2010dirtcar.htm
DIRTcar Racing and Hoosier Tire Continue Relationship as Official Tire For DIRTcar Late Model Competition Through 2013
Concord, N.C. — Nov. 23, 2010 — By Chris Dolack, DIRTcar Racing P.R. - DIRTcar Racing today announced the continuance of Hoosier Racing Tire as the approved tire for DIRTcar Late Model competition for the next three years.
First introduced 20 years ago, the premium LM10, LM20, LM30 and LM40 have become the standards in Late Model racing.
“Hoosier always has been, and continues to be, an integral part of DIRTcar Racing’s mission to bring racers a standardized rules package, making it easier for any driver to race anywhere, at any time,” said Sam Driggers, DIRTcar UMP Regional Director.
Also announced is the arrival of the DCM55 and DCM21, tires engineered to be used as DIRTcar Racing expands into its newest sanctioned regions. The DCM55 and DCM21 tire is designed for series, weekly tracks and racers who prefer a one-compound tire program. It utilizes the standard LM large block pattern for durability with a consistent, high-grip compound. The sidewalls, air pressure settings and numbering system will be similar to the current LM tires.
The Hoosier DCM tires area purpose-built specifically for tracks in the West, South and Northwestern United States participating under DIRTcar Racing’s sanction.
“With the new DCM tires, Hoosier Tire is making another significant investment in DIRTcar Racing as they have the past 20 years,” Driggers said.
For DIRTcar information, contact DIRTcar Racing at 704-795-7223, Sam Driggers at [email protected] or visit www.dirtcar.com.
For information from Hoosier Racing Tire, please contact Shanon Rush at [email protected].
DIRTcar Late Model action will kick off at the 40th Anniversary DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH on Monday, Feb. 14, for six consecutive nights of DIRTcar and World of Outlaws Late Model Series action. Tickets for the 40th Anniversary DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH are available by visiting http://www.dirtcarnationals.com or calling Volusia Speedway Park at 386-985-4402.
Schlenk’s Best-Laid Plan Results In 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model National Championship
CONCORD, NC – Nov. 19, 2010 – Isn’t it great when the best-laid
plan comes together?
So it was in 2010 for Rusty Schlenk, who during the off-season carefully crafted
a strategy to pursue the DIRTcar UMP Late Model national title, executed it to
perfection and won the prestigious $20,000 crown for the first time in his
budding young career.
Schlenk, 24, of Jackson, Mich., expertly mastered the circuit’s points system,
which uses drivers’ best 35 event ‘points nights’ – feature finish and car-count
bonus points added together – to determine a champion. He jumped out to a big
early lead in the standings and held on to the finish line, withstanding a late
rally by defending national champ Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., to come out
on top by a 31-point margin (2,798-2,767).
“My biggest goal at the beginning of the season was the national championship,”
said Schlenk, who finished third in the 2009 DIRTcar UMP national points race.
“I knew that in order to win it I’d have to stay halfway local. Instead of
trying to run some big shows, we had to totally focus on running ALMS (the
DIRTcar-sanctioned Sunoco American Late Model Series), Oakshade (Raceway in
Wauseon, Ohio) and shows around home at tracks where we knew there would be good
car counts and we knew we could run good.”
An owner-operator who carves out a living as a dirt Late Model driver despite
racing on a limited budget, Schlenk smartly recognized that chasing the pot of
gold at the end of the DIRTcar UMP rainbow would provide the maximum possible
return on his motorsports investment. He just had to maintain a single-minded
discipline throughout the season, refusing to deviate from a plan that eschewed
most of the big-money events in his region in favor of gathering points at
lower-profile races that better fit his program and would help push him toward a
lucrative end-of-season payoff.
“UMP is the best thing for me,” asserted Schlenk, who accented his 2010 national
title with a circuit-best 20 feature wins, a track championship at Oakshade and
a third-place finish in the ALMS points race. “I know that as long as I stick to
my gameplan and don’t stray too far from UMP (events), then at the end of the
year I can probably be in the top-three (in the points standings) and I’ll have
enough (points-fund) money to get me through the winter.
“I don’t know how many times this year I had to drive past a show that was
paying five or six or 10-thousand to win to go somewhere else where I knew I
could win and pick up points. Usually when I did do that I ended up winning so
it made it O.K., but man, when you’re driving past the big show you’re saying,
‘I know I have a shot at winning that race. If I show up and everything goes my
way, I could pocket 10-grand tonight.’
“I had to talk myself out of (entering big shows) quite a few times. I just kept
thinking, ‘Stick to your plan, win a race, get those UMP points. That five- or
10-grand show might be good now, but
it’s not gonna pay the bills at the end of the year.’ Our focus was on that big
point-fund check (for winning the title) because the hard part about doing this
for a living is getting through the winter when no money is coming in.”
Schlenk’s strategy drew a fair share of criticism from observers who felt he was
talented enough to battle the sport’s heavyweights in major events held in his
backyard, but he didn’t let the talk seduce him into taking his eye off the
prize. He knew he ran the very real risk of overextending his program if he
attempted to run more national-level shows.
“I know a lot of people kind of frowned on what we were doing, thought we were
cherry-picking and this and that,” analyzed Schlenk. “But if you really sat down
and looked at the equipment that I have and the budget that I have to race on, I
really don’t consider how we raced cherry-picking.
“I had a lot of people say, ‘You have the best equipment and you need to be out
there running these $10,000-to-win shows because you’re that caliber of driver.’
Well, I may be that caliber of driver, but I don’t have the funds behind me to
gamble at a $10,000-to-win show. I’m doing it for a living on a limited budget,
so I can’t gamble. If I go to those
shows and don’t qualify I’m not making any money and I’m missing out on a chance
for UMP points, so I gotta stick to what we can do.”
Schlenk gathered those DIRTcar UMP points at a furious clip during the season’s
first half, building a lead of nearly 600 points in the national standings by
mid-June. He needed virtually every bit of that cushion to stave off Feger, who
roared from behind down the stretch after capturing the 2010 DIRTcar Summer
Nationals points championship.
Feger closed within 31 points of Schlenk entering the final weekend of weekly
points racing (Oct. 1-3), ramping up the pressure on Schlenk. But Feger needed
an almost perfect weekend at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway to keep his hopes
alive and couldn’t come through, allowing Schlenk to clinch the crown without
the following weekend’s points-season-ending DIRTcar UMP Nationals at Eldora
Speedway even factoring into the outcome.
“We knew with about six races to go that Feger had to about win everything up to
the Nationals to beat us, but you know Feger – when he gets on a roll, he’s hard
to stop,” said Schlenk, whose cars carried engines built by Dick Kercher of
Roan, Ind. “He started getting on a roll (in late September) and I started
getting a little nervous because we were struggling. We pulled off a few wins
there at the end of the year with our new car, but I couldn’t put anything
consistent together from night-to-night.
“The first half of the year saved me because the second half wasn’t too good,”
he continued. “Luckily we had all our ducks in a row early in the season and
clicked off quite a few wins. We were in the driver’s seat the first
three-quarters of the year, but then we wrecked a (Rayburn) car we had been
racing the whole year at I-96 (Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich.) in mid-August and
had to put a new car together to run the rest of the year.”
Schlenk never quite got his new machine running as consistently fast as his
destroyed mount, but his body of work over the entire season was too superb for
him to be denied. He earned the national title in a fashion that would have made
late UMP founder Bob Memmer proud, not only winning weekly and ALMS events but
also proving his ample skills with a pair of Summer Nationals victories over
high-profile competition on July 14 at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and July 17 at
Oakshade (a $10,000 score in the annual ‘Birthday Race’).
