FAIRBURY, Ill. (May 10) — Jonathan Davenport’s voice was noticeably wavering, but that’s what a frenetic finish on a hardscrabble bullring like Fairbury Speedway can do to a driver.

After the 41-year-old superstar from Blairsville, Ga., narrowly turned back a late-race challenge from Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., to capture Saturday night’s 60-lap FALS Spring Shootout, he was simply worn out.

“I can’t even talk,” Davenport said in victory lane, his heart still beating at a rapid pace. “I think I held my breath the last two laps there.”

Davenport never officially relinquished the lead after overtaking Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., on lap 17, but the 32-year-old Sheppard made sure he didn’t waltz to the $30,000 winner’s prize in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event. Sheppard started rolling the top of the quarter-mile oval over the final 10 laps, reached second place on lap 56 and pulled a slider on Davenport through turns three and four to pull ahead off the corner with the white flag flying.

But Davenport ducked underneath Sheppard to remain in front at lap 59 and proceeded to play perfect defense on the final circuit, staving off Sheppard’s furious bid to triumph by a mere 0.192 of a second over the three-time winner of the track’s marquee Prairie Dirt Classic.

Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., finished third after securing the position with a last-lap pass of Decorah, Iowa’s Tyler Bruening. Bruening settled for fourth after running in second place for laps 30-55 and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., completed the top five after briefly climbing to third for laps 49-51.

Overton faded to a 12th-place finish after leading laps 1-16.

The dramatic victory was Davenport’s third of the 2025 season and 80th of his career on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. It also made him the lone repeat winner during the five-race Illinois Speedweek — he also won Wednesday’s FloRacing Night in America event at Banner’s Spoon River Speedway — and gave him his first checkered flag at Fairbury since the 2015 PDC.

“It’s just an awesome feeling to come back here and win in front of all these fans,” said Davenport, whose Wednesday triumph at Spoon River ended a nearly 10-year winless streak in the state of Illinois dating back to his PDC success. “It feels good to be back in victory lane here at FALS. It’s been a long time, 10 years, so definitely awesome.”

There was a point in the race when it seemed Davenport would run away with the laurels. He marched quickly to the front from the sixth starting spot and began pulling away after disposing of Overton to assume command, building an edge of over 4 seconds by the time the first caution flag flew on lap 49 for Donald McIntosh’s homestretch spin as he was being lapped by Davenport.

But with three more caution flags slowing the action between laps 49 and 54, Davenport found himself hanging on for dear life with his Double L Motorsports Longhorn Chassis.

“I felt like I took back off pretty good there (on the initial restart), and got a decent lead there,” Davenport said. “And then (the cautions) kept coming, kept coming, and then that would just give people other opportunities to try different things.”

The driver who unlocked the most late speed was Rocket1’s Sheppard, who was sitting in seventh place when the first caution flag was displayed on lap 49. He had slipped as far back as eighth from his outside pole starting spot but found a second wind in the race’s closing moments.

“At the beginning of the race, I was was tailing a little bit whenever the track was dirty and I kind of got stuck out on the top a little bit too long the very first part of the race,” Sheppard said. “I didn't want to hurt my tires, so I was probably being a little bit too patient for one. I was also kind of a little bit free early, or lacking a little bit of movement when I was bent.

“Then the longer the race went, the slicker the track got, and when I could straighten up and the track slowed down, it just came to me. Yeah, the late cautions helped me a little bit, but, you know, we were right there. We were just, you know, waiting for everybody to get lined out a little bit, and everybody was racing hard and the cautions just kind of shook things back up a little bit, allowed me to get back up through there where I needed to be and make some moves.”

When Sheppard burst past Bruening for second on lap 56, Davenport was aware that he had a challenger to deal with.

“I kept watching the (Score) board, and then I seen the 1 (of Sheppard) get to third, then I seen the 1 get to second,” Davenport said. “I’m like, ‘Well, I know pretty much where he’s probably gonna be.’”

That would be charging around the outside of the track, which is precisely the path Sheppard took to catch Davenport and attempt a slider for the lead with the white flag flying.

“So I crept up just a little bit, and I don’t know if it killed my exit speed down there or whatever, but then I heard him,” Davenport said. “So then I just went ahead and set up for the crossover (exiting turn four). I just barely got him back. I got into him right there at the flags tand — I hope I didn’t mess him up too bad — and then I just tried to block down the back straightway, kind of sliding myself there (into turns three and four on the last lap).”

Sheppard’s best shot was heading to the white flag, but he couldn’t carry enough speed off turn four and watched Davenport move back ahead. He couldn’t counter Davenport’s move the next time they raced through turns three and/or.

