Davenport claims first career Silver Dollar Nationals victory
Jonathan Davenport collected a whopping $40,000 after winning the Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway on Saturday night. – Kyle Ealy Photo
Greenwood, Nebraska (July 23, 2016) – The defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, Jonathan Davenport returned to Victory Lane on Saturday night, pocketing $40,000 for his efforts. Davenport took the lead from Chris Simpson on lap 13 and lead the rest of the way to win the sixth edition of the Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway.
In a race that saw three different leaders in the first 13 laps, Davenport charged from the seventh starting spot to take the point from Simpson. He averted several charges from other competitors throughout the remainder of the race to take home his first LOLMDS win since the Cowboy Classic at Lucas Oil Speedway on May 26th.
“The car was just super tonight, we have worked so hard to get back here to victory lane, we have had brake issues, and all kinds of things that didn’t happen last year. So it feels good to get a win here tongiht. It’s a great race track and the fans get to see a great race every time we come here,” said Davenport in Lucas Oil Victory Lane.
Davenport’s winning K&L Rumley Enterprises/Longhorn Chassis is sponsored by: Baird Transport, Elite Concrete, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, JRi Shocks, National Transportation, FK Rod End, Midwest Sheet Metal and Bryson Motorsports.
Hall-of-Famer, Billy Moyer in likely his final start at I-80 Speedway finished in second. Davenport and Moyer had a two-lap shootout to the finish, after third-place running Jesse Stovall blew a tire bringing out the final caution of the event.
Brandon Sheppard charged from the 25th starting spot to finish third in his Best Performance Motorsports/Rocket Chassis. Tim McCreadie finished fourth, while Earl Pearson Jr. drove by Shannon Babb on the final lap to take fifth.
Jared Landers, the polesitter for the 80-lap main event, jumped to the lead at the onset. Chris Simpson, who started alongside Landers on the front row, used the low-line on the track to overtake Landers for the lead on lap ten.
Simpson, who had to switch to a backup car for the main event, held the point until Davenport took over on lap 13. A torrid battle amongst Davenport, Simpson, Moyer and Dennis Erb Jr. then ensued. Moyer climbed to second on lap 34 and stayed there until Erb got around him on lap 43.
Erb then had Sheppard join him as they tracked down Davenport for the top spot. Sheppard, using the high side, passed Erb for second on lap 57. However, Erb would battle back to regain the runner-up position from Sheppard shortly after. Erb suffered a flat tire on lap 66, ending his hopes for a victory.
Moyer, in his All-Makes Collision/McCarthy’s One Hour Heating and Cooling, self-designed chassis wasn’t able to muster enough momentum in the final two circuits to overtake Davenport. “I knew I would have a tough time getting by him. I was just hanging on there at the end. I figured I would get passed there by some cars, but fortunately we stayed in second. Thanks to Joe Kosiski and everybody here. We really hadn’t run that much here in the past, but they have done a great job with this facility.”
Completing the top ten were Shannon Babb, Scott Bloomquist, Dave Eckrich, Jared Landers and Don O’Neal.
In preliminary action, RC Whitwell, Jesse Stovall, Chris Simpson, Jared Landers, Terry Phillips, Jimmy Owens won their respective first round heat races. Shannon Babb, Shane Clanton, Tim McCreadie, Billy Moyer, Brandon Sheppard won their respective second round heat races. Darrell Lanigan and Tyler Erb won their respective B-Mains. Brantlee Gotschall won the Non-Qualifiers Race.
Eibach Springs FIRST ROUND Heat Race #1 Finish: RC Whitwell, Earl Pearson, Jr., Dennis Erb, Jr., Ryan Gustin, Tyler Erb, Jake O’Neil, JC Wyman, Mike Marlar, Mark Dotson, Cale Osborn
FK Rod Ends FIRST ROUND Heat Race #2 Finish: Jesse Stovall, Clay Daly, Chad Simpson, Billy Moyer, Tommy Weder, Al Humphrey, Bryon Allison, Brad Perdue, BrantleeGotschall, John Duty-DNS
Simpson Performance Products FIRST ROUND Heat Race #3 Finish: Chris Simpson, Austin Smith, Brent Larson, Darrell Lanigan, Jason Papich, Shannon Babb, Tad Pospisil, Austin Siebert, Mike Stadel, Heath Clausen-DNS
QA1 FIRST ROUND Heat Race #4 Finish: Jared Landers, Brian Shirley, Tim McCreadie, Ben Schaller, Kyle Berck, Randy Timms, Bill Leighton, Jr., Josh Most, Bob Milander-DNS
Malvern Bank FIRST ROUND Heat Race #5 Finish: Terry Phillips, Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Mars, Justin Duty, Don O’Neal, Andrew Kosiski, Colton Flinner, Brandon Sheppard, John Hampel
Strobel Manufacturing FIRST ROUND Heat Race #6 Finish: Jimmy Owens, Shane Clanton, Jonathan Davenport, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Matt Buller, Chase Junghans, Rodney Sanders, Dave Eckrich, Junior Coover
Eibach Springs SECOND ROUND Heat Race #1 Finish: Shannon Babb, Ryan Gustin, Jimmy Mars, Jason Papich, Bill Leighton, Jr., Frank Heckenast, Jr., Ben Schaller, Andrew Kosiski, Al Humphrey