“Those Summer Nationals wins were highlights of the year for me, no doubt –
especially Kokomo,” said Schlenk, who had never before captured a Summer
Nationals A-Main. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved winning the ‘Birthday Race’ at
Oakshade, but I’m good at Oakshade. I grew up racing there (since he was a
teenager) and I kind of expect when those guys come in to be able to run top
five, top three, and maybe have a chance to win. I don’t think I was quite
surprised to win that one, but when we won Kokomo – man, there were a lot of
good cars there and we were kind of on neutral ground. Winning that kind of
proved to me – and hopefully proved to some of the fans and competitors – that I
can run with them on any given night. As long as my funds are there for tires
and stuff, I can compete with them.”
After starting the 2010 season with “$4,500 in the bank to race on for the
year,” Schlenk will be depositing over $20,000 into his account (he also
captured the DIRTcar UMP Ohio/Pennsylvania/Canada State points title) when he
accepts his accolades during the DIRTcar UMP Awards Banquet on Jan. 8, 2011, in
Springfield, Ill. That’s proof positive that his plan “worked out pretty good.”
And considering two other milestones that happened to Schlenk off the track,
2010 will certainly be a year he never forgets.
“I got married (on Jan. 1), had a kid (son Carter in August) and won the
national championship all in the same year,” smiled Schlenk. “I’d say it’ll be
pretty hard to top that.”
Ticket order forms for the annual DIRTcar UMP ‘Night of Champions’ Awards
Banquet on Jan. 8, 2011, at the Crown Plaza in Springfield, Ill., are available
on-line at www.dirtcar.com or by calling the UMP office at 618-450-2072.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing visit www.dirtcar.com.
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
National Points Standings (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Rusty Schlenk 2798 35
2. Jason Feger 2767 35
3. Ryan Unzicker 2647 35
4. Jeep VanWormer 2542 35
5. Dennis Erb Jr. 2513 35
6. Brian Ruhlman 2496 35
7. Brian Shirley 2432 35
8. Michael Kloos 2429 35
9. Alan Vochaska 2413 35
10. Shannon Babb 2407 35
11. Jack Sullivan 2222 35
12. Jeff Walston 2220 35
13. Dillan White 2219 35
14. Rich Neiser 2183 35
15. Eric Spangler 2134 35
16. Kevin Nelson Jr. 2112 35
17. Chad Zobrist 2109 35
18. Curtis Roberts 2107 35
19. Brandon Sheppard 2103 35
20. Dona Marcoullier 2097 35
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
Indiana/Kentucky/Tennessee/Florida State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races
Counted):
1. Jeff Walston 2190 35
2. Terry English 1823 30
3. Chris Shelton 1582 35
4. Jason McBride 1411 27
5. Dustin Butler 1277 26
6. Tanner English 1264 23
7. Dillan White 1245 22
8. Caleb Ashby 1098 20
9. Kevin Cole 1095 20
10. Randy Sellars 1074 19
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
Southwest State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Justin Wells 1279 21
2. Darrell Mooneyham 1195 24
3. Dustin Mooneyham 961 21
4. Ken Essary 933 15
5. Mark Voigt 930 17
6. Terry Phillips 873 12
7. Bryan Collins 824 17
8. Jeff Johns 816 17
9. Larry Jones 812 16
10. Shane Essary 805 14
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model West
State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Mark Carrell 925 15
2. Mike Miller 753 12
3. Paul Culp 637 13
4. Craig Hanson 613 13
5. Kevin Ropchan 613 13
6. Justin Simpson 596 12
7. Chuck Christian 572 12
8. Kreg Britton 548 13
9. Trent Elliott 503 10
10. Rick Wyatt 392 8
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
Michigan/Wisconsin State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Alan Vochaska 2413 35
2. Rich Neiser 2164 35
3. Eric Spangler 2125 35
4. Kevin Nelson Jr. 2112 35
5. Adam Thrush 1821 35
6. Dave Hartman 1726 31
7. Sammy Epling 1646 28
8. Zack Olger 1627 28
9. Bill Bray 1588 31
10. Tom Sprague Jr. 1585 31
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
Ohio/Pennsylvania/Canada State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Rusty Schlenk 2252 31
2. Jared Miley 1845 32
3. Brian Ruhlman 1789 27
4. Lynn Geisler 1781 35
5. Mike Johnson 1745 34
6. Jeff Babcock 1737 34
7. Devin Shiels 1597 30
8. Rick Delong 1548 29
9. Dusty Moore 1476 30
10. Dave Hess Jr. 1374 23
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
Illinois State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Jason Feger 2713 35
2. Ryan Unzicker 2587 35
3. Michael Kloos 2378 35
4. Dennis Erb Jr. 2263 35
5. Brian Shirley 2156 35
6. Eric Smith 2084 33
7. Chad Zobrist 2063 34
8. Frankie Martin 2061 35
9. Brandon Sheppard 2045 35
10. Mike Hammerle 1933 35
Official Final 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model
Northwest State Points (Rank/Driver/Points/Races Counted):
1. Scott Lewis 919 17
2. Jason Schierkolk 873 17
3. Eddie Kirchoff 854 12
4. Dave Garmann 840 16
5. Eric Mass 532 9
6. Steve Lewis 513 13
7. John Bey 483 8
8. Gary Gorby 423 9
9. J.T. Botts 422 11
10. David Brack 416 8
Rodney Sanders wins 11th annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified Fall Nationals
LAS CRUCES, NM - November 7 - When you combine nearly 100 cars, fresh clay on a 5/16ths mile oval, and one of the most innovative promoters in the industry: you have a recipe for excitement. That is precisely what fans at the Southern New Mexico Speedway (SNMS) witnessed this weekend in Las Cruces, N.M.
It took a total of three days, 16 heats, seven C Mains, five B Mains, two A Mains, and three Last Chance Qualifiers to set the field of 24 participants for Sunday night's 11th annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified Fall Nationals, but promoter Royal Jones' inventive methodology to set the field kept every driver in the pit area secure in the knowledge they had a chance to qualify for the $10,000-to-win A Main, and practically no one left the track before Sunday's green flag waved.
One of the best things about DIRTcar Racing UMP Modifieds in the Western states is that huge shows like the three-day Fall Nationals extravaganza in Las Cruces, which drew drivers from 13 states, can happen well into the winter months.
Tommy Myer won Friday night's A Main to advance directly into Sunday's Fall Nationals. That race set the lineup for the inside of the first four rows, and advancing along with him were Johnny Bone Jr., Bumper Jones, and John Anderson. Everyone else needed to race on Saturday to try and capture their spot on the grid.
Las Cruces native and El Paso Speedway Park's DIRTcar Modified champion Stormy Scott won Saturday's A Main to settle onto the outside of the front row, and he brought Tommy Weder Jr., Alan Sharpensteen, and R.C. Whitwell along with him.
Blooming Prairie, Minn.'s Myer and local hot shoe Scott had a big decision to make, however. Before the start of the weekend, SNMS announced they would pay an additional $15,000 to either of the front row drivers if they would drop to the back and make their way to the front in the 50-lap feature-a challenge they were calling the Double Dog Dare.
