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Davenport Breaks Through With First Career Pittsburgher

IMPERIAL, PA (October 5, 2024) – Jonathan Davenport, a three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, has previously come close to winning the Pittsburgher presented by Big River Steel. However, on Saturday night, he dominated the 70-lap feature race and secured his first Pittsburgher win, taking home $50,000 out of the $150,000 purse.

Davenport first raced at the "Monster Half-Mile" known as Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway nine years ago. On Saturday night, he put an exclamation mark on the event by becoming a first-time winner. Devin Moran charged from the 12th starting spot to finish second, earning $20,000 for his runner-up finish in the Double Down Motorsports entry.

At the checkers, Moran finished 1.864 seconds behind the winner and maintains a 10-point lead heading to Brownstown Speedway next weekend over Davenport in the Chase for the Championship.

Max Blair put on another strong performance in a Crown Jewel event, finishing third on the Big River Steel Podium. Tim McCreadie, who held second place at one point during the race, finished fourth, and former Pittsburgher winner Hudson O’Neal rounded out the top five drivers.

For the 40-year-old native of Blairsville, Georgia, the win was his 83rd in his Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series career, breaking a tie with Jimmy Owens for second on the all-time win list.

“I have been coming here since 2015, the first time I was with Kevin Rumley. I fell in love with the place. This place is awesome, it’s big and wide, and it raced like I never thought it would tonight. I would have thought for sure it would have moved back up the racetrack.”

The race was slowed by only one caution flag, with 42 laps scored. Davenport had built a 7-second lead over the field, but the huge advantage would disappear with the restart.

“We just got to where we were running around the bottom there, and I was making pretty good time on the lapped cars that were still way out on the track. I knew we had a pretty good long run there, and I said before the edges of our tires were killed. I figured the first couple of laps when we went back green would be more momentum, so I tried to float out and just kind of move around, but I just didn’t feel the racetrack as good as I needed to even when my tires cooled down so I just kept migrating back to the bottom.”

Moran, who won the weekend opener on Friday night, quickly came up through the field from his outside the sixth-row starting spot. He climbed to third and then eventually to second before the caution flag. But, on the restart, Moran slipped back to fourth but recovered in the remaining laps to close the gap on Davenport, but he never could get close enough to make a last-lap challenge.

“That restart, you know, I have watched a ton of film from here. The bottom got the top on the restarts like 12 out of 15 times, so I thought that bottom would be good, and that’s why I picked it. The top was just cleaned up enough, so I had to get back by Hudson [O’Neal] and Timmy [McCreadie] again. Our car ran really, really good tonight. I felt like we had a great car, and JD did too, obviously. Congrats to him on the win. I think we will have a dogfight in these last three races.”

Blair, like many other competitors in the field, was seeking his first win in Pittsburgh, his home state. He finished third in the Centerline Motorsports entry and earned a $10,000 prize.

“Even if we have started farther forward, I wasn’t real good at the beginning of the race. The bottom had so much moisture in it the first little while I think you had to be in it, and I wasn’t good enough to be in it down there. I just rode around for as long as I could, but once it slowed down, you could run across the racetrack. This car really came alive at the end of the race. I thought I was going to run second there for a minute. To run third in the Pittsburgher is pretty awesome.”

The winner’s Lance and Darla Landers-owned, Double L Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine is sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions, Dyna Gro Seed, Lucas Oil Products, Bob Cat of Batesville, Bilstein Shocks, ASC Warranty, Mark Martin Automotive, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, VP fuels, and Midwest Sheet Metal.

Ricky Thornton Jr., Mason Zeigler, Clay Harris, Carson Ferguson, and Drake Troutman completed the top ten.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
36th Annual Pittsburgher Presented by Big River Steel | Night 2
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway – Imperial, PA

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Mason Zeigler | 18.469 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie | 18.728 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 1Z-Logan Zarin[4]; 5. 93F-Carson Ferguson[5]; 6. 97-Cody Overton[6]; 7. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[7]; 8. 5M-Ryan Markham[9]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[8]; 10. 01-Ron Hall[10]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 02-Michael Norris[2]; 2. 111-Max Blair[1]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs[5]; 6. 48-Colton Flinner[8]; 7. 10M-Jared Miley[6]; 8. 24-Tyler Wyant[7]; 9. EZ1-Ron Fink[9]

Earnhardt Technologies Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 4. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 5. 0-Rick Eckert[4]; 6. 93-Cory Lawler[9]; 7. 184-Kyle Lukon[7]; 8. 9Y-Levi Yetter[6]; 9. 36-Tony Musolino[8]; 10. 27T-Tony White[10]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[6]; 5. 1C-Alex Ferree[5]; 6. 17-Logan Roberson[7]; 7. 22-Gregg Satterlee[4]; 8. 55-Chris Schneider[8]; 9. (DNS) 10-Ryan Christoff