FK Rod Ends SECOND ROUND Heat Race #2 Finish: Shane Clanton, Chris Simpson, Chad Simpson, Terry Phillips, Tyler Erb, Randy Timms, Bryon Allison, Austin Siebert, Bob Milander-DNS
Simpson Performance Products SECOND ROUND Heat Race #3 Finish: Tim McCreadie, Scott Bloomquist, Dennis Erb, Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Dave Eckrich, Austin Smith, Brad Perdue, Mark Dotson, Brantlee Gotschall-DNS
QA1 SECOND ROUND Heat Race #4 Finish: Billy Moyer, Rodney Sanders, Jake O’Neil, Matt Buller, Earl Pearson, Jr., Kyle Berck, Clay Daly, Brent Larson, Colton Flinner, Mike Stadel
Malvern Bank SECOND ROUND Heat Race #5 Finish: Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Brian Shirley, Jesse Stovall, Tommy Weder, Don O’Neal, Tad Pospisil, JC Wyman, Junior Coover-DNS
Strobel Manufacturing SECOND ROUND Heat Race #6 Finish: Jared Landers, Jonathan Davenport, John Hampel, Cale Osborn, Justin Duty, RC Whitwell, John Duty, Josh Most, Chase Junghans, Heath Clausen
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish: Darrell Lanigan, Jake O’Neil, Mike Marlar, Clay Daly, Randy Timms, Brent Larson, JC Wyman, Bill Leighton, Jr., Tommy Weder, Chase Junghans, Austin Smith, Bob Milander, Colton Flinner, Brandon Sheppard, Andrew Kosiski, Dave Eckrich, Al Humphrey-DNS, Mark Dotson-DNS, Junior Coover-DNS, Heath Clausen-DNS
Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish: Tyler Erb, Rodney Sanders, Frank Heckenast Jr., Matt Buller, Brantlee Gotschall, Tad Pospisil, John Duty, Austin Siebert, Jon Hampel, Bryon Allison, Brad Perdue, Justin Duty, Don O’Neal, Cale Osborn, Ben Schaller, Kyle Berck, Mike Stadel, Jason Papich, Josh Most-DNS
Belt Bash Non-Qualifier Race Finish: Brantlee Gotschall, Tommy Weder, Clay Daly, Randy Timms, Justin Duty, JC Wyman, Chase Junghans, Brent Larson, John Duty, Bob Milander, Matt Buller, Brad Perdue, Jon Hampel, Tad Pospisil, Bryon Allison, Austin Siebert-DNS, Smith-DNS, Osborn-DNS, Stadel-DNS
Feature Finish (80 Laps):
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 7 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Mount Airy, NC | $41,250 |
| 2 | 9 | 21 | Billy Moyer | Batesville, AR | $15,000 |
| 3 | 25 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $7,950 |
| 4 | 6 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $7,050 |
| 5 | 16 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $5,950 |
| 6 | 18 | 18 | Shannon Babb | Mowequa, IL | $4,000 |
| 7 | 5 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $4,700 |
| 8 | 29 | 58E | Dave Eckrich | Oxford, IA | $3,300 |
| 9 | 1 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR | $4,300 |
| 10 | 26 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $3,800 |
| 11 | 19 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $3,600 |
| 12 | 17 | 96T | RC Whitwell | Tucson, AZ | $2,800 |
| 13 | 22 | J0 | Jake O’Neil | Tucson, AZ | $2,700 |
| 14 | 11 | 28E | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $3,500 |
| 15 | 28 | 91P | Jason Papich | Nipomo, CA | $2,500 |
| 16 | 32 | 53 | Andrew Kosiski | Omaha, NE | $2,400 |
| 17 | 27 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | $800 |
| 18 | 12 | 00 | Jesse Stovall | Billings, MO | $2,200 |
| 19 | 23 | 99JR | Frank Heckenast, Jr. | Frankfort, IL | $2,100 |
| 20 | 10 | 19R | Ryan Gustin | Marshalltown, IA | $2,000 |
| 21 | 4 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $3,150 |
| 22 | 24 | 157 | Mike Marlar | Winfield, TN | $1,900 |
| 23 | 31 | 24 | Bill Leighton, Jr. | LaVista, NE | $1,850 |
| 24 | 13 | 25s | Chad Simpson | Mt. Vernon, IA | $1,800 |
| 25 | 34 | 02 | Tommy Weder | Woodward, OK | $1,750 |
| 26 | 35 | 32B | Clay Daly | Salinas, CA | $1,700 |
| 27 | 2 | 32X | Chris Simpson | Oxford, IA | $1,675 |
| 28 | 30 | 98 | Ben Schaller | Omaha, NE | $1,650 |
| 29 | 21 | 20s | Rodney Sanders | Happy, TX | $1,625 |
| 30 | 8 | 75P | Terry Phillips | Springfield, MO | $1,600 |
| 31 | 20 | 91 | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $1,600 |
| 32 | 15 | 3s | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | $1,600 |
| 33 | 3 | 25c | Shane Clanton | Zabulon, GA | $1,600 |
| 34 | 33 | 14b | Kyle Berck | Marquette, NE | $1,600 |
| 35 | 14 | 28m | Jimmy Mars | Menomonie, WI | $1,600 |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 57
Lap Leaders: Jared Landers (Laps 1-9); Chris Simpson (Laps 10-12); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 13-80)
Cautions: Darrell Lanigan (Lap 12); Jimmy Mars, Tyler Erb (Lap 13); Brian Shirley (Lap 18); Tyler Erb (Lap 24); Rodney Sanders (Lap 28); Clay Daly (Lap 33); Ryan Gustin (Lap 66); Dennis Erb Jr. (Lap 66RS); Jesse Stovall (Lap 78)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Brandon Sheppard, Don O’Neal
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: Colton Flinner
Lucas Oil MLRA Provisionals: Jason Papich, Dave Eckrich
I-80 Speedway Provisionals: Ben Schaller, Bill Leighton Jr., Andrew Kosiski, Kyle Berck
Belt Bash Non-Qualifiers Race Provisionals: Tommy Weder, Clay Daly
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
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Category: Kansas / Nebraska
