COLUMBUS, Miss. — Three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Jonathan Davenport held off Mike Marlar to win the 25-lap feature event on Thursday Night at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
Davenport took the lead on the second lap from Kyle Bronson as he went on to capture his third LOLMDS win of 2021 and his 16th overall.
Marlar moved into the second spot on lap ten and then stayed close to Davenport the rest of the distance to finish in the runner-up spot by .687 seconds behind the winner.
LOLMDS Point Leader Tim McCreadie finished in third followed by Josh Richards and Shane Clanton, completing the top five.
“As much as I was slowing down at the end, I knew someone was there,” Davenport said. “I was just kind of searching all over, but I really couldn’t find anything good. I was just trying to take up as much racetrack as possible. This new car is a pretty good piece. McCreadie and I were discussing before the feature some of the stuff he was doing so we try to help each other out. It’s encouraging to win the first night out. It’s just a testament to Longhorn, they have been building some really good cars. I just go into it with an open-mind and just think it’s going to do what I want it to and so far it has.”
Marlar was looking for his seventh career win at Magnolia but came home in second.
“We were setup better for the short-runs so we could really go at it hard,” Marlar said. “By the end of the race me and Jonathan wore ourselves out. It’s fun racing with him. I hope we put on a good show for the fans.”
McCreadie rounded out the podium.
“We are close enough to run with the top two tonight. We need to go back to work. Some of the stuff I have been waiting to try, we put on tonight. The car has a little too much aggressiveness, it got a little too bouncy. I just need to get some more control of it.”
The finish:
Jonathan Davenport, Mike Marlar, Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards, Shane Clanton, Brian Rickman, Earl Pearson Jr., Michael Page, Ricky Thornton Jr., Spencer Hughes, Kyle Beard, Stormy Scott, B.J. Robinson, Rick Rickman, Sam Seawright, Hunter Rasdon, Dane Dacus, Morgan Bagley, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, David Breazeale, Braydon Proctor, Josh Putnam, Matt Costner.