Jonathan Davenport won in dominating fashion in the Superstar Racing Experience at Lucas Oil Speedway, leading every lap in the main event as chaos reigned behind him.
He finished with a 1.199-second lead over Brad Keselowski after a wild final ten laps. When the field restarted, Clint Bowyer, who’d been chasing Davenport down in the previous long green flag runs, started below him and threw two wild slide jobs.
In his first attempt, he was pushed out of line by Davenport before regrouping and trying again, just to be run further up the track and shuffled back in the pack. He tried to climb back up amidst three-wide racing, but even with a final caution with three laps to go, it was Davenport’s show in his first-ever race in the series.
“I’m speechless, this is awesome!” Davenport said after stepping out of his car.
“I didn’t know Clint was going to slide me right there, I would’ve let him go on across, but I did him right at the right time, I was already back in the gas. So I knew he was going to come back again, so I just lifted and somebody else took us three wide,” he explained. “But at that point there ain’t that many laps left and I’d done saved long enough, so…”
“Man, just awesome, I was out there pacing myself, just trying to keep the edges on the tires and do greater dirt guy stuff,” he added.
“This was just such an awesome experience, thank so much to SRX for giving me this awesome opportunity, coming out here to race some of my heroes, some legends, some superstars… I’m just a country boy from Georgia that runs dirt cars. Thanks to all of these fans for coming out, this was awesome.”
For Davenport, who’s won 67 dirt late model races just this year, it’s nice to be the one-off ringer rather than the perennial dominant superstar.
“Thankful it’s not a late model crowd, they’re usually booing me,” he concluded with a laugh.
It was just a last minute decision to get Davenport in the car, as series CEO Don Hawk confirmed. Hawk explained that it was difficult to reach him on the phone, but that Davenport was always the target as a dirt ringer to bring to the series following Paul Tracey’s suspension.
“That was awesome, thanks for that phone call,” Davenport told Hawk before even getting out of the car.
Brad Keselowski ended up second, putting himself in good position after saving his tires all race to benefit from the chaos. Ken Schrader and Ryan Newman both ended up ahead of Clint Bowyer, who came home fifth.
Bowyer had a fast car all night but just couldn’t get around Davenport on the restarts. Choosing to start behind him in the high lane on the third restart, Bowyer was shuffled back to fourth after contact with Marco Andretti. He made his way up – after showing his displeasure to Andretti via the bumper – but lost valuable ground.
SRX Series Championship
1. Ryan Newman
2. Marco Andretti -45
3. Brad Keselowski -45
4. Tony Stewart -48
5. Ken Schrader -62
6. Bobby Labonte -67
7. Hailie Deegan -72
Newman won the championship, but it was already locked up before the main event had even begun. Finishing eighth in the main event was enough to mathematically guarantee him the win when Tony Stewart, the only other driver in possible range, ended up tenth.
He was very happy to get that championship.
“It means a lot, no doubt,” Newman said.
“Any kind of championship, and the SRX racing series – the Superstar Racing Experience – racing against guys like Tony Stewart, Jonathan Davenport who’s won everything on dirt, Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace… It’s pretty special. It’s just a lot of fun to be out here doing what I’m doing.”
Both Marco Andretti and Brad Keselowski passed Stewart in the championship standings as well. Stewart had an ill-handling car all day, even heading down pit road for repairs midway through the race, although he was able to make some passes after those adjustments.
Compared to some of the previous races this season, it was relatively clean. The first three cautions were all part of the SRX Fun Flag, designed to bunch the pack up after long green flag stints. The final two cautions that created the chaotic restarts at the end were both for cause, though, when Ernie Francis and Bobby Labonte spun.
Another SRX gimmick that was used heavily was talking to drivers during the race itself. It was amplified this time around when Kevin Harvick spoke to Ryan Newman as the two raced to congratulate him on the championship.
“We’re proud you’re part of it, bud,” Stewart said over the radio, “and the good news is you can just enjoy this Main. Have fun, and I’ll have a full beer with you when this is over.”
Stewart later spoke to Ken Schrader as well.
The three-wide racing and contact-filled chaos at Lucas Oil Speedway was a fitting end to the six-round SRX Series that marked the return of Thursday Night Thunder on ESPN. The series is scheduled to return next summer.
SRX Series Round 6
Lucas Oil Speedway
Main Event Results
1. Jonathan Davenport
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Ken Schrader
4. Ryan Newman
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Marco Andretti
7. Tony Stewart
8. Kenny Wallace
9. Helio Castroneves
10. Hailie Deegan
11. Ernie Francis, Jr.
12. Bobby Labonte
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