Promoter Jones added a twist on race day: knowing that all eyes would be on these two drivers if they took the dare, he went to Scott's sponsor Rancho Milagro to find a little more incentive. They would add $5,000 as a guarantee for their driver if the track would match that amount, so $10,000 was added to the purse and Myer and Scott dropped to the back, elevating Tommy Weder Jr. and Johnny Bone Jr. to the front row.
Weder jumped out to a huge lead as the first 18 laps went green. He was about to catch the tail-end of the field when the first caution waved and tightened everyone back up. Through the next green flag segment, he held onto his lead until the decisive caution waved with 18 laps to go.
This time Happy, Texas native Rodney Sanders found the bottom line and roared past Weder and last year's Fall Nationals' winner Johnny Scott. "I tried the top at the start," Sanders said, "and then moved down for a while and didn't gain anything. But slowly it started coming in."
Weder admitted that he left the bottom groove open, effectively handing Sanders a way to pass. "I was pretty good, but what happens when you're the leader is you don't feel like you have to move around," Weder said. "I was watching the bottom get cleaner and cleaner and then Sanders found it and came to the front."
In fact, Weder didn't get down fast enough to hang onto second-place. Defending champ, Johnny Scott also slipped by, and realized that he should have done so before the closing laps. "Maybe if I could have found the bottom sooner, I might have caught him," Scott said. "But Sanders was fast."
Johnny's brother Stormy Scott failed in his bid to win a payday that would have netted $25,000 plus bonuses, but after climbing from last-place at the start of the race to finish ninth, he grabbed a total of $8,050. " This thing was awesome; I couldn't ask for anything more," Scott said.
Still, the biggest check of the night went to Sanders when he pocketed $10,000 of SNMS' money. "What did it for me, was that I got to the bottom before anyone else."
11th annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified Fall Nationals
1. Rodney Sanders
2. Johnny Scott
3. Tommy Weder Jr.
4. Johnny Bone Jr.
5. Ryan Gustin
6. Kelly Shryock
7. John Anderson
8. Bobby Malchus
9. Stormy Scott
10. Alex Stanford
11. Bumper Jones
12. Philip Houston
13. Tim Donlinger
14. Josh Cain
15. Tommy Myer
16. Tom Georges
17. Jeff Taylor
18. Zach VanderBeek
19. Kellen Chadwick
20. Alan Sharpensteen
21. Terry Phillips
22. RC Whitwell
23. Fito Gallardo
24. Neal Flowers
For complete results of all three nights, go to http://www.snmspeedway.com/.
Winners
2010: Rodney Sanders
2009: Johnny Scott
2008: Jason Hughes
2007: Eddie Martin
2006: Eddie Martin
2005: Eddie Martin
2004: Ron Jones
2003: Monte Bolton
2002: Royal Jones
2001: Ron Jones
2000: Ron Jones
Contact: Dan Beaver
Western DIRTcar Public Relations
520.249.8486 /
[email protected]
Twitter: @DIRTcarWest
Chris Morgan
Director Western Operations
World Racing Group/ DIRTcar
805.637.1426 / [email protected]
11th annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified Fall Nationals features huge field and rich payout
Dan Beaver
Western DIRTcar Public Relations 520.249.8486 / [email protected]
LAS CRUCES, NM - November 5 - While racing in the East and Midwest is beginning to wind down, it is heating up in the Southwest with the 11th annual Fall Nationals at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. on tap for a three day show November 5th-7th. The gates open for three days of action at 4:00 pm Friday, November 5, 2010 and racing will begin at 6:30 pm. An earlier start time has been announced for Saturday and Sunday's show with the gates opening at noon and racing kicking off at 2:00 pm, but drivers started arriving early. "DIRTcar Racing is honored to be involved with an event of this magnitude," said DIRTcar Racing Western Region director Chris Morgan. "The Fall DIRTcar Nationals grows bigger and bigger every year and shows the short-track world what a great UMP DIRTcar Modified program that Royal Jones and his staff are building at Southern New Mexico Speedway." The DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified sanctioned event drew a record crowd of 107 Modifieds for last year's edition of this race and just as many are expected this year. There are 10,000 reasons for so many drivers to converge on SNMS this weekend: Sunday's A-main will pay $10,000 to win, $5,000 for second, and $1,250 to start, which is more than many weekly events pay to win. One aggressive driver will also pocket $1,500 on Sunday in the form of hard charger award. In fact, the benefits of winning could be more than twice as great if one of the drivers who qualify on the front row has enough nerve. Track promoter Royal Jones is daring them to drop to the back and try to make their way to front in Sunday's 50-lap A Main. If either of them can win after starting shotgun on the field, the winner's purse will swell to $25,000 in what the track is calling the Double Dog Dare. Taking the Double Dog Dare won't be an easy decision, however, as the track is hosting the best Modified racers in the country on a very racy surface. Nearly 30 loads of clay were hauled into the track in preparation for this weekend's Fall Nationals and 40 drivers showed up to practice and groom the new surface. With times dipping down into the high 14 second mark, the track is going to be fast all weekend and drivers who showed up for practice on Thursday might have an advantage. In addition to local hot shoes that include Stormy Scott, Jimmy Ray, Royal and Bumper Jones, and Fito and Jacob Gallardo, drivers from 12 other states have already taken laps at SNMS. Iowa's Kelly Shryock, Ryan Guston and Zack Vanderbeek, Missouri's Jeremy Payne and Terry Phillips, and California's Kellen Chadwick have made the long tow, but Modified drivers from as far away as Oregon, Minnesota, and Arizona are also featured. Johnny Scott, Terry Phillips, and Jason Hughes have dominated the Fall Nationals, with Scott keeping Springfield, Mo.'s Jeremy Payne at bay last year with Rodney Sanders, Randy Timms, and Phillips rounding out the top five. Nearly all of the top 10 finishers from last year will be in attendance this weekend to close the gap on Scott and local fans are not going to want to miss the action. Who'll win this year's DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified Fall Nationals? Stay tuned-or better yet, get a ticket and come see for yourself. If you can't make it to the track, the race will be broadcast at http://modfury.com/. Contact: Dan Beaver Chris Morgan |
Engines Of Top-Three Finishers In DIRTcar UMP Pro Late Model Nationals At Tri-City Speedway Declared Legal
GRAYVILLE, IL – Oct. 20, 2010 – The engines used by the top-three finishers in the DIRTcar UMP Pro Late Model Nationals on Oct. 9 at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., have been deemed legal after a thorough inspection, DIRTcar officials announced on Tuesday.
Scott Weber of Festus, Mo., was officially credited with the $2,500 victory in the 40-lap A-Main that ended the 2010 DIRTcar UMP points season for the Pro Late Model division. Weber’s 18th overall triumph of the 2010 also put an exciting cap on his first-ever DIRTcar UMP Pro Late Model national points championship.
Bobby Pierce, a 13-year-old second-generation sensation from Oakwood, Ill., had his second-place finish in Tri-City’s special event ratified by officials and Dustin Griffin of Camp Point, Ill., was declared the third-place finisher in the race. Pierce and Griffin finished second and fifth, respectively, in the 2010 DIRTcar UMP Pro Late Model national points standings.
DIRTcar officials had the crews of Weber, Pierce and Griffin remove their cars’ crate engines following the Pro Late Model Nationals event and impounded them for further inspection. Two motors were sent to one location and one was sent to another for complete disassembly and inspection to determine that they complied with GM specifications.
All three engines were found to meet the rules, freeing the drivers to receive their portions of the event’s posted payoff and receive DIRTcar UMP points.
