Jonathan Davenport was the class of the field in Friday night’s Peach State Classic opener at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway. But he needed more than sheer speed to capture the 50-lap feature that kicked off the season-ending weekend for the FloRacing Night in America Series presented by Kubota.

After the 42-year-old superstar from Blairsville, Ga., celebrated atop his car’s roof in victory lane, his first words made clear his thoughts on his performance.

“We got really lucky there,” Davenport bottom-lined.

Davenport led every circuit of the A-main from his pole position, but he very nearly saw his whole night — and his still-beating hopes for the FloRacing tour’s points title — evaporate on lap 27 when the slower car driven by Tyler Millwood of Kingston, Ga., went spinning in front of him. With Davenport unable to evade Millwood, he slid to a stop against Millwood’s machine at the top of turn four.

“I saw the crash happening, but this place is so slick, like there’s nowhere I could go,” Davenport said. “I thought he was gonna hold the brakes and I could get by on the top, and then he closed that hole up and so then all I could do was try not to hit him right with the nose … I hit him with the side.”

But as Davenport pictured the $20,000 first-place prize flashing past him, he was informed by officials over the one-way radio that he would keep his spot and restart as the leader because he spun to avoid Millwood, who was charged with bringing out the caution flag.

Davenport breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, I didn’t get put to the back there,” Davenport said. “Obviously I don’t really know all the rules, but it worked in our favor there.”

Taking advantage of his new lease on life, Davenport controlled the remainder of the distance to beat his pal Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., by 0.722 of a second and complete a perfect evening.

“What an awesome race car,” Davenport said. “I gotta thank my guys once again. We just put this (Longhorn) car together and it was phenomenal for sure ever since we unloaded it yesterday (for practice). We had a Clements (engine) in tonight and it run flawless. Just a really good night.

“We came here to try and get some luck on our side and try to get this (FloRacing) championship, so we done all we can do. We come out and set fast time, won our heat and won the feature, so just awesome.”

Davenport entered the two-race weekend trailing series points leader Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., by 48 points. He kept his hopes for the $75,000 championship alive by cutting his deficit to 27 points as Pierce finished seventh, but the gap could’ve closed up even more if Pierce hadn’t benefitted from a stroke of good fortune that was similar to Davenport’s. On lap 45 the 20th-starting Pierce tangled with Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., between turns three and four and both drivers spun, but Pierce was able to keep his car’s wheels turning — he briefly put his car into reverse to maintain his motion — and officials allowed him to restart in the spot he was running (seventh) when the caution flag was displayed.

“I guess Pierce kind of got in trouble there also,” Davenport said, “so it worked in his favor also. So we both got lucky there.”

Davenport will still need Pierce to stumble in Saturday’s $30,000-to-win finale to grab his second career FloRacing title, but he certainly carries plenty of momentum into Saturday’s action. He recorded his third straight victory — he won the last two nights of last weekend’s World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte — and fourth checkered flag in his last seven starts over the past month. It was also his 20th overall triumph of 2025, his first time reaching the 20-win mark since his $2 million season in 2022 and the seventh time in his Dirt Late Model career that he’s won at least 20 features.

“It gives us a ton (of momentum) for sure,” Davenport said. “I mean, the, the only thing we can do (Saturday) is to win. That’s all we’re thinking about, that’s what we’re gonna try to do as far as tire calls and all that stuff. We’re just gonna go for the win, not think about the points, and how it falls, it falls.”