ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 7) — A pair of Georgians ruled Dream XXV preliminary action Friday at Eldora Speedway. By the end of the two 25-lap, $10,000-to-win features at the Tony Stewart-owned half-mile, both Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., and Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., were simply gone with the wind. Davenport, the 2015 Dream winner, won Friday’s first feature, while Clanton, the 2012 Dream winner, won the second feature.
Leading 24 laps of the caution-free opener, Davenport improved one spot from Thursday’s main event — when he was passed on the final lap by Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. — as he steered his Lance Landers-backed Longhorn Chassis to victory ahead of polesitter Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind. Davenport overtook Robinson on the second lap and stayed comfortably ahead en route to 1.223-second victory. Ricky Weiss of Headingly, Manitoba, who won a prelim feature on Thursday, finished third, while Lanigan improved two positions to finish fourth. Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., completed the top five after starting ninth.
“We tried a little bit different stuff tonight,” Davenport said in victory lane. “I don’t think my car was quite as good tonight as it was last night. So we’ll just keep going through the notebook and keep fine-tuning on this thing. We’ve got a few more things we need to do and I think we’re going to be OK. Just as long as we get through these heat races (Saturday).” Robinson, who finished second in his heat, made a big leap forward from Thursday’s prelim, when he finished 12th.
“I’m just happy to be here right now,” Robinson said. “They call it the world’s greatest dirt track and it continues to live up to that name. I’m just proud to be here and continue to get a little bit better in this race car. Small changes. It’s that close.”
In the nightcap, Clanton ran away from the field. Starting from the pole, Clanton dominated the second preliminary feature, driving his Ron Davies-backed Capital Race Car to a 3.494-second victory ahead of Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., in a race slowed by one caution. The fourth-starting Ferguson shuffled polesitter Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C., back to third on a lap-2 restart and futilely gave chase. Bailes settled for third, while Chase Junghans of Manhattan, Kan., finished fourth and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., fifth.
“I knew I had a good car,” said Clanton. “I just needed to keep the nose clean. I tried the top a little bit and (Gregg Satterlee was) trying to get some of that moisture leaving the bottom and he was right were I needed to be to make a good lap, but I knew I was OK where I was. I didn’t feel like I was losing no ground and I could maintain down the straightaway.” After finishing fourth in his preliminary feature on Thursday, Ferguson was pleased with Friday’s runner-up finish finish.
“That was fun,” said Ferguson. “Me and Ross (Bailes) we’re just a bunch of rednecks from South Carolina and North Carolina. We’re not supposed to be good on this stuff, but that just shows how tough we are around home. We were good here at the World, but just had some bad luck. It’s so fun to come up here and run good.”
Action Thursday and Friday determined the lineup for Saturday’s heat races for the 25th running of the Dream. Davenport and Weiss accumulated the most points through the two preliminary rounds and are guaranteed a starting spot in the 100-lap, $125,000-to-win main event.
Late Models Group A – Qualifying 1. 8H-Jacob Hawkins, 15.250; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 15.329; 3. 49D-Jonathan Davenport, 15.373; 4. O-Scott Bloomquist, 15.390; 5. 7R-Kent Robinson, 15.424; 6. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 15.443; 7. 88R-Andrew Reaume, 15.477; 8. 23B-John Blankenship, 15.509; 9. 32S-Chris Simpson, 15.522; 10. 29-Darrell Lanigan, 15.549; 11. 8S-Kyle Strickler, 15.585; 12. 18X-Michael Page, 15.600; 13. 44-Chris Madden, 15.628; 14. 1GK-Ryan King, 15.630; 15. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 15.670; 16. 49T-Jake Timm, 15.671; 17. 28M-Jimmy Mars, 15.676; 18. 17-Zack Dohm, 15.709; 19. 50-Shanon Buckingham, 15.722; 20. 88-Trent Ivey, 15.758; 21. 20-Jimmy Owens, 15.767; 22. 16T-Tyler Bruening, 15.774; 23. 12W-Ashton Winger, 15.778; 24. 24-Dylan Yoder, 15.793; 25. B1-Brent Larson, 15.801; 26. 99RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 15.808; 27. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 15.848; 28. 6-Blake Spencer, 15.852; 29. 421-Anthony Sanders, 15.869; 30. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr., 15.877; 31. 32-Bobby Pierce, 15.893; 32. 2S-Stormy Scott, 15.921; 33. 4G-Kody Evans, 15.932; 34. 51-Joey Moriarty, 15.946; 35. 101T-Forrest Trent, 15.956; 36. 5N-Dustin Nobbe, 16.009; 37. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 16.039; 38. 2-Brandon Overton, 16.095; 39. 1N-Casey Noonan, 16.137; 40. OOS-Jesse Stovall, 16.219; 41. 27-Jim Yoder, 16.227; 42. 48-Tim Lance, 16.237; 43. 31AUS-Paul Stubber, 16.380; 44. P3-Josh Robertson, 16.824; 45. 72-Michael Norris, 99.991; 46. 95J-Jerry Bowersock, 99.992
Heat #1 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 44-Chris Madden[1]; 2. 7R-Kent Robinson[3]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 4. 28M-Jimmy Mars[5]; 5. 8H-Jacob Hawkins[4]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[2]; 7. B1-Brent Larson[7]; 8. 4G-Kody Evans[9]; 9. 1M-Mike Mataragas[10]; 10. 421-Anthony Sanders[8]; 11. 27-Jim Yoder[11]
Heat #3 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 7W-Ricky Weiss[3]; 2. 29-Darrell Lanigan[2]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 16T-Tyler Bruening[6]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr.[8]; 6. 17-Zack Dohm[5]; 7. 1GK-Ryan King[1]; 8. 99RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 9. 2-Brandon Overton[10]; 10. 48-Tim Lance[11]; 11. 51-Joey Moriarty[9]
Heat #5 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 3. 8S-Kyle Strickler[2]; 4. 88R-Andrew Reaume[3]; 5. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[7]; 6. 50-Shanon Buckingham[5]; 7. 12W-Ashton Winger[6]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 9. 1N-Casey Noonan[10]; 10. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[11]; 11. 101T-Forrest Trent[9]
Heat #7 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 18X-Michael Page[2]; 2. 23B-John Blankenship[3]; 3. O-Scott Bloomquist[4]; 4. 24-Dylan Yoder[6]; 5. 88-Trent Ivey[5]; 6. 6-Blake Spencer[7]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[1]; 8. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[9]; 9. P3-Josh Robertson[11]; 10. OOS-Jesse Stovall[10]; 11. 2S-Stormy Scott[8]
B-Feature #1 – (12)Laps – Top 2 Transfer 1. 99RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 2. 17-Zack Dohm[2]; 3. B1-Brent Larson[3]; 4. 2-Brandon Overton[8]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 6. 4G-Kody Evans[5]; 7. 51-Joey Moriarty[12]; 8. 1GK-Ryan King[4]; 9. 48-Tim Lance[10]; 10. 1M-Mike Mataragas[7]; 11. 27-Jim Yoder[11]; 12. 421-Anthony Sanders[9]
B-Feature #3 – (12)Laps – Top 2 Transfer 1. 50-Shanon Buckingham[1]; 2. 12W-Ashton Winger[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[12]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 6. 1N-Casey Noonan[7]; 7. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[6]; 8. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[9]; 9. 101T-Forrest Trent[11]; 10. 6-Blake Spencer[2]; 11. P3-Josh Robertson[8]
A-Feature 1 – (25)Laps 1. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 7R-Kent Robinson[1]; 3. 7W-Ricky Weiss[5]; 4. 29-Darrell Lanigan[6]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[9]; 6. 18X-Michael Page[3]; 7. 44-Chris Madden[4]; 8. 1-Brandon Sheppard[10]; 9. O-Scott Bloomquist[12]; 10. 23B-John Blankenship[8]; 11. 8S-Kyle Strickler[11]; 12. 28M-Jimmy Mars[13]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 14. 16T-Tyler Bruening[14]; 15. 8H-Jacob Hawkins[17]; 16. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr.[18]; 17. 50-Shanon Buckingham[22]; 18. 17-Zack Dohm[23]; 19. 99RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[21]; 20. 88R-Andrew Reaume[15]; 21. 12W-Ashton Winger[24]; 22. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[19]; 23. 24-Dylan Yoder[16]; 24. 88-Trent Ivey[20]