“This is something we have to do periodically in the Pro Late Model division to make sure that competitors are all on the same page,” said DIRTcar UMP director Sam Driggers. “We’re happy to announce that all three engines were thoroughly inspected and were legal to GM specifications.”
Weber will receive his $10,000 prize for winning the Pro Late Model national title during the annual DIRTcar UMP ‘Night of Champions’ Awards Banquet on Jan. 8, 2011, at the Crown Plaza in Springfield, Ill. Ticket orders forms for the gala evening will be mailed out and available on-line at www.dirtcar.com by Nov. 1.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing visit www.dirtcar.com.
Shirley and Schrader Share DIRTcar UMP Fall Nationals Wins; Schlenk and Harrison Cap Championship Seasons
NASCAR veteran Kenny Schrader of Concord, N.C., meanwhile, added another line to his long racing resume, winning the companion 25-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified event.
The doubleheader closed out the 2010 DIRTcar UMP points season. Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., only managed a 13th-place finish but was crowned the DIRTcar Late Model national champion for the first time in his career, and Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill., who finished fourth in the UMP Modified feature, clinched the open-wheel division's national title for the second time in his career.
Shirley's night started fast as he captured the first heat race ahead of 2010 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., earning him the fourth starting spot in the night's feature. Shirley moved to second when early leader Jon Henry of Ada, Ohio, brushed the outside wall and then passed Ben Adkins of West Portsmouth, Ohio, for the lead.
Shirley spent the late stages holding off a furious charge by Pinconning, Mich.'s Jeep Van Wormer, who drove Ken Schrader's Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Late Model after suffering motor trouble in his own machine during the previous night's Race of Champions. Shirley pocketed $5,000 for his first-ever win at Eldora.
VanWormer settled for second. Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio, placed third to secure the 2010 Eldora Speedway track points title over VanWormer. Frank Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill., finished fourth and Adkins rounded out the top five.
Schlenk advanced from the 25th starting spot to finish 13th. He had clinched the DIRT Late Model national crown the previous week, outlasting Feger, who finished seventh in Saturday's A-Main, for the title.
Schrader came from the eighth starting spot in the UMP Modified feature to overtake race-long leader - and double-duty competitor Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich. - for the top spot with a dramatic last-lap pass. The finish was so close that Ruhlman requested to see a video replay of the finish - a tape that proved Schrader was indeed the winner of the $3,000 first-place prize.
Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., a former DIRTcar UMP Nationals winner at Eldora, finished third. Harrison was fourth and former UMP Modified national champ Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, Ill., took fifth.
Harrison, who started seventh, finished off his championship season when the only driver who could overtake him for the title, Nick Allen of Verona, Ky., failed to win the night's A-Main. Allen finished seventh after starting 10th.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing log on to www.dirtcar.com.
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
B Main 1: 1. Kevin Sather[2]; 2. Mike Spatola[1]; 3. Dean Hoffman[3]; 4. Brent Hole[4]; 5. Rusty Griffaw[5]; 6. Greg Amick[9]; 7. Jimmy Hayden[6]; 8. Dennis Roberson[7]; 9. Lance Dehm[11]; 10. Randle Sweeney[17]; 11. Justin Mccoy[21]; 12. Jacob Poel[10]; 13. Mike Wilbern[8]; 14. Mike Shadic[24]; 15. Michael Neighbors[18]; 16. Corey Bevard[14]; 17. Derek Groomer[15]
B Main 2: 1. Kyle Strickler[2]; 2. Bobby Kitchen[3]; 3. Chris Puskas[4]; 4. Jamie Lomax[9]; 5. Jesse Bitterling[5]; 6. Tim Richardson[7]; 7. Scott Knepley[14]; 8. Andy Strait[17]; 9. Cody Weisner[24]; 10. Bryant Dickinson[18]; 11. Jeremy Lewis[16]; 12. Dave Crawley Jr[15]; 13. Mike Roediger[22]; 14. Jerrid Back[21]; 15. Aaron Jenkins[12]; 16. Ray Jackson[20]; 17. Jeff Sayles[13]; 18. Ryan Cripe[19]; 19. John Allen[10]; 20. Todd Sherman[11]; 21. Brian Hayden[1]; 22. Corey Partin[8]
B Main 3: 1. Brent Mullins[2]; 2. Ed Roley[1]; 3. George Catanzano[5]; 4. Bryce Jewell[6]; 5. Trent Green[9]; 6. John Brooks[15]; 7. Greg Socha[11]; 8. Brian Post[4]; 9. Joel Dick[19]; 10. Travis Stemler[8]; 11. Rob Trent[25]; 12. Dave Baker[17]; 13. Rodney Morris[20]; 14. Dave Sibberson[18]; 15. David Mielke[14]; 16. J D Lease[23]; 17. Brian Przepiora[10]; 18. Tyler Deibert[7]; 19. Levi Kissinger[3]; 20. Eddie Reyes[12]; 21. Chad Evans[13]
B Main 4: 1. Jeff Harris[1]; 2. Ed Shaner[2]; 3. Justin Coulter[3]; 4. Jim Farris Sr[12]; 5. Kasey Schrock[5]; 6. Doug Hewitt[19]; 7. Nick Rosselit[17]; 8. Shane Unger[14]; 9. Mike Chrisman[10]; 10. David Smith[6]; 11. Aaron Taylor[16]; 12. Zeke McKenzie[21]; 13. Jimmy Westerfield[9]; 14. John McCaul[7]; 15. Jason Kinney[11]; 16. Pat Ehlert[23]; 17. Mark Kowarsch[4]
A Main: 1. Ken Schrader[8]; 2. Brian Ruhlman[1]; 3. Jared Landers[4]; 4. Mike Harrison[7]; 5. Denny Schwartz[2]; 6. David Mcwilliams[3]; 7. Nick Allen[10]; 8. Doug Adkins[14]; 9. Jeff Leka[11]; 10. Devin Gilpin[16]; 11. Mike Spatola[21]; 12. Jeff Harris[20]; 13. Jerry Bowersock[13]; 14. Kevin Sather[17]; 15. Brent Mullins[19]; 16. Rusty Griffaw[25]; 17. Tim Richardson[27]; 18. Jeff Babcock[12]; 19. Ed Roley[23]; 20. Curtis Coulter[5]; 21. Ed Shaner[24]; 22. Scott Orr[9]; 23. Cody Weisner[28]; 24. Clint Demoss[6]; 25. Dustin King[15]; 26. Kyle Strickler[18]; 27. Bobby Kitchen[22]; 28. Todd Sherman[26];
