After the Checkers
Breakdown, analysis of J.D.'s Charlotte finale
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
The Double L Motorsports team in victory lane. (joshjamesartwork.com)
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 7) — Takeaways and analysis from Saturday’s 19th annual Dave Smith Motors World Finals, a 50-lap, $25,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model Series feature captured by Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga. (RaceWire):
DAVENPORT’S DOMAIN: A front-row start at Charlotte, with its sweeping corners and a glassy-smooth surface that’s black-slick from top to bottom? That’s Jonathan Davenport’s wheelhouse. You almost feel bad for fans who aren’t pulling for him, because he can be so dominant in those conditions that he turns a race into a snoozefest. But anyone who appreciates top-notch racecraft can appreciate Davenport’s sterling drive to victory. Even third-place finisher Dallon Murty, who spent a good portion of the 50-lapper behind Davenport, said he learned a few things from the 43-year-old veteran, including how straight he entered each corner and how he backed down his pace upon reaching traffic early in the race. For all the talk that Davenport hasn’t accomplished much this season while racing outside a national tour, he’s now up to 17 victories, including wins in three of his last five starts. For all the talk that racing outside a national tour has diminished his season, Davenport now has 17 victories — including three in his last five starts. Saturday was a reminder that when the conditions suit him, he can still make the best in the business look like they’re racing for second.
FOUNDATION FORMING: Hats off to Dallon Murty, who ran second through lap 28 and dang-near finished there if not for the restart that enabled Bobby Pierce to rip the top around the 21-year-old rookie. Murty was ultra-impressive, hanging with Jonathan Davenport and Pierce throughout the 50-lapper and bringing home a podium finish to cap his Charlotte debut week. He even stayed within a second of Davenport as the leader navigated traffic from laps 12-24, never allowing more than two lapped cars to separate them. Saturday was another big step in his progression toward a planned rookie national touring campaign in 2027. And look at the foundation Skyline Motorsports is putting beneath him: veteran crew chief Zeb Holkesvik, mechanic J.D. Morfeld, longtime friend Jonah Bearden and newly added tire specialist Austin Hemmen, who helped Pierce win last year’s WoO title. That depth gives Holkesvik and Murty more time to focus on setups, feedback and the finer points of racing at this level. For a young driver still so early in his Late Model education, that support appears to be opening the door for him to flourish.
REDEMPTION RUN: Trey Mills earned a little redemption with Saturday’s fifth-place finish after a flat tire knocked him out of third with four laps remaining Friday. And the 18-year-old had to work for it, losing two positions from the outside and rallying from 13th over the final 39 laps to gain eight positions. Any time a young driver can move forward like that against a field of that caliber, it’s a promising sign of his development. Mills didn’t get the national touring victory he wanted so badly this year, but a recovery like that offers another reason to believe his breakthrough could come in 2027.
CAREER BESTS: Dallon Murty’s third-place finish led four drivers who improved their personal-best World Finals results in Saturday’s finale. Murty bettered his sixth-place run Friday, while Trey Mills finished fifth to improve on Thursday’s sixth. Ethan Dotson’s eighth surpassed his ninth in 2024, and Luke Morey’s 19th bettered Thursday’s 24th. Nick Hoffman (first), Ryan Gustin (third), Michael Leach and Max McLaughlin (seventh), Jadon Frame (14th), Tristan Chamberlain (20th) and Logan Zarin (24th) also left Charlotte with career-best event finishes established earlier in the week.
PIT THEFTS: It’s a shame teams can’t spend a night racing without worrying about someone stealing their equipment. Shane McDowell reported on Facebook that his team’s pit bike and Kyle Strickler’s were stolen Saturday at Charlotte. McDowell said his team’s green-and-white Kawasaki 110, marked with orange 17m and SMR stickers, disappeared from the upper turn-two pit area near the bar and souvenir stands during the Super Late Model consolations. According to McDowell’s post, a security guard told a crew member he saw someone ride the bike off the property at high speed.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Three of Jonathan Davenport’s nine World Finals victories have come in flag-to-flag fashion. He’s also won a World Finals feature in four of the last six seasons.
