Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway
J.D., Troutman put PPMS skirmish behind them
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Drake Troutman at PPMS. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
IMPERIAL, Pa. (Oct. 3) — Surprisingly, Jonathan Davenport wasn’t all that angry. At least the 42-year-old veteran didn’t show it after failing to qualify for Saturday’s 38th annual Pittsburgher at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway — a stunning outcome for a driver who dominated the event’s previous two editions.
Davenport’s night unraveled on the opening lap of his heat race when, starting second, he made contact with the rear of fourth-starting Drake Troutman’s car as the 22-year-old slid in front of him in turn two. Davenport’s car sustained heavy nose damage, forcing the Double L Motorsports team to unload a backup car for the B-main.
Starting 11th in the consolation race, Davenport charged to sixth but finished three spots short of transferring. Afterward, he said he had a meaningful conversation with Troutman, a young driver he holds in high regard.
“I wasn’t mad. I was just more disappointed,” Davenport said. “I get it. I’ve run over people and not meant to and felt bad about it. We’ve just got to get out here and learn. He’s one of the youngest, really, really good drivers that gets it, I think.
“I just hope he learns from it. He knew he messed up. Honestly, I didn’t see him ’til the last second. People are going to watch the video and be like, ‘I should’ve lifted,’ but I was so focused on hitting the exact right line to get a good run down the back straightaway.”
Three days later, Troutman was still reflecting on the contact and how to avoid a repeat. He doesn’t want to race his peers that way, especially Davenport, who he says “took me under his wing” during the 2024 season when both followed the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
“Yeah, man, I felt terrible. I mean, this guy was literally my childhood hero growing up, and I’m thankful enough that I call him a friend now,” Troutman said in a Tuesday phone interview. “I go over there and hang out with him after races and stuff, or go over and BS with him before the races and hang out with all his crew guys.
“I don’t want to race anyone like that, especially him. But I don’t know, I just kind of misjudged the whole situation. Obviously, that place is so damn hard to pass. I don’t want to say you can’t pass, but once you get stretched out later like that, it’s not easy.
“So I just went for it, and probably shouldn’t have, because obviously I ended his night, and it really didn’t get me that much further ahead anyways.”
Troutman, who eventually finished third in the heat and 13th in the 70-lap feature, knew Davenport and third-starting Hudson O’Neal were on harder tire combinations in the prelim. He figured the initial start might offer his best opportunity to get ahead of them before their tires came up to speed.
“I kind of had that in my mind a little bit. I was like, damn, if I can get the jump here,” Troutman said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to be in that position anyways. So it was just kind of a situation where I was like, s---, I’ve got to go. You know what I mean?”
Davenport understood the urgency.
“I get his point. You’ve just got to get wind on the nose, so that’s what I was trying to do,” Davenport said. “I knew I was harder on tires than most of them, so after a couple laps, I thought I’d be OK. It’s all good. It’s just part of it. It sucks for us. It sucks for my guys. I mean, we work hard and do all this s---, but it’s part of racing.”
While Troutman regretted the contact, he was frustrated by the ensuing uproar on social media. Davenport’s opinion matters to him. Criticism from strangers, meanwhile, carries less weight.
“Man, the biggest problem is all these damn people on social media just blow it out of proportion so much. Oh my God. Just let it rest, you know what I mean?” Troutman said. “Dude, I’m just going to level with you: I don’t give a s---. Be a fan, don’t be a fan. I’m going to go to sleep the same every day. I don’t care what those people think.
“I care what J.D. thought. You know what I mean? Just out of respect to him. But all these asshats that are on Facebook that want to go on there and run their mouth over a computer and punch on the keyboard — none of them are ever going to come up and say it to anyone’s face.
“Like, a guy the other week was running his mouth about me on there, so I messaged him. I swear to God, he went underneath the same post, deleted his comment and then apologized to me with a new comment underneath the post. I’m like, what are we doing?
“People are so quick to get on there and just say what they want to say.”
The Troutman-Davenport friendship has its lighter moments, too. During Aug. 28-29's Lucas Oil weekend at Port Royal, Troutman walked into Davenport’s trailer wearing a Drake Troutman Racing hat. Davenport teased him for wearing his own merchandise, then swapped him a hat from his Dirty Dollar Ranch in Belton, S.C., for it.
“We like to joke with him,” said Davenport, who still carries Troutman’s hat in the Double L Motorsports toter.
For Davenport, the hope is that Troutman takes a lesson from the contact — with Davenport serving more as an instructor than a critic — without letting it strain their relationship.
“Like I said, we talked. He knows what he did right and what he did wrong. It’s all good. He’s a good kid,” Davenport said. “I’ve tried to help him as much as I could, and I was probably the last one he wanted to run over out there, for sure.
“The situation changes at tracks vs. events. That would’ve been more acceptable at (quarter-mile) Fairbury (Speedway in Illinois) — maybe not for the PDC, but just for a regular race, you know what I mean? Hell, the Dome (at America's Center in St. Louis, which annually hosts the Gateway Dirt Nationals in December). That’s what you see at the Dome. But here, I just hope he’ll learn from it. I’m sure he will. He’s a smart kid.”
