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National Dirt Racing League Virginia Motor Speedway April 12, 2014 _______________________________________
Davenport Crowned King of the Commonwealth at Virginia Motor Speedway
by Kelley Carlton and Dave Seay JAMAICA, Virginia (April 12) – The Aaron’s King of the Commonwealth was on Jonathan Davenport and Kevin Rumley’s list of high priority events. Not that every event isn’t important, but the King of the Commonwealth is a victory that both driver and his race team highly coveted. Both have been very successful at Bill Sawyer’s beautiful Virginia Motor Speedway over the years. On Saturday they both added another big check mark to their to-do list when Davenport overtook early leader Billy Moyer, Jr. on lap 17 and held off a hard charging Scott Bloomquist in the late stages of the 60-lapper to claim the $20,000 winner’s check. The win also propelled Davenport into a tie with Chris Madden for the National Dirt Racing League point lead.
Davenport was fastest in Group A of Keyser Manufacturing Time Trials lowering the Virginia Motor Speedway track record with his lap of 16.745 seconds around the ½ mile oval. However it was Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist in Group B who picked up the Bell Helmets Fast Time Award when he obliterated the record Davenport had just set. Bloomquist tripped the clock at a mind boggling 16.509 seconds. Earl Pearson, Jr., Chris Madden and Don O’Neal rounded out the top 5 qualifiers.
Heat Race action was insane with wins in the 10 lappers going to Davenport, Billy Moyer, Gregg Satterlee and Billy Moyer, Jr. Finishing second in heats and going to the redraw were O’Neal, Madden Bloomquist and Dennis Erb, Jr. A pair of Delaware drivers - Kenny Pettyjohn and Austin Hubbard scored wins in their respective B-Mains and making the feature event. Series provisional starts went to Kent Robinson, John Blankenship and Mason Zeigler.
At the outset of the event it was pole sitter Billy Moyer, Jr. that took command while Davenport sliced through the middle of a 3-wide melee in turn one to move to second. With the remainder of the field locked in a double formation to complete lap one. Moyer moved away as Davenport had to fend of challenges from Billy Moyer and Gregg Satterlee.
Madden and Bloomquist were battling door to door while up front Davenport began to reel in Moyer, Jr. as they both began to encounter backmarker traffic. By lap 15 Davenport was all over Moyer, first stepping outside but finally making the move around the hub. Bloomquist slipped by Madden and set after Moyer, Sr. as they both drew to Moyer, Jr.’s rear deck. Over the next several laps the Moyers raced wheel to wheel with the elder finally covering the spot. The pass also allowed Bloomquist to close in on Moyer, Jr. and take another spot away one lap later.
After the halfway mark Davenport was in heavy traffic and Moyer, Sr. was able to close down on his fellow Longhorn Chassis driver. Moyer began to put some pressure on Davenport, nosing alongside the leader on multiple occasions. But the race for the lead was quelled when the event’s lone yellow flag waved for a stalled Bub McCool.
For the restart Moyer opted for the inside which moved Bloomquist to the outside. When Davenport brought the field back to green Bloomquist made his move for second. Sweeping around the outside of turn 2 Bloomquist took over second and set after the leader. With only 10 laps remaining Bloomquist pulled to Davenport’s rear deck. Bloomquist threw all he had at Davenport but a slick move past a lapped car coming to the white flag sealed the deal. The move gave Davenport just enough open space to grab the checkers and the $20,000 check.
In the Budweiser Modified Lucky Dog 30 Matt Quade and Jimmy Duncan led the field to green in search of a $3000 payday. On the start Quade took over the top spot with Duncan in tow. On lap 7 Bret Hamilton would get under Duncan for third.
With Quade in total control of the race Hamilton and Joey Polevoy battled for third on lap 18. On lap 23 Polevoy got by Hamilton for third. On lap 26 Ryan Toole took over fourth with a strong move in turn 1. A late caution on lap 28 would close the field on Quade’s bumper for the final restart. As in previous restarts Quade would pull away and go on to the $3000 payday followed by Michael Reynolds, Joey Polevoy, Ryan Toole and Bret Hamilton rounding out the top five.
The speedway will return to racing next Saturday April 19th to host opening night of the 2014 season for all five of the Virginia Army National Guard Dirt Series divisions. The night will feature the Victory Lap Late Model, Aaron’s Pro Late Model, Truckin Thunder Sportsman, Budweiser Modified and Collision One Limited Stock Car divisions.
