BACK-TO-BACK EAGLES: Davenport Wins Second Straight USA Nationals at Cedar Lake 
The Blairsville, GA driver led all 100-laps to earn $50,000 prize
NEW RICHMOND, WI – AUGUST 7, 2022 – Jonathan Davenport added another piece of history to his impressive 2022 resume Saturday night at Cedar Lake Speedway.
The Blairsville, GA driver held off Chris Madden in the final 10 laps Saturday at Cedar Lake to win his second consecutive USA Nationals, joining Billy Moyer and Jackie Boggs as the only drivers to win the event in back-to-back seasons. 

Davenport led all 100 laps to score his fourth World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series Feature win of 2022. However, it came one night after he felt his car needed to get better. 

A few small changes helped him get back on track and score the $50,000 prize. 

“We just made minor changes,” Davenport said. “I felt the balance was pretty good; there’s a couple of stipulations to the car and a couple of things I didn’t really like about it. So, we made some minor shock adjustments, a shock change, a spring change, and just some little stuff here and there. 

“We didn’t get crazy, but just a few adjustments to make me a little bit more comfortable.”

Despite leading every lap, Tyler Erb nosed ahead of Davenport on two occasions, throwing a slide job to take the spot each time. Davenport stole the lead back on the first attempt, and then a caution negated “Terbo’s” pass the second time.

Once that happened, Davenport knew what to expect from the New Waverly, TX driver. 

“I knew where he was at, “Davenport said. “Obviously, if he slid me in (Turn) 3, I knew he was running the top in (Turns) 1 and 2. I was just moving my line around. It moved quite a few times there. It started out in the middle, and finally, it went all the way to the wall around the cushion, and then I kind of moved back to the bottom.”

Erb slipped to third at the end of the race, despite challenging for the lead in the middle stages. “Terbo’s” face had a smile showing satisfaction, but his eyes were burning in frustration knowing he had a chance to be “Superman’s” kryptonite.

“I was trying to save, save, and save [my stuff], and when [a chance] presented itself, I let it rip for all she had,” Erb said. “I was honestly able to get by him fairly easy, I thought. The problem is the way him and Madden were running, the only way I was going to pass them was to slide them, and I couldn’t keep my momentum all the way around them. 

“So, I slid him the first time and slid him the second time, and I was finally going to be clear the next lap. We were good enough to have a chance, just not good enough to finish it all the way off.”

While Erb battled with Davenport for the lead, he also waged war with Madden several times for second. The Gray Court, SC driver, won that battle but fell short of a potential fifth $50,000 prize of the season.

“Smokey” stated he couldn’t get the momentum he needed to sneak by Davenport in traffic. 

“We just caught those lap cars at the right time,” Madden said. “[Garrett Smith) was running kind of low, and then when we caught him, I was running the middle and the [top] just carrying my momentum, and I guess [Davenport] just got his nose under him and moved him up. When he moved up, he was right in my line.”

“We had a great race car, but we had a lot of cautions that broke my momentum quite a few times. That hurt us, but that’s part of it. We’re trying to keep working on this thing and find what we can do to get better on some shorter runs.”

Ricky Weiss crossed the line fourth. The Headingly, MB driver made the battle for second a three-car affair with Madden and Erb a few times but fell behind them in the final few laps. 

He stated his right front tire went away, costing him a chance at the win.

“The right front gave up a little bit when I got alongside Madden,” Weiss said. “We were real good; I could see [Davenport’s] right front give up and change his line, and then Madden was next, so then mine was next.”

Four-time and reigning Series champion Brandon Sheppard rounded out the top-five. The New Berlin, IL driver felt the track threw him a curveball, with rain in the New Richmond, WI area throughout the day. 

“The track was not your typical Cedar Lake, for sure,” Sheppard said. “I think we had a good car, but I was just moving around trying to pass guys so much that you’d overheat your tires really fast. Then, you kind of have to just get back in that middle line. 

“I think our car was overall pretty decent. Like I said, we just didn’t pass cars earlier in the race, and I was kind of trying to save my stuff for the end. But at the end, it was really hard to pass. It was not the typical Cedar Lake racetrack for sure, and I’m sure the rain had a lot to do with it.”

A second consecutive USA Nationals victory for Jonathan Davenport continues his impressive resume of high dollar wins in 2022. It’s a historical victory that Blairsville, GA driver will cherish.

“Something’s got to pay off,” Davenport said. “It’s very rewarding to come out here and do good.”

UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet travel to the Northeast for three nights of high-octane action. The weekend kicks off on Friday, Aug. 19, with a trip to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA. Then, the Series returns to Sharon Speedway in Hartford, OH, on Saturday, Aug. 20. Finally, the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models head to Tri-City Raceway Park in Franklin, PA, on Sunday, Aug. 21.

If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App.

