After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis of J.D.'s milestone win
By Kevin Kovac
DirtonDirt senior writer
Jonathan Davenport's crotch chop. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (March 6) — Instant reaction and analysis from Friday’s Wieland Winternationals Round 3 at Golden Isles Speedway, a $12,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event won by Jonathan Davenport (RaceWire):
HONORING A LEGEND: To celebrate winning for the third time in as many nights — and becoming the Lucas Oil tour’s all-time winningest driver with 95 overall career wins — Jonathan Davenport decided he should offer some extra flair to his usual victory lane pose atop his car’s roof. He gave a crotch chop as a nod to the late Scott Bloomquist, the driver he overtook on the circuit’s victories list by claiming the 50-lap headliner. “I was just being silly really,” he said with a laugh. “I just thought about it going down the back straightaway. If the roles were reversed, he’d probably do some kind of crazy s--- like that to me.”
WHAT A BATTLE: Those laps that saw Davenport trading multiple sliders with Brandon Overton in a showdown for the lead will likely be one among the most memorable exchanges of all Georgia-Florida Speedweeks 2026. It was two immensely talented drivers going all out in a high-speed dance. How did J.D. describe it? “Fierce, just motivated, but, like, calculated, too,” said Davenport, who wrestled the top spot for good from Overton on lap 16. Overton certainly put up a fight, but it was only briefly because his car “just wasn’t balanced” and he wore his right-rear tire out too much during that burst; later, with his tire essentially killed, he faded badly on two restarts and finished a distant 13th.
BETTER MOOD: Tyler Erb saw a potential top finish evaporate on Thursday when he spun in turn four early in the feature after hitting the brakes to avoid hitting Davenport’s race-leading car. He made no such missteps in Friday’s A-main, marching forward from the 14th starting spot to finish second. “But I didn’t get close enough to make it exciting,” he said, though not with any evident dejection. In fact, he felt he might have had a shot at downing Davenport if a caution flag didn’t fly on lap 41 shortly after he had overtaken Hudson O’Neal for second.
BIG MOVER: Aside from the perfect Davenport, there’s only one other driver with a top-five finish in the first three Golden Isles features: Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., who followed up consecutive fifth-place runs with an even better fourth-place result. What makes Blair’s performances especially noteworthy is that he’s had to come forward from double-digit starting spots every night: 12th, 11th and, on Friday, a very deep 26th because he used a provisional to join the field. Blair said his goal for Speedweeks was to rank inside the top-12 in the Lucas Oil points standings; he’s well on his way to achieving that as he enters Saturday’s finale in sixth.
HEARTBREAKER: Back subbing for the ailing Tyler Bruening in the Skyline Motorsports AK Race Car No. 16 for the second straight night, Cody Overton looked oh-so-good shooting up to fourth place just four laps into the feature. He truly thought he had a legitimate shot to contend for a podium finish — perhaps, dare he dream it, even a win — as he stuck with the frontrunners (his brother Brandon, Davenport and Brian Shirley). But just as he headed to a lap-11 restart feeling like he was piloting “the best car I’ve ever driven,” the front bumper mounts broke off the frame and turned him to the right entering turn one. He collected several cars as he slid into the outside wall and came to rest backwards with a mangled nose. “Dude, I feel so bad,” he said.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Davenport is the second driver to win three straight features during this year’s Speedweeks — and both instances were achieved entirely in the state of Georgia. Early in Speedweeks Brandon Overton captured three races in a row at Norman Park’s Needmore Speedway and Sylvania’s Screven Motor Speedway.
Correction: Fixes Max Blair's points standing to sixth.