A-Main 1 6 Jonathan Davenport $20,000 2 0 Scott Bloomquist 3 21 Billy Moyer 4 5 Don O’Neal 5 22s Gregg Satterlee 6 21Jr Billy Moyer Jr 7 44 Chris Madden 8 15 Steve Francis 9 28 Dennis Erb Jr 10 72 Jason Covert 11 19 Tim Fuller 12 6L Jamie Lathroum 13 7R Kent Robinson 14 23 John Blankenship 15 11 Austin Hubbard 16 15b Brian Birkhofer 17 38 Kenny Pettyjohn 18 1J Davey Johnson 19 22 Chris Ferguson 20 111 Max Blair 21 25z Mason Zeigler 22 44P Earl Pearson Jr 23 57J Bub McCool 24 91 JT Spence 25 19T William Thomas
B-Main #1 1 38 Kenny Pettyjohn 2 6L Jamie Lathroum 3 91 JT Spence 4 2 Dan Stone 5 0H Dale Hollidge 6 44L Stevie Long 7 23 John Blankenship 8 7 Ross Robinson 9 87 Walker Arthur 10 90 Larry Ramsey
B-Main #2 1 11 Austin Hubbard 2 15b Brian Birkhofer 3 111 Max Blair 4 16 Matt Cochran 5 26 Jerry Bard 6 24 Kenny Moreland 7 19R Greg Roberson 8 7R Kent Robinson 9 25z Mason Zeigler 10 15x Dean Bowen
Heat #1 1 6 Jonathan Davenport 2 5 Don O'Neal 3 19 Tim Fuller 4 72 Jason Covert 5 91 JT Spence 6 23 John Blankenship 7 6L Jamie Lathroum 8 44L Stevie Long 9 87 Walker Arthur
Heat #2 1 21 Billy Moyer 2 44 Chris Madden 3 15 Steve Francis 4 19T William Thomas 5 38 Kenny Pettyjohn 6 2 Dan Stone 7 0H Dale Hollidge 8 7 Ross Robinson 9 90 Larry Ramsey
Heat #3 1 22s Gregg Satterlee 2 0 Scott Bloomquist 3 1J Davey Johnson 4 22 Chris Ferguson 5 111 Max Blair 6 24 Kenny Moreland 7 19R Greg Roberson 8 26 Jerry Bard 9 25z Mason Zeigler
Heat #4 1 21Jr Billy Moyer Jr 2 28 Dennis Erb Jr 3 44P Earl Pearson Jr 4 57J Bub McCool 5 7R Kent Robinson 6 11 Austin Hubbard 7 15b Brian Birkhofer 8 16 Matt Cochran 9 15x Dean Bowen
Group A Qualifying 1 6 Jonathan Davenport 16.745 2 44 Chris Madden 16.861 3 5 Don O’Neal 16.878 4 21 Billy Moyer 17.060 5 19 Tim Fuller 17.154 6 19T William Thomas 17.210 7 91 JT Spence 17.247 8 15 Steve Francis 17.282 9 6L Jamie Lathroum 17.287 10 38 Kenny Pettyjohn 17 11 23 John Blankenship 17.383 12 7 Ross Robinson 17.410 13 72 Jason Covert 17.424 14 2 Dan Stone 17.459 15 44L Stevie Long 17.511 16 0H Dale Hollidge 17.586 17 87 Walker Arthur 17.734 18 90 Larry Ramsey 17.950
Group B Qualifying 1 0 Scott Bloomquist 16.509 2 44P Earl Pearson Jr 16.787 3 22s Gregg Satterlee 16.954 4 21Jr Billy Moyer Jr 16.965 5 1J Davey Johnson 16.978 6 57J Bub McCool 17.075 7 22 Chris Ferguson 17.076 8 7R Kent Robinson 17.247 9 24 Kenny Moreland 17.260 10 15b Brian Birkhofer 17.265 11 25z Mason Zeigler 17.341 12 28 Dennis Erb Jr 17.358 13 111 Max Blair 17.393 14 11 Austin Hubbard 17.408 15 26 Jerry Bard 17.697 16 15x Dean Bowen 17.877 17 19R Greg Roberson 17.903 18 16 Matt Cochran 17.941
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