Jonathan Davenport Leads Wire to Wire on Night #1 of the Late Model Knoxville Nationals!

9/20/2024

Knoxville Raceway

Jonathan Davenport Leads Wire to Wire on Night #1 of the Late Model Knoxville Nationals!

Jonathan Davenport Leads Wire to Wire on Night #1 of the Late Model Knoxville Nationals!
Bobby Pierce is High Point Man
by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 19, 2024) – Jonathan Davenport led the distance on night #1 of the 20th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Presented by Your Life Iowa at the Knoxville Raceway Thursday. The Blairsville, Georgia native earned $7,000 for his fifth win at Knoxville aboard the Lance and Darla Landers #49. Bobby Pierce came two points short of a perfect score with his second place run, and led the 40-car field in points (complete points below). Tyler Inman recorded his first ever feature win at Knoxville in the companion DTRA Dirt Truck main event.

Davenport led from the outset from his starting spot outside row one. Chad Simpson was second early, ahead of Hudson, O’Neal, Dillon McCowan and Devin Moran. Shuffling back in the field saw Pierce moving into the top five, battling McCowan, O’Neal and Moran. O’Neal and McCowan exchanged third, before O’Neal and Pierce moved into second and third on lap nine.

Davenport entered traffic on lap 12, two circuits before Boom Briggs spun after contact with Matt Furman. Davenport led O’Neal, Pierce, McCowan, Moran and Tim McCreadie back to green. Pierce shot into second on the restart, and tailed Davenport to the checkers. He finished with 498 points of a possible 500 after setting quick time and winning his heat from sixth. O’Neal held onto third, with Moran and McCreadie in tow. McCowan, Tyler Erb, Ryan Gustin, hard-charger Brian Shirley and Carson Ferguson rounded out the top ten.

Gustin joined Pierce as quick timers in their qualifying groups. Pierce’s time (16.644) was the quickest in 16 years here and was just a hundredth of a second behind Earl Pearson Jr.’s 2008 record mark of 16.631. Max Blair, Mike Marlar, Pierce and Ross Robinson won heats. Shirley and Garrett Alberson won the B mains.

“The car actually felt pretty good,” said Davenport in Victory Lane. “My guys gave me a great piece. We tried a few things there and they seemed to really work. Pierce seems to have the best car. He kind of waxed us qualifying, and drove up through there in the heat. I knew unless I really messed up, it would be hard for him to pass me. It’s important to start in the front of pack, and it’s good to get the weekend started off right.”

Tyler Inman started outside row one in the 15-lap DTRA Dirt Trucks main event and led every lap in his first career feature here. Brandon Cox gained second on lap three and held that position, while Jeff Johnson rounded out the podium, gaining third with two laps to go. Brandon Toftee, Austin Meiners, Mason Mitchell, Rick Clark, Jared Myers, Shonn Mapes, Shawn Cooney and Todd Grafton completed the field. Toftee and Cox won heat races.

“We were all really worried about this place,” said Inman, who sealed the 2024 DTRA championship as well. “I wanted to win this really bad, so I was cool to seal the deal. This stage is awesome. Knoxville is a whole different ballgame, and we’re extremely glad to be here. I was just having fun up there on top and hoping no one would come to the bottom.”

Join us Thursday, September 20 for night #2 of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals! For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook.

20th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Presented by Your Life Iowa

Time Trial Group 1 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 30, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (11), 16.959; 2. 3S, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (12), 16.961; 3. 1, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (9), 17.072; 4. 71, Hudson O'Neal, Martinsville, IN (2), 17.079; 5. 20RT, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, AZ (3), 17.087; 6. 22, Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, IA (17), 17.111; 7. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (7), 17.170; 8. 1T, Tyler Erb, Houston, TX (18), 17.197; 9. 32, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (15), 17.282; 10. 17SS, Brenden Smith, Dade City, FL (5), 17.306; 11. 111, Max Blair, Centerville, PA (13), 17.307; 12. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (10), 17.317; 13. 62, Justin Zeitner, Malvern, IA (1), 17.400; 14. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (16), 17.528; 15. 1X, Aaron Marrant, Orrick, MO (4), 17.545; 16. B5, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (19), 17.796; 17. 42, Johnathan Huston, Columbus Junction, IA (14), 17.911; 18. 48, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (20), 17.923; 19. 93, Cory Lawler, Hanover, PA (8), 18.550; 20. 10, Junior Coover, Norfolk, NE (6), 18.804

