IMPERIAL, Pa. — If anyone doubted Jonathan Davenport’s skills in long-distance events at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, he answered those questions and more Saturday at the sprawling half-mile oval.
The 41-year-old Blairsville, Ga., driver last season led all 70 laps for a Pittsburgher triumph, and he duplicated the feat Saturday to collect a $50,000 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series payday at PPMS for the second year in a row.
A fifth-place finisher in the previous night’s 30-lap preliminary feature, Davenport ran virtually unchallenged, leading by more than five seconds on occasions en route to his ninth Lucas Oil Series victory of the season.
“Our car felt pretty good; I was just trying to manage my tires during the first 40 or 50 laps so I’d have something left at the end,” Davenport said. “We weren’t that good yesterday and really couldn’t understand why, so we second-guessed ourselves. We put our heads together, talked about it, thought it through, and came up with a gameplan for today.”
Davenport took the checkers 0.623 of a second ahead of 13th-starting Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., the closest anyone came to him since he pounced from his third starting spot and into the lead on the first lap, aggressively moving past Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, exiting turn four.
Moran settled for a third-place finish, which gave him a 15-point lead in the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship with a single event remaining. Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., who entered the night with a five-point edge, was fourth while polesitter Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., rounded out the top five.
Davenport, whose championship hopes were dimmed a week earlier with subpar finishes at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, scored his 92nd career Lucas Oil victory and dominated at PPMS.
“There are always 'what ifs' in the back of your mind, and then you realize the guys lining up behind you, and you don’t know if they’ve been saving their tires or running a different line than you have,” he said. “It started to clean up just a little bit through one and two around the mid part of the race, and then after we had that long caution, everyone kept rolling through it, I guess, through the mud and everything, which kind of covered it back up.
“I was searching for a few laps after that caution, but the grip finally came back. You never know what’s happening behind you, and it can change in a hurry. We could run over something and get a flat or have a mechanical issue, so luckily none of that happened.”
Blair, who finished third a night earlier, earned $20,000 for his runner-up finish for Centerline Motorsports. (Blair later in the program added a $10,000 RUSH Crate Late Model Series victory at PPMS.)
“I mean, he was better than everybody else,” Blair said of Davenport. “I ran him down in the last couple of laps, but I think that was just more of him not wanting to get into lapped traffic. I’m sure his crew was telling him he was OK. I think he kind of had everybody covered. But to come here and run second against these guys is pretty awesome, for sure.”
Moran ran among the leaders early before slipping out of the top five. He clawed back to third in the second half of the 70-lapper.
“I really think that when we got to lapped traffic, Brandon Overton showed me the top line, and my car was so bad off the top that I had to commit to it,” Moran said. “At the same time, I had to be careful not to get flats like Brandon did tonight or Ricky did last night. It's definitely a fine line between going really hard and causing problems. I’m just glad we salvaged that race; we were struggling badly early on, but we managed to find the high line.”
Notes: Davenport lapped all but nine competitors. ... Three cautions slowed the 70-lapper, the first for a slowing Gregg Satterlee on the 10th lap. ... A lap-59 caution appeared for third-running Brandon Overton's flat right-rear tire. ... The last yellow fell on the 63rd lap for debris. ... The feature was preceded by a six-wide parade lap. ... The series announced that next year's Pittsburgher is set for Oct. 2-3.
Feature lineup
(70 laps)
Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran
Row 2: Jonathan Davenport, Garrett Alberson
Row 3: Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O'Neal
Row 4: Carson Ferguson, Mason Zeigler
Row 5: Brandon Overton, Rick Eckert
Row 6: Josh Richards, Dan Ebert
Row 7: Max Blair, Gregg Satterlee
Row 8: Matt Cosner, Ross Robinson
Row 9: Clay Harris, Donald McIntosh
Row 10: Ryan Montgomery, Cory Lawler
Row 11: Joseph Joiner, Logan Zarin
Row 12: Daulton Wilson, Daniel Hilsabeck
Consolation race results
(Varying distances depending on car count; top three transfer)
First consolation: Clay Harris, Ryan Montgomery, Joseph Joiner, Alex Ferree, Colton Flinner, Daniel Hilsabeck, Jon Hodgkiss, John Wayne Weaver, Dan Angelicchio. Scratched: John Garvin Jr., Brock Pinkerous.
Second consolation: Donald McIntosh, Cory Lawler, Logan Zarin, Forrest Trent, Gary Stuhler, Michael Leach, Tyler Wyant, A.J. Campbell, Tommy Schirnhofer Jr., Ron Fink, Daulton Wilson. Scratched: Doug Drown.
