The Headline(s)
Another crown jewel, another flag-to-flag win. This time the checkers flew for Jonathan Davenport, who led all 100 laps of the USA Nationals finale Saturday night (Aug. 6) at Cedar Lake Speedway.
How it Happened
2022 USA Nationals (World of Outlaws Late Models)
Where: Cedar Lake Speedway – New Richmond, Wis. (streamed on DirtVision)
Winner’s Purse: $50,000 (Saturday)
One week after seeing Brandon Sheppard lead all 100 laps of the Prairie Dirt Classic, Davenport proved imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, wiring the finale feature of the USA Nationals to score his third career win in the crown jewel race.
. @dirtvision REPLAY: @TheFast49 Wins his 3rd USA Nationals!!! He’s also a back-to-back Winner and is 50k Richer!!!! @racecedarlake pic.twitter.com/nCiC81VEP4
— World of Outlaws Late Models (@WoOLateModels) August 7, 2022
Davenport did face a couple challengers over the course of the event, the most notable of which was Tyler Erb, who threw a series of successive sliders at Davenport that appeared to prevail immediately before the race’s first caution flew on lap 36, rendering the pass incomplete. As with many features in 2022, Davenport saw Chris Madden get to within a few car lengths in the closing laps on the high side before prevailing.
Among the World of Outlaws late model regulars, the top finisher was Max Blair in seventh, with current series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. one spot behind in eighth. The USA Nationals feature on Saturday did not run for points.
Success Stories
He may not have won the race, but Tyler Erb’s return to the USA Nationals was in fact the show on Saturday night. Erb, for those unaware, was banned from World Racing Group events for a calendar year after a violent incident on track with Bobby Pierce under caution in the 2020 version of this event.
Fast forward to this weekend, and Erb threw more slide jobs than any two drivers on the track Saturday night, landing on the podium by race’s end. Of note, a mid-race battle between Pierce and Erb on the track for a top-five spot was aggressive and squeaky clean.
Shannon Babb’s fans are used to seeing him racing for far more than top-10 finishes, but given the way his 2022 season has gone, to see him finish ninth in a major race was a big step forward.
22nd to 9th last night in the @WoOLateModels #USANationals at @racecedarlake !!
Very solid weekend for the @LonghornChassis debut!
PC: Todd Boyd pic.twitter.com/H4JVvSZq6Y
— Shannon…
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