Jonathan Davenport Wins a Wild One to Open Late Model Nationals!
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Jonathan Davenport Wins a Wild One to Open Late Model Nationals!
by Bill Wright
Knoxville, IA, September 24, 2015 – 2015 has been a dream season for “Superman” Jonathan Davenport. On night one of the 12th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores his dream was almost ruined by the “Newport Nightmare” Jimmy Owens! In the end, it was Davenport in victory lane for the 20th time this season. It was worth $7,000 and was his second at the historic Knoxville Raceway.
Davenport shot out to the early lead in the 25-lapper from his starting spot outside row one with Chris Brown and Ricky Weiss in tow. Owens shot from his sixth starting spot to claim third by lap two. Owens would grab second from Brown on lap five.
Jimmy Mars came to a stop six laps in to bring out the only caution of the event. Davenport led Owens, Brown, Weiss and Don O’Neal back to green flag racing. O’Neal put a wicked slider on Weiss to grab fourth on the restart, while Davenport put distance between himself and Owens.
With ten laps to go, Owens began to reel in the leader, who was in heavy traffic. O’Neal snuck by Brown for third on lap 16. Davenport hesitated in traffic on lap 20, and Owens pounced on the opportunity. The two battled for the next four laps. Coming through turns three and four coming to the white flag, Davenport found the high side back to the lead as he and Owens battled in lapped traffic.
Davenport would hold on for the win ahead of Owens, O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr. and Brown. Dennis Erb Jr., hard-charger Scott Bloomquist, Chad Simpson, Chris Simpson and Jared Landers rounded out the top ten. Jason Papich and Jared Landers set quick time in their respective groups. Pearson, Joel Callahan, Erb, Owens, Brown and Josh Richards won heat races. Denny Eckrich won the D main, Mike Marlar took the C main and Darrel Lanigan claimed the B main.
“I wasn’t even sure we were that close to the end,” said Davenport of the closing stages. “This place is tough passing lapped cars. It’s aero dependent and I got pushed a couple times and got in the wrong lane. I had to get the elbows up when Jimmy got by me. We just have to do our job one race at a time. We do our job and try to get it done.”
Join us Friday night, September 25, as the 12th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues at the Knoxville Raceway! For more information on Knoxville Raceway, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Late Models Results
Group A Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 91P, Jason Papich, Nipomo, CA (20), 17.414; 2. 29, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (21), 17.468; 3. O, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (32), 17.544; 4. 5, Don O'Neal, Martinsville, IN (11), 17.699; 5. 18B, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (14), 17.910; 6. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (4), 17.923; 7. 25Z, Mason Zeigler, Chalk Hill, PA (23), 17.985; 8. 28, Eddie Carrier Jr., Salt Rock, WV (22), 18.053; 9. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (10), 18.075; 10. 1, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (1), 18.083; 11. 7R, Kent Robinson, Bloomington, IN (18), 18.100; 12. 74M, Mitch McGrath, Waukesha, WI (6), 18.117; 13. 7W, Ricky Weiss, Headingley, MB, Can. (5), 18.126; 14. 15D, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (27), 18.187; 15. 28E, Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, IL (30), 18.242; 16. 17S, Jim Shereck, St. Charles, MO (9), 18.273; 17. 1M, Rob Moss, Iowa City, IA (12), 18.274; 18. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfurt, IL (7), 18.294; 19. 58D, AJ Diemel, Elk Mound, WI (3), 18.392; 20. 40, Joel Callahan, Dubuque, IA (26), 18.395; 21. 6M, Wendell Wallace, Batesville, AR (19), 18.446; 22. 21H, Brian Harris, Davenport, IA (29), 18.475; 23. 21B, Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL (8), 18.482; 24. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (28), 18.496; 25. 56, Chris Spieker, Massena, IA (2), 18.575; 26. 19R, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (16), 18.628; 27. 3S, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (15), 18.764; 28. 33G, Paul Glendenning, Mt. Ayr, IA (13), 18.772; 29. 50, Denny Eckrich, Oxford, IA (25), 18.850; 30. 3X, Skip Frey, Swisher, IA (31), 18.953; 31. 93, Jay Johnson, West Burlington, IA (24), 19.034; 32. 31U, Jason Utter, Columbus Junction, IA (17), 19.684.
