PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Aug. 22) — Getting to Port Royal Speedway on Friday for the two-day Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series weekend was a victory of its own for Jonathan Davenport and his Double L Motorsports team.

The Batesville, Ark.-based team came upon numerous issues with their transporter Thursday night until it broke down completely along I-70 in Cambridge, Ohio.

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“The truck didn’t have full power, so we stopped in Columbus to see what was wrong,” Double L crewman Tyler Bragg said. “Actuator broke on the truck, the turbo locked up. They didn’t have the parts to fix it. We were trying to make it to Mason Zeigler’s shop (in Chalk Hill, Pa.) — the truck said it had 233 minutes before it’d shut off while it was in derate. 

“Well, we made it to Cambridge and it said ‘Truck will shut off in zero seconds, find a safe place to stop.’ So we pulled over, and then had to get a tow truck.”

Fortunately for the Double L team they were a half-hour from Super Late Model racer Todd Brennan of Zanesville, who came to the team’s rescue.

“Todd Brennan unhooked his hauler and brought his truck to haul our trailer and his tow truck to tow our (truck) to Peterbilt in Zanesville,” said Bragg, whose story doesn’t stop there.

While Brennan helped the Double L team off the side of the highway, crew chief Cory Fostvedt made arrangements to meet Sarver, Pa.-based racer Todd Bachman at Lernerville Speedway. 

“Got everything there, then Cory drove to Lernerville to pick up the truck we have now from Todd Bachman,” Bragg said. "Picked it up and drove back to Zanesville to get the trailer. Got back about 8:30-9 a.m., hooked up (the trailer) and hauled ass. Part of life on the road I guess. Lucky to have very good friends and people to offer help.”

The long day for Davenport and Co. ended with a runner-up finish in a race the Blairsville, Ga., veteran nearly stole the victory from eventual winner Ricky Thornton Jr. 

“I have to thank Todd Brennan. He was a big help also, along with Todd Bachman getting us here for sure with the troubles we had last night well into this morning,” Davenport said. “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Davenport thought he had Thornton beat when he powered into the lead on lap 30 of 40, but then the Koehler Motorsports driver responded emphatically when he blasted back around Davenport via the top side.

“He just done a good job there. I kept inching up on him, kept inching up on him there on the bottom,” Davenport said. “I tried the top a couple times in one and two, but you really had to commit all the way up there. Kept trying to go up there, get a little momentum, and pull off of it. It just wasn’t as good. So then I really tried running the bottom, and tried to slow up more and more. It seemed to work for us.

“We run him back down there and got by him. And that made him go searching, too. He just committed to the top through one and two, and was really good obviously. Got a big run down the back straightaway and slid me getting into three. He just done a good job.

“What a great racetrack there. It’s pretty awesome to be able to ride all over and really not know what the fastest line is. Hats off to the track crew there.”