Jonathan Davenport wondered if his winless stretch on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series had really only been a modest month-and-a-half after he returned to the spotlight with a dominant performance in Sunday night’s 55th annual Hillbilly 100 at Tyler County Speedway.

Something was just noticeably different, he thought, when he emerged from his Double L Motorsports Longhorn car in front of the quarter-mile oval’s packed house of fans.

Without a checkered flag in his last eight full-field Lucas Oil Series starts (and 11 overall on the national tour) since capturing July 15’s Diamond Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., Davenport, 39, of Blairsville, Ga., blasted back into form with a flourish. He overtook Daulton Wilson of Fayetteville, N.C., for the lead on lap 17 and never looked back, racing alone out front during an extended green-flag run from laps 5-84 and then keeping Wilson at arm’s length following three late-race caution flags.

Davenport flashed across the finish line for his second career Hillbilly 100 triumph and a $30,000 payday by several car lengths over the 25-year-old Wilson, a sophomore Lucas Oil Series traveler who settled for the $15,000 runner-up check after leading laps 1-16 off the pole position.

Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., gained one spot during the century grind to finish third. Lucas Oil Series points leader Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., who started 10th, bolted from seventh to fourth on the lap-84 restart and finished there after making several unsuccessful attempts to pass Overton and Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., completed the top five in a race his father Don won in 2014 at I-77 Speedway in Ripley, W.Va.

WATCH REPLAY

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Hillbilly Hundred Highlights

Winning Quote From Jonathan Davenport

“It’s been so long since I’ve been in victory lane, they must have a new confetti machine. That thing will about blow your head off.”

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Hillbilly Hundred Results

1) Jonathan Davenport

2) Daulton Wilson

3) Brandon Overton

4) Ricky Thornton Jr.

5) Hudson O'Neal

6) Tim McCreadie

7) Jacob Hawkins

8) Spencer Hughes

9) Devin Moran

10) Max Blair

11) Logan Roberson

12) Garrett Alberson

13) Colten Burdette

14) Tyler Erb

15) Braeden Dillinger

16) Brandon Weigle

17) Garrett Smith

18) Shane Hitt

19) Cody Rogers

20) Earl Pearson Jr.

21) Ross Robinson

22) Mason Zeigler

23) Boom Briggs

24) Daniel Hill

25) Michael Lake

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Standings

Ricky Thornton, Jr. leads the point standings by 320 points over Hudson O'Neal. Jonathan Davenport holds down the third spot, while Brandon Overton continues to hold the all-important fourth position over Tim McCreadie. 

Full Point Standings

Last Race: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Portsmouth Raceway Park - September 2

Next Race: Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals at Knoxville Raceway - September 14