Group B Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 777, Jared Landers, Batesville, AR (31), 17.280; 2. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (4), 17.398; 3. 6W, RC Whitwell, Tucson, AZ (20), 17.645; 4. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (2), 17.779; 5. 21BX, Chris Brown, Spring, TX (15), 17.837; 6. 6, Jonathan Davenport, Mount Airy, NC (26), 17.860; 7. 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA (6), 17.862; 8. 54W, Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH (5), 17.884; 9. 15K, Justin Kay, Wheatland, IA (25), 17.933; 10. 32, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (8), 17.982; 11. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (18), 18.011; 12. B5, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (14), 18.116; 13. 58, Ray Guss Jr., East Moline, IL (11), 18.144; 14. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (21), 18.155; 15. 1R, Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV (1), 18.228; 16. 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (24), 18.235; 17. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (27), 18.235; 18. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (29), 18.258; 19. 17M, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA (16), 18.354; 20. 18, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (17), 18.414; 21. 58E, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (13), 18.643; 22. 14M, Morgan Bagley, Longview, TX (7), 18.684; 23. 48, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (3), 18.693; 24. 29D, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (23), 18.725; 25. 54, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (12), 18.771; 26. OKB, Kerry King, Delmar, DE (10), 19.013; 27. 22M, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (22), 19.340; 28. 7D, Austin Theiss, Hockley, TX (9), 19.554; 29. 8, Sonny Findling, Kirksville, MO (30), 19.556; 30. 62, Greg Cox, Altoona, IA (19), 20.751; 31. R21, Ray Sveeggen, Beresford, SD (28), 21.044.
Group A Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:44.5: 1. Earl Pearson Jr. (5); 2. Ricky Weiss (4); 3. Don O'Neal (7) / 4. AJ Diemel (2); 5. Mason Zeigler (6); 6. Chris Spieker (9) / 7. Jason Papich (8); 8. Brian Harris (1); 9. Jay Johnson (11) / 10. Jim Shereck (3); 11. Paul Glendenning (10);
Group A Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:47.4: 1. Joel Callahan (2); 2. Rich Bell (1); 3. Kent Robinson (5) / 4. Darrell Lanigan (8); 5. Shannon Babb (7); 6. Eddie Carrier Jr. (6) / 7. Donny Schatz (4); 8. Ryan Gustin (9); 9. Rob Moss (3) / 10. Jason Utter (11); 11. Denny Eckrich (10);
Group A Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:43.1 (NTR): 1. Dennis Erb Jr. (4); 2. Billy Moyer (1); 3. Frank Heckenast Jr. (3) / 4. Wendell Wallace (2); 5. Scott Bloomquist (8); 6. Jimmy Mars (7) / 7. Mitch McGrath (5); 8. Skip Frey (10); 9. Mike Marlar (6) / 10. Brian Shirley (9);
Group B Heat one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Jimmy Owens (7); 2. Morgan Bagley (1); 3. Chris Simpson (5) / 4. Ray Guss Jr. (4); 5. Jared Landers (8); 6. Jason Rauen (6) / 7. Mike Fryer (9); 8. Austin Theiss (10); 9. Ray Sveeggen (11) / 10. Dale McDowell (2); 11. Tyler Bruening (3)
Group B Heat two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Chris Brown (7); 2. Chad Simpson (8); 3. Steve Francis (3) / 4. Tim Lance (1); 5. Jason Feger (4); 6. Matt Westfall (6) / 7. Sonny Findling (10); 8. Tim McCreadie (5); 9. Kerry King (9) / 10. Chase Junghans (2);
Group B Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:52.2: 1. Josh Richards (4); 2. Jonathan Davenport (7); 3. Billy Moyer Jr. (3) / 4. Brandon Sheppard (5); 5. Justin Kay (6); 6. Spencer Diercks (1) / 7. Dave Eckrich (2); 8. RC Whitwell (8); 9. Charlie McKenna (9) / 10. Greg Cox (10);
