QUEEN CITY DOUBLE: Davenport sweeps NGK NTK World Finals at Charlotte
Brandon Sheppard Officially Clinched his Fourth World of Outlaws Late Models Championship
CONCORD, NC – November 6, 2021 – A second chance isn’t something you associate with Jonathan Davenport. When he takes the lead in a race, it’s a rare occurrence that he loses it. 
But “Superman” needed a second chance Saturday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. He thundered past Garrett Smith for the lead a second time in Turn 3 en route to back-to-back wins at the NGK NTK World Finals. 

Davenport initially passed Smith for the lead on Lap 11, getting by with a similar slide job to how he passed Brandon Sheppard for the win on Friday. His lead slipped away once he caught slower traffic five laps later.  

Jason Covert broke the Blairsville, GA driver’s momentum, allowing Smith to sneak up on Davenport and roar past him on the inside.

Just as it looked like Davenport’s opportunity for a weekend sweep may have slipped away, contact between his Longhorn Chassis and Covert sent the Pennsylvania driver around and brought out the caution. 

That’s when Davenport knew he needed to get up on the wheel.

“I knew that the 10 had beat me the previous lap, so I said oh no, what was I going to do,” Davenport said. “I just kept trying the top down there, it got me to third and almost second on the first lap when everyone went for the rubber, and I just blasted the top, and it stuck somehow.” 

The win is Davenport’s fifth NGK NTK World Finals Victory and 10th career World of Outlaws triumph. 

Garrett Smith crossed the line second—a feather in his cap for a driver who’s in his first full year of Super Late Model competition. 

The Eatonton, GA campaigner was thrilled with his performance and stated it was a learning experience racing against some of the top Late Model drivers in the country. 

“It feels really good to come up here all weekend and have speed all weekend,” Smith said. “It’s fun racing with these guys and seeing how they race you and learn from them.

“Leading a couple of laps right there felt amazing.”

Sheppard finished third—officially clinching his third straight World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Championship and fourth overall. He’s now tied with Josh Richards for the most titles all-time. 

READ MORE: CHAMPION’S ROAD: BRAD SWEET, BRANDON SHEPPARD, MATT SHEPPARD CLAIM 2021 TITLES

The New Berlin, IL driver, led a few laps, but his car tightened up for the second straight night.   

“I got a little snug there at the end of the race,” Sheppard said. “We definitely made improvements on the car; we were better here than we were the last couple of years. 

“We’re looking forward to next year and doing some testing before we go to Florida and just fine-tune on this thing because we’re really close and really fast.” 

Tim McCreadie, the 2006 World of Outlaws Late Models Champion, finished fourth and Chris Madden capped off his runner-up season in the standings with a fifth-place finish. 

While a second chance isn’t something associated with “Superman,” it sometimes takes more to keep down Jonathan Davenport. 

The Blairsville, GA driver capped off a weekend to remember on a stage he has holds in high regard for Late Model racing. 

“This is the racing capital of the World almost, and it should be a crown jewel event,” Davenport said. 

UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet kick off the 2022 season at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL, for the Sunshine Nationals Jan. 20-22. For Tickets: CLICK HERE.

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

Morton Buildings Feature 40 Laps | 00:37:13.574 – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[2]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[11]; 5. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 7. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[16]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton[17]; 9. 7-Ricky Weiss[7]; 10. 23B-John Blankenship[10]; 11. 11-Austin Kirkpatrick[19]; 12. 99B-Boom Briggs[24]; 13. 0-Scott Bloomquist[9]; 14. 20-Jimmy Owens[15]; 15. 89-Ashton Winger[21]; 16. 7R-Ross Robinson[22]; 17. 19R-Ryan Gustin[23]; 18. 14-Josh Richards[8]; 19. 16-Tyler Bruening[18]; 20. 72-Jason Covert[25]; 21. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[14]; 22. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 23. 111V-Max Blair[20]; 24. 01-Chris Ferguson[12]; 25. 0H-Nick Hoffman[13]; Hard Charger – Boom Briggs (+12)

Slick Woody’s Qualifying Group A 2 Laps | 00:02:34.184 – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:15.627[23]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler, 00:15.639[8]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.829[15]; 4. 14-Josh Richards, 00:15.925[22]; 5. 0H-Nick Hoffman, 00:15.935[21]; 6. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:15.983[4]; 7. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 00:16.021[12]; 8. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:16.027[5]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:16.084[17]; 10. 89-Ashton Winger, 00:16.144[9]; 11. 11-Austin Kirkpatrick, 00:16.242[11]; 12. 111-Steven Roberts, 00:16.295[14]; 13. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:16.358[10]; 14. B1-Brent Larson, 00:16.483[19]; 15. 48-Colton Flinner, 00:16.545[6]; 16. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:16.598[3]; 17. 91-Cody Overton, 00:16.708[20]; 18. 42-Cla Knight, 00:16.917[2]; 19. 17-Tim Vance, 00:17.090[1]; 20. K7-Gary Dillon, 00:17.276[13]; 21. 93-Pancho Lawler, 00:17.475[18]; 22. 23-Derek Rogers, 00:17.535[16]; 23. (DNS) 07-Brian Ledbetter

