Jonathan Davenport wins one for 'Peanut' at Lernerville Speedway

Jonathan Davenport has endured some heartbreaking results over the years at Lernerville Speedway, but he always has had an inspiration to win at the track.

In 2011, Davenport helped spread his best friend Jamie “Peanut” Brown’s ashes around the top of the Buffalo Township speedway.

On Friday, Davenport finally got a win for “Peanut” at Lernerville.

Davenport dominated the first of two twin features, and defending Firecracker 100 champion Tim McCreadie won the second feature Friday afternoon, concluding the first preliminary of the Firecracker 100 weekend.

The twin features were a continuation of Thursday’s program, which was postponed because of rain. Another full race program is scheduled for Friday evening.

“This place has never been that good to me, but it has a special place in my heart,” Davenport said. “A few weeks after (Brown) died in 2011, me and his dad put his ashes over the top of this place. Ever since then, I don’t know why, but this place has eluded me. I never came off the top, and I was thinking about Peanut the whole time.

“(Lernerville) was a place (Brown) and his dad came a lot. They were big supporters of Ray Cook, and when they ran, they came here to race.”

Davenport led flag to flag and won by 3.9 seconds over local favorite and multi-time Lernerville Speedway champion Michael Norris, who finished second.

Even though Davenport cruised, there was some drama behind him.

Current Lucas series points leader Ricky Thornton Jr. was chasing Davenport for the lead, but on Lap 18 he clipped the tail of the lapped car of Cory Sines and slid off the banking in Turn 3. His car had to be towed off, and he was credited with a 20th-place finish.

On the restart after Thornton’s crash, Norris slipped past Overton for second. He fended off some challenges from Overton to secure the runner-up spot. Overton settled for third, Max Blair was fourth and Mason Zeigler finished fifth.

It was a good start to the weekend for Norris.

“I have a pretty good piece, but we were a little tight, so I had to hold onto it,” Norris said. “Kudos to the track crew. It’s pretty nice for how much rain we had last night. Everybody asks me if this is the year (I win the 100-lapper), and I just tell them ‘Yeah, I hope so,’ but I really won’t know until we start the feature Saturday night.”

In the second feature, McCreadie led the entire way, but it was a caution-filled event.

There were eight yellow flags, including six in the first six laps.

The biggest wreck involved Cody Overton and Daryl Charlier. Overton spun sideways after contact with Hudson O’Neal. Charlier had nowhere to go and T-boned Overton’s car. The impact sent Overton’s car sailing over the hill on the backstretch.

Both cars were towed off the track.

Once the race settled into a rhythm, McCreadie pulled away.

Spencer Hughes finished second, and Devin Moran was third.

McCreadie is a two-time champion of the Firecracker 100 and will look to become the first driver to win the Saturday main back-to-back seasons.

“I get a little nervous coming here, because I know so many people here and everyone expects you to run well,” McCreadie said. “It doesn’t always work out that way, but the one good thing coming here is that I can try some things and maybe figure out my stuff better, because I do have a decent feel for this place. I can see if I have a package that has actually been good all year, or if I’m kidding myself that maybe it isn’t. It was good today. I didn’t have to get off the cushion. We’ll see how it is tonight.”