WHEATLAND, MO. (April 1, 2023) – Jonathan Davenport is considered the king of Late Model dirt racing these days and his dominant performance on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway did nothing to dispel that notion.
Davenport, of Blairsville, Georgia, led all 40 laps in spanking the field in a caution-free 40-lap feature on Night of the 10th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts.
The three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion and 2015 Show-Me 100 winner needed only 11 minutes and 3 seconds in going green-to-checkers, picking up $10,000. The win came one night after “Superman” finished second to Ricky Thornton Jr. It was his fifth overall in 2023 and ninth career MLRA triumph.
“Last night we just got behind in qualifying,” said Davenport, who swept Saturday’s action as he set fast qualifying lap and won his heat race in addition to wiring the feature field. “I’ve got to thank my crew on this one here. This is a new car that they built in the past week. Everybody at Longhorn from the fab guys to the assembly guys to the parts guys … I really appreciate it.
“Our guys put their heads together and really hit on something tonight. I’ve got to thank them.”
Reigning MLRA Series champ Chad Simpson of Mount Vernon, Iowa, finished second, 2.9 seconds in back of Davenport. Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., was third.
Davenport sprinted to the lead and already was passing lapped cars, just six laps into the race. He had a 3.1-second lead over fellow front-row starter Chad Simpson with Spencer Hughes running third in the early going.
Continuing to set a blistering pace, Davenport maintained his command as the race soared past the halfway point. He was 3.6 seconds clear of Simpson with Garrett Alberson another two seconds behind the runner-up by lap 25.
From that point on, it was all about handling lapped traffic and Davenport did so in expert fashion. Even as Simpson gradually cut into the lead over the final 10 laps, Davenport’s lead was never in doubt.
“You can’t ever take your foot off the gas with these guys. You start loafing through lapped traffic and the guys behind you will close really quick,” said Davenport, who next weekend will make his first attempt in the NASCAR Cup Series in the dirt race on the high banks of Bristol.
“It feels really good to win,” Davenport added. “We’ve had a lot of bad racing luck (this season). We’ve had fast cars and it just feels good. It builds confidence back up in the team and myself.
“I’m pretty much going into the biggest weekend of my career racing next week, so I have to thank those guys and I’m looking forward to going to Bristol next week.”
Simpson had a solid run for the runner-up position and said he was able to close the gap on Davenport a bit, but not enough to mount serious bid without a caution.
“You always feel like you have a shot,” Simpson said, “but I knew once he got back to clean traffic he was just a little better car than we were.”
Bobby Pierce of Oakville, Illinois, drove from 13th to fourth and Logan Martin of West Plains wound up fifth.
After winning on Friday, Thornton had to win a B-Main to get into Saturday’s feature. He started 20th and finished 15th, the last driver on the lead lap.
A total of 50 Late Models checked into the pits and there were 114 cars across all four divisions. Davenport the fast qualifying time, out of Group A, going 15.680 seconds to beat out Lucas Oil Speedway weekly regular Dalton Imhoff’s 15.80.
USRA B-Mod feature goes to Jackson: Seven-time Lucas Oil Speedway Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod champ Kris Jackson of Lebanon made a decisive pass with two laps remaining to claim the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature win.
Jackson got around Mitchell Franklin, who led most of the way, after a restart with three laps remaining after a three-wide battle for the lead with those two and JC Morton wound up in a caution flag.
Jackson started ninth and sailed around the outside of Franklin and Morton for the lead on lap 22. The trio was running three wide into turn three the next time around with Jackson on the outside, Morton in the middle and Franklin inside. Morton and Jackson wound up spinning and Franklin emerged with the lead.
Morton was unable to continue and Jackson, starting behind Franklin as the race went back to green, made an outside pass and held on from there.
Jon Sheets finished second and Franklin settled for third with Ryan Gillmore fourth.
Hendrix prevails in USRA Stock Cars: The O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature turned into a battle of attrition and David Hendrix was able to come away the winner. He held off Bryan White after White’s failed bid for the lead on the final lap when he made contact with the leader in turn three.
White went to the infield, cutting through the grass, and got back onto the dirt in time to cross the line behind Hendrix. The two exchanged bumps after the checkered flag.
White was disqualified afterward, elevating Jeff Tennant to second and James Ellis into third.
Hendrix, of Buckhorn, took home $750 for the win in what was a rough-and-tumble event. Nine of the 15 cars in the starting field were eliminated in three mishaps before two laps were completed.
Clevenger charges to Show-Me Vintage Racers win: Damon Clevenger of Parkville took the lead with three laps to go and held off Chad Eichleberry to win the Show-Me Vintage Racers Series feature.
