WHEATLAND, Mo. — Jonathan Davenport led all 45 laps of the Cowboy Classic on Thursday night at Lucas Oil Speedway to kick off the 31st Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 with the victory.
The win was Davenport’s first since he captured the Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals on April 1.
Davenport’s second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season came as he held off a hard-charging Ricky Thornton Jr. in the final 10 laps to win by .967 seconds.
Tyler Bruening ran in second for the first half of the race until Thornton got by him. Bruening rounded out the podium in third.
Tim McCreadie was fourth followed by Spencer Hughes who rounded out the top five drivers at the finish.
Davenport was in control to the race from the start, but lapped traffic allowed Thornton to catch up to him after he had passed Bruening for second.
Thornton pulled even with Davenport a handful of times and the two made slight contact in turn three racing for the lead. Davenport was able to hold off Thornton to score his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win since Jan. 30 at Bubba Raceway Park.
“The race track was awesome for about the first 30 laps,” Davenport said. “They caught me before I moved up enough. Hats off to the track crew they did a great job, they don’t need to really overdo it for Saturday night. We have been off a little bit. It’s been a lot leading up this. We’ve learned a lot what not to do. We’ve learned somewhat what to do now to these race cars.”
Thornton, who swept the two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races last weekend gave Davenport fits a few times in a race that went caution-free.
“I thought for sure I was spinning him [Davenport] out down there,” Thornton said. “He moved off the bottom in three and I was trying to squeeze by him on the outside and I caught him with my left front flopper. I barely caught his quarter-panel, but I didn’t spin him around. We had a good car. I found the bottom there before anyone else and that’s how I got to second.”
Bruening rounded out the podium in third as he picked up some valuable points which set’s the lineup for Saturday night.
“The car was really good tonight. We were just a spot or two short there. Jonathan was good, Ricky’s been good all year. Those guys are tough. They are at the top of their game. It’s good to have a Capital up front. You either quit or you keep working and keep trying. We are not going to quit. We are going to keep trying to get better. Eventually we will be a spot, or two better and we will get that first win.”
The finish:
Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr., Tyler Bruening, Tim McCreadie, Spencer Hughes, Dillon McGowan, Chris Simpson, Devin Moran, Tyler Erb, Jimmy Owens, Garrett Alberson, Mason Zeigler, Ricky Weiss, Brandon Overton, Chris Simpson, Earl Pearson Jr., Max Blair, Daulton Wilson, Tyler Stevens, Justin Duty, Hudson O’Neal, Daniel Hilsabeck, Larry Ferris, Tony Jackson Jr.