Slick Woody’s Qualifying Group B 2 Laps | 00:00:55.000 – 1. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:15.811[7]; 2. 01-Chris Ferguson, 00:15.873[4]; 3. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:15.896[12]; 4. 44-Chris Madden, 00:15.915[20]; 5. 23B-John Blankenship, 00:16.095[21]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:16.113[2]; 7. 119-Bryan Bernheisel, 00:16.206[16]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:16.245[23]; 9. 72-Jason Covert, 00:16.247[14]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:16.258[19]; 11. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:16.330[8]; 12. 7R-Ross Robinson, 00:16.348[5]; 13. 1G-Ryan King, 00:16.357[3]; 14. 32-Dustin Mitchell, 00:16.372[11]; 15. 111V-Max Blair, 00:16.499[1]; 16. 55-Benji Hicks, 00:16.520[22]; 17. 2-Dan Stone, 00:16.526[13]; 18. 99-Jesse Glenz, 00:16.531[6]; 19. 20H-Bryson Harper, 00:16.837[10]; 20. 44L-Dylan Lewis, 00:16.879[17]; 21. 06-Mike Lupfer, 00:17.108[9]; 22. 354-Chris Nash, 00:17.126[15]; 23. 6-Blake Spencer, 00:17.290[18]

Drydene Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:05:35.996 – 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist[4]; 4. 0H-Nick Hoffman[3]; 5. 76-Brandon Overton[7]; 6. 11-Austin Kirkpatrick[6]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 8. 48-Colton Flinner[8]; 9. 91-Cody Overton[9]; 10. 17-Tim Vance[10]; 11. 93-Pancho Lawler[11]; 12. (DNS) 07-Brian Ledbetter

Drydene Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:05:09.766 – 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 89-Ashton Winger[5]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[8]; 7. 111-Steven Roberts[6]; 8. B1-Brent Larson[7]; 9. K7-Gary Dillon[10]; 10. 23-Derek Rogers[11]; 11. 42-Cla Knight[9]

Drydene Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:05:31.920 – 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 7-Ricky Weiss[2]; 3. 23B-John Blankenship[3]; 4. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[4]; 5. 111V-Max Blair[8]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 7. 72-Jason Covert[5]; 8. 2-Dan Stone[9]; 9. 20H-Bryson Harper[10]; 10. 6-Blake Spencer[12]; 11. 1G-Ryan King[7]; 12. 06-Mike Lupfer[11]

Drydene Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:05:35.417 – 1. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 3. 01-Chris Ferguson[1]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 6. 7R-Ross Robinson[6]; 7. 99-Jesse Glenz[9]; 8. 55-Benji Hicks[8]; 9. 32-Dustin Mitchell[7]; 10. 44L-Dylan Lewis[10]; 11. 354-Chris Nash[11]

Last Chance Showdown 1 10 Laps | 00:09:03.570 – 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 11-Austin Kirkpatrick[3]; 3. 89-Ashton Winger[2]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[7]; 6. B1-Brent Larson[8]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 8. 91-Cody Overton[9]; 9. 93-Pancho Lawler[13]; 10. 17-Tim Vance[11]; 11. 23-Derek Rogers[12]; 12. K7-Gary Dillon[10]; 13. 111-Steven Roberts[6]; 14. (DNS) 42-Cla Knight; 15. (DNS) 07-Brian Ledbetter

CHARLOTTE SHOWSTOPPER: Davenport Scores 4th NGK NTK World Finals Victory
The Blairsville, GA driver held off Brandon Sheppard for his ninth career World of Outlaws win 
CONCORD, NC – November 5th, 2021– Even “Superman” has a way of preventing history.
Brandon Sheppard was on the cusp of tying Josh Richards for the most World of Outlaws wins, but Jonathan Davenport had other ideas Friday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The Blairsville, GA driver pulled a slide job on Sheppard, stealing the victory away on night one of the NGK NTK World Finals. 

Ricky Weiss grabbed the early lead in the 50-Lap Feature, but it was short-lived once Sheppard wrestled the position away on Lap 12. That’s when Davenport and Weiss waged war for the second, fighting tooth and nail through several restarts in the first half of the event. 

