HAGERSTOWN, Md. – Jonathan Davenport became the first repeat winner in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned events at Hagerstown Speedway on Saturday night.
Heading into Saturday’s event at Hagerstown, the series had made 11 appearances and there had been 11 different winners. The defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series led the entire race on his way to winning the 38th annual Stanley Schetrompf Classic.
Brandon Sheppard roared to a runner-up finish, holding off Jimmy Owens at the line. Rick Eckert was fourth and Tim McCreadie rallied from his 19th starting position to round out the top five.
“It’s really great to become the first driver to win twice in series races at Hagerstown, this is such a historic track,” said Davenport. “I was getting really, really loose on that long green flag run and I got behind those lapped cars. Jimmy [Owens] and Sheppard were right on us. Thank goodness for that caution. It saved us. I haven’t raced here many times; but it definitely brings back memories of my asphalt days. You have to drive the track straighter than most. You also have to have a different mindset to drive this track. Thank you to Jason, Tyler, Matt, and everybody who works on the crew.”
A caution for Jason Jameson on lap 25 allowed lapped traffic to clear out in front of Davenport after Owens and Sheppard closed to within a car length. On the restart, Davenport pulled away and Sheppard moved around Owens for second.
“A couple of the lap-cars were giving me fits tonight,” Davenport said. “One of them kept switching lanes on me and I am not sure if he saw me because he was racing me side-by-side. I bumped wheels with him, and I thought here we go. Jack Cornett is here tonight, and he builds a great engine. Thanks to all of the fans for coming out tonight looks like they had a great turnout.”
Sheppard had his second straight runner-up finish with the series.
“We were all bunched up racing for the lead and then the caution came out,” Sheppard said. “JD and Owens were doing a good job and I was going to have a tough time passing them. It was a lot of fun out there. I had to run my stuff harder than I wanted to. Luckily, on the restart I slipped by Jimmy. I couldn’t gain any ground on JD. I was trying all sorts of things to catch him, but I think I burnt my tires up too much. This was a lot better than my last showing at Hagerstown for sure.”
Owens piloted the same back-up car Saturday that got him to victory lane Atomic on Thursday and recorded another podium finish on Saturday night.
“JD was really good, and he was making his way through traffic really well,” said Owens. “I felt at the time we had gotten to him [Davenport] and we were a little better than him. We had a bird’s eye view and I thought we could sneak up on him and then the caution came out and ruined it for us. Our tires didn’t refire and it was just a drag race until we got to traffic again.”
The finish:
Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Owens, Rick Eckert, Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr., Josh Richards, Trever Feathers, Gene Knaub, Jason Covert, Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran, Dylan Yoder, Tyler Erb, Hudson O’Neal, Jamie Lathroum, Shanon Buckingham, Stormy Scott, Kyle Hardy, Ryan King, Gregg Satterlee, Billy Moyer Jr., Justin Weaver, Don O’Neal, Jason Jameson.