Clevenger started 10 and worked his way into top five by lap five. He became the race’s fifth and final leader when he went around Eichleberry on lap 12. Bill Behrens wound up third, Dan Schmidt was fourth and Jim Thorne finished fifth.
The feature was dedicated to Mickey Fleehart, founder and president of the Show-Me Vintage Racers. Fleehart passed away on March 3 of this year. Fleehart’s grandson drove Mickey’s No. 7 car on a pace lap prior to the feature, taking a ceremonial green and checkered flag.
“I love this club and this one goes in Mickey’s honor. He was a great president and we all miss him,” Clevenger said.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Saturday, April 1)
10th annual MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts
MLRA Late Models
A Feature – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[7]; 4. 32P-Bobby Pierce[13]; 5. 36-Logan Martin[5]; 6. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[9]; 8. 2S-Stormy Scott[8]; 9. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[14]; 10. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[12]; 11. 96V-Tanner English[16]; 12. 11H-Jeff Herzog[3]; 13. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[10]; 14. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 15. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[20]; 16. 19R-Ryan Gustin[22]; 17. 2-Tyler Stevens[24]; 18. 8-Dillon McCowan[11]; 19. 51-Larry Ferris[15]; 20. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[25]; 21. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[23]; 22. 78S-Steve Stultz[17]; 23. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[27]; 24. 3-Brennon Willard[26]; 25. 32S-Chris Simpson[18]; 26. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[19]; 27. USA1-Chris Hawkins[21]; 28. 93-Mason Oberkramer[28]
Sunoco B Main 1 – 1. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[1]; 2. USA1-Chris Hawkins[6]; 3. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 5. 3-Brennon Willard[3]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff[2]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[10]; 8. 67-Jim Vanzandt[9]; 9. 82-Jace Parmley[14]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker[11]; 11. 29-Chandler Moenning[12]; 12. 81-Troy Bynum[8]; 13. 50-Kayden Clatt[7]; 14. 23-Chad Walter[13]; 15. 71-Jim Body[16]; 16. (DNS) 28-Dustin Sorensen
Hoosier B Main 2 – 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 3. 2-Tyler Stevens[5]; 4. 15-Justin Duty[7]; 5. 60-Kip Hughes[6]; 6. 45-Cole Wells[9]; 7. 7B-Mark Burgtorf[8]; 8. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 9. 93-Mason Oberkramer[13]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 11. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[11]; 12. 22H-Dustin Hodges[12]; 13. 14M-Reid Millard[14]; 14. 42-Johnathan Huston[16]; 15. 2B-Jason Bodenhamer[15]; 16. 1X-Aaron Marrant[10]
Midwest Sheet Metal Heat 1 – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 32P-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[3]; 5. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 6. 50-Kayden Clatt[8]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[6]; 8. 23-Chad Walter[7]; 9. 71-Jim Body[9]
Hooker Harness Heat 2 – 1. 11H-Jeff Herzog[3]; 2. 15L-Payton Looney[2]; 3. 51-Larry Ferris[4]; 4. 96-Dalton Imhoff[1]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 6. 81-Troy Bynum[7]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]; 8. 82-Jace Parmley[6]
MyRacePass Heat 3 – 1. 36-Logan Martin[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 3. 78S-Steve Stultz[5]; 4. 3-Brennon Willard[3]; 5. USA1-Chris Hawkins[7]; 6. 67-Jim Vanzandt[6]; 7. 29-Chandler Moenning[8]; 8. 28-Dustin Sorensen[4]
Fast Shafts Heat 4 – 1. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 3. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 15-Justin Duty[8]; 7. 1X-Aaron Marrant[4]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[5]; 9. 42-Johnathan Huston[9]
Midwest Sheet Metal Heat 5 – 1. 11-Spencer Hughes[2]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 3. 96V-Tanner English[1]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 5. 2-Tyler Stevens[6]; 6. 7B-Mark Burgtorf[5]; 7. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[8]
