2023 10th Annual MLRA Spring Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway

Jonathan Davenport Drives New Car To MLRA Victory At Lucas Oil Speedway

Jonathan Davenport Drives New Car To MLRA Victory At Lucas Oil Speedway

Jonathan Davenport drove a brand-new car to victory lane in the MLRA Spring Nationals finale on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Apr 3, 2023 by FloRacing Staff
null

Jonathan Davenport’s Double L Motorsports crew didn’t sit idle while unruly spring weather kept them away from the racetrack for the past two weeks. They used the down time very constructively.

In fact, after Davenport cruised to a dominant flag-to-flag victory worth $10,000 in Saturday night’s 40-lap Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Association Spring Nationals finale at Lucas Oil Speedway, the 39-year-old superstar from Blairsville, Ga., pointed directly to his boys in the pits for his success.

“First and foremost, I gotta thank my crew on this one here,” Davenport said. “Vinny (Guliani) and Cory (Fostvedt) and Michael (Bixby) …this is a new car that they built in the past week.”

The Lance Landers-owned team debuted a fresh Longhorn Chassis at the 3/8-mile oval in Wheatland, Mo. Davenport registered a relatively quiet third-place finish in Friday’s Spring Nationals opener won by Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz. — he started 10th in the 40-lapper because he was put behind in qualifying by a track surface that became quicker after he made his laps — but was flawless on Saturday as he set fast time and won a heat before racing unchallenged in the caution-free headliner.

“We got two practice sessions with (the new car) and then we got to race last night,” Davenport related. “It likes a little bit different stuff but my guys put their heads together and really hit on something tonight.”

null

VIDEO: Jonathan Davenport discusses his upcoming NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Aside from some brief moments in lapped traffic when his steady edge of over three seconds on Chad Simpson of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, shrank in half, Davenport was in a league of his own. Even Simpson acknowledged J.D.’s speed after finishing second, 2.918 seconds behind the victor.

“You always feel like you got a little bit of a shot when you can gain on him a little bit,” said Simpson, the defending MLRA points champion who was driving a new Longhorn by Wells car. “But I knew once he got back out to clean traffic he was just a little bit better car than we were.”

RELATED: Jonathan Davenport Going NASCAR Truck Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway

The victory brought a sense of normalcy back to Davenport’s efforts, which have been hampered by tough breaks and called-off races since he opened the 2023 season with four victories during the month of January. Until Saturday he was winless since a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series score on Jan. 30 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.; his best finish in a modest seven feature starts since that triumph was a fifth in Feb. 8’s Lucas Oil Series A-main at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.

“It just feels really good to win,” Davenport said. “We’ve had a lot of bad racing luck. We’ve had fast cars, so this just builds the confidence back up in the team and myself.”

And Davenport’s victory lane appearance sends him into a very special Easter weekend on a high note.

“I’m pretty much going into the biggest weekend of my career racing next week,” said Davenport, who will carry the Dirt Late Model world’s honor as he drives for Kaulig in the April 8-9 NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. “I’m definitely looking forward to going to Bristol next week.”