DIRTcar Late Models
Heat 1: 1. Brian Shirley[2]; 2. Jason Feger[4]; 3. Jeff Babcock[3]; 4. Hillard Miller[7]; 5. Steve Kester[8]; 6. Bill Lewis[9]; 7. Jerry Bowersock[1]; 8. Richie Hedrick[5]; 9. Alan Gendusa[6];
Heat 2: 1. Keith Berner[2]; 2. Andrew Reaume[3]; 3. Scott Schmitt[5]; 4. Dillan White[6]; 5. Brandon Thirlby[4]; 6. Pat Ehlert[7]; 7. Rusty Schlenk[1]; 8. Don Gordon[8];
Heat 3: 1. Jon Henry[1]; 2. JR Hotovy[4]; 3. Curt Spalding[3]; 4. Curtis Roberts[2]; 5. Dona Marcoullier[5]; 6. Scott Orr[6]; 7. Jeff Beyers[8]; 8. Derek Chandler[7]; 9. John Lawhorn[2];
Heat 4: 1. Ben Adkins[2]; 2. Matt Miller[3]; 3. Dennis Erb Jr.[4]; 4. Brian Ruhlman[1]; 5. Zack Olger[6]; 6. Kyle Borgman[7]; 7. Matt Irey[9]; 8. Doug Ausra[8]; 9. Brad Eitniear[5];
Heat 5: 1. Kenny Compton jr[3]; 2. Jeep Van Wormer[9]; 3. Jeff Watson[1]; 4. Brett Reaume[5]; 5. Phil Ausra[4]; 6. Carl Ries[6]; 7. Tom Treon[8]; 8. Brandon Sheppard[2]; 9. Scott Baker[7];
Heat 6: 1. Frank Heckenast[2]; 2. Ryan VanderVeen[1]; 3. Scott James[4]; 4. Rick DeLong[3]; 5. Kevin Mack[5]; 6. Dan Delong[6]; 7. Adam Thrush[7]; 8. Chuck Hummer[8];
B Main 1: 1. Dillan White[2]; 2. Brandon Thirlby[4]; 3. Steve Kester[3]; 4. Pat Ehlert[6]; 5. Alan Gendusa[11]; 6. Don Gordon[10]; 7. Richie Hedrick[9]; 8. Hillard Miller[1]; 9. Bill Lewis[-]; 10. Jerry Bowersock[-]; 11. Rusty Schlenk[-]; 12. Jeep Van Wormer[-];
B Main 2: 1. Brian Ruhlman[2]; 2. Curtis Roberts[1]; 3. Dona Marcoullier[3]; 4. Jeff Beyers[7]; 5. Derek Chandler[9]; 6. Zack Olger[4]; 7. Scott Orr[5]; 8. Doug Ausra[10]; 9. Matt Irey[8]; 10. Brad Eitniear[12]; 11. Kyle Borgman[6]; 12. John Lawhorn[-];
B Main 3: 1. Rick DeLong[2]; 2. Phil Ausra[3]; 3. Scott Baker[11]; 4. Brett Reaume[1]; 5. Kevin Mack[4]; 6. Carl Ries[5]; 7. Dan Delong[6]; 8. Adam Thrush[8]; 9. Tom Treon[7]; 10. Brandon Sheppard[-]; 11. Chuck Hummer[-];
A Main: 1. Brian Shirley[4]; 2. Jeep Van Wormer[11]; 3. Matt Miller[10]; 4. Frank Heckenast[3]; 5. Ben Adkins[1]; 6. Jeff Babcock[13]; 7. Jason Feger[7]; 8. Scott James[18]; 9. Brian Ruhlman[20]; 10. Keith Berner[6]; 11. Dennis Erb Jr.[16]; 12. Curt Spalding[15]; 13. Rusty Schlenk[25]; 14. Dillan White[19]; 15. Curtis Roberts[23]; 16. Rick DeLong[21]; 17. Phil Ausra[24]; 18. Brandon Thirlby[22]; 19. Dona Marcoullier[26]; 20. Richie Hedrick[28]; 21. Scott Orr[27]; 22. Andrew Reaume[8]; 23. Kenny Compton jr[5]; 24. Ryan VanderVeen[12]; 25. Jeff Walston[17]; 26. Jon Henry[2]; 27. JR Hotovy[9]; 28. Scott Schmitt[14];
Victories By Harrison & Feger Highlight Opening Night Of DIRTcar UMP National Championships At Eldora Speedway
ROSSBURG, OH - Oct. 8, 2010 - Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill., certainly got his weekend started off right on Friday night at Eldora Speedway, winning a UMP Modified heat race to position him well in his pursuit of the division's 2010 national crown during the annual DIRTcar UMP National Championships.
Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., meanwhile, was the evening's big DIRTcar Late Model victor, capturing the Race of Champions event that featured 2010 full-fender titlists from across the circuit.
Harrison, 36, was one of eight drivers to earn a UMP Modified heat-race triumph on a night that saw 118 ultra-competitive cars sign in for the points-season-ending program. Other heat winners were NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader of Fenton, Mo., Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich., David McWilliams of Verona, Ky., former DIRTcar UMP Nationals winner Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., Curtis Coulter of Leamington, Ont., and former UMP Modified national champion Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, Ill.
Harrison can clinch his second career UMP Modified national title by finishing first or second in Saturday night's DIRTcar UMP National Championship A-Main. He can also secure the championship if Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind., fails to win the feature.
While Allen is actually third in the UMP Modified national points standings entering this weekend's action, he is the only driver who still has a mathematical chance to overtake Harrison for the title. Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., trails Harrison by 11 points but can only gain a maximum of 10 points at Eldora because the worst points night he is replacing is a 75 (Eldora's winner will earn 85 points). Allen is replacing a 70-point night, giving him an opportunity to pick up 15 points with a win and grab his first career national title if Harrison does not finish second.
Allen was the runner-up in Friday's second heat race, sending him into Saturday's headliner with a shot at creating some national championship drama.
Feger, the 2010 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion, closed the night's program with a triumphant run in the Late Model Race of Champions. He held off a furious late-race onslaught from three-time DIRTcar Late Model national champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., to earn a $1,000 winner's check.
Erb settled for a close second ahead of a furious three-way battle for third. Double-duty driver Brian Ruhlman took the show position, followed by Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., who enters the weekend having already clinched the 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model national title, and Frank Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill.
Saturday night's action includes heat races, B-Mains and a feature for the DIRTcar Late Models and B-Mains and the A-Main for the UMP Modifieds. Race time is 6 p.m.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing visit www.dirtcar.com.
