FAIRBURY, Ill. — Jonathan Davenport had to fend off a furious late-race charge from Brandon Sheppard to win the 3rd FALS Spring Shootout Presented by Titan Industries on Saturday night at Fairbury Speedway.
In typical Fairbury fashion, the race was decided on the final lap when Sheppard threw a slider on Davenport heading into turn three as the duo approached the white flag.
Still, Davenport crossed back over to regain the lead at the line on lap 59 and held off Sheppard on the final lap to score the $30,000 payday.
Sheppard finished 0.192 seconds behind the Blairsville, Georgia native, marking his second consecutive runner-up finish of the weekend. Bobby Pierce, who started in seventh, completed the podium in third place. Tyler Bruening secured fourth, while Shannon Babb rounded out the top five drivers.
Brandon Overton led the first 16 laps of the race from his pole starting position until Davenport, who started sixth, forged ahead on lap 17. The race remained green for the first 49 laps until the first caution was issued for Donald McIntosh.
Tyler Bruening moved into second on lap 30 after a torrid battle among several drivers in the top seven spots. Bruening held second until lap 56 when Sheppard, who had fallen back as far as eighth in the running order at one point, stormed to the top and passed him.
Sheppard then proceeded to track down Davenport immediately and took the lead briefly after a slider in turn four. Still, Davenport’s crossover move as the white flag waved allowed him to maintain the lead to the finish.
“That is about how I figured it was going to happen,” said Davenport, referring to the slider that Sheppard threw on him to take the lead briefly. “I kept watching the board, and I saw the 1 car get to third, and then I saw the 1 get to second, and I’m like, well, I pretty much know where he’s probably going to be, so I crept up just a little bit. I don’t know if it killed my exit speed coming off four, but then I heard him, so then I went ahead and set up for the crossover.”
“I just barely got him back. I got into him right there at the flagstand. I hope I didn’t mess him up too bad, and then I just tried to block down the back straightaway, just kind of slide myself there. I can’t even talk. I think I held my breath those last two laps there. It’s an awesome feeling coming back here in front of all of these fans,” said Davenport after winning his 86th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race.
Sheppard, who led 65 laps on Friday night at Farmer City, nearly pulled off an incredible charge on the final lap but fell just short of the win.
“It’s always good to be here at FALS, especially to be back in the Rocket House Car,” Sheppard said. “It means the world to me that those guys gave me the opportunity to come back. I felt really good tonight, you know, we had a good car all night long. At the beginning of the race, I was trying to keep my tires underneath me. I couldn’t really go that good at the beginning, and then once the track started to get slicker, the better I got.”
The finish:
Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Tyler Bruening, Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Garrett Alberson, Carson Ferguson, Daulton Wilson, Mike Marlar, Brandon Overton, Jason Feger, Ryan Unzicker, Nick Hoffman, Clay Harris, Donald McIntosh, Brian Shirley, Dan Ebert, Ricky Thornton Jr., Mike Spatola, Devin Moran, Daniel Hilsabeck, Spencer Hughes, Frank Heckenast Jr., Tyler Erb.