Hooker Harness Heat 6 – 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[5]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 5. 60-Kip Hughes[4]; 6. 45-Cole Wells[6]; 7. 22H-Dustin Hodges[7]; 8. 2B-Jason Bodenhamer[8]
Qualifying Group A – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.680[14]; 2. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:15.803[5]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.835[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.914[18]; 5. 15L-Payton Looney, 00:16.002[10]; 6. 36-Logan Martin, 00:16.066[8]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh, 00:16.091[6]; 8. 11H-Jeff Herzog, 00:16.176[15]; 9. 3-Brennon Willard, 00:16.304[3]; 10. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 00:16.317[2]; 11. 51-Larry Ferris, 00:16.334[12]; 12. 28-Dustin Sorensen, 00:16.379[22]; 13. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.397[16]; 14. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:16.437[1]; 15. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:16.490[25]; 16. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:16.614[20]; 17. 82-Jace Parmley, 00:16.662[11]; 18. 67-Jim Vanzandt, 00:16.896[13]; 19. 23-Chad Walter, 00:17.008[7]; 20. 81-Troy Bynum, 00:17.013[21]; 21. USA1-Chris Hawkins, 00:17.015[17]; 22. 50-Kayden Clatt, 00:17.125[24]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:17.230[19]; 24. 29-Chandler Moenning, 00:17.299[9]; 25. 71-Jim Body, 00:17.662[23]
Qualifying Group B – 1. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:16.231[4]; 2. 96V-Tanner English, 00:16.294[16]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:16.318[12]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:16.400[22]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes, 00:16.403[11]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:16.412[24]; 7. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.462[23]; 8. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:16.518[17]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:16.542[14]; 10. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:16.577[1]; 11. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:16.607[20]; 12. 60-Kip Hughes, 00:16.672[19]; 13. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.684[5]; 14. 7B-Mark Burgtorf, 00:16.706[3]; 15. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:16.727[13]; 16. 49T-Jake Timm, 00:16.748[6]; 17. 2-Tyler Stevens, 00:16.761[10]; 18. 45-Cole Wells, 00:16.797[2]; 19. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:16.837[21]; 20. 14G-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.924[8]; 21. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 00:16.963[7]; 22. 15-Justin Duty, 00:16.967[9]; 23. 14M-Reid Millard, 00:17.450[15]; 24. 2B-Jason Bodenhamer, 00:17.515[18]; 25. 42-Johnathan Huston, 00:17.842[25]
Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
A Feature – 1. 65-Kris Jackson[9]; 2. 8S-Jon Sheets[2]; 3. F1-Mitchell Franklin[1]; 4. 66-Ryan Gillmore[8]; 5. 55-Colson Kirk[5]; 6. 46-Brice Gotschall[3]; 7. 28B-Andy Bryant[19]; 8. 81-Austin Charles[13]; 9. 56-Shadren Turner[11]; 10. 2X-Matt Johnson[26]; 11. 90-Terry Schultz[18]; 12. 42-Jerry Morgan[7]; 13. 6T-Michael Taylor III[10]; 14. 83-JC Newell[24]; 15. 10P-Dayton Pursley[14]; 16. 30-Rex Harris[12]; 17. 16-Bobby Penney[15]; 18. 2-Quentin Taylor[23]; 19. 57J-Christopher Watts[17]; 20. 55G-Luke Gideon[20]; 21. 39-Dwight Brown[21]; 22. 1B-Bobby Williams[4]; 23. 18-JC Morton[6]; 24. X2-Brian Bolin[16]; 25. 17L-Chris Leathers[22]; 26. 28-Wesley Briggs[25]
Heat 1 – 1. 66-Ryan Gillmore[4]; 2. 8S-Jon Sheets[2]; 3. 46-Brice Gotschall[5]; 4. 6T-Michael Taylor III[6]; 5. 81-Austin Charles[8]; 6. X2-Brian Bolin[3]; 7. 39-Dwight Brown[1]; 8. 17L-Chris Leathers[9]; 9. 28-Wesley Briggs[7]
Heat 2 – 1. 18-JC Morton[1]; 2. F1-Mitchell Franklin[2]; 3. 65-Kris Jackson[3]; 4. 56-Shadren Turner[5]; 5. 16-Bobby Penney[4]; 6. 90-Terry Schultz[6]; 7. 28B-Andy Bryant[8]; 8. 83-JC Newell[7]; 9. 2X-Matt Johnson[9]
Heat 3 – 1. 1B-Bobby Williams[2]; 2. 55-Colson Kirk[1]; 3. 42-Jerry Morgan[7]; 4. 30-Rex Harris[5]; 5. 10P-Dayton Pursley[6]; 6. 57J-Christopher Watts[3]; 7. 55G-Luke Gideon[8]; 8. 2-Quentin Taylor[4]
O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