DIRTcar UMP National Championships - Night 1
UMP Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Ken Schrader[4]; 2. Scott Orr[3]; 3. Mike Spatola[11]; 4. Dean Hoffman[2]; 5. Rusty Griffaw[6]; 6. Dennis Roberson[5]; 7. Greg Amick[9]; 8. Lance Dehm[7]; 9. Anthony Davis[13]; 10. Derek Groomer[14]; 11. Randle Sweeney[1]; 12. Brian Lynn[8]; 13. Justin Mccoy[12]; 14. Jessie Snyder[10]; 15. Matt Shadic[15]
Heat 2: 1. Clint Demoss[1]; 2. Nick Allen[3]; 3. Kevin Sather[2]; 4. Brent Hole[11]; 5. Jimmy Hayden[7]; 6. Mike Wilbern[9]; 7. Jacob Poel[5]; 8. Timi Dalman[12]; 9. Corey Bevard[14]; 10. Matt Bex[6]; 11. Michael Neighbors[13]; 12. Nick Katterhenry[4]; 13. Justin Matson[8]; 14. Casey Luedeke[10]
Heat 3: 1. Brian Ruhlman[4]; 2. Jeff Leka[3]; 3. Brian Hayden[1]; 4. Bobby Kitchen[5]; 5. Jesse Bitterling[6]; 6. Tim Richardson[2]; 7. Jamie Lomax[8]; 8. Todd Sherman[9]; 9. Jeff Sayles[14]; 10. Dave Crawley Jr[11]; 11. Andy Strait[12]; 12. Ryan Cripe[15]; 13. Jerrid Back[10]; 14. Jeep Van Wormer[7]; 15. Broc Burton[13]
Heat 4: 1. David Mcwilliams[2]; 2. Jeff Babcock[3]; 3. Kyle Strickler[1]; 4. Chris Puskas[8]; 5. Jacoby Hines[6]; 6. Corey Partin[11]; 7. John Allen[12]; 8. Aaron Jenkins[9]; 9. Scott Knepley[7]; 10. Jeremy Lewis[10]; 11. Bryant Dickinson[13]; 12. Ray Jackson[15]; 13. Mike Roediger[5]; 14. Cody Weisner[4]; 15. Steve Lach[14]
Heat 5: 1. Mike Harrison[4]; 2. Jerry Bowersock[3]; 3. Ed Roley[2]; 4. Levi Kissinger[5]; 5. George Catanzano[6]; 6. Tyler Deibert[7]; 7. Trent Green[9]; 8. Greg Socha[10]; 9. Chad Evans[15]; 10. John Brooks[13]; 11. Dave Baker[12]; 12. Joel Dick[8]; 13. Andy Galgoci[11]; 14. J D Lease[14]; 15. Rob Trent[1]
Heat 6: 1. Jared Landers[4]; 2. Doug Adkins[3]; 3. Brent Mullins[1]; 4. Brian Post[7]; 5. Bryce Jewell[8]; 6. Travis Stemler[5]; 7. Brian Przepiora[6]; 8. Eddie Reyes[9]; 9. David Mielke[10]; 10. Jim Bailey[13]; 11. Dave Sibberson[12]; 12. Rodney Morris[11]; 13. Mike Dirksen[2]; 14. Schuyler Nahre[14]; 15. Larry Passenier[15]
Heat 7: 1. Curtis Coulter[2]; 2. Dustin King[1]; 3. Jeff Harris[4]; 4. Justin Coulter[6]; 5. Kasey Schrock[5]; 6. John McCaul[3]; 7. Jimmy Westerfield[14]; 8. Jason Kinney[8]; 9. Chad Rosenbeck[7]; 10. David Daughtery[13]; 11. Nick Rosselit[10]; 12. Doug Hewitt[11]; 13. Zeke McKenzie[9]; 14. Pat Ehlert[12]
Heat 8: 1. Denny Schwartz[2]; 2. Devin Gilpin[3]; 3. Ed Shaner[7]; 4. Mark Kowarsch[1]; 5. David Smith[8]; 6. Shelby Miles[4]; 7. Mike Chrisman[6]; 8. Jim Farris Sr[5]; 9. Shane Unger[10]; 10. Aaron Taylor[11]; 11. Steve Grote[9]; 12. Chris Vandewiele[12]; 13. Danny Schwartz[13]; 14. Rich Robinson Jr.[14];
Late Model Race of Champions: 1. Jason Feger[2]; 2. Dennis Erb Jr.[5]; 3. Brian Ruhlman[4]; 4. Rusty Schlenk[1]; 5. Frank Heckenast[7]; 6. Dillan White[8]; 7. Jeff Walston[9]; 8. Brian Shirley[6]; 9. Jeep Van Wormer[3];
This Weekend’s DIRTcar UMP Nationals At Eldora Speedway: A Coronation For Late Model Champ Schlenk, A Dramatic Battle For UMP Modified Title
ROSSBURG, OH – Oct. 7, 2010 – This weekend’s DIRTcar UMP Nationals at Eldora Speedway will serve as a coronation for 2010 DIRTcar Late Model national champion Rusty Schlenk.
But for the UMP Modified division, the big autumn weekend will provide a dramatic conclusion to one of the closest national points battles in circuit history.
Schlenk, 24, of Jackson, Mich., clinched his first-ever DIRTcar Late Model national crown last weekend, allowing him to enter the points-season-ending event this weekend (Oct. 8-9) at the famed Eldora half-mile oval with no pressure hanging over his head.
The 2010 UMP Modified national title, however, remains undecided. Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill., leads the standings, but Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind., can still rise up to steal the crown with a grand flourish in the division’s finale.
The DIRTcar UMP Nationals kicks off on Friday night (Oct. 8) with practice and time trial sessions for the Late Models and UMP Modifieds, followed by heat races for the Modifieds and Race of Champions events for both divisions. Saturday’s agenda includes the Late Model heats plus B-Mains and features for the two classes.
Schlenk enters the weekend on an emotional high after salting away the DIRTcar Late Model national title last Friday night at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway. He crashed hard early in the evening’s 60-lap Triple Crown Clash event and finished 25th, but he clinched the crown when defending national champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., managed only a fourth-place finish. Feger needed to win or place second to keep alive his hopes for a championship repeat.
Clinching the $20,000 title was a relief for Schlenk, who led the national standings for much of the campaign but struggled with bad luck down the stretch. Schlenk’s slump allowed Feger to close the points gap, but Schlenk’s cushion was too much to overcome.
“It was definitely a long road getting there – a long summer and a lot of blood, sweat and tears throughout the season trying to get this thing wrapped up,” said Schlenk, whose DIRTcar UMP-leading 20 feature wins this season included DIRTcar Summer Nationals victories at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio. “About the last week, week-and-a-half, we started feeling (the pressure) pretty hard. (Feger) started knocking off a couple a couple wins the last week and it got me a little nervous, but it worked out good.”
Schlenk will take his national championship victory lap at Eldora, a track that’s been good to him in the past. He won an American Late Model Series feature there on May 30.
The UMP Modified championship, meanwhile, will be fought between Harrison and Allen. With Allen trailing Harrison by 13 points, Allen has one scenario possible to give the title – win Saturday night’s feature at Eldora without Harrison crossing the finish line behind him in second.
Harrison, a 36-year-old who won the UMP Modified national championship in 2004, is coming off his circuit-leading 28th feature triumph of 2010 last Saturday night at Kankakee. The victory added seven points to his overall total, which in the UMP Modified division is determined using drivers’ best 35 finishes/points nights (feature finish plus car-count bonus points).
While Allen is actually third in the points standings behind Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., Gilpin is mathematically eliminated from title contention. Gilpin trails Harrison by 11 points but can only gain a maximum of 10 points at Eldora because the worst points night he is replacing is a 75 (Eldora’s winner will earn 85 points). Allen is replacing a 70-point night, giving him an opportunity to pick up 15 points with a win and grab his first career national title if Harrison does not finish second.
This weekend’s action, which will feature NASCAR veteran Kenny Schrader competing in both the Late Model and Modified events, will begin on Friday with hot laps at 6:15 p.m. Racing gets the green flag on Saturday at 6 p.m.
For more information visit www.eldoraspeedway.com or call 937-338-3815.
Additional on DIRTcar Racing is available by logging on to www.dirtcar.com.
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Late Model & Modified National Titles Still Up For Grabs Entering Final Weekend Of Weekly Points
CONCORD, NC – Oct 1, 2010 – The final weekend of the 2010 DIRTcar Racing UMP weekly points season has arrived and there’s plenty of drama surrounding the national title battles in the circuit’s marquee Late Model and UMP Modified divisions.
Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., remains the leader of the DIRTcar Late Model national standings entering the weekend but must contend with a furious last-ditch comeback bid by defending champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. In the UMP Modified ranks, Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill., holds a precarious edge in a tight four-driver race that also includes Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind., and Clint DeMoss of Bloomington, Ind.
DIRTcar competitors have until the end of the Oct. 1-3 weekend of action to collect points at weekly sanctioned tracks. Late Model and UMP Modified drivers then have one final opportunity to earn points – the season-ending DIRTcar UMP Nationals on Oct. 8-9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Schlenk, the 23-year-old Michigander who has led the Late Model national standings since early in the season, is hoping his battle with Feger is resolved without a deciding showdown at Eldora. But Schlenk needs to shake out of a late-season slump to hold off Feger, who has surged back into contention for a second consecutive national crown.
