ROME, GA (October 10, 2021) – Jonathan Davenport swept his home state of Georgia at the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events as he captured the Rome Showdown on Sunday night at Rome Speedway. Davenport, who won the Dixie Shootout in Woodstock, Georgia on Saturday night, backed up his win with his series-leading eighth win of the year at Rome.
Davenport took the lead from Jimmy Owens on lap 28 with a slider in turn number two, after Owens had led the first 27 circuits of the 40-lap event. Davenport pulled away for the win, the second night in a row he bested Brandon Overton for the win, this time by 1.731 seconds.
Tim McCreadie finished in third followed by Kyle Bronson, and Ricky Thornton Jr.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 58th time in his career, the three-time series champion said, “Jimmy’s car was really good at first there. I was trying to figure out a line getting into turn three, but I never could figure that out until later.”
“He’s so good, I had to mess up his rhythm and that was the only way I was going to pass him if it wasn’t in lapped traffic. I tried to stay patient at the first and not try and run the top so early and maybe get a flat. I just hoped I cleared him getting into one. I race with him with the utmost respect. I love racing with him, he’s never done me wrong.”
Overton moved by Bronson on a lap 35 restart after Bronson slipped up the track on the backstretch. “JD and Jimmy were having a heck of a race for sure. We got another second this weekend so we will have to get ‘em next weekend. I want to thank everybody for coming out tonight and supporting us.”
McCreadie came home in third. “I made some mistakes driving, on one restart I got in there and bottomed out and I lost three or four spots. We had to claw the whole race to get there at the finish. It’s been a real amazing year for me to do this. We didn’t get as many wins as I would have liked to have, but to be this competitive and leave out of here after running with these guys, it’s a great feeling.”
The winner’s Lance Landers Double L Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions, ASC Warranty, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Lucas Oil Products, Midwest Sheet Metal, Fatheadz Eyewear, and Spartan Mowers.
Completing the t4op ten were Austin Horton, Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, Tyler Millwood, and Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Rome Showdown
Sunday, October 10th, 2021
Rome Speedway – Rome, GA
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Group A Fast Time: Jimmy Owens / 13.687 seconds (overall)
Group B Fast Time: Josh Richards / 13.984 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 3. 42K-Cla Knight[2]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton[6]; 7. 10G-Garrett Smith[8]; 8. 15H-Christian Hanger[7]; 9. 3X-Bo Eaton[9]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 3. 11H-Spencer Hughes[3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 5. 7M-Donald McIntosh[7]; 6. 16H-Austin Horton[5]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 8. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 9. (DNS) 22R-Will Roland
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 31-Tyler Millwood[5]; 5. 10J-Joseph Joiner[4]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 7. 9C-Jason Croft[6]; 8. 92-Dalton Cook[8]
Rome Showdown Feature Finish (40 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 6. 16H-Austin Horton[17]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 8. 14-Josh Richards[5]; 9. 31-Tyler Millwood[12]; 10. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[10]; 11. 9C-Jason Croft[21]; 12. 10J-Joseph Joiner[15]; 13. 7M-Donald McIntosh[14]; 14. 10G-Garrett Smith[19]; 15. 1T-Tyler Erb[18]; 16. 25-Shane Clanton[16]; 17. 42K-Cla Knight[7]; 18. 2S-Stormy Scott[23]; 19. 44-Chris Madden[4]; 20. 11H-Spencer Hughes[8]; 21. 71-Hudson O’Neal[13]; 22. 15H-Christian Hanger[22]; 23. 66C-Matt Cosner[20]; 24. 92-Dalton Cook[24]