Overton Scores King of the Commonwealth At Virginia

Story By: ROBY HELM / VIRGINIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY – JAMAICA, VA – Brandon Overton of Evans, GA drove the Randy Weaver Racing #116 to its second straight Aaron’s King of the Commonwealth presented by Essex Concrete win on Saturday night and pocketed $20,000 in the Aaron’s King of Commonwealth at Virginia Motor Speedway. Overton battled with Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA early and often before taking the lead for good on lap 28 of the 60-lap race.

“That race car could have driven itself around there tonight; Jonathan (Davenport) showed me how to get around turn one and I got behind in lapped traffic and then turned it around on him later,” commented Overton in victory lane.

Overton added “I just got my first $10,000 win and now a $20,000 win, it is kinda unreal I can’t thank Randy Weaver and the crew for giving me the chance to drive this car.”

After starting on the outside of the front row, Davenport took the lead from polesitter Overton with a crossover move to the inside coming off the second turn on the first lap that saw Marlar, Madden and Hubbard in third through fifth respectively.

One crossover move is worth another, as Overton returned the favor on Davenport to take the lead on lap two, as McDowell got by Hubbard for the fifth spot. The caution flag was unfurled for the first time on lap three when 2016 ULTIMATE SE Rookie of the Year Glenn Elliott spun in turn four. Marlar gave up the third spot on the track to pit under caution.

Overton pulled in front of Davenport on lap seven, and Madden worked his way back around Hubbard for the third spot. Davenport made an inside move on Overton coming off the fourth turn on lap nine to take the lead. Hubbard and Madden were still contesting the third spot, with Hubbard reclaiming the position on the 11th lap.

Davenport reached the cars on the tail end of the lead lap on lap 13, and McDowell got around Madden to take the fourth spot on lap 15. Overton chased down Davenport in lapped traffic, and began to challenge for the lead on lap 20. McDowell and Madden got by Hubbard to move up to third and fourth respectively on lap 20.

Davenport was able to keep Overton behind him in lapped traffic, but once they had clear race track in front of them, Overton dove to the inside going into turn three on lap 28 to take the lead from Davenport. McDowell then closed on Davenport and they raced side-by-side for second on lap 30. Elliott brought out the caution flag for a second time on lap 32 to bunch up the field for a restart.

By lap 35, Overton had pulled out to a half straightaway lead over McDowell. Marlar moved into the top five again on lap 38 when he got around Ferguson. The final caution flag of the race came out on lap 44 for debris in turn four. Overton led McDowell, Davenport, Marlar, Madden, Ferguson and Hubbard double-file back to the green flag.

Marlar passed Davenport for the third spot on lap 45, and with ten laps to go, Overton had once again opened up a half straightaway lead over McDowell. Overton found himself in lapped traffic on lap 53.

Overton had increased his lead over McDowell to a full straightaway on lap 55. At the checkered flag, Overton was out of sight of McDowell and took the checkered flag with a 4.175 second margin of victory.

In the FASTRAK Racing Pro Late Model $3000 to win feature Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA, one of only a few drivers pulling double duty, returned to his dirt late model roots Saturday night and won the Aaron’s King of the Commonwealth presented by Essex Concrete 40.

After starting on the outside of the front row for the main event, Davenport took the lead and never looked back. The driver known as “Superman” led all 40 laps for the win driving the C&H Paving Barry Wright “House Car.”

“We’re off to a good start this year with our Chevrolet Performance Circle Track Engine program, as we’re three for three so far this season,” Davenport said. “Now, if we could just get some of that success to rub off on our super late model program we would be in good shape.”

A pair of multi-car wrecks in turn one on the first two attempts to start the race accounted for two of the five caution flags in the event. Once everyone settled into a race pace, Davenport took the lead from his outside front row starting spot, followed by polesitter Ford, Justin Williams, Ron Parker of Belwood, NC in the Schaeffer Oil Rocket and Nance.

Parker passed Williams for third on lap two, and by lap seven, Davenport had opened up a half straightaway lead on Ford. By the ninth lap, Davenport caught the cars on the tail end of the lead lap, but that didn’t slow him down at all. Williams began to fade a little on lap ten, as Nance passed him for fourth, and Knight got by him for the fifth spot on lap 12.

Nance had a good run going, as he worked his way around Parker for the third position on the 14th tour. The field slowed for a caution flag on lap 16 when Beachler stalled in turn one. The double-file restart saw Davenport leading Ford, Nance, Parker, Knight, Bare, Justin Williams, Arthur, Hicks and Frankie Beard of Hartwell, GA in the Jessica Cornett Racing/CMP Automotive Mastersbilt in the second through tenth spots respectively for the restart.

On the restart, Ford pushed up high in turn four, and hit the guardrail on the front straightaway. That caused Arthur to get sideways, and grab a handful of steering wheel. Arthur didn’t hit anyone, or anything, and the field stayed green with a major shuffle behind the leader Davenport.

The caution flag came back out on lap 19 when teammates Matthew Quade of Mechanicsville, MD in the Northern Neck Chevrolet Rocket and Jared Powell of Scottsville, VA in the Northern Neck Chevrolet Rocket tangled with Corey Almond of Appomattox, VA in the Ditch Witch Longhorn in turn two.

On the restart, Bare got by Nance for the second spot in turn two, and Hornsby, after restarting in the seventh spot, made a big move and passed Nance for third on the front straightaway on lap 20. Nance fell back to fifth on lap 23 when Ford got by for the fourth spot.

Davenport encountered lapped traffic on lap 28 with a 15 car-length lead on Bare. By lap 30, Davenport had once again opened back up a half straightaway lead. Debris in turn four on lap 33 lit up the yellow bulb for a final time. With the field bunched up single file behind him, Davenport was once again up to the task, and led the seven lap dash to the finish.