Feger, 32, entered last weekend’s action trailing Schlenk by 80 points in the national standings, but he cut that deficit by more than half in a span of just four races. With the Late Model standings determined using drivers’ best 35 event points nights (feature finish plus car-count bonus points), Feger’s finishes of first, second and third in the three-day Monster Midwest Tour meet from Sept. 23-25 at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., and a $6,000 victory in Wednesday night’s 57th annual Illinois State Championship 100 at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway allowed him to replace the four worst points nights on his ledger for a net gain of 49 points.
Schlenk, meanwhile, added no points to his total for the second consecutive weekend (he scored finishes of 19th, 12th and fifth in the Tri-City tripleheader), so his lead now unofficially stands at 31 points (2,798-2,767) over Feger entering this weekend’s racing. (Note: the official points standings listed below were released by DIRTcar UMP officials at mid-week and do not include the results of Wednesday’s rescheduled event at Peoria. )
Schlenk and Feger are scheduled to compete head-to-head this weekend (Oct. 1-2) in the two-day ‘ROCKtoberfest’ event at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway, a track where both drivers have won this season (Schlenk on Sept. 3, Feger on June 6 and July 30). Three points-paying races will be contested, highlighted by Friday night’s 60-lap, $9,000-to-win Triple Crown Late Model event held-over by rain from Aug. 13. Friday’s agenda also includes the 16-lap Silver Bullet Shootout for drivers who qualify through heat races for the 40-lap, $2,000-to-win ‘ROCKtoberfest’ feature scheduled for Saturday evening.
Feger has almost no room for error at Kankakee if he hopes to enter Eldora’s DIRTcar UMP Nationals with a shot at overtaking Schlenk for the title. With Feger’s three lowest remaining points nights at 70, 72 and 74 points, he can pick up a maximum of 29 points this weekend – if he wins all three events and the ‘ROCKtoberfest’ field numbers at least 30 to give him the max bonus points for Saturday’s 40-lapper (no bonus points will be available in the Silver Bullet Shootout because only 16 cars are scheduled to start). Provided Schlenk does not finish well enough to add any points to his total, Feger would then head to Eldora trailing Schlenk by just two points and need a win or runner-up finish – in combination with Schlenk not finishing in the top three – to steal the championship.
Friday’s Triple Crown Late Model feature is the most critical for Feger, who qualified through a heat on Aug. 13 and is scheduled to start seventh. Unofficial calculations show he must finish first or second in the event, which offers maximum bonus points, to keep himself mathematically alive for the title.
Of course, Schlenk, who is scheduled to start 14th in the Triple Crown event, could make all of Feger’s efforts a moot point if he’s able to add at least 10 points to his total at Kankakee. Schlenk’s lowest remaining points nights are two 70s and a 72, so he could push his points total beyond Feger’s highest possible total by finishing first or second in Friday’s 60-lapper; first or second in Saturday’s feature (provided max bonus points are available); third in both the 60- and 40-lap A-Mains (with max bonus points on Saturday); or winning the Silver Bullet Shootout and finishing third in either the 60-lapper or 40-lapper (again assuming max bonus points for the Saturday race).
The red-hot UMP Modified points battle, meanwhile, has multiple scenarios in play with four drivers vying for the championship. Just 13 points separate Harrison from fourth-place DeMoss in one of the closest national title races in the history of DIRTcar Racing’s UMP circuit.
Neither Harrison, Gilpin nor Allen gained any points last weekend, but DeMoss closed the gap by netting markers in two races. DeMoss was victorious for the 18th time in 2010 on Sept. 23 at Tri-City Speedway – adding 10 points to his total – and finished second on Sept. 25 at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway to pick up another five points, pulling him within 13 points of Harrison. ( NOTE: the points below show DeMoss trailing by 18 points because Brownstown’s complete results were not received by the DIRTcar UMP office before the updated standings were released.)
DeMoss was the lone driver of the top four who had firm competition plans for this weekend, reporting to DIRTcar UMP officials that he would enter the Fall Classic on Oct. 1-2 at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky. A UMP Modified feature will be contested both nights of the weekend.
Allen has the best chance to gain points this weekend because he still has three 70-point nights to replace. Harrison, Gilpin and DeMoss each have low points nights of 75 on their respective ledgers.
Other DIRTcar Racing national points leaders heading into the final weekend of weekly action include Scott Weber of Festus, Mo. (Pro Late Models), Jeff Herzog of Herculaneum, Mo. (Sportsman), Christy Georges of El Paso, Texas (Limited Modifieds), Joel Funk of Dwight, Ill. (Stock Cars), Brad Venhaus of Aviston, Ill. (Factory Stocks) and Rob Shaw of Highland, Ill. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of Sept. 27, 2010; NOTE: UMP Modified results from Brownstown Speedway on Sept. 25 not included):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 2798 35
2. Jason Feger 2752 35
3. Ryan Unzicker 2579 35
4. Jeep VanWormer 2501 35
5. Brian Ruhlman 2487 35
6. Dennis Erb Jr. 2477 35
7. Alan Vochaska 2434 35
8. Michael Kloos 2429 35
9. Shannon Babb 2407 35
10. Brian Shirley 2357 35
11. Jack Sullivan 2222 35
12. Jeff Walston 2220 35
13. Rich Neiser 2214 35
14. Kevin Nelson Jr. 2142 35
15. Dillan White 2137 35
16. Eric Spangler 2134 35
17. Dona Marcoullier 2111 35
18. Brandon Sheppard 2093 35
19. Billy Moyer 2060 27
20. Curtis Roberts 2049 34
UMP Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Mike Harrison 2000 25
2. Devin Gilpin 1996 25
3. Nick Allen 1994 25
4. Clint DeMoss 1982 25
5. Rusty Griffaw 1947 25
6. Stormy Scott 1927 25
7. Todd Sherman 1927 25
8. Mike Spatola 1905 25
9. Randle Sweeney 1892 25
10. Jeff Leka 1876 25
11. Jim Farris 1871 25
12. Rich Robinson Jr. 1869 25
13. McKay Wenger 1830 25
14. Bobby Bittle 1816 25
15. Gabe Menser 1809 25
16. Brent Mullins 1801 25
17. Dave Crawley Jr. 1790 25
18. Marc Kurth 1783 25
19. Jason Russell 1783 25
20. Zach Fair 1773 25
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Weber 1175 15
2. Bobby Pierce 1156 15
3. Mark Oller 1116 15
4. Lee Gill 1095 15
5. Credence Mott 1092 15
6. Tait Davenport 1085 15
7. Dustin Griffin 1085 15
8. Bobby Dauderman 1084 15
9. Bobby Martintoni 1063 15
10. Tony Albright 1055 15
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Herzog 1164 15
2. Randy Petro 1147 15
3. Steve Peeden 1125 15
4. Chris Hillman 1124 15
5. Russell Eilers 1123 15
6. Joey Ladouceur 1119 15
7. Louie Jackson 1111 15
8. David Crawley Jr. 1108 15
9. Christy Georges 1108 15
10. Jocelyn Roy 1105 15
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Christy Georges 1118 15
2. Jonathan Smith 1110 15
3. Jeff Lawson 1028 15
4. Howard Willis 1028 15
5. Tyler Nicely 1008 15
6. Sherman Barnett 997 15
7. Kevin Dupont 996 15
8. Clay Settles 970 15
9. Ronnie Cotton 960 15
10. Mercedes Harris 953 15
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Joel Funk 1161 15
2. Don Hilleary 1152 15
3. J.R. Mason 1125 15
4. Jerrad Krick 1107 15
5. Aaron Fields 1105 15
6. Dan Dykman 1099 15
7. Mike Lynn 1095 15
8. Andrew Funk 1092 15
9. Gary Vandermark 1069 15
10. Jeff Semmens 1066 15
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Brad Venhaus 1157 15
2. Jim Scout 1135 15
3. Dave Grega 1133 15
4. Scott Mooers 1099 15
5. Rob Sternberg 1081 15
6. Bill May 1050 15
7. Cody Vanosdol 1047 15
8. Jeff Foks 1025 15
9. Mickey Hines 1010 15
10. Craig Dippman 991 15
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Rob Shaw 1217 15
2. Lucas Jackson 1183 15
3. Dan Reimersma 1134 15
4. Jordan Suhre 1133 15
5. Ray Watts 1132 15
6. Blayne Ellis 1125 15
7. Michael Rittenberry 1125 15
8. Ryan Hamm 1100 15
9. Jason Maier 1099 15
10. Trevor Isaak 1096 15
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk (Late
Models) & Harrison (UMP Modifieds)
Take National Points Leads Into Penultimate Weekend
CONCORD, NC – Sept. 24, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich. (Late Models) and
Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill. (UMP Modifieds) headed into the penultimate
weekend of DIRTcar Racing weekly points action leading their respective
division’s national standings.
