PHENIX CITY, Ala. - Jonathan Davenport powered from third to first in the final three laps to win the 19th Annual Bama Bash for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Ala. Saturday night.
The Blairsville, GA driver passed both Scott Bloomquist and race leader Jared Landers in the waning laps for his sixth LOLMDS victory of the season. The defending series champion beat Landers, Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, and Darrell Lanigan to the finish line for the win in front of one of the biggest crowds in track history.
“I kept looking at the flagman and the starts I had tonight were terrible,” Davenport said. “(Randy) Weaver and I went with a harder tire than anyone else in the field. Once we got rolling, and with my experience here, I knew the top would come into play. I just kept being patient up there and waiting people to clean it off. Once it did, this Longhorn car really got rolling.
“There were a couple of times I went off the back straightaway. I got a little too close to the cushion up in one and two a few times. I was able to get by Scott and then was able to close on Jared. That had to be an exciting finish to watch.”
Landers led the first 57 laps of the race and appeared to be headed for his first series win of the season. Bloomquist closed on Landers in the final ten laps. While Landers was able to negate any move Bloomquist made, Davenport was able to get his rhythm going on the top of the track.
Landers improved his finishing position one spot from the night before at Boyd’s where he was edged out for second by Randy Weaver.
“I came up on a lapped car and he did nothing wrong, he holding his line and I was making bad decisions on places to pass,” Landers said. “I kind of got out of rhythm. I knew Jonathan had a harder tire on, and the tire choice paid off for him.”
Bloomquist had to go to a backup car after hot laps and fought his way from seventh to challenge for the lead.
“It turned out to be an okay night,” he said. “We had the same thing happen to us that happened at Knoxville last year with the rear drive of the car. We were good in the heat race. I knew that couple of drivers had gone with harder compounds, and it paid off for them. Our tires started going away at the end. I caught Jared, but we just didn’t have enough left to get the lead.”
Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb, Jr., Don O’Neal and Tim McCreadie rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Landers set the overall fast time amongst the 27 entrants, with a lap of 14.386 seconds. Landers, Sheppard and Lanigan won their respective heat races. Colton Flinner won the B-Main.
For more information on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, visit LucasDirt.com.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Alabama Motor Speedway – Phenix City, AL
Bama Bash – April 2, 2016
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 5 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA |
| 2 | 1 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 3 | 7 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 4 | 16 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 5 | 3 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 7 | 2 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL |
| 8 | 14 | 28e | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL |
| 9 | 15 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 10 | 9 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY |
| 11 | 18 | 15F | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY |
| 12 | 13 | 99m | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH |
| 13 | 22 | 16 | Austin Horton | Whitesburg, GA |
| 14 | 10 | 11 | Austin Smith | Cedeartown, GA |
| 15 | 11 | 17m | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga, GA |
| 16 | 8 | 116 | Randy Weaver | Crossville, TN |
| 17 | 6 | 44 | Chris Madden | Gaffney, SC |
| 18 | 20 | 21a | Joe Armistead | Senoia, GA |
| 19 | 24 | 15M | Mason Massey | Douglasville, GA |
| 20 | 12 | 44C | Clint Smith | Senoia, GA |
| 21 | 19 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA |
| 22 | 17 | 91 | Tod Darda | LaGrange, GA |
| 23 | 23 | 18 | Matt Dooley | Brooks, GA |
| 24 | 21 | 33 | Brian Reese | Sharpsburg, GA |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 27
Lap Leaders: Jared Landers (Laps 1 – 57); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 58 – 60)
Cautions: Joe Armistead (Lap 5); Mason Massey (Lap 24); Chris Madden (Lap 44); Randy Weaver (Lap 26)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Chris Madden (Lap #8 – 14.9156 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Jared Landers (58 Laps)
Time of Race: 39 minutes 54 seconds