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 93F-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 97-Cody Overton[3]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 4. 10M-Jared Miley[6]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 6. 24-Tyler Wyant[8]; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[7]; 8. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[5]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[9]; 10. 01-Ron Hall[11]; 11. EZ1-Ron Fink[10]

UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0-Rick Eckert[1]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[6]; 3. 17-Logan Roberson[4]; 4. 1C-Alex Ferree[2]; 5. 184-Kyle Lukon[5]; 6. 36-Tony Musolino[9]; 7. 93-Cory Lawler[3]; 8. 55-Chris Schneider[8]; 9. 9Y-Levi Yetter[7]; 10. 27T-Tony White[11]; 11. (DNS) 10-Ryan Christoff

36th Annual Pittsburgher Presented by Big River Steel | Night 2 Feature Finish (70 Laps):
Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Pay
1 - 1 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - $50,900
2 - 12 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $20,900
3 - 7 - 111 - Max Blair - Centerville, PA - $10,700
4 - 2 - 1 - Tim McCreadie - Watertown, NY - $8,900
5 - 10 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $8,000
6 - 6 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Martinsville, IN - $6,800
7 - 5 - 25Z - Mason Zeigler - Chalk Hill, PA - $4,500
8 - 16 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $4,600
9 - 17 - 93F - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - $4,300
10 - 14 - 7T - Drake Troutman - Hyndman, PA - $4,300
11 - 4 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - $4,100
12 - 15 - 20 - Jimmy Owens - Newport, TN - $4,000
13 - 11 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - $3,700
14 - 18 - 0 - Rick Eckert - York, PA - $2,500
15 - 19 - 97 - Cody Overton - Thomson, GA - $2,400
16 - 13 - 1Z - Logan Zarin - Hookstown, PA - $2,300
17 - 22 - 17 - Logan Roberson - Waynesboro, VA - $2,200
18 - 8 - 157 - Mike Marlar - Winfield, TN - $2,800
19 - 9 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - $2,700
20 - 21 - 99B - Boom Briggs - Bear Lake, PA - $2,500
21 - 3 - 2 - Michael Norris - Sarver, PA - $2,000
22 - 24 - 93 - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - $2,500
23 - 20 - 22 - Gregg Satterlee - Indiana, PA - $2,000
24 - 23 - 17SS - Brenden Smith - Dade City, FL - $2,500

Race Statistics
Entrants: 38
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Jonathan Davenport
Lap Leaders: Jonathan Davenport (Laps 1-70)
Wieland Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Margin of Victory: 1.864 seconds
Dave Warren Powersports Cautions: Boom Briggs (Lap 42)
LOLMDS Series Provisionals: Brenden Smith; Cory Lawler
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
LOLMDS Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Max Blair
Penske Shocks Top 5: Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Max Blair, Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’Neal
Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Devin Moran (Advanced 10 Positions)
PEM 4th Place Feature: Tim McCreadie
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Mason Zeigler
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Ross Robinson
MD3 Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport (70 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tim McCreadie
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.; Devin Moran; Jonathan Davenport; Tim McCreadie
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Clay Harris
Coltman Farms Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport (Lap 2 | 18.743 seconds)
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Miller Welders Hard Luck Award: Boom Briggs
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Cory Fostvedt (Jonathan Davenport)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Tim McCreadie (18.354 seconds)
Time of Race: 30 minutes 31 seconds

Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:
Pos - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Points - Pay
1 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - 6260 - $354,555
2 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - 6250 - $373,750
3 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Martinsville, IN - 6200 - $393,969
4 - 1 - Tim McCreadie - Watertown, NY - 6180 - $222,225
5 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - 5415 - $183,128
6 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - 5235 - $149,455
7 - 157 - Mike Marlar - Winfield, TN - 5055 - $142,515
8 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - 5010 - $160,335
9 - 111 - Max Blair - Centerville, PA - 4875 - $122,340
10 - 20 - Jimmy Owens - Newport, TN - 4860 - $102,865
11 - 7T - Drake Troutman - Hyndman, PA - 4435 - $94,435
12 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - 4250 - $85,930
13 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - 4220 - $63,125
14 - 99B - Boom Briggs - Bear Lake, PA - 3770 - $53,405
15 - 17SS - Brenden Smith - Dade City, FL - 3645 - $40,555
16 - 93F - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - 3610 - $63,115
17 - 93 - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - 3455 - $25,925

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