ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 7) — Taking care of your tires over 100 grueling laps at Eldora Speedway is always important. During Saturday’s Dream XXXI when the half-mile track surface’s dirt crumbs chewed up rubber quicker than usual, it was vital.

And Eldora ace Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., preserved his tires better than anyone, dominating the late stages of the race to win by more than 10 seconds for a $100,000 payday and his 11th major Eldora victory. 

"He rode around there like he was on the Sunday drive,” said fellow Georgian Dale McDowell, who led 39 laps from the pole before Davenport overtook him and led the rest of the way.

While drivers pitted to replace flats, swap out new tires for old or late in the race — as McDowell said — “hung on for dear life” with fading rubber, a smooth-running Davenport ran unfettered in capturing his fourth career Dream and third in as many years.

"His car is good, but he's very smart,” said third-place finisher Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C. “At the beginning of the race, (Davenport) didn't run out there in the top and middle of the racetrack through all them crumbs. He stayed pretty low … he just stayed at the bottom there and that kept his tires way better than most. So yes, his race car is really good, but (he’s) very smart and methodical.”

McDowell, who faded to finish sixth on blistered tires, said Davenport’s tire care is part of his Eldora expertise.

“He knows how to take care of his tires and his car follows the steering. He ain't having to horse it around and make it do anything. He's just rolling it right around the racetrack,” McDowell said. “The more you're having to make the car turn and (get on) the gas and brake and do all that stuff, the more you're gonna hurt your tires.”

Many drivers damaged their tires early in the race when track conditions proved difficult.

“You see how it’s real dusty there at the start? It's just them marbles are going across the track, so we're just wheel-spinning them and it just freaking demolishes” tires,“ said Devin Moran, who rallied from his 24th starting spot to finish fifth but was skating around in the final laps.

How to avoid that damage?

“Do what J.D. does and ride about 12th for the first 40 laps and then gas on it after that,” Moran said. “He just does a really good job and he's raced enough to know what the heck to do and he's got it figured out.”

Runner-up Bobby Pierce, who pitted midrace to change both rear tires, said he “killed my stuff early on” and knew other competitors were having problems, too.

"I saw on the Jumbotron there, people that are pulling in, their tires just looked cooked, and I knew mine was terrible, too,” Pierce said.

Davenport’s biggest move came after a lap-22 restart when he improved from 13th to eighth, then broke into the top five a few laps later. Soon enough he was stalking McDowell and cruising trouble-free.

"I didn't really find anything," Davenport said. "Like, I'd run the whole first 22 laps around the bottom just pacing there and try not to let — like what Bobby said, when those crumbs blow across the racetrack, you just kill your tires.”

Fourth-place finisher Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., saw Davenport go past and knew the Double L Motorsports driver’s car would allow him to have plenty of tire for the long-distance affair.

“He's balanced. When he went by me, I could tell he wasn't scooting,” McCreadie said. “I was scooting real hard and then chattering the right-front a little bit and he wasn't having any of those issues. And it's just naturally easier on the equipment.

"I just think he just works on his craft. He's been good here. … He's so comfortable here and he probably used to get more flustered and now he doesn't really get flustered. … In 100 laps he's going to be really good and he constantly works on his package. You see guys that were abusing their stuff in the first 50 (laps), they went backwards.”

Shanon Rush, the oval track dirt product manager of Hoosier Racing Tire, attended the Dream to evaluate tires removed from cars throughout the race.

“Any 100-lap race throughout history, you got to take care of (tires) that first 30 or 40 laps. Then you can start using them when you need to,” he said. "There's no doubt (the track) was testing tires tonight, but you just got to take that into consideration every time you do it.

“The more you can use the right-front and the left-rear to help that right-rear, the better off it's going to be. And obviously J.D. has a very balanced car at this place. That's why he brings it back every year.”

Davenport’s tire management rivals eight-time Dream winner Scott Bloomquist, who made his last attempt to run the event last year four months before he was killed in an airplane crash.

Davenport is “probably the smartest guy now on the tire side,” Hoffman said. “Scott was that way for so many years and he was so far ahead of everybody on saving tires and knowing how to groove his stuff and prepare his tires for these 100-lap race, and J.D. has gotten that way of being very smart with preparing the tire and then also as a driver knowing you what he has to do, too.”