Davenport dashes to LOLMDS win at Attica

[rebelracewriter]

Davenport Dashes to Win at Attica

 

ATTICA, OH (September 2, 2016) Defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion Jonathan Davenport returned to his winning form by taking the feature event on Friday night at Attica Raceway Park. Davenport took the lead on lap 14 from Doug Drown, who had led the first 13 circuits.

 

Courtesy of LOLMDS PR

Dennis Erb Jr. charged from his 12th starting spot to finish second. Doug Drown, the defending track champion at Attica, had the home track fans on their feet for the first part of the race. He eventually came home in third. New track record holder Darrell Lanigan was fourth, and Jimmy Owens; who won the first time the series raced at Attica finished fifth.

Davenport, who is currently second in the series points standings, had not finished the last three LOLMDS events, and was relieved to be back in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. "It feels good to be here again! I have to thank Kevin [Rumley] and my guys. They have worked their tails off the last two weeks. Everybody knows we haven't been running well lately. We aren't dead, and we are not done yet! We are just going to keep on working to find an edge," said the 32-year-old racer.

"Man what a race track this is! I just want to thank Troy Baird of Baird Transport, Elite Concrete, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, the Labontes back home at the shop and I also want to say we miss Lee Roy Rumley. He is not here tonight; he is back home building us a new motor."

Drown bolted from his fourth starting spot to take the lead on the very first lap and held the top spot through the first 13 laps that was peppered with two cautions and a red flag during the first three circuits.

Davenport took advantage of lap-traffic to close the gap on Drown, making the pass for the lead on lap 14. Drown stayed close for a while, but eventually Davenport pulled away. Erb then charged from the outside of the sixth row, challenging Drown for second. The two went side-by-side for several laps as Erb was finally able to forge ahead of Drown on lap 41.

Erb; in his Vomac Truck Sales/J.R. McBride Leasing/Black Diamond Chassis; was happy with his performance. "It was a good run. To start where we did, the cautions helped us a lot tonight. The car was working very well on the bottom. To come up through there like we did was good for us, no doubt. The track was really racy and there were two grooves."

Drown had the car that nearly pulled off the upset. "There was moisture coming up on the track. I thought I had picked the right tire early on. I was looking like a genius for the first part of the race, and then it went away a little bit. Once JD [Davenport] got out in front, it was hard to stay with him. He stayed up top and my car just couldn't stick there. Dennis [Erb] came along and we had a good race as well. To run third with these guys makes us extremely happy," said the driver of the Leroy Hall/Hall's Auto Sales/Swartz.

Completing the top ten were Don O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Earl Pearson Jr., Matt Irey, and Devin Moran.

In preliminary action, Darrell Lanigan set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group amongst the 28 entrants, with a lap of 14.187 seconds. Jonathan Davenport set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 14.209 seconds. Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Darrell Lanigan, and Doug Drown won their respective heat races. Craig Vosbergen won the B-Main.

 

Race Summary - Friday, September 2nd, 2016 - Attica Raceway Park - Attica, OH

 

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport / 14.209 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Darrell Lanigan / 14.187 seconds ***NEW TRACK RECORD***

 

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Don O'Neal, Steve Francis, Dave Hornikel, Craig Vosbergen, Mike Bores, Paul Stubber

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Devin Moran, Jon Henry, Kyle Hardy, Casey Noonan, Scott Smith, Mathew Chapman, Matt Irey

 

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Ryan Markham, Timothy Culp, Cody Scott, Devin Shiels-DNS

 

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Doug Drown, Earl Pearson, Jr., Dennis Erb, Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Brad Malcuit, Colton Flinner, Brandon Sheppard

 

Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): Craig Vosbergen, Mike Bores, Matt Irey, Timothy Culp, Brad Malcuit, Mathew Chapman, Scott Smith, Colton Flinner, Paul Stubber-DNS, Cody Scott-DNS, Devin Shiels-DNS, Brandon Sheppard-DNS

 

Feature Finish (50 Laps):

 

Race Statistics
Entrants: 28
Lap Leaders: Doug Drown (Laps 1 - 13); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 14 - 50)
Cautions: Jon Henry (Lap 1); Scott Bloomquist and Kyle Hardy (Lap 2); Timothy Culp (Lap 3); Tim McCreadie (Lap 20); Scott Bloomquist (Lap 41)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Brandon Sheppard, Colton Flinner
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Started: 23rd; Finished: 7th; Advanced 16 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Matt Irey
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jonathan Davenport
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Jay Dickens Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Kevin Rumley (Jonathan Davenport)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Doug Drown (Lap #3 - 14.6425 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (37 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Brake Award: Timothy Culp
Time of Race: 31 minutes 50 seconds

 

Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:

 

*Points are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day*