“That’s one of them deals where you just got to hope that you can get to the cushion and be side-by-side with them coming down straight away,” Sheppard said. “The classic move is the guy slides you, you lift, you turn back underneath and beat him to the straightaway, and then there's nothing you can do.

“So I knew that (crossover) part was coming, but I had to get in there and try to take the air away from him just to try to shake it up a little bit, just try to kill his momentum some. So that was what I was trying to do … I knew I was going to have to slide him to pass, so I just thought no better time than now. I had an opening. I went for it and, you know, he crossed me back over, and it was just a good hard race, man. We did what we could do and that’s all we can do.”

Davenport was ecstatic to finally experience victory again at Fairbury, though he didn’t stop in turn three after the checkered flag to acknowledge the crowd like he did following his PDC triumph.

“The only thing I was thinking about when I was going back through there was, the last time I stopped over there and took a big bow for the back straightway,” Davenport said. “But I hadn’t went through droop (deck height) tech yet, so I didn’t want to do that, then fail, or something, you know, something stupid like that happened.”

Davenport savored the moment from victory lane.

“Wow, just a great feeling,” Davenport said. “After last night (at Farmer City Raceway), starting up front and kept fading back, I was ready to get out of Illinois, but I kind of like it a little bit better now.”

Fairbury is “just a special place for sure,” he continued. “Like, everybody knows it’s probably not my favorite place, but when it races right, it is awesome, and we could move all over it tonight. It’s just an awesome facility. I was kind of questioning how wet they had this thing early, but, you know, hey, they do track prep and we work on race cars, so I’m just gonna let them do their deal and not say more about it.”

The 28-year-old Pierce, meanwhile, moved forward from the ninth starting spot to crack the top five by lap 22, but he just couldn’t break free to rise fully into contention. It took him until the final lap to land in his final finishing position of third.

“Of course, I kind of got held up through the middle portions of the race pretty bad, and I feel like that's happened almost every race this week,” Pierce said. “You know, when we’re fast through that middle stage of the race, like, I just can’t go anywhere.

“So, all in all, you know, pretty good week, we’ve got lots of podiums and a win, so we’ll take it, move on. But I got to get a little better. I’m excited to get the other car out, because I’ve just about had it with this car here. It’s pissing me off (being a bit off the winning pace).”

Four caution flags slowed the feature, including Dan Ebert spinning in turn two on the lap-49 restart; Mike Spatola slowing with a right-rear flat tire on lap 51; and Lucas Oil points leader Ricky Thornton Jr. spinning in turn one on lap 54 and collecting second-place points man Devin Moran.

Feature lineup

(60 laps)

Row 1: Brandon Overton, Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Garrett Alberson, Brian Shirley
Row 3: Carson Ferguson, Jonathan Davenport
Row 4: Bobby Pierce, Shannon Babb
Row 5: Frank Heckenast Jr., Tyler Bruening
Row 6: Daulton Wilson, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 7: Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran
Row 8: Mike Spatola, Ryan Unzicker
Row 9: Jason Feger, Hudson O'Neal
Row 10: Nick Hoffman, Clay Harris
Row 11: Tyler Erb, Mike Marlar
Row 12: Daniel Hilsabeck, Spencer Hughes
Row 13: Donald McIntosh, Dan Ebert

Consolation race results

(12 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Jason Feger, Nick Hoffman, Tyler Erb, Donald McIntosh, Kyle Hammer, Drake Troutman, Cody Overton, Rob Sanders, Dan Ebert, Michael Leach, Sean Mattingly, Jeffrey Ledford, Ethan Dotson. Scratched: Austin Howes.

Second consolation: Hudson O'Neal, Clay Harris, Mike Marlar, Daniel Hilsabeck, Spencer Hughes, McKay Wenger, Mike Provenzano, Jeep Van Wormer, Kevin Weaver, Billy Hough, Cory Lawler, Chase Osterhoff, Jake Little, Kyle Bronson. Scratched: Mike McKinney.

