SARVER, Pa. — Jonathan Davenport checked off another bucket list win by capturing his first Firecracker 100 presented by Experience Butler County on Saturday at Lernerville Speedway.
Davenport became the 13th different driver to win the crown jewel event since its inception in 2007, capturing his 88th career victory in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, worth $50,000.
Davenport led 98 of the 100 laps but had to reclaim the lead from Ricky Thornton Jr. on lap 86 after a chaotic restart on lap 85. Once Davenport regained the lead, he went on to win the race, finishing ahead of Thornton, Max Blair, Garrett Alberson, and Mason Zeigler.
Thornton, who last year became the first driver to win the race in back-to-back years, got off to a good start by leading the first circuit. However, that was short-lived as Davenport, who started third, charged into the lead on the second lap.
Davenport and Thornton then ran one-two for 72 laps until Blair was able to pass Thornton for second place on the 73rd lap. Blair then stayed within shouting distance of Davenport until the sixth and final caution of the race was called with 84 laps completed.
On the restart, Blair got a run on Davenport as the two made contact in turn four. Thornton slipped by both of them to take the lead for one lap (lap 85), but that was short-lived as Davenport regained the lead for good on lap 86 and went on to win.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fifth time in 2025, Davenport now trails Thornton by just five points as they head into the series’ next two events at Atomic and Muskingum County on July 4-5.
“Check that one off, I have had this one circled for a while. Thanks to all of you fans for coming out here, that was awesome. My car was really good there, and I don’t know what happened on that one restart. I got hit by two different people there. I had been running the same line for a long time. I don’t know what went on, it knocked the left front off of it and the steering rack is all messed up I couldn’t hardly turn it and so the steering wheel was turning like a quarter turn after that it was all gas and brake and trying not to spin the tires,” said the Blairsville, Georgia native.
“I just couldn’t steer at all down on that end anymore, and then I couldn’t turn down in this hole like I needed to anymore. Anyway, thank goodness we held on, it was a little closer than I wanted it to be there at the end. I didn’t really know what to do with those two lapped cars there, but I figured if I could stay just behind them and keep my speed up, and maybe someone couldn’t slide in there.”
“I really felt like I got rolling there a couple of times, up through lapped traffic, once you get by the first two or three there, and then they kind of spread out and then run one line instead of all over the place. I knew the top was good, but I didn’t know how good it was. There was just enough lip there so somebody could throw a Hail Mary for a couple of laps and get a good run on me, luckily that didn’t happen, it was just an awesome race track.”
Thornton, who was looking to win the Firecracker for the third year in a row, was the only other leader of the race, leading two laps, and took home $20,000 for second place.
“I went down in turn three and just caught the hole wrong and destroyed the left side of his (Davenport’s) car. That’s not how I wanted to pass him I had to slow down there going into one and let him get back in front of me,” Thornton said. “We race together too much to go in there and destroy a guy for the win. I felt like I needed to get a little bit better. Overall, it was a really good weekend for us. Congrats to JD, his stuff was really good, so I felt like if we could play in traffic a little bit long, but I didn’t want to destroy two cars and each other and cause a bunch of yellows.”
Blair, who fell back as far as 11th in the running order, climbed to second after battling with Thornton for several laps, rounded out the podium after falling back a spot in the frantic lap-85 restart, and collected $10,000 for third.
“I don’t know what really happened. I thought JD was entering a little higher, and I had a good run down the backstretch and charged it, and it didn’t work out, and Ricky got back by. If that yellow didn’t come out when I got to second, I think I may have had a shot at it, who knows how it would have played out in lapped traffic, but to run third to these two we will take that every day.”
The finish:
Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr., Max Blair, Garrett Alberson, Mason Zeigler, Hudson O’Neal, Gregg Satterlee, Chub Frank,
Carson Ferguson, Donald McIntosh, Devin Moran, Brandon Overton, Daniel HIlsabeck, Brandon Sheppard, Mike Marlar, Clay Harris, Daulton Wilson, Josh Rice, Dan Ebert, Cory Lawler, Ken Schaltenbrand, Colton Flinner, Michael Norris, Tyler Dietz, Gary Stuhler, Jared Miley, Spencer Hughes.