D main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Denny Eckrich (5); 2. Dale McDowell (2); 3. Chase Junghans (4); 4. Jim Shereck (1) / 5. Jason Utter (7); 6. Paul Glendenning (3); 7. Greg Cox (6) DNS - 8. Tyler Bruening; 9. Brian Shirley
C main (started), 12 Laps, 4:03.8: 1. Mike Marlar (3); 2. Jason Papich (1); 3. Dave Eckrich (5); 4. Donny Schatz (6) / 5. Ryan Gustin (12); 6. Mitch McGrath (4); 7. Brian Harris (10); 8. Rob Moss (8); 9. Denny Eckrich (16); 10. Dale McDowell (17); 11. Jay Johnson (14); 12. Chase Junghans (18); 13. Mike Fryer (7); 14. Charlie McKenna (11); 15. Jim Shereck (19); 16. Skip Frey (13); 17. Kerry King (9); 18. Ray Sveeggen (15); 19. RC Whitwell (2) DNS - 20. Tim McCreadie 21. Austin Theiss 22. Sonny Findling
B main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Darrell Lanigan (1); 2. Shannon Babb (5); 3. Jared Landers (2); 4. Scott Bloomquist (3); 5. Jimmy Mars (7); 6. Brandon Sheppard (10) / 7. Mason Zeigler (9); 8. Matt Westfall (6); 9. Ray Guss Jr. (12); 10. Jason Feger (14); 11. AJ Diemel (13); 12. Wendell Wallace (15); 13. Chris Spieker (17); 14. Jason Papich (20); 15. Donny Schatz (21); 16. Tim Lance (16); 17. Dave Eckrich (19); 18. Spencer Diercks (18); 19. Jason Rauen (4); 20. Justin Kay (8); 21. Eddie Carrier Jr. (11) DNS - 22. Mike Marlar
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Jonathan Davenport (2); 2. Jimmy Owens (6); 3. Don O'Neal (7); 4. Earl Pearson Jr. (5); 5. Chris Brown (4); 6. Dennis Erb Jr. (9); 7. Scott Bloomquist (22); 8. Chad Simpson (8); 9. Chris Simpson (10); 10. Jared Landers (21); 11. Kent Robinson (3); 12. Shannon Babb (20); 13. Steve Francis (14); 14. Frank Heckenast Jr. (11); 15. Josh Richards (12); 16. Darrell Lanigan (19); 17. Billy Moyer (17); 18. Brandon Sheppard (24); 19. Morgan Bagley (18); 20. Rich Bell (15); 21. Joel Callahan (13); 22. Billy Moyer Jr. (16); 23. Ricky Weiss (1); 24. Jimmy Mars (23). Lap Leaders: Davenport 1-19, Owens 20-23, Davenport 24-25. Hard-charger: Bloomquist.
Thursday Point Totals
1 20 Jimmy Owens 492
2 6 Jonathan Davenport 487
3 5 Don O'Neal 484
4 21BX Chris Brown 484
5 25 Chad Simpson 481
6 1 Earl Pearson Jr. 476
7 O Scott Bloomquist 472
8 777 Jared Landers 470
9 28E Dennis Erb Jr. 462
10 32 Chris Simpson 460
11 29 Darrell Lanigan 459
12 18B Shannon Babb 458
13 7R Kent Robinson 454
14 1R Josh Richards 444
15 15 Steve Francis 438
16 B5 Brandon Sheppard 435
17 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr. 434
18 7W Ricky Weiss 429
19 28M Jimmy Mars 429
20 40 Joel Callahan 422
21 21 Billy Moyer 419
22 14M Morgan Bagley 419
23 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. 418
24 21B Rich Bell 415
25 25Z Mason Zeigler 414
26 54W Matt Westfall 407
27 91P Jason Papich 406
28 58 Ray Guss Jr. 401
29 25F Jason Feger 394
30 98 Jason Rauen 387
31 58D AJ Diemel 385
32 15K Justin Kay 384
33 28 Eddie Carrier Jr. 381
34 6M Wendell Wallace 379
35 15D Donny Schatz 378
36 157 Mike Marlar 368
37 48 Tim Lance 367
38 56 Chris Spieker 363
39 58E Dave Eckrich 360
40 29D Spencer Diercks 355
41 74M Mitch McGrath 350
42 6W RC Whitwell 339
43 1M Rob Moss 330
44 21H Brian Harris 325
45 19R Ryan Gustin 321
46 39 Tim McCreadie 321
47 17M Dale McDowell 319
48 17S Jim Shereck 315
49 18 Chase Junghans 313
50 54 Mike Fryer 310
51 50 Denny Eckrich 298
52 22M Charlie McKenna 298
53 93 Jay Johnson 296
54 OKB Kerry King 294
55 3X Skip Frey 291
56 7D Austin Theiss 285
57 8 Sonny Findling 284
58 R21 Ray Sveeggen 282
59 16 Tyler Bruening 244
60 33G Paul Glendenning 241
61 3S Brian Shirley 235
62 31U Jason Utter 234
63 62 Greg Cox 232
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