TAMPA, FL (February 10, 2016) – Jonathan Davenport returned to Lucas Oil Victory Lane on Wednesday Night at East Bay Raceway Park during the 40th Annual East Bay Winternationals. Davenport led 34 of the 35 laps, but had to withstand a late race challenge from both Tim McCreadie and Don O’Neal to get his first career win at East Bay.
McCreadie was going for the lead and the win heading to the checkers, but he hooked the cushion and ended up headlong into the wall. McCreadie was uninjured but his night was ended. On the final restart with one lap to go, O’Neal fell just short after trying to mount a final charge.
O’Neal finished in second, followed by Josh Richards, who saw his Lucas Oil win streak come to an end. Darrell Lanigan was fourth and Brandon Sheppard came home in fifth after starting in 18th.
Davenport was pleased with finally getting to victory lane at “The Clay by the Bay.” “We have tried a bunch of times to win here. This is a brand new car. We brought it out last night, and made some adjustments today. This place is just one of those that I have never been able to figure out. I learned a lot by following Marlar for the first lap and then lapped traffic.”
“The car actually died once in turn three. I thought I had killed our chances for the win. It got to the point that it was getting hard to turn the car when we were up top on the track. Overall it was a good run. I could hear someone’s motor there at the end. I didn’t know who it was, but it turned out to be Timmy and I knew he was going to give a Hail Mary there on the last lap.”
“I would like to thank Kevin and Lee Roy Rumley, Baird Transport, Mac Trailer Sales, Bryson Motorsports, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Longhorn Chassis, Stealth Carburetors, and everyone else who supports this team. It takes each and every one of them to make this go.”
O’Neal started tenth and came into the race looking for his 17th career win at East Bay. He was pleased with his second place finish.
“We are going in the right direction now! Hopefully we can start up closer to the front tomorrow night. I am glad my teammate [Lanigan] had a good run as well. We went with same set-up for both cars and it paid off. It was a pretty wild race; whoever got the breaks on the restart was going to get to the front.”
“It was slick tonight, and it didn’t rubber up like last night. It wasn’t nearly as tough on tires as last night. We really want to win badly. We did well in Arizona back in January and hopefully we can get some wins before we are done here this week,” said the 2014 LOLMDS Champion. “A big thank you goes out to everyone at Clint Bowyer Motorsports, Peak Antifreeze, and Motor Oil, Club 29 Race Cars, and everyone else that supports our team!”
Richards was looking to win for the third straight night at East Bay, but he salvaged a third-place finish. “It was old East Bay tonight; it was kind of ‘rough and tumble’. I think everyone has damage on their car. It was a very competitive race. We got off to a good start, but in the middle of race we got all jumbled up and it cost us. All-in-all we have had a super good week,” said the driver of the Mark Richards Racing, Rocket House Car.
Completing the top ten were Eddie Carrier Jr., Steve Francis, Billy Moyer Jr., Scott Bloomquist, and Bobby Pierce.
In preliminary action, Mike Marlar set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 40 entrants, with a lap of 14.730 seconds. Jonathan Davenport set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 14.789 seconds. Mike Marlar, Josh Richards, Jonathan Davenport, and Brian Shirley won their respective heat races. Devin Moran and Tim Dohm won their respective B-Mains. Ricky Weiss earned the Miller Welders Fast Time Provisional and Freddie Carpenter won the DirtOnDirt.com Strawberry Dash.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wednesday, February 10th, 2016
40th Annual East Bay Winternationals
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Mike Marlar / 14.730 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport / 14.789 seconds
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Jared Landers, Kyle Bronson, Justin Rattliff, Devin Moran, Bob Gardner, Greg Oaks, Allen Murray, John Gardner, Chuck Julien
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Darrell Lanigan, Billy Moyer, Jr., Chad Hollenbeck, Gregg Satterlee, Austin Kirkpatrick, Colton Flinner, Jake Davis, Sonny Conley
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Don O’Neal, Mark Whitener, Tim Dohm, Earl Pearson, Jr., Alex Ferree, Mason Zeigler, Freddie Carpenter, Ricky Weiss
QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Brian Shirley, Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Dennis Erb, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Steve Francis, Randy Weaver, Nick Davis, Josh Rice
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Devin Moran, Chad Hollenbeck, Bob Gardner, Greg Oaks, Gregg Satterlee, Austin Kirkpatrick, Colton Flinner, Jake Davis, John Gardner, Allen Murray, Sonny Conley, Chuck Julien-DNS
Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tim Dohm, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Earl Pearson, Jr., Steve Francis, Alex Ferree, Freddie Carpenter, Josh Rice, Ricky Weiss, Randy Weaver, Nick Davis, Mason Zeigler
DirtOnDirt.com Strawberry Dash Finish (Winner Transfers): Freddie Carpenter, Josh Rice, Gregg Satterlee, Allen Murray, Randy Weaver, Colton Flinner, John Gardner, Jake Davis, Sonny Conley, Nick Davis
Feature Finish (35 Laps):
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Mount Airy, NC |
| 2 | 10 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 3 | 3 | 1R | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV |
| 4 | 11 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY |
| 5 | 18 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL |
| 6 | 6 | 28 | Eddie Carrier, Jr. | Salt Rock, WV |
| 7 | 24 | 15F | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 8 | 15 | 21jr | Billy Moyer, Jr. | Batesville, AR |
| 9 | 8 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 10 | 20 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL |
| 11 | 12 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 12 | 14 | 28e | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL |
| 13 | 16 | 6T | Tim Dohm | Charleston, WV |
| 14 | 7 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY |
| 15 | 19 | 4-Ds | Chad Hollenbeck | Montrose, PA |
| 16 | 17 | 99m | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH |
| 17 | 25 | 7w | Ricky Weiss | Headingley, MB |
| 18 | 13 | 16 | Justin Rattliff | Campbellsville, KY |
| 19 | 5 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 20 | 4 | 3s | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL |
| 21 | 9 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL |
| 22 | 1 | 157 | Mike Marlar | Winfield, TN |
| 23 | 26 | K | Freddie Carpenter | Parkersburg, WV |
| 24 | 21 | 4G | Bob Gardner | Washington, IL |
| 25 | 23 | 22G | Greg Oaks | Franklinville, NY |
| 26 | 22 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 40
Lap Leaders: Mike Marlar (Lap 1); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 2 – 35)
Cautions: Tim Dohm (Lap 15); Brian Shirley (Lap 17); Jared Landers, Bobby Pierce (Lap 20); Debris (Lap 32); Tim McCreadie (Lap 34)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: n/a
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Miller Welders Fast Time Provisionals: Ricky Weiss
East Bay Raceway Park Track Provisional: n/a
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Steve Francis (Started: 24th; Finished: 7th; Advanced 17 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Josh Richards
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Brandon Sheppard
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jonathan Davenport
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: n/a
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Kevin Rumley (Jonathan Davenport)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport (Lap #6 – 15.980 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (34 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Break Award: Mike Marlar
Time of Race: 26 minutes 37 seconds