TAMPA, Fla. - Jonathan Davenport survived a torrid battle with Brandon Sheppard to register his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2019 on Wednesday night at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida.
Davenport, from Blairsville, Georgia, took the lead from Sheppard on lap 26 and then held off Tyler Erb to win the Winternationals Wednesday night feature. It marks the fifth-career win at the “Clay by the Bay” for the defending series champion, and the 37th series victory of his career.
Erb entered the event winning three of the first four events of the season and was looking for his third straight victory at East Bay. Josh Richards came from the 23rd starting spot to place third, with Brandon Overton in fourth and Sheppard in fifth.
Former series Rookie of the Year Colton Flinner earned the first PFC Brakes Pole Award of his career and led the first eight laps of the main event before yielding to Brian Shirley on the ninth circuit.
Davenport started fifth and kept pace with the leaders before charging to the point on the 12th lap. Davenport held the lead until Sheppard moved ahead on lap 24. Davenport quickly fought back, passing Sheppard on lap 26 to take the lead for the final time.
“I definitely wanted to see that last caution,” said Davenport. “I was getting into lapped traffic and everybody was on the bottom going into one and two. Everybody out there earned their paycheck tonight. This is the slickest place in the world. When I went into three and four, I just put it on the floor.
“I can’t thank my crew enough. We all put our heads together. We went back through our notes to see what we were missing on the set-up and their hard work paid off.”
Kyle Bronson, Earl Pearson, Jr., Brian Shirley, Don O’Neal and Devin Moran rounded out the top ten.
For more information on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, visit LucasDirt.com.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
East Bay Winternationals – February 6, 2019
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 5 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $7,000 |
| 2 | 8 | 1T | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $3,500 |
| 3 | 23 | 14 | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $2,000 |
| 4 | 18 | 2 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | $1,500 |
| 5 | 4 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $1,400 |
| 6 | 20 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $1,300 |
| 7 | 13 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $1,200 |
| 8 | 2 | 3s | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | $1,100 |
| 9 | 3 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $1,000 |
| 10 | 24 | 1M | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $950 |
| 11 | 15 | 22 | Gregg Satterlee | Indiana, PA | $900 |
| 12 | 9 | 14m | Morgan Bagley | Gladewater, TX | $850 |
| 13 | 22 | 21 | Billy Moyer, Jr. | Batesville, AR | $800 |
| 14 | 12 | 28 | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $750 |
| 15 | 19 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $725 |
| 16 | 7 | 9 | Billy Moyer | Batesville, AR | $700 |
| 17 | 21 | 56JR | Colton Horner | Katy, TX | $700 |
| 18 | 25 | 33 | Jeff Mathews | Brandon, FL | $700 |
| 19 | 1 | 48 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | $650 |
| 20 | 11 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $625 |
| 21 | 16 | 1Gk | Ryan King | Seymour, TN | $625 |
| 22 | 10 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $600 |
| 23 | 14 | 25B | Mike Benedum | Salem, WV | $600 |
| 24 | 6 | 116 | Tanner English | Benton, KY | $600 |
| 25 | 17 | 2s | Stormy Scott | Las Cruses, NM | $600 |
| 26 | 26 | 66c | Matt Cosner | Ridgeley, WV | $600 |
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/2/761158/davenport-takes-wednesday-lolmds-win-at-east-bay