WHEATLAND, Mo. (May 25) — When Jonathan Davenport visited the chiropractor earlier this week to relieve some bodily tension ahead of Lucas Oil Speedway's Show-Me 100 weekend, the 39-year-old Blairsville, Ga., driver also received a good omen.

“(The chiropractor) said, you’re going to race better this weekend. I got your head back on straight,” said Davenport, who on Thursday returned to Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory lane for the first time since Jan. 30 at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park. “It’s been a lot leading up to this week. We’ve learned a lot; what not to do. And hopefully we’ve learned now what to do with these race cars.

“Thanks to my guys. ... This is awesome,” he added. “It’s good to get back on a roll in front of them.”

WATCH: Jonathan Davenport's victory interview from Thursday's Show-Me 100 opener at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Davenport’s flag-to-flag victory in the 45-lap Cowboy Classic preliminary snapped a 17-race winless stretch, which feels like forever for Davenport considering he hadn’t gone longer than eight races between victories in 13 months, a stretch that included his unprecedented $2 million season in 2022. Before Thursday, Davenport’s latest victory also came at Lucas Oil Speedway, an April 1 triumph with the Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Association. 

Davenport believes Thursday’s win is the shot in the arm his Double L Motorsports team has sorely needed ahead of the sport’s busy season.

“I think hopefully we’re back in the right direction,” Davenport said. “It looked like it tonight. We just have to keep it going.

“When you’re running midpack, you really shouldn’t be there,” he added. “With the team I have, it looks like flies going around the car. One week, it’s just me, Vinny (Guliani) and Cory (Fostvedt), then the next we have enough people (helping) to eat the car. Race teams like ours should not be running 15th.”

Taking a few days off this week to recuperate as a team has been the early key for Davenport. From May 4-20, Davenport raced 11 times and never found much rest. 

“I feel like that was our biggest thing last year. When we showed up to an event, we showed up to go win,” Davenport said. “Now, in the past month and a half, we were trying to get there.” 

“We’ve raced so much, and we were behind,” Davenport continued. “We didn’t have time to go over everything we needed to do. Cory does a great job. Vinny does a great job. But when you’re back at the shop, you can usually find a little more speed. … We may find two or three different things — little things — but those things add up after a while. This car’s been really good. We’ve just had really bad racing luck the past two races.

“Finally we had a little bit of luck, and it carried all throughout the night,” Davenport added.

Davenport won the Show-Me 100 in 2015, but that doesn’t ease the angst of last year’s race slipping away when he wrecked battling eventual winner Chris Ferguson in the closing laps. 

“I have two of three races circled on my calendar from last year that I let get away. I don’t need to give it away again,” Davenport said in victory lane. “Everything worked out (Thursday). We moved around a little bit. Got by a couple. Our car was really good to begin with, and then (late in the race) there probably wasn’t a whole lot of passing going on. Anyway, I guess it all don’t matter. I just want to be up here talking to you on Saturday.”

Ricky Thornton Jr.'s Whirlwind Week

It’s been a whirlwind of a week for Ricky Thornton Jr. The Lucas Oil Series points leader swept last weekend’s Iowa swing at 300 Raceway and 34 Raceway, but the trip wasn’t completely smooth sailing as his merchandise trailer came unhitched and tumbled off roadway between his travels.

After Thursday’s runner-up finish from the 10th-starting spot, the nation’s winningest Super Late Model driver testified to the great support he’s received.

WATCH: Thursday's highlights of the Show-Me 100 weekend opener at Lucas Oil Speedway.

“It’s been awesome. I always feel like the racing family is the best family to be a part of,” Thornton said. “It definitely shows. It’s been nonstop, even once we got here. Just all the fans coming over, making sure me, my wife, my boys, my little girl are all OK. Luckily the trailer can be replaced. But your kids can’t.”

Thornton nearly delivered those words as Thursday's victor rather than the best loser. He had multiple chances to pass Davenport in the final five circuits of the 45-lap feature, including an instance with three laps to go when he inadvertently ran into the back of Davenport exiting turn four.

“I thought for sure I was spinning him out down there,” Thornton said. “He moved off the bottom getting into three, or moved off the bottom getting into three. I tried to squeeze myself next to him, and my left-front flopper barely caught his quarterpanel. Luckily it didn’t spin him around. He was able to save it and keep going.”

Thornton has enjoyed three strong runs in his brief Show-Me 100 history, led by a runner-up finish last year to Chris Ferguson. In 2021, Thornton finished seventh and in ‘20 he placed fifth. With another solid finish Friday, he could be in the drivers’ seat Saturday for his first Show-Me 100 triumph.

“(We had a) really good car,” Thornton said. “I think I found the bottom there before a lot of guys did. That’s how I got up to second. Then it started to lock down in turn one; had to move out. Really good run for us. We need to have another solid run for tomorrow and put us in a good spot for Saturday. Hopefully we can do it.”

Odds And Ends

It appeared Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., will be the lone registered Lucas Oil Rookie of the Year contender after prospective first-year series drivers Garrett Smith of Eatonton, Ga., and Logan Roberson of Waynesboro, Va., weren't in attendance Thursday; Smith is 17th in the standings while Roberson is 21st. … Lucas Oil Series director Rick Schwallie said Smith and Roberson are eligible to run for Lucas Oil Series Rookie of the Year in the future if they choose. … Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., only needed one clean lap to capture fast-time honors after spinning on the first lap in Thursday’s time trials; Alberson, who announced earlier in the week his Roberts Motorsports team will shift to a Longhorn Chassis, is aboard a Black Diamond Chassis this weekend and said it’ll likely be a few weeks until his new Longhorn hits the track. … Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., said he “wish I could of maybe put the stiffer right-rear on that the top-two cars had” following his fourth-place run: “I don’t know if it would have mattered, but in the middle of the race, it got clean, and in the spots in got clean, we were kind of fading. All in all, for us to go out tonight and lay down a good, solid start to the weekend so we can try some things tomorrow to make it faster than what it is. It was a lot of fun tonight.” … Reid Millard of Jefferson City, Mo., who operates funeral homes and is the owner of Moberly (Mo.) Motorsports Park, is expected to join Friday’s field as the weekend’s 60th competitor.