Once Davenport dispatched of Weiss, he set his sights on Sheppard and his chance at a win—an opportunity that may not have come without Sheppard catching the back of the field. 

“I couldn’t make up hardly any ground on him when he was in clean air,” Davenport said. “Once we got to lap traffic, that’s when I could make some ground up on him and just see what his strengths were and my weaknesses, and I tried to capitalize on what his weaknesses were.” 

That’s what Davenport did. Capitalize. A perfectly timed run entering Turn 3 allowed “Superman” to become Sheppard’s kryptonite, crushing “The Rocket Shepp’s” hopes on Lap 32.  

“I got a big run, and he messed up at just the perfect time for me and worst time for him,” Davenport said. “I slid him getting into Turn 3 and just tried to hold on from there. 

“We can’t see those signal guys from here, so I was just trying to make consistent laps and try not to mess up.” 

The win is Davenport’s fourth NGK NTK World Finals victory and ninth career World of Outlaws win. 

Sheppard settled for second—his 25th World of Outlaws podium of 2021. The reigning Series champion stated his Rocket1 Racing car was fast but tightened up near the end.   

“Towards the end, I just got tight and couldn’t really make the corners as good as I needed to,” Sheppard said. “I kind of burnt my tires off late in the race just from having to slide the car. We had a really fast car all night, though, so I definitely can’t complain. We’re just going to get back to work on this thing, and hopefully, we can get one spot better on [Saturday].”

Fellow Illinois driver Dennis Erb Jr. crossed the line third, grabbing a top-three for the sixth time this season. While he didn’t have the start he hoped for, “The One-Man Band’s” Rocket Chassis came to life in the second half of the race—allowing him to grab the final podium spot from Tyler Erb on the last lap. 

“My car didn’t fire off very good, but the longer the race went, the car was getting better and better,” Erb said. “I was able to drive back up through there, so I was happy with that.” 

Tyler Erb finished fourth—his first World of Outlaws top-five of the season, and early race leader Ricky Weiss rounded out the top-five. 

Jonathan Davenport’s ability to strike while the iron is hot has paved the way to victories on some of the sport’s biggest stages. Whether it’s beating Brandon Overton at DIRTcar’s World 100 at Eldora Speedway or Sheppard at the World Finals, “Superman” has a way of preventing history.  

UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet finish their 2021 season Saturday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for night two of the NGK NTK World Finals. Hot Laps are scheduled for 1 p.m. 

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

Morton Buildings Feature 50 Laps | 00:27:39.532 – 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[13]; 5. 7-Ricky Weiss[1]; 6. 01-Chris Ferguson[8]; 7. 14-Josh Richards[10]; 8. 8-Kyle Strickler[15]; 9. 111V-Max Blair[21]; 10. 44-Chris Madden[9]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[17]; 12. 72-Jason Covert[19]; 13. 99B-Boom Briggs[23]; 14. 10-Garrett Smith[16]; 15. B1-Brent Larson[24]; 16. 7R-Ross Robinson[22]; 17. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 18. 111-Steven Roberts[14]; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin[12]; 20. 0H-Nick Hoffman[20]; 21. 11-Austin Kirkpatrick[5]; 22. 76-Brandon Overton[11]; 23. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 24. 23B-John Blankenship[18]; 25. 42-Cla Knight[25]; Hard Charger – Max Blair (+12)

Slick Woody’s Qualifying Group A 2 Laps | 00:06:45.000 – 1. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:14.790[5]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:14.886[15]; 3. 01-Chris Ferguson, 00:14.891[11]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:14.969[9]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:14.994[2]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:15.034[8]; 7. 44-Chris Madden, 00:15.067[12]; 8. 8-Kyle Strickler, 00:15.097[16]; 9. 72-Jason Covert, 00:15.117[17]; 10. 89-Ashton Winger, 00:15.177[13]; 11. 91-Cody Overton, 00:15.255[24]; 12. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 00:15.278[18]; 13. 32-Dustin Mitchell, 00:15.283[14]; 14. 111V-Max Blair, 00:15.317[22]; 15. 99B-Boom Briggs, 00:15.322[7]; 16. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:15.407[4]; 17. 48-Colton Flinner, 00:15.438[6]; 18. 2-Dan Stone, 00:15.464[23]; 19. 17-Tim Vance, 00:15.758[1]; 20. 99-Jesse Glenz, 00:15.906[21]; 21. B1-Brent Larson, 00:15.957[19]; 22. 44L-Dylan Lewis, 00:16.058[10]; 23. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:16.087[20]; 24. 15-Donny Schatz[3]