Davenport Dominates Edwin Coggins Memorial at Golden Isles

Davenport Dominates Edwin Coggins Memorial at Golden Isles

 (BRUNSWICK, GA - February 6, 2016) - The reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, Jonathan Davenport led all 30 laps to win the Edwin Coggins Memorial on Saturday afternoon at Golden Isles Speedway.

Davenport would get the jump on last night's winner, Josh Richards to the lead at the outset of the feature.  Brian Shirley would get by Richards on the opening lap and hold the position until the checkered flag, barely edging Richards at the finish line.  Jared Landers and 11th starting Steve Francis rounded out the top five.

"The whole key to the race was the start.  I knew I had to beat Josh off the start.  We found a rubber streak there that helped us in lapped traffic, I was a little nervous trying to get by those guys.  I finally decided to get to the outside and go by them because I knew the guys behind me were probably pretty close"

"We couldn't do this without the help of a lot of people.  Troy Baird of Baird Transport, Bryson Motorsports, Mac Trailers, and everybody else that supports us.  We still have work to do.  But it's a big confidence boost for the team."

Shirley, who started third dived below Richards on the start to grab the runner-up spot, a position he held for the remainder of the race, was pleased with his car.  "It's a good start to the year.  A lot of guys back home have stepped up and supported us this year.  I have to thank Bob Cullen, Arnie Ranta, Thomason Express and Cheap Cars for their assistance."

"I could have pushed the issue in traffic but I didn't want to tear up the car.  I wanted to save it for the bigger money tonight.  Josh almost got me there at the finish.  I am glad we were able to hold him off," said the driver of the Longhorn, Pro Powered Chevrolet 3S.

Richards, who was looking to start the weekend with back-to-back wins, came home third.  "We have been testing for a while now on this car.  We just let it sit today and didn't make any changes for the day race.  The lapped traffic got a little hairy out there.  Once Davenport was clear of traffic it was over.  It was a good finish there between Brian and me."

Completing the top ten were Chris Madden, Eddie Carrier Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Tim McCreadie, and Earl Pearson, Jr. 

In preliminary action, Jonathan Davenport set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group B) amongst the 41 entrants, with a lap of 15.377 seconds. Josh Richards set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 15.675 seconds. Josh Richards, Brian Shirley, Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Sheppard won their respective heat races. Earl Pearson Jr. and Scott Bloomquist won their respective B-Mains.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and follow the series at www.facebook.com/lucasdirt, www.twitter.com/lucasdirt, and www.instagram.com/lucasdirt.

Visit Us on Your Favorite Social Media Outlets!