Davenport's Weekend Earns Driver of the Week Award

Jonathan Davenport had a successful weekend with the NDRL 'Kings of Dirt' tour

Jonathan Davenport proved once again during The NDRL's three-race weekend why he is a threat any time he pulls into the pit area, and gave us no choice but to choose him as our Driver of the Week. His weekend in the K&L Rumley-owned no. 6 machine was as impressive as any driver could hope to have. Davenport managed to walk away with a top 3 finish in each of the National Dirt Racing Leagues's shows, each paying at least $10,000 to the winner, including a $20,000 triumph at Virginia Motor Speedway over legendary drivers Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer.

Davenport's season thus-far has been far different from the struggles that he's experienced the previous two years. We're only in mid-April and it's clear that the Blairsville, GA native has clicked with his new team. Together they have already won 5 races paying $4,000 or more and Davenport currently sits atop the NDRL points standings.

Honorable Mentions:

Mike Roth Photo

Rico Abreu:
Abreu's historical season got even better this past weekend, as hard as that is to believe. The Saint Helena, Calif. native swept the POWRi/USAC co-sanctioned Kokomo Grand Prix midget doubleheader at Indiana's Kokomo Speedway. Abreu out-dueled the best midget drivers in the country on the way to his 5th and 6th wins of the season. Abreu has also captured victories in a 360 and 410 cu. inch sprint car this season.

Press release can be read here: Friday | Saturday


Mike Marlar:
Marlar, of Winfield, Tenn., conquered the field of World of Outlaws drivers Saturday evening at Tazewell Speedway for his first career with the series. Don't be fooled though, this vicious competitor has been close a number of times before and just had to wait for luck to fall his way. Just two days prior to his $10,500 feat with the WoO's, Marlar snatched up a cool $4,000 when he found victory lane at the postponed Spring Nationals race at Tri-County Race Track. The two wins were Marlar's first of the season.

Read the press release HERE

Matt Sheppard:
Following a strong performance down in the Sunshine State, Matt Sheppard was equally impressive Sunday afternoon when he captured the Race of Champions 100 lapper at Five Mile Point Speedway among a stout field of big block modified drivers. Sheppard piloted the Norm Hansell owned #357 to the victory ahead of the likes of guys such as Jimmy Phelps, Stewart Friesen and young gun Anthony Perrego.

Results can be found HERE


Danny Smith:
The Chillicothe, Ohio native conquered a feat that maybe only a handful of guys have ever accomplished in the racing world. This past Saturday, Danny Smith wound up in the top spot to find victory lane following the 410 sprint car race at the recently revived Atomic Speedway. The win, which was impressive in its own right, marks the 40th consecutive season that Smith won at least one feature event (thanks to Mike Leone for the stat). Congratulations Danny on the remarkable accomplishment and all of us here at TDN wish you continued success in the years to come.

Results can be found HERE


Races to keep an eye on this weekend:

• WoO Sprints at Devil's Bowl Speedway
• Super DIRTcar Series big blocks at Canandaigua
• NDRL doubleheader at Magnolia Motor Speedway
• USAC Sprints at Eldora
• Spring Nationals SLM tripleheader
• Knoxville Raceway season opener
• F.A.S.T. 410 Sprints at Attica
• $4,000 to win sprints at Mercer (PA.)

Previous 'TDN Driver of the Week' Winners:

Week 5 (3/31-4/6): Dale Blaney

Week 4 (3/24-3/30): David Gravel

Week 3 (3/17-3/23): Kyle Strickler

Week 2 (3/10-3/16): Rico Abreu

Week 1 (3/3-3/9): Chris Madden