Davenport Stomps Eldora Dream Foes For $100,000

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Over the past half-decade, when the dirt late model world converges on Eldora Speedway, the question asked is: can anyone stop Jonathan Davenport?

In the 2025 edition of the Dirt Late Model Dream, “Superman” made sure the answer was an unmistakable “no.”

Davenport didn’t just win the Dream for the fourth time overall and the third time in a row. He obliterated the field on the final run to the finish, crossing under the checkered flag half a lap ahead of his closest competitor.

“I love taking Tony’s money for sure,” Davenport said following the 10th Eldora crown jewel victory of his career. “This place is just awesome. It’s the only place you can come to, I feel like if you’ve got the best race car, you can win no matter where you start when the track is right.”

Davenport started his march to the front from the 13th spot, the furthest back he has won from at Eldora since winning his first World 100 in 2018 from 18th. At the front of the pack, the front row was a repeat of the 2004 Dream, with Shane Clanton and Dale McDowell leading the field just as they did 21 years ago.

McDowell jumped out to the early lead, but the field was re-racked before the field could complete a lap when Chris Madden and Spencer Hughes got together in Turn 3.

The No. 17m once again took command and pulled out to the early lead, while Clanton held strong in second for 16 laps before losing the spot to Brandon Sheppard. The second yellow flag of the race flew on Lap 22 for a flat tire on Jason Jameson’s machine, giving Chris Ferguson the chance to advance to second behind McDowell on the restart.

At that point, Davenport found himself in the same 13th position he was in at the start. But when the green flew once more, he decided it was go time. He passed five cars in the first lap after the restart to get to eighth. Three laps later, he was up to fourth. When he got the chance at another restart 32 laps in, Davenport cruised up to second and went to work on running down his fellow Georgian.

Davenport couldn’t catch McDowell on that run, but a slowing Jimmy Owens put him right beside “Mac Daddy” on the front row with 61 to go. Davenport held strong on the top around Turns 1 and 2 and cleared him a lap later, leaving McDowell with a sight many other second-place runners at Eldora have seen in recent years – the back of the No. 49.

Two more cautions gave the field a shot at Davenport, but he once again proved to be unstoppable at “The Big E.” With a sizeable advantage in hand, Davenport continued slicing through slower traffic in the late stages as if the field was right on his tail, building up an incredible 10.135-second lead by the end.

“At the start of the race, man I just couldn’t go anywhere,” Davenport said. “I was just stuck behind Ricky [Thornton Jr.], he would start moving around, I saw Bobby [Pierce] start moving around. We had that caution and everybody forgot about the bottom. They just left it open and I just drove right through there on the bottom. Just kind of stayed there, never really abused my tires. I kind of started moving out once I got to the top three or four there just to kind of see what we had if we had another restart, that way if I got stuck on the outside, I would have some kind of idea of what to do.”

While Pierce finished on the podium for the third-straight year at the Dream, it was one of the most eventful 100 laps of his career. After charging up from ninth to second in the first 46 circuits, the No. 32 slowed to bring out the caution and came to the work area to change both rear tires. The “Smooth Operator” took full advantage of the fresh rubber, going from last back into second with eight to go, but by that point the gap to Davenport was already insurmountable.

“It’s honestly a blessing the tire went flat, I knew I was probably killing them,” Pierce said. “When they do that track prep and the surface is so hard, it gets those little sharp pieces of dirt, it kills the tire. I couldn’t get going in the beginning, so I had to jump up top and get the line burned in, but of course that’s what happens, you burn your tires. All in all, an awesome rebound for us tonight.”

Rounding out the podium was Nick Hoffman. It marked his career best in crown-jewel competition at Eldora, but a few laps into the race, Hoffman’s only goal was to simply finish the race.

“Tonight, I couldn’t even make it through the first 10 laps and I knocked the spoiler off all by myself,” Hoffman said. “I was so pissed off. I was just kind of hanging on there, got that first caution, had already went a lap down. Went in, and my guys did a hell of a job to at least get my spoiler built back where I had a little bit.

“As soon as they got me back to where I had a spoiler and a right-rear quarter panel back out there, I could at least make laps around the racetrack. I was probably a little too tight early, and obviously the racetrack came to me.”

Tim McCreadie picked up his first top five in the Dream since 2022 in fourth, while Devin Moran finished top five in the event for the first time in the fifth spot.

The finish:

Feature (100 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[13]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[20]; 4. 9M-Tim McCreadie[7]; 5. 99-Devin Moran[24]; 6. 17M-Dale McDowell[2]; 7. 111-Max Blair[12]; 8. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 9. 11R-Josh Rice[14]; 10. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 11. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 12. 22-Chris Ferguson[5]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson[16]; 14. 76-Brandon Overton[19]; 15. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 16. 58-Garrett Alberson[18]; 17. 18D-Daulton Wilson[8]; 18. C8-Timothy Culp[15]; 19. 19-Dustin Sorensen[25]; 20. 114-Jordan Koehler[21]; 21. 44-Chris Madden[17]; 22. 22X-Drake Troutman[26]; 23. O1-Tyler Erb[6]; 24. 71-Hudson O’Neal[10]; 25. 12-Jason Jameson[22]; 26. 19M-Spencer Hughes[23]