A Feature – 1. 54-David Hendrix[4]; 2. 27T-Jeff Tennant[3]; 3. 83-James Ellis[11]; 4. (DNF) 5-Robert White[2]; 5. (DNF) 85-Darrin Schmidt[1]; 6. (DNF) 24-Blayne McMillin[14]; 7. (DNF) 0F-Mason Beck[6]; 8. (DNF) 7-William Garner[7]; 9. (DNF) 1G-Tony Anglin[9]; 10. (DNF) 74-Rodney Schweizer[10]; 11. (DNF) 47-Ed Griggs[12]; 12. (DNF) 27-David Oxford[13]; 13. (DNF) 79-James Barker[15]; 14. (DNF) 8M-James McMillin[5]; 15. (DQ) 41-Bryan White[8]
Heat 1 – 1. 54-David Hendrix[1]; 2. 41-Bryan White[6]; 3. 8M-James McMillin[3]; 4. 7-William Garner[7]; 5. 27T-Jeff Tennant[8]; 6. 47-Ed Griggs[4]; 7. 24-Blayne McMillin[5]; 8. (DNF) 79-James Barker[2]
Heat 2 – 1. 5-Robert White[1]; 2. 0F-Mason Beck[6]; 3. 85-Darrin Schmidt[2]; 4. 1G-Tony Anglin[3]; 5. 74-Rodney Schweizer[5]; 6. 83-James Ellis[7]; 7. 27-David Oxford[4]
Show-Me Vintage Racers
A Feature – 1. 6-Damon Clevenger[10]; 2. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[12]; 3. 35-BILL BERENS[8]; 4. 8X-Dan Schmidt[16]; 5. 113-Jim Thorne[15]; 6. 11-Jeremy Turner[20]; 7. 63-John Martin[18]; 8. 54-Lawrence Waters[14]; 9. 5-Eddie Neil[2]; 10. 88-Jimmy Naylor[9]; 11. 02-Jeff Siler[4]; 12. 45-Daniel Schmidt[5]; 13. 14-Mickie Cook[6]; 14. 2B-Brian Cox[7]; 15. 8-Rocky Rhodes[19]; 16. 44-Terry Price[3]; 17. (DNF) 81-Tom Charles[23]; 18. (DNF) 42-Rob Brash[21]; 19. (DNF) 83-John Olmscheid[1]; 20. (DNF) 1-Rodney Ashworth[22]; 21. (DNF) 32W-Bob Werkmeister[11]; 22. (DNF) 58-Beth Martin[13]; 23. (DNF) 2 D-Brandon Jordan[17]
Heat 1 – 1. 5-Eddie Neil[2]; 2. 112-Elmer Gerloff[1]; 3. 02-Jeff Siler[3]; 4. 35-BILL BERENS[8]; 5. 2B-Brian Cox[7]; 6. 14-Mickie Cook[6]; 7. 45-Daniel Schmidt[5]; 8. 44-Terry Price[4]
Heat 2 – 1. 54-Lawrence Waters[6]; 2. 6-Damon Clevenger[2]; 3. 8X-Dan Schmidt[8]; 4. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[4]; 5. 88-Jimmy Naylor[1]; 6. 113-Jim Thorne[7]; 7. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[3]; 8. 58-Beth Martin[5]
Heat 3 – 1. 63-John Martin[2]; 2. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[1]; 3. 81-Tom Charles[7]; 4. 11-Jeremy Turner[5]; 5. 8-Rocky Rhodes[4]; 6. 1-Rodney Ashworth[3]; 7. 42-Rob Brash[6]
Enduro Easter Bowl 150 next up: Action at Lucas Oil Speedway resumes on Saturday, April 8 with the Enduro Easter Bowl 150. Enduro drivers will go 150 laps for the win and entries are still open. The winner will earn $1,500 in the unique format with action only slow if the track is blocked, requiring a red flag. Drivers can check out the Enduro rules on the Lucas Oil Speedway website.
O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will race for $1,000 to win that evening and POWRi Midwest Mods go after a $600 first prize as a special guest class.
Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.
Off Road practice on April 8: A high interest in the inaugural MidAmerica Outdoors Side-by-Side Series event set for April 28-29 as prompted Lucas Oil Speedway to schedule a practice day on the Off Road track on April 8th.The practice session will be held from noon-4 p.m. Pit gates will open at 10 a.m. with pit passes $25. That pass also will be good for admission into the Easter Bowl Enduro 150 program on the dirt track that evening.
SRX roster of drivers expands, with tickets on sale: General admission tickets for the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) race scheduled for Aug. 17 at Lucas Oil Speedway remain on sale. The SRX Thursday Night Thunder event will be the finale in the six-race series, which features some of racing’s biggest names.
Drivers previously announced for the Wheatland event include Tony Stewart, Kenny Wallace, Hailie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves, Clint Bowyer, reigning SRX Champion Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Tickets for the SRX event will be $35 in advance and $40 at the gate (ages 16 and over). Kids (ages 6-15) will be $20 with ages 5-and-under free. Advance tickets can now be purchased via Stubwire – https://www.stubwire.com/event/srxespnthursdaynightthunder/lucasoilspeedway/wheatland/28075/ Pit passes are $50 and must be purchased the day of the event.
For information about any event at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.
CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984