Heat race recap
Brandon Sheppard overcame a slide job attempt from Ricky Thornton Jr. on a lap-four restart and beat Thornton by 1.239 seconds in winning the night’s first heat race. Brandon Overton briefly took second from Thornton on the fourth lap, before settling in third, with fifth-starting Max Blair claiming the fourth and final transfer spot into Saturday’s 70-lap main event. The first caution flew on the third lap when Dan Angelicchio slowed seventh. The second stoppage came a lap later when Jon Hodgkiss spun from ninth and avoided contact. Both drivers continued to finish seventh and eighth, respectively. … Jonathan Davenport dominated all eight laps to win the second heat race by 4.811 seconds over Carson Ferguson, who trailed him the final seven laps. Josh Richards and Matt Cosner each improved a position to round out the top-four finishers. Daniel Hilsabeck ran as high as second on the opening lap before slipping to fifth. … Devin Moran earned a flag-to-flag victory in the night’s third heat race, beating second-starting Hudson O’Neal by 3.202 seconds after O’Neal trailed him the entire way. Rick Eckert and Gregg Satterlee each gained a spot to grab the third and fourth transfer positions into the $50,000-to-win finale. … Third-starting Garrett Alberson squeezed into the lead on the opening lap and paced the rest of the night’s fourth and final heat race, winning by 1.791 seconds over polesitter Mason Zeigler. Fifth-starting Dan Ebert finished third, with seventh-starting Ross Robinson finishing fourth. … The four prelims combined to last just shy of 15 minutes.
Heat race results
(Eight laps; top four transfer)
First heat: Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr., Brandon Overton, Max Blair, Joseph Joiner, Ryan Montgomery, Dan Angelicchio, Jon Hodkiss, John Wayne Weaver, Brock Pinkerous.
Second heat: Jonathan Davenport, Carson Ferguson, Josh Richards, Matt Cosner, Daniel Hilsabeck, Alex Ferree, Clay Harris, Colton Flinner, John Garvin Jr.
Third heat: Devin Moran, Hudson O'Neal, Rick Eckert, Gregg Satterlee, Cory Lawler, Logan Zarin, Forrest Trent, Tommy Schirnhofer Jr., Doug Drown, A.J. Campbell.
Fourth heat: Garrett Alberson, Mason Zeigler, Dan Ebert, Ross Robinson, Donald McIntosh, Daulton Wilson, Tyler Wyant, Michael Leach, Gary Stuhler, Ron Fink.
Time trials
Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 17.497
2. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 17.793
3. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 17.989
4. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., 17.994
5. Joseph Joiner (19m), Milton, Fla., 18.047
6. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 18.065
7. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 18.137
8. Josh Richards (1J), Shinnston, W.Va., 18.212
9. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 18.280
10. Matt Cosner (66c), Ridgeley, W.Va., 18.287
11. Ryan Montgomery (12m), Fairmont, W.Va., 18.641
12. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 18.698
13. Dan Angelicchio (14), Mount Pleasant, Pa., 18.730
14. Alex Ferree (1c), Saxonburg, Pa., 18.831
15. Brock Pinkerous (555), Ellenville, N.Y., 18.920
16. Colton Flinner (48), Allison Park, Pa., 18.929
17. Jon Hodgkiss (69), Pittsburgh, Pa., 19.310
18. John Garvin Jr. (J4), Sarver, Pa., 19.375
19. John Wayne Weaver (w3), Commodore, Pa., 20.152
Group B
1. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 18.409
2. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa., 18.414
3. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 18.510
4. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., 18.526
5. Cory Lawler (93L), Hanover, Pa., 18.633
6. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 18.665
7. Rick Eckert (2), York, Pa., 18.709
8. Donald McIntosh (79), Dawsonville, Ga., 18.752
9. Gregg Satterlee (22G), Indiana, Pa., 18.783
10. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 18.924
11. Forrest Trent (101), Morristown, Tenn., 19.025
12. Michael Leach (09), Sun River, Mont., 19.039
13. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 19.207
14. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., 19.288
15. Doug Drown (79D), Wooster, Ohio, 19.633
16. Gary Stuhler (4), Greencastle, Pa., 19.672
17. Tommy Schirnhofer Jr. (8), Pittsburgh, Pa., 20.077
18. Tyler Wyant (24), Oil City, Pa., 20.304
19. A.J. Campbell (94), Bethel Park, Pa., 20.345
20. Ron Fink (ez1), Cumberland, Md., 20.811
Saturday’s schedule
(All times local)
11:30 a.m. - Pits closed and cleared
Noon - Pits reopen
2:15 p.m. - Tech and registration opens
3 p.m. - Grandstands open
4:30-5:15 p.m. - Drivers’ autograph session
5:15 p.m. - Tech and registration closes
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Crate Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Crate Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Crate Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Crate Late Model dash (6 laps)
- Crate Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Super Late Model feature (70 laps)
- Crate Late Model feature (40 laps)
- Crate Late Model non-qualifiers’ race (15 laps)