Time Trial Group 2 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 32P, Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, IL (1), 16.644; 2. 99, Devin Moran, Dresden, OH (14), 16.837; 3. 58, Garrett Alberson, Las Cruces, NM (2), 16.881; 4. 18D, Daulton Wilson, Fayetteville, NC (4), 16.932; 5. 8M, Dillon McGowen, Urbana, MO (12), 17.066; 6. 49, Jonathan Davenport, Blairsville, GA (20), 17.169; 7. 99B, Boom Briggs, Bear Lake, PA (16), 17.202; 8. 18, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (18), 17.303; 9. 93F, Carson Ferguson, Lincolnton, NC (15), 17.303; 10. 7T, Drake Troutman, Hyndman, PA (7), 17.351; 11. 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (10), 17.385; 12. 7, Ross Robinson, Georgetown, DE (6), 17.554; 13. 76, Blair Nothdurft, Renner, SD (9), 17.570; 14. 6, Clay Harris, Jupiter, FL (5), 17.784; 15. 35D, Dylan Sillman, Alvo, NE (8), 17.864; 16. 51, Matt Furman, Iowa City, IA (17), 18.039; 17. 77, Jeremy Petty, Smolan, KS (13), 19.267; 18. 6H, Al Humphrey, Giltner, NE (3), 19.464; 19. 45D, Dan Battaglia, Gretna, NE (19), 19.937; 20. 10S, Garrett Smith, Madison, GA (11), NT

Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:36.0 (NTR): 1. Max Blair (1); 2. Tim McCreadie (5); 3. Ryan Gustin (6); 4. Chad Simpson (3); 5. Chris Simpson (2) / 6. Ricky Thornton Jr. (4); 7. Aaron Marrant (8); 8. Justin Zeitner (7); 9. Cory Lawler (10); 10. Johnathan Huston (9)

Heat two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Mike Marlar (1); 2. Tyler Erb (3); 3. Hudson O'Neal (5); 4. Jimmy Owens (7); 5. Brandon Sheppard (8) / 6. Brian Shirley (6); 7. Tim Lance (9); 8. Daniel Hilsabeck (4); 9. Brenden Smith (2) DNS - 10. Junior Coover

Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:44.0: 1. Bobby Pierce (6); 2. Dillon McGowen (4); 3. Carson Ferguson (2); 4. Tyler Bruening (1); 5. Boom Briggs (3) / 6. Garrett Alberson (5); 7. Blair Nothdurft (7); 8. Dylan Sillman (8); 9. Dan Battaglia (9) DNS - 10. Jeremy Petty

Heat four (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Ross Robinson (1); 2. Jonathan Davenport (4); 3. Devin Moran (6); 4. Drake Troutman (2); 5. Matt Furman (8); 6. Daulton Wilson (5); 7. Clay Harris (7); 8. Garrett Smith (10); 9. Al Humphrey (9); 10. Chase Junghans (3)

B main one (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Brian Shirley (2); 2. Daniel Hilsabeck (6) / 3. Justin Zeitner (5); 4. Tim Lance (4); 5. Cory Lawler (7); 6. Ricky Thornton Jr. (1); 7. Johnathan Huston (9); 8. Aaron Marrant (3); 9. Brenden Smith (8) DNS - 10. Junior Coover

B main two (started), 15 Laps, 4:48.0: 1. Garrett Alberson (1); 2. Daulton Wilson (2) / 3. Chase Junghans (9); 4. Clay Harris (4); 5. Dylan Sillman (5); 6. Blair Nothdurft (3); 7. Garrett Smith (6); 8. Al Humphrey (8); 9. Dan Battaglia (7) DNS - 10. Jeremy Petty

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Jonathan Davenport (2); 2. Bobby Pierce (8); 3. Hudson O'Neal (3); 4. Devin Moran (6); 5. Tim McCreadie (5); 6. Dillon McGowen (4); 7. Tyler Erb (9); 8. Ryan Gustin (7); 9. Brian Shirley (21); 10. Carson Ferguson (12); 11. Garrett Alberson (22); 12. Daulton Wilson (24); 13. Chris Simpson (11); 14. Mike Marlar (15); 15. Chad Simpson (1); 16. Max Blair (13); 17. Drake Troutman (14); 18. Ross Robinson (18); 19. Brandon Sheppard (19); 20. Tyler Bruening (16); 21. Jimmy Owens (17); 22. Boom Briggs (10); 23. Matt Furman (20); 24. Daniel Hilsabeck (23). Lap Leader: Davenport 1-25. Hard-charger: Shirley.

DTRA Dirt Trucks Results

Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 2:19.4: 1. 85T, Brandon Toftee, Otho, IA (1); 2. 3, Tyler Inman, Runnells, IA (6); 3. 2, Austin Meiners, Polk City, IA (3); 4. 9, Jeff Johnson, Indianola, IA (5); 5. 7x, Rick Clark, Des Moines, IA (4); 6. 79, Shonn Mapes, Ankeny, IA (2)

Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 2:20.5: 1. 66, Brandon Cox, Norwalk, IA (3); 2. 30, Shawn Cooney, Des Moines, IA (1); 3. 22J, Jared Myers, Indianola, IA (4); 4. 43, Todd Grafton, Des Moines, IA (2); 5. 10G, Mason Mitchell, West Des Moines, IA (5)

A main (started), 15 Laps, 5:50.3: 1. Tyler Inman (2); 2. Brandon Cox (3); 3. Jeff Johnson (7); 4. Brandon Toftee (1); 5. Austin Meiners (4); 6. Mason Mitchell (10); 7. Rick Clark (8); 8. Jared Myers (5); 9. Shonn Mapes (11); 10. Shawn Cooney (6); 11. Todd Grafton (9) Lap Leader: Inman 1-15. Hard-charger: Johnson

Thursday Points (Driver Take the Best of Their Two Point Nights)