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Late Models Group B – Qualifying 1. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr., 15.511; 2. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 15.520; 3. 18-Chase Junghans, 15.606; 4. 157-Mike Marlar, 15.628; 5. 14-Josh Richards, 15.692; 6. 5-Don O’Neal, 15.723; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie, 15.724; 8. 22-Chris Ferguson, 15.747; 9. 1T-Tyler Erb, 15.764; 10. 87-Ross Bailes, 15.810; 11. 20C-Duane Chamberlain, 15.811; 12. 1V-Vic Hill, 15.815; 13. C9-Steve Casebolt, 15.817; 14. 111-Steven Roberts, 15.841; 15. 0B-Shannon Babb, 15.856; 16. 25C-Shane Clanton, 15.912; 17. 2H-Nick Hoffman, 15.924; 18. 12J-Jason Jameson, 15.933; 19. 17M-Dale McDowell, 15.942; 20. 9-Devin Moran, 15.953; 21. 33-Jonathan Henry, 15.979; 22. 3S-Brian Shirley, 15.988; 23. 1S-Chad Simpson, 16.005; 24. 22S-Gregg Satterlee, 16.033; 25. 83-Scott James, 16.038; 26. 7M-Donald Mcintosh, 16.047; 27. 2X-John Henderson, 16.061; 28. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 16.066; 29. 21-Robby Hensley, 16.101; 30. 36V-Kyle Hardy, 16.110; 31. 14G-Joe Godsey, 16.152; 32. 71C-RJ Conley, 16.186; 33. 18K-Brandon Kinzer, 16.213; 34. 48F-Colton Flinner, 16.261; 35. OO-Dalton Polston, 16.300; 36. 71R-Rod Conley, 16.314; 37. 28-Dennis Erb Jr., 16.404; 38. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 16.551; 39. 8A-Rob Anderzack, 16.890; 40. 14R-Jeff Roth, 16.976; 41. 5D-Bryant Dickinson, 17.073; 42. 25H-Chuck Hummer, 17.308; 43. 22F-Nick Fenner, 18.035; 44. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh, 99.998; 45. OK-Freddie Carpenter, 99.999
Heat #2 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. C9-Steve Casebolt[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 4. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[4]; 5. 83-Scott James[7]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr.[10]; 7. 33-Jonathan Henry[6]; 8. 2H-Nick Hoffman[5]; 9. 18K-Brandon Kinzer[9]; 10. 21-Robby Hensley[8]; 11. OK-Freddie Carpenter[12]; 12. 5D-Bryant Dickinson[11]
Heat #4 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 87-Ross Bailes[2]; 2. 5-Don O’Neal[3]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 4. 111-Steven Roberts[1]; 5. 7M-Donald Mcintosh[7]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott[4]; 7. 48F-Colton Flinner[9]; 8. 36V-Kyle Hardy[8]; 9. 55-Jeep Van Wormer[10]; 10. 12J-Jason Jameson[5]; 11. 25H-Chuck Hummer[11]
Heat #6 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 18-Chase Junghans[4]; 2. 0B-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell[5]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 5. 1S-Chad Simpson[6]; 6. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[2]; 7. 2X-John Henderson[7]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[8]; 9. OO-Dalton Polston[9]; 10. 8A-Rob Anderzack[10]; 11. 22F-Nick Fenner[11]
Heat #8 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 22-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 4. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[6]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 6. 9-Devin Moran[5]; 7. 71R-Rod Conley[9]; 8. 1V-Vic Hill[2]; 9. 71C-RJ Conley[8]; 10. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[11]; 11. 14R-Jeff Roth[10]
B-Feature #2 – (12)Laps – Top 2 Transfer 1. 1ST-Johnny Scott[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr.[1]; 3. 2H-Nick Hoffman[5]; 4. 18K-Brandon Kinzer[7]; 5. 55-Jeep Van Wormer[8]; 6. OK-Freddie Carpenter[11]; 7. 48F-Colton Flinner[4]; 8. 33-Jonathan Henry[3]; 9. 12J-Jason Jameson[10]; 10. 21-Robby Hensley[9]; 11. 36V-Kyle Hardy[6]; 12. 5D-Bryant Dickinson[13]; 13. 25H-Chuck Hummer[12]
B-Feature #4 – (12)Laps – Top 2 Transfer 1. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 2. 71R-Rod Conley[4]; 3. 2X-John Henderson[3]; 4. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[1]; 5. 1V-Vic Hill[6]; 6. OO-Dalton Polston[7]; 7. 14G-Joe Godsey[5]; 8. 71C-RJ Conley[8]; 9. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[10]; 10. 14R-Jeff Roth[12]; 11. 8A-Rob Anderzack[9]; 12. 22F-Nick Fenner[11]
A-Feature 2 – (25)Laps 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[2]; 2. 22-Chris Ferguson[4]; 3. 87-Ross Bailes[1]; 4. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 5. 5-Don O’Neal[6]; 6. 17M-Dale McDowell[11]; 7. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 8. 39-Tim McCreadie[15]; 9. 0B-Shannon Babb[8]; 10. 3S-Brian Shirley[10]; 11. 1T-Tyler Erb[9]; 12. 157-Mike Marlar[12]; 13. 71-Hudson O’Neal[20]; 14. C9-Steve Casebolt[7]; 15. 1S-Chad Simpson[19]; 16. 83-Scott James[17]; 17. 28-Dennis Erb Jr.[23]; 18. 7M-Donald Mcintosh[18]; 19. 9-Devin Moran[22]; 20. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[16]; 21. 1ST-Johnny Scott[21]; 22. 111-Steven Roberts[14]; 23. 71R-Rod Conley[24]; 24. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[13]
Ties broken by: 1) Best finish 2) Best Qualifying Time 3)Entry timestamp
The Wheel of Misfortune landed on ‘5’ for heat race inversion.
A preliminary look at Saturday’s heat races.
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