35th Annual USA Nationals (100 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. 7-Ricky Weiss[10]; 5. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 6. 157-Mike Marlar[20]; 7. 111V-Max Blair[15]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[25]; 9. 18-Shannon Babb[22]; 10. 97-Cade Dillard[21]; 11. 76-Brandon Overton[18]; 12. 81E-Tanner English[7]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[26]; 14. 10S-Garrett Smith[17]; 15. 49T-Jake Timm[3]; 16. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[9]; 17. 58-Ashton Winger[8]; 18. 16-Tyler Bruening[23]; 19. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 20. 8-Kyle Strickler[13]; 21. 19R-Ryan Gustin[14]; 22. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[27]; 23. 25-Shane Clanton[12]; 24. 25F-Jason Feger[19]; 25. 55C-Chad Mahder[16]; 26. 11-Gordy Gundaker[24]; 27. 20-Jimmy Owens[11]; 28. 10-Joseph Joiner[28] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER: Dennis Erb Jr. [+17]

WARRIOR'S THREE: Marlar Grabs Opening Night Win at 35th USA Nationals
Brent Larson matches best World of Outlaws result for second-place finish
NEW RICHMOND, WI – AUGUST 5, 2022 – A well-timed change and a little luck kept Mike Marlar’s Wisconsin streak alive Thursday night at Cedar Lake Speedway. 
The Winfield, TN driver was chasing Jonathan Davenport for the lead when he moved to the top in Turns 1 and 2. That’s when the 2018 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series champion got the break he needed. 

As Marlar started inching closer to “Superman,” heartbreak struck Davenport as ignition box issues sidelined him for the rest of the night on Lap 11.

From there, Marlar led the final 20 laps to score his third Series triumph of 2022—all of them in the Badger State.  

The “Winfield Warrior” knew Davenport’s misfortunes meant it was his race to lose as he reached the podium in his eighth straight World of Outlaws start. 

“I’m not going to say I was faster than [Davenport], but I found a little bit better line than him,” Marlar said. “But these guys have a knack of moving to that line right when they need to, too.

“You can’t count your chickens before they hatch, but definitely when he broke there, it was all mine to lose then.”

Marlar survived several restarts once he got the lead and challenges from Brent Larson and Gordy Gundaker. 

However, his ability to use the outside line in Turns 1 and 2 paid dividends en route to the $6,000 payday. 

“The groove for me that was better was high in (Turns) 1 and 2 and low in (Turns) 3 and 4,” Marlar said. “It was kind of weird because it was an extreme high right against the wall, and down there in 3 and 4, it was left front up over the tires and left rear against the tires. It was definitely a real technical racetrack, and these places up here always are.”

Larson held on for second, matching his best World of Outlaws finish. However, he felt he needed a few more adjustments to find Victory Lane at the track where he cut his teeth in a Late Model. 

“I stayed a little bit too conservative in my setup,” Larson said. “I just needed to make a few more changes than I made, and I might’ve had something for him in the middle if I had done that. 

“But it’s tough when you get off to a good start because you don’t want to change too much either. I’m happy with the night overall and happy knowing we’re a second-place car and that I know what changes I need to make to get better.”

Tanner English, Thursday’s Rookie of the Race, crossed the line third—his second straight podium finish. 

The Benton, KY driver, stated restarts were his strength, allowing him to get to the top three from his 14th starting position.

 “It came to the front the whole time, and every restart, it would really jump out there and go,” English said. “I was just hanging on, but every time someone would make a mistake, I would get my nose up underneath them and pass them.”

Like English, four-time and reigning Series champion Brandon Sheppard also charged into the top five, finishing fourth. 

The New Berlin, IL driver, felt his car was good but knew he had to go to the outside if he wanted to gain positions

“We had a really good car that whole race,” Sheppard said. “I could run top, middle, the bottom where I needed to. There at the end, I feel like I had my left rear tire used up a little bit because I was running that top so hard early. But they were all on the bottom, so I had to get out and try to make something happen. 

“Our team did a great job tonight. Our car was really good. We gave it all we had, for sure. I felt like we had a really good balanced car, so it’s exciting for the rest of the weekend.”

World of Outlaws Series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. rounded out the top five—his 15th top five of 2022. 

Despite the top-five run, the Carpentersville, IL driver isn’t satisfied with how he’s running right now. 

“It was getting a lot better, but it needs to get a lot better in the Feature,” Erb said. “We started off a little bit and worked our way in there, but I’m really not happy with it right now, so I just have to tweak on it and hopefully get it a little bit better on [Friday].”

English gained points on Erb for the second consecutive race. He’s now 164 points behind Erb after Thursday night’s Feature. He also gained on Max Blair in the battle for Rookie of the Year—20 points ahead of the Centerville, PA driver.  

UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Cedar Lake Speedway on Friday, Aug. 5, for night two of the 35th USA Nationals. Drivers will run a program of double Heat Races and a dash to help set the lineup for Saturday’s 100-lap, $50,000-to-win finale. 

If you can’t make it to the tracks, watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App. Each night of USA Nationals is included in a DIRTVision monthly OR annual FAST PASS subscription.

CASE Construction Equipment Feature (30 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. B1-Brent Larson[3]; 3. 81E-Tanner English[14]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 7. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 8. 18-Shannon Babb[15]; 9. 97-Cade Dillard[20]; 10. 11-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 11. 3S-Brian Shirley[19]; 12. 111V-Max Blair[23]; 13. 32-Bobby Pierce[12]; 14. 25-Shane Clanton[6]; 15. 1-Boom Briggs[24]; 16. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 17. 16-Tyler Bruening[16]; 18. 7-Ricky Weiss[21]; 19. 44-Chris Madden[18]; 20. 8-Kyle Strickler[10]; 21. 76-Brandon Overton[8]; 22. 10S-Garrett Smith[13]; 23. 28M-Jimmy Mars[22]; 24. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1] FOX FACTORY HARD CHARGER: Tanner English [+11].