Heat race recap

Brandon Overton overcame a late-race restart to lead all 10 laps, winning the first heat race by 0.592 of a second over third-starting Carson Ferguson. Frank Heckenast Jr. hung on for third, while fifth-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. grabbed the fourth and final transfer spot into Saturday’s 60-lap feature. The race’s lone caution flew on lap eight when Cody Overton over-rotated into turn three, spinning from sixth. The younger Overton continued and settled for 10th. Brandon Overton, of Evans, Ga., will lead the Lucas Oil field to green for the $30,000-to-win FALS Spring Shootout. … Third-starting Garrett Alberson outdueled Bobby Pierce, trading sliders for the lead multiple times and beating Pierce to the line by 0.724 of a second to win heat two. Fourth-starting Daulton Wilson finished third, with Mike Spatola hanging on for the fourth and final transfer position. Polesitter Austin Howes made heavy contact with Donald McIntosh while battling for sixth on the third lap, ending his race; McIntosh continued with minor rear quarter panel damage, finishing sixth. … Second-starting Brandon Sheppard led all 10 laps from the pole in heat three, narrowly repelling Jonathan Davenport in the closing laps and beating J.D. to the checkers by 0.361 of a second. Pole-starting Tyler Bruening slipped to third, with fifth-starting Devin Moran taking fourth. Mike Provenzano spun on the second, lap drawing the only slowdown; he continued to finish 10th. … Brian Shirley earned a flag-to-flag victory from the pole, winning the fourth and final heat race by 0.947 of a second over fourth-starting Shannon Babb, with Dennis Erb Jr. and Ryan Unzicker completing the top-four finishers. Mike Marlar spun from seventh on the seventh lap, triggering the race’s only stoppage; he continued and was credited with eighth. … All four prelims were completed without major incident and combined to last just shy of 16 minutes.

Heat race results

(10 laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Brandon Overton, Carson Ferguson, Frank Heckenast Jr., Ricky Thornton Jr., Drake Troutman, Tyler Erb, Jason Feger, Ethan Dotson, Kyle Hammer, Cody Overton, Sean Mattingly.

Second heat: Garrett Alberson, Bobby Pierce, Daulton Wilson, Mike Spatola, Nick Hoffman, Donald McIntosh, Michael Leach, Dan Ebert, Jeffrey Ledford, Rob Sanders, Austin Howes.

Third heat: Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Bruening, Devin Moran, Hudson O'Neal, Clay Harris, Spencer Hughes, Jeep Van Wormer, Kevin Weaver, Mike Provenzano, Cory Lawler, Chase Osterhoff.

Fourth heat: Brian Shirley, Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Ryan Unzicker, McKay Wenger, Daniel Hilsabeck, Kyle Bronson, Mike Marlar, Jake Little, Billy Hough, Mike McKinney.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 13.307
2. Austin Howes (17A), Lewiston, Mo., 13.351
3. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 13.382
4. Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., 13.404
5. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., 13.423
6. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 13.483
7. Tyler Erb (1T), New Waverly, Texas, 13.484
8. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., 13.498
9. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 13.530
10. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 13.542
11. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., 13.601
12. Michael Leach (09), Sun River, Mont., 13.611
13. Jason Feger (25F), Bloomington, Ill., 13.622
14. Donald McIntosh (79), Dawsonville, Ga., 13.630
15. Cody Overton (2), Evans, Ga., 13.640
16. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 13.689
17. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., 13.689
18. Jeffrey Ledford (8L), Pontiac, Ill., 13.812
19. Kyle Hammer (5s), Clinton, Ill., 13.923
20. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 13.925
21. Sean Mattingly (22m), Cortland, Ill., 14.199
22. Rob Sanders (10n), Bakersfield, Calif., 14.567
Group B
1. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 13.321
2. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 13.498
3. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 13.529
4. McKay Wenger (99w), Fairbury, Ill., 13.602
5. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 13.613
6. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 13.619
7. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 13.623
8. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 13.738
9. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 13.759
10. Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., 13.762
11. Spencer Hughes (19m), Meridian, Miss., 13.797
12. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 13.886
13. Kevin Weaver (B12), Gibson City, Ill., 13.903
14. Mike McKinney (75), Plainfield, Ill., 13.924
15. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 13.929
16. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 13.996
17. Cory Lawler (93L), Hanover, Pa., 14.020
18. Jake Little (38J), Springfield, Ill., 14.025
19. Chase Osterhoff (130), Kankakee, Ill., 14.234
20. Billy Hough (33-4), Thomasboro, Ill., 14.332
21. Jeep Van Wormer (55), Pinconning, Mich., 14.424
22. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 14.456
23. Mike Provenzano (m27), Marseilles, Ill., 14.860

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
Noon - All gates open
- 1:45 p.m. - Tech and registration opens
- 4:45 p.m. - Tech and registration closes
- 5 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
- 5:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Modified group qualifying
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (10 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (12 laps)
- Modified consolations (10 laps)
Feature events
- Late Models (60 laps)
- Modifieds (30 laps)