Port Royal, PA (April 18, 2021) – Not even a brief rain shower early in the evening could halt Jonathan Davenport. The three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion sprinted to his first series win of 2021, which came on Sunday Night at Port Royal Speedway in the River Valley 40.
Davenport became the 10th different winner in the first 12 races this season on the LOLMDS tour and the first driver to win a race from the pole starting position. It was not an easy victory as Shane Clanton and Brandon Sheppard gave Davenport all he wanted for most of the 40 lap main event.
Clanton got by Sheppard on a lap 21 restart, and closed in on the leader in the final laps. He finished just .475 seconds behind the Davenport. Chris Ferguson came home in fourth followed by Stormy Scott.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 51st time in his career Davenport explained his strategy in holding off Clanton in the final laps. “I don’t know if Clanton was easing in on me or what. I felt the top was dying and I did not think the bottom was where I needed to be. He was too close to take that chance, because I knew if he went to the top, he would get a big run and slide me. I just decided to move up and beat-up the wall so I could get a good run down the straightaways.”
Clanton came up just short of the win, but was pleased with his finish. “My car was really good. I could have gone another 40 laps with the way the car ran tonight. We worked our tails off in the last week-and-a-half to get the car better. Hopefully we can keep this momentum up.”
Sheppard rounded out the podium with his third-place finish. “Davenport has been really tough. Congratulations to him and Shane. It was a fun race. Thanks to the fans for coming out! We had a pretty good car. As bad of luck we have been having lately it is nice to get a top three here.”
The winner’s Lance Landers Double L Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions, ASC Warranty, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Lucas Oil Products, Fatheadz Eyewear, and Midwest Sheet Metal.
Completing the top ten were Gregg Satterlee, Josh Richards, Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, and Mike Marlar.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
River Valley 40
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Mike Marlar / 18.141 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Sheppard / 18.457 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 7. 48-Colton Flinner[7]; 8. 0E-Rick Eckert[9]; 9. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 10. 15-Scott Flickinger[10]; 11. 17T-Tim Vance[11]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[6]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 6. 72-Michael Norris[5]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[7]; 8. 21C-Chad Myers[9]; 9. 1K-Pancho Lawler[10]; 10. 43A-Tyler Bare[8]; 11. (DNS) 4S-Danny Snyder
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 3. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 4. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 5. 20F-Trever Feathers[8]; 6. 2J-Jeff Rine[5]; 7. 24Y-Dylan Yoder[6]; 8. 72C-Jason Covert[7]; 9. C33-Chris Casner[10]; 10. 17-Nick Dickson[9]; 11. 3W-Tim Wilson[11]
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[2]; 3. 7R-Ross Robinson[3]; 4. 76-Andy Haus[4]; 5. 4-Gary Stuhler[7]; 6. 32J-Shaun Jones[5]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]; 8. 06-Mike Lupfer[8]; 9. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[11]; 10. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[10]; 11. (DNS) 94M-Jason Miller
LINE-X B-Main #1 Running Order (8 Laps to go Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[4]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[7]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[6]; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 8. 1K-Pancho Lawler[10]; 9. 15-Scott Flickinger[11]; 10. 17T-Tim Vance[13]; 11. 48-Colton Flinner[5]; 12. (DNS) 43A-Tyler Bare; 13. (DNS) 21C-Chad Myers; 14. (DNS) 4S-Danny Snyder
UNOH B-Main #2 Line Up (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 2J-Jeff Rine[3]; 2. 20F-Trever Feathers[1]; 3. 4-Gary Stuhler[2]; 4. 24Y-Dylan Yoder[5]; 5. 32J-Shaun Jones[4]; 6. 72C-Jason Covert[7]; 7. C33-Chris Casner[9]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]; 9. 3W-Tim Wilson[13]; 10. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[10]; 11. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[12]; 12. 06-Mike Lupfer[8]; 13. (DNS) 17-Nick Dickson; 14. (DNS) 94M-Jason Miller
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (40 Laps):
Race Statistics
Entrants: 44
Lap Leaders: Jonathan Davenport (Laps 1 – 40)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Arizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a
Margin of Victory: 0.475 seconds
Stop Tech Brakes Cautions: Colton Flinner (Lap 20)
Series Provisionals: Hudson O’Neal
Fast Time Provisional: Colton Flinner
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisionals: Dylan Yoder
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Jonathan Davenport, Shane Clanton, Brandon Sheppard
Penske Shocks Top 5: Jonathan Davenport, Shane Clanton, Brandon Sheppard, Chris Ferguson, Stormy Scott
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Advanced 9 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadie
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (40 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: n/a
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Shane Clanton (Lap 5 – 19.218 seconds)
Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Colton Flinner
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jason Durham (Jonathan Davenport)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Stormy Scott (18.410 seconds)
Time of Race: 17 minutes 11 seconds