The Speedway will return to racing next Saturday April 15th and host week 2 of the Aaron’s Dirt Series Championship weekly racing action featuring the Victory Lap Pro Late Model, Truckin Thunder Sportsman, Budweiser Modified and Collision One Limited Stock Car divisions.

Admission price for adults is only $12, seniors (60+) $10; military (active/retired w/ proper I.D.) $8, students 11 – 17 years old $6 and children 10 and under admitted free. Pit passes will be $20.

Competitor gates for Saturday April 8th will open at 3pm with spectator gates opening at 4pm. On track activities will begin at 6:00pm with hot laps.

Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway is a ½ mile dirt oval track is located on U.S. Route 17, eight miles north of Saluda, VA and 25 miles south of Tappahannock, VA in Jamaica, VA. The speedway is just a short drive from Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland and the Hampton Roads area.

Race fans can go to www.vamotorspeedway.com to view the complete schedule Virginia Motor Speedway’s 2017 season, find detailed event information, get the latest news, and get complete ticket and camping information. In addition, fans can get social with Virginia Motor Speedway by following @vamotorspeedway on Twitter, clicking “Like” at www.facebook.com/VaMotorSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/VaMotorSpeedway.

RACE RESULTS FOR AARON’S KING OF THE COMMONWEALTH PRESENTED BY ESSEX CONCRETE APRIL 8, 2017:

ULTIMATE SUPER LATE MODEL KING OF THE COMMONWEALTH A MAIN (60 LAPS) – 1. Brandon Overton [1]; 2. Dale McDowell [6]; Mike Marlar [4]; 4. Jonathan Davenport [2]; Chris Madden [3]; 6. Austin Hubbard [5]; 7. Rick Eckert [7]; 8. Matt Cosner [11]; 9. Chris Ferguson [10]; 10. Dale Hollidge [17]; 11. Jason Covert [15]; 12. Brett Hamm [12]; 13. Ross Robinson [9]; 14. Tyler Millwood [8]; 15. Kenny Moreland [13]; 16. Amanda Whaley [21]; 17. Darryl Hills [19]; 18. Jason Welshan [23]; 19. Glen Elliott [24]; 20. Nick Davis [18]; 21. Michael Lake [22]; 22. Dennis Franklin [14]; 23. Dustin Mitchell [20]; 24. Willie MIliken [16]

HEAT 1: 1. Overton; 2. Hubbard; 3. Robinson; 4. Mooreland; 5. Williams; 6. Pierce; 7. Whaley; 8. Allen; 9. Bradsher DNS.

HEAT 2: 1. Davenport; 2. McDowell; 3. Ferguson; 4. Franklin; 5. Hills; 6. Hollidge; 7. Z. Mitchell; 8. Miller; 9. Arthur DNS.

HEAT 3: 1. Madden; 2. Eckert; 3. Cosner; 4. Covert; 5. D. Mitchell; 6. Davis; 7. G. Elliott; 8. Welshan.

HEAT 4: 1. Marlar; 2. Millwood; 3. Hamm; 4. Milliken; 5. Emory; 6. Smith; 7. R. Elliott; 8. Lake.

B-MAIN 1: 1. Hollidge; 2. Hills; 3. Whaley; 4. Williams; 5. Allen; 6. Miller; 7. Z. Mitchell; 8. Pierce; 9. Bradsher DNS; 10. Arthur DNS.

B-MAIN: 1. Davis; 2. D. Mitchell; 3. Lake; 4. G. Elliott; 5. Welshan; 6. Emory; 7. Smith DNS; 8. R. Elliott DNS

FASTRAK PRO LATE MODEL KING OF THE COMMONWEALTH A MAIN (40 LAPS) – 1. Jonathan Davenport [2]; Tyler Bare [8]; 3. Henry Hornsby III [11]; 4. Jensen Ford [1]; 5. Matthew Nance [3]; 6. Mark Parks [9]; 7. Cla Knight [6]; 8. Walker Arthur [7]; 9. David Williams [19]; 10. Justin Williams ]4]; 11. Ron Parker [5]; 12. Michael Duritsky [20]; 13. Frankie Beard [20]; 14. Dylan Lewis [23]; 15. Jared Powell [10]; 16. Matt Quade [16]; 17. Benji Hicks [17]; 18. Teddy Tate [21]; 19. Phillip Thompson [15]; 20. Billy Beachler [18]; 21. Matt Glanden [24]; 22. Davis Lipscombe [13]; 23. David Smith [25]; 24. Corey Almond [14]; 25. Tyler Stutler [22]

HEAT 1: 1. Ford; 2. Parker; 3. Parks; 4. Lipscombe; 5. D. Williams; 6. 99 Tate; 7. Bowie; 8. Smith.

HEAT 2: 1. Davenport; 2. Knight; 3. Powell; 4. Almond; 5. Hicks; 6. Tarbox; 7. Lewis; 8. Vaughan.

HEAT 3: 1. Nance; 2. Arthur; 3. Hornsby; 4. Thompson; 5. Duritsky; 6. Beachler; 7. Love; 8. McClellan DNS.

HEAT 4: 1. J. Williams; 2. Bare; 3. Beard; 4. Quade; 5. Stutler; 6. Glanden; 7. Frazier; 8. Dow.

B-MAIN 1: 1. Hicks; 2. D. Williams; 3. Tate; 4. Lewis; 5. Tarbox; 6. Bowie; 7. Smith; 8. Vaughan.

B-MAIN 2: 1. Beachler; 2. Duritsky; 3. Stutler; 4. Glanden; 5. Frazier; 6. Dow; 7. Love; 8. McClellan DNS.