Jonathan Davenport took the lead on lap 35 from Scott Bloomquist and led the rest of the way to win the Toyota Knoxville 50 on Friday Night. It was Davenport’s third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season, and came before a record crowd at Tazewell Speedway.
Davenport held off a hard charging Bloomquist in the closing laps to score a popular victory in the K&L Rumley, Longhorn Chassis. Defending series champion, Don O’Neal, Steve Francis, and Jimmy Owens completed the Top-5.
“That was pretty exciting, wasn’t it,” said the winner in Lucas Oil Victory Lane as the crowd roared wildly in saluting his come from behind victory. “I just love running here! I couldn’t wait to get here today, and to top it off, my dad was here to watch us run. He rarely gets to come to the races, so it was great to get the win for Rumley and my dad.”
“That top groove came into it. We struggled for several laps to get going. I was below the line I wanted to run several times and finally got up against the wall and the car took off, there was plenty of grip up there. A lot of the guys seemed to stick to the bottom and middle and that left the door open for me. I figured we were turning lap times considerably quicker than anybody. This Longhorn Chassis was just unbelievable, what else can I say? This is the first time Kevin and LeRoy have been here. I want to thank TS Crane Service, Sundance Services, Sundance Flowback Well Testing, and Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas.”
Bloomquist took the lead at the start of the feature and quickly bolted away from the field. A red-flag came out on lap five for Series Point Leader, Earl Pearson Jr. who flipped several times in turn number three. Pearson escaped uninjured from his car, but his brand-new Black Diamond Chassis was severely damaged.
When the race resumed, Bloomquist continued to show the way with Francis running in second. Shortly after, Francis later saw his teammate O’Neal sweep by him to take over second. All eyes quickly locked in on Davenport as he was rapidly picking multiple cars at a time.
Bloomquist, O’Neal, and Davenport waged had a tremendous battle for the lead with Davenport taking second just past the halfway mark. Davenport then tried for five laps to get by Bloomquist, finally completing the pass for the lead on lap 35. Completing the top ten were Jared Landers, Eddie Carrier Jr., Billy Ogle Jr., Jeff Wolfenbarger, and Donald McIntosh.
In preliminary action, Scott Bloomquist set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 25 entrants, with a lap of 10.926 seconds. Chad Ogle set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 11.243 seconds. Scott Bloomquist, Stacy Boles, Steve Francis, and Jimmy Owens won their respective heat races.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Toyota Knoxville 50
1. 6 Jonathan Davenport
2. 0 Scott Bloomquist
3. 5 Don O’Neal
4. 15 Steve Francis
5. 20 Jimmy Owens
6. 777 Jared Landers
7. 28 Eddie Carrier, Jr.
8. 201 Billy Ogle Jr.
9. 28w Jeff Wolfenbarger
10. 7 Donald McIntosh
11. 21b Chris Brown
12. 99m Devin Moran
13. 28e Dennis Erb, Jr.
14. B5 Brandon Shephard
15. 10 Chad Ogle
16. 7b Brian Smith
17. 18e Eric Wells
18. 51 Mack McCarter
19. 11B Tommy Bailey
20. 11b Stacey Boles
21. 70 Brent Hensley
22. 1 Earl Pearson, Jr.
23. 16 Brad Neat
24. 15H Wade Howerton
Anthony Burchett of Harrogate set fast time in Sportsman qualifying among twelve entries with a lap of 12.224 seconds. Burchett was looking for his first Sportsman win since suffering a life threatening crash at Tazewell Speedway ten years ago. Current points leader Clyde Overholt was back behind the wheel of his own car after blowing an engine two weeks ago. Burchett and Overholt brought the field to green in the twenty lap feature.
Burchett wasted no time in taking the lead as Overholt, last week’s winner Jesse Helton and Steve Carr gave chase. By the halfway mark Burchett led by almost a full straightaway. The action slowed on lap sixteen as Adam Mitchell of Knoxville spun on his own in turn two. Burchett was able to hold off a late race challenge from Overholt for his first Sportsman win in the Discount Parts City, Hancock Home Health, Monster Energy Drink GRT Race Car.
Sportsman
1. 18 Anthony Burchett
2. 4 Clyde Overholt
3. 57 Jesse Helton
4. 35 Matt Tharp
5. 3 Michael Boyd
6. 2 Terry Poore
7. 1 David Clark
8. 111 Anthony Arnwine
9. 3 Rex Coffey
10. 25 Terry Smith
11. 50 Adam Mitchell
12. 77 Steve Carr
Philip Thompson of Knoxville came riding high into Friday night leading the Classic Car points and looking for his sixth win in a row. John Stevens of Wallins Creek, KY challenged Thompson in the early laps of the fifteen lap feature. The duo would race door to door for the first couple of laps with Stevens slipping into the lead on the second circuit. Thompson would take the lead away from Stevens on lap eight and score his seventh overall win of the season in the Skyline Transportation, Filmax Filtration, Crockett Creek Beef Jerky, Hooker Harness, Eagle Race Engine powered Classic Car.
Classic Car
1. 24 Philip Thompson
2. 7 John Stevens
3. 5 Brady Lee
4. 1 Daisie Lockhart
Eddie Stewart of Manchester, KY lead every lap of the KDRA Super Stock feature in a warm up for AR Bodies American All Stars event coming up on Saturday night June 6th.
KDRA Super Stock
1. 119 Eddie Stewart
2. 88 Brad Davis
3. 38 Cody Thompson
4. 55 Brad Sturgill
Kurt Owens of Newport picked up his first 4 Cylinder win of the season in his familiar 7UP Mustang.
4 Cylinders
1. 7UP Kurt Owens
2. 99 Chuck McMahan
3. 7 Bubby Braden
4. 44J Jeromy Collins
5. 1 Jerry Ledford
6. 00 Joey Allen
This Saturday night June 6th Tazewell Speedway welcomes the AR Bodies American All Stars. The feature will pay $1000 to win in the special event for KDRA Super Stocks. Limited Late Models will be racing for $1550 to win. Also in action will be our Sportsman, Classic Cars and 4 Cylinders.
