 327
42. 20S Rodney Sanders 322
43. 81 Brian Shirley 320
44. 93 Jay Johnson 318
45. 15R Brian Harris 317
46. 56 Chris Spieker 306
47. 21B Rich Bell 302
48. 20X Jake Meier 302
49. 58E Dave Eckrich 302
50. 22B Jonathan Brauns 296
51. 31 Jason Utter 295
52. 19R Ryan Gustin 294
53. 22CC Charlie McKenna 289
54. 32 Chris Simpson 289
55. 5D John Duty 288
56. 28M Jimmy Mars 281
57. 27 Greg Kimmons 277
58. 12 Jason Hughes 274
59. 20 Jimmy Owens 272
60. 77 Jordan Yaggy 266
61. 9 Lyle Zanker 266
62. 16 Tyler Bruening 265
63. 1M Rob Moss 257
64. 56E Andy Eckrich 252
65. 21F Todd Frank 251
66. 51 Matt Furman 251
67. 3X Skip Frey 249
68. 25F Jason Feger 243
69. 15D Justin Duty 240
70. 25L Steve Lance Jr. 238
71. 5M Mike Fryer 232
72. 82 Roger Brickler 227
73. 14W Dustin Walker 223
74. 15C Curt Schroeder 213
75. 21 Billy Moyer 202
76. 6H Al Humphrey 201
77. 10 Junior Coover 198
78. 29X Spencer Diercks 192
79. 38 Jordan Heiman 185