LOCUST GROVE, Ark. - It took Dale McDowell 19 years to pick up his second career COMP Cams Topless 100 – victory on Saturday night at Arkansas’ Batesville Motor Speedway.
The 57-year-old Chickamauga, Georgia resident, who first won the crown jewel where the cars run without roofs in 2004, led the final 66 laps to score the $50,000 victory in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event.
In a race that saw three different leaders, McDowell had to hold off Blairsville, Georgia’s Jonathan Davenport to become the 17th different winner this year on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Davenport, bidding to become the first driver in the 31-year history of the race to win in back-to-back years, finished 0.303 seconds behind his fellow Georgian at the checkered flag.
Ricky Thornton, Jr., who led the first lap of the race, finished in third, with Devin Moran in fourth, and Tim McCreadie in fifth.
“My brother Shane made some awful good adjustments,” said McDowell after scoring his 10th career series win. “First off, I need to thank the good Lord above for allowing me to get through my health issues a couple of years ago and get back and do this. Thank goodness it wasn’t my time to get out of the sport. What a race and what a crowd here for us. To come here and see this crowd I don’t think I’ve ever seen this big of a crowd here. It’s awesome I want to thank you race fans for supporting this event and everybody it takes to put on this race. Thank you.”
After Thornton had led the opening lap, Davenport then took command until lap 35 when McDowell, who started fourth moved into the lead, which he never relinquished.
“Those guys (Thornton and Davenport) were running a lane up, I could run up to them and maintain, but I was little tight,” McDowell said. “So, I knew I was going to have to figure out what I needed to do to get a clear line. The car started rotating good and lapped traffic was very, very hairy you didn’t know where to go to root, gouge, you didn’t know what to do. But everything worked out.”
Hudson O’Neal, Stormy Scott, Earl Pearson, Jr., Evans, Georgia’s Brandon Overton, and Cade Dillard rounded out the top 10.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns to action on Thursday, August 24 at Delaware’s Georgetown Speedway. Visit LucasDirt.com for more information.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Batesville Motor Speedway – Batesville, AR
Topless 100 – August 19, 2023
1. 17M-Dale McDowell
2. 49-Jonathan Davenport
3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr
4. 99-Devin Moran
5. 39-Tim McCreadie
6. 1H-Hudson O’Neal
7. 2S-Stormy Scott
8. 46-Earl Pearson Jr
9. 76-Brandon Overton
10. 97-Cade Dillard
11. 18D-Daulton Wilson
12. 1T-Tyler Erb
13. 10-Garrett Smith
14. 111B-Max Blair
15. 86-Kyle Beard
16. 36-Logan Martin
17. 11-Spencer Hughes
18. 7-Ross Robinson
19. 58-Garrett Alberson
20. R5-Hunter Rasdon
21. B5-Brandon Sheppard
22. 1R-BJ Robinson
23. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr
24. 1S-Jeremy Shaw
25. 12C-Scott Crigler
26. 777-Jared Landers
27. 14M-Morgan Bagley
28. 99B-Boom Briggs
29. 5X-Jon Mitchell