The 23-year-old Schlenk, who grabbed the DIRTcar Late Model national points lead
early in the season and hasn’t relinquished it, entered this weekend’s events
with an 80-point edge (2,798-2,718) over defending national champion Jason Feger
of Bloomington, Ill. That gap remained unchanged after last weekend’s results
saw neither Schlenk nor Feger add to their points totals, which are determined
using drivers’ best 35 event points nights (feature finish plus car-count bonus
points).
Schlenk, who leads the circuit with 20 sanctioned wins this season and is
seeking his first-ever DIRTcar Late Model national crown, had a subpar weekend
with scored finishes of 13th (American Late Model Series event) and 21st (weekly
feature) on Sept. 17 at Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Mich., and 18th on Sept.
18 at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio. The 32-year-old Feger didn’t perform
well enough to replace his worst points nights of the season after finishing
fifth in the Dodge Ram 50 on Sept. 17 at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,
Ill., and 14 th in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series Pepsi Nationals on
Sept. 18 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo.
DIRTcar Racing’s weekly points end next weekend (Oct. 1-3), but Late Model and
UMP Modified drivers will have one more opportunity to gather points in the
season-ending DIRTcar UMP Nationals on Oct. 8-9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg,
Ohio.
Schlenk is in the driver’s seat with time running out on the 2010 points
campaign, but Feger’s chances of repeating as national champ remain alive – if
he can close the season on a hot streak and Schlenk fails to finish high enough
to add points to his total. After Feger unofficially cut Schlenk’s points lead
to 61 points with a Monster Midwest Tour victory on Thursday night (Sept. 23) at
Tri-City Speedway – an event not yet reflected in the latest points standings,
which were released on Friday morning by DIRTcar officials – he still has five
70-point nights on his ledger that he can replace. Winning a feature with 30 or
more cars entered is worth 85 points, so Feger could conceivably slice up to 15
points a night off Schlenk’s edge.
The UMP Modified national points race, meanwhile, is shaping up as a dramatic,
down-to-the-wire thriller. Harrison, who is celebrating his 36 th birthday today
(Sept. 24), entered this weekend’s action leading Devin Gilpin of Columbus,
Ind., by four points and Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind., by six points.
Just 53 points separate the top-five drivers in the UMP Modified national points
standings.
Other DIRTcar Racing national points leaders include Scott Weber of Festus, Mo.
(Pro Late Models), Jeff Herzog of Herculaneum, Mo. (Sportsman), Jonathan Smith
(Limited Modifieds), Joel Funk of Dwight, Ill. (Stock Cars), Brad Venhaus of
Aviston, Ill. (Factory Stocks) and Rob Shaw of Highland, Ill. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of Sept. 20, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 2798 35
2. Jason Feger 2718 35
3. Ryan Unzicker 2551 35
4. Jeep VanWormer 2492 35
5. Brian Ruhlman 2472 35
6. Dennis Erb Jr. 2446 35
7. Alan Vochaska 2434 35
8. Shannon Babb 2407 35
9. Michael Kloos 2389 35
10. Brian Shirley 2275 35
11. Jack Sullivan 2222 35
12. Rich Neiser 2195 35
13. Jeff Walston 2183 35
14. Kevin Nelson Jr. 2142 35
15. Dillan White 2100 35
16. Brandon Sheppard 2093 35
17. Curtis Roberts 2070 35
18. Eric Spangler 2064 35
19. Billy Moyer 2060 27
20. Dona Marcoullier 2045 35
UMP Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Mike Harrison 2000 25
2. Devin Gilpin 1996 25
3. Nick Allen 1994 25
4. Clint DeMoss 1972 25
5. Rusty Griffaw 1947 25
6. Stormy Scott 1927 25
7. Todd Sherman 1927 25
8. Mike Spatola 1905 25
9. Randle Sweeney 1892 25
10. Jim Farris 1873 25
11. Jeff Leka 1871 25
12. Rich Robinson Jr. 1862 25
13. Bobby Bittle 1816 25
14. Gabe Menser 1809 25
15. McKay Wenger 1794 25
16. Dave Crawley Jr. 1790 25
17. Brent Mullins 1788 25
18. Marc Kurth 1783 25
19. Zach Fair 1773 25
20. Jason Russell 1766 25
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Weber 1173 15
2. Bobby Pierce 1148 15
3. Mark Oller 1113 15
4. Lee Gill 1095 15
5. Credence Mott 1092 15
6. Tait Davenport 1085 15
7. Bobby Dauderman 1083 15
8. Dustin Griffin 1065 15
9. Bobby Martintoni 1060 15
10. Nick Bauman 1046 15
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Herzog 1163 15
2. Randy Petro 1147 15
3. Russell Eilers 1123 15
4. Joey Ladouceur 1119 15
5. Steve Peeden 1119 15
6. Chris Hillman 1114 15
7. Louie Jackson 1111 15
8. David Crawley Jr. 1108 15
9. Christy Georges 1108 15
10. Jocelyn Roy 1105 15
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jonathan Smith 1110 15
2. Christy Georges 1041 15
3. Howard Willis 1028 15
4. Jeff Lawson 1023 15
5. Tyler Nicely 1008 15
6. Clay Settles 970 15
7. Ronnie Cotton 960 15
8. Sherman Barnett 936 15
9. Scotty Oliver 934 15
10. Kevin Dupont 930 15
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Joel Funk 1161 15
2. Don Hilleary 1142 15
3. J.R. Mason 1125 15
4. Jerrad Krick 1107 15
5. Mike Lynn 1095 15
6. Andrew Funk 1092 15
7. Dan Dykman 1089 15
8. Aaron Fields 1081 15
9. Gary Vandermark 1069 15
10. Jeff Semmens 1066 15
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Brad Venhaus 1157 15
2. Dave Grega 1133 15
3. Jim Scout 1110 15
4. Scott