Jonathan Davenport put on a clinic on Saturday evening on the high banks of Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway, as he bested a stout field of competitors to record the victory in the Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals Series season opener.
The Blairsville, Georgia racer beat Dawsonville, Georgia’s Donald McIntosh to turn one on the opening lap. From there, Davenport held the point the rest of the way en route to his third career series win and a $21,000 payday.
“I definitely love coming here,” said Davenport. “This place is always packed out. Love all these fans coming here and we get great support. Thanks to my crew, they’ve been working their tails off. This is the same car that we ran at Bristol and I don’t see why we don’t take it back there next week. This thing’s pretty awesome.”
NASCAR Cup Series racer Kyle Larson finished in second, with Tyler Erb in third, Chickamauga, Georgia’s Dale McDowell in fourth and McIntosh in fifth.
“This place is so elbows up and you just gotta get up on the wheel and drive it,” Davenport said. “It was a little hard to pass in (turns) one and two down there, but I could get a good run and slide ’em through (turns) three and four. There were a couple of passes that were probably questionable, but hopefully they knew I was the leader and gave me a little bit of a break there.”
Jimmy Owens, Zack Mitchell, Evans, Georgia’s Brandon Overton, Mike Marlar, and Dakotah Knuckles rounded out the top 10.
Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals Series returns to action on Saturday, April 10 at the newly reconfigured I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tennessee. For more information, visit SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals Series
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, Tennessee
Lil Bill Corum Memorial – April 3, 2021
1. (2) Jonathan Davenport $21,000
2. (4) Kyle Larson $10,000
3. (5) Tyler Erb $6,000
4. (10) Dale McDowell $4,000
5. (1) Donald McIntosh $3,000
6. (19) Jimmy Owens $2,000
7. (6) Zack Mitchell $1,500
8. (13) Brandon Overton $1,400
9. (15) Mike Marlar $1,300
10. (3) Dakotah Knuckles $1,200
11. (7) Pierce McCarter $1,150
12. (16) Cory Hedgecock $1,090
13. (22) Forrest Trent $1,080
14. (11) Travis Fultz $1,070
15. (21) Christian Hanger $1,060
16. (12) Jason Trammell $1,050
17. (9) Stormy Scott $1,040
18. (18) David Payne $1,030
19. (20) Austin Neely $1,020
20. (14) Ryan King $1,010
21. (8) Michael Chilton $1,000
22. (17) Jensen Ford $1,000
23. (23) Stacy Boles $75
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/4/994249/davenport-dominates-spring-nationals-opener-at-tazewell