TAZEWELL, TN – July 2, 2011 – Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., was the star of Saturday night’s action at Tazewell Speedway, setting fast time and winning a heat race during qualifying for the inaugural ‘Outlaw Sizzler 101.’
A $20,000 top prize will be up for grabs on Sunday evening (July 3) in the 101-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series spectacular at the high-banked, one-third-mile oval, which Davenport blistered during Saturday’s qualifying program. His lap of 11.162 seconds in the 30-car Ohlins Shocks Time Trials session was less than two-tenths of a second off the track record – earning him his first fast-time of 2011 and the fifth of his career on the national tour – and he dominated the first of three 15-lap heat races to position himself for a top-six starting spot in the ‘Sizzler.’
“We were good ever since we unloaded,” said the 27-year-old Davenport, who drove veteran chassis builder Barry Wright’s house car. “We got two hot-lap sessions and every time we went out we were quickest in our group. We tried a couple different things with our car and we really seemed to get rolling here.
“I think we know what we’re gonna do tomorrow. We already got a gameplan and we’re gonna stick to it.”
Davenport, who scored the lone WoO LMS triumph of his career last November in the World Finals opener at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, will redraw on Saturday for a top-six starting spot in the ‘Outlaw Sizzler 101’ – the richest race in the history of Tazewell Speedway.
Joining Davenport in the draw for positions will be Saturday’s other heat winners, Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., and Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., and prelim runners-up Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., who won last year’s 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main at Tazewell, Eric Jacobsen of Sea Cliff Beach, Calif., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.
Smith authored one of the strongest runs of Saturday’s heat, charging forward from the sixth starting spot to chase Madden across the finish line. The WoO LMS regular known as ‘Cat Daddy’ ran the inside groove to pick off every car ahead of him except the machine driven by Madden, who turned back a late-race challenge from Smith.
“I was kinda set up to run the bottom and then I think I made a good tire choice on the left-rear,” said the 46-year-old Smith, who appeared ready to bid for the lead when a caution flag flew on lap 13 of the heat. “I went one step harder (on tire compound) than everybody else had on. After about three laps it got a lot of grip and we were able to power up by everybody.
“I think we had the heat race won, but the caution come out and let them cool their tires down and Madden beat me. But I knew the top two drew for the starting positions for the feature, so I knew second was just as good as winning.”
Two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., finished third in the first heat, giving him the seventh starting spot for the 101-lapper. Current tour points leader Rick Eckert of York, Pa., will start further back in 11th after placing fourth in the second heat.
The ‘Outlaw Sizzler 101’ concludes on Sunday evening (July 3) with a program headlined by a last-chance B-Main and the 101-lap feature. Tazewell’s Limited Late Model and Classic Car divisions will also be in action during the weekend’s grand finale, which is scheduled to kick off with hot laps at 8 p.m. and will include a holiday fireworks display.
More info on Tazewell Speedway is available by visiting www.tazewellspeedway.net.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 49-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 11.162
2. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 11.253
3. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 11.259
4. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 11.303
5. 5-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 11.335
6. 44M-Chris Madden/Gray Court, SC 11.367
7. 4T-Tommy Kerr/Maryville, TN 11.420
8. 28-Jeff Wolfenbarger/Clinton, TN 11.425
9. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 11.428
10. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 11.439
11. 1H-Vic Hill/Morristown, TN 11.460
12. 4-Mark Vineyard/Powell, TN 11.465
13. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 11.467
14. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 11.516
15. 14-Terry Wolfenbarger/Powell, TN 11.521
16. 22-Mike Weeks/Friendsville, TN 11.531
17. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 11.543
18. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 11.597
19. 86-Jeff Neubert/Rockford, TN 11.677
20. 0-Ross White/Knoxville, TN 11.726
21. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 11.740
22. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 11.749
23. 3-Steve Smith/Powell, TN 11.766
24. 90J-Jason Trammell/Knoxville, TN 11.784
25. 5H-Bryan Hendrix/Knoxville, TN 11.784
26. 1L-John Lobb/Frewsburg, NY 11.801
27. T0-Travis Fultz/Harrogate, TN 11.824
28. 11d-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 11.973
29. 201-Billy Ogle Jr./Knoxville, TN N/T
30. 10-Chad Ogle/Sevierville, TN 11.448 (DQ – light)
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Davenport, Clanton, Richards, Davies, Kerr, Neubert, Fuller, Doar, Hendrix, Weeks
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Lanigan, Jacobsen, Hill, Eckert, J. Wolfenbarger, Frank, S. Smith, Lobb, White (DNS) B. Ogle
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 6 Transfer): Madden, C. Smith, Hubbard, McCreadie, Coffey, Vineyard, T. Wolfenbarger, Fultz, Trammell, C. Ogle
FOLLOW THE ACTION ON TWITTER: Fans can keep up-to-date with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series online and through text messages on cell phones via Twitter, the internet’s fast-growing social-networking and micro-blogging website. Updates are provided to Twitter ‘followers’ of the WoO LMS throughout each race night, and fans also receive breaking news and interesting notes from the tour.
Over 4,200 fans are now WoO LMS ‘followers’ on Twitter. To sign-up and receive updates anywhere at anytime, visit http://twitter.com/WoOLateModels.
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation’s premier tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to http://www.dirtvision.com/welcome.php and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.
BLOGGING: WoO LMS fans can now read interesting stories from the road by checking out two blogs –‘Life As An Outlaw’ by series announcer Rick Eshelman and ‘The Scoop With Scoop’ by tour P.R. director Kevin Kovac. Both blogs can be accessed by clicking on the preceding links or the specific ‘Blog’ buttons on the right-hand side of http://www.woolms.com/.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award), McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award), Chizmark Larson Insurance, Factory Value Parts and RacingJunk.com; in addition to contingency sponsors Comp Cams, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pro Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance, Superflow Dynos, Wix Filters and Wrisco Aluminum.