Georgia is the most represented state at the 2025 World 100, with 12 of the 101 drivers on the property hailing from the “Peach State.” It was also the only one represented in Victory Lane on Thursday night.
Two of the state’s most prominent stars in Dale McDowell and Jonathan Davenport started the weekend at Eldora Speedway by bagging a $12,000 check in a pair of 25-lap preliminary Features.
Feature 1
McDowell started the race on the outside of the front row, but lost the lead early to polesitter Nick Hoffman before Devin Moran slipped by and into second on the opening lap. It was all Hoffman in the first 10 laps, as the No. 9 led by as much as 2.7 seconds before making contact with the slower car of Ethan Dotson.
That knocked a piece of the fender around the right-front tire off Hoffman’s car, resulting in a yellow for debris. The damage ended Hoffman’s chances of contending for the win, as Moran blasted around his outside on the restart and into the lead while Brandon Sheppard followed him through for second. Five laps later, McDowell got back to Hoffman and cleared him off Turn 4 to grab third with 10 to go.
Next up on the list for “Mac Daddy” was Sheppard, and he rolled the middle to perfection to get the best of the No. 1 up on the cushion. Out front, Moran was mirroring Sheppard’s line on the top side, and it was enough to hold off McDowell’s initial slider attempt in Turn 2 with two laps remaining. With a half-second gap and traffic impeding McDowell’s progress, it looked as if Moran had the win in the bag at the white flag. That was until he was reminded of why the No. 17M should never be counted out at Eldora.
The 59-year-old Chickamauga, GA native went back to his tried-and-true middle groove in the final set of corners and got side-by-side with Moran coming to the checkers. With Moran struggling for grip up high, McDowell crossed up in front and won the drag race to the line for his fourth World 100 preliminary Feature win.
“We were on a little bit different tires,” McDowell said. “Devin was a little softer, we were a little harder and I think Brandon Sheppard was kind of mixed in between. It was just a tire deal there. Car’s still a little tight, but Shane [McDowell]’s been working on it, making some changes. We caught a break in the Heat Race, you’ve got to have some luck. We started right in the Heat Race, and I’m just trying to drive it for all I got. Them young guys, they make you dig deep when you’re 59 years old.”
Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell[2]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 5. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 6. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 8. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 9. 97-Cade Dillard[7]; 10. 11R-Josh Rice[26]; 11. 111-Max Blair[24]; 12. 60-Dan Ebert[10]; 13. 3S-Brian Shirley[20]; 14. 20-Jimmy Owens[13]; 15. 18J-Chase Junghans[15]; 16. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 17. 25F-Jason Feger[14]; 18. 8-Kyle Strickler[12]; 19. 18-Shannon Babb[16]; 20. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[23]; 21. 31-Tyler Millwood[21]; 22. 99T-Dylan Thompson[19]; 23. 10-Garrett Smith[25]; 24. 74X-Ethan Dotson[17]; 25. 29-Clinton Keenan[18]; 26. 16-Tyler Bruening[22]
Feature 2
Davenport shared the front row with Brandon Overton, with the No. 49 sneaking away on the outside of Turn 2 to lead down the backstretch on Lap 1. Overton struggled to keep pace with those around him early on, as Gregg Satterlee got by for second in Davenport’s wake before Chris Madden sent him back to fourth a lap later.
Madden wasn’t content with third, as he made quick work of Satterlee and went to work on running down “Superman.” He caught Davenport with seven laps in the books and got beside him in Turns 3 and 4, but Davenport had enough momentum up top to hold the lead off the corner.
Then came a rare slip-up from Davenport off Turn 2 on the next circuit, and that was all Madden needed to drive around him. Davenport didn’t let the error faze him though, and he was back on the rear bumper of the Kale Green-owned No. 44 four laps later. With 14 circuits remaining, Madden had to check up behind Clay Stuckey in Turn 4, giving Davenport the advantage down the frontstretch. The Blairsville, GA driver crossed underneath Madden entering Turn 1 and got enough of a drive off Turn 2 to clear Madden and reclaim the top spot.
The remainder of the race turned into yet another Davenport masterclass around the “Big E.” The field got one more chance at him when Michael Leach pounded the wall to set up a restart with six to go, but no one had anything for the five-time World 100 champion.
“I kind of got lost there and didn’t know where to go,” Davenport said in regards to his battle with Madden. “I kept looking on the board, and I couldn’t tell if that was a lap car or what that was. Chris showed me his nose, and I’m like, ‘well, I better pick the pace up and try something else here,’ because what I was doing obviously wasn’t working. He got held up by a lap car and I just got a good run back on him then. Once I was behind him, I could kind of judge a little bit of where I needed to be and where I couldn’t.”
Feature 2 (25 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[5]; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson[8]; 4. 9M-Tim McCreadie[7]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 6. 96-Tanner English[13]; 7. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[3]; 8. 157-Mike Marlar[16]; 9. 22X-Drake Troutman[15]; 10. 12-Jason Jameson[10]; 11. 93-Carson Ferguson[12]; 12. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[14]; 13. 14-Haiden Cowan[4]; 14. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 15. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[18]; 16. 71-Hudson O’Neal[20]; 17. 114-Jordan Koehler[26]; 18. 88-Trent Ivey[9]; 19. 57-Zack Mitchell[11]; 20. 81F-Jadon Frame[21]; 21. 15-Clay Stuckey[23]; 22. 6-Michael Chilton[19]; 23. 19M-Joseph Joiner[22]; 24. O9-Michael Leach[25]; 25. 14JR-Trey Mills[17]; 26. 49M-Luke Morey[24]
UP NEXT: The World 100 continues with two more 25-lap, $12,000-to-win, preliminary Features on Friday before the 100-lap, $72,000-to-win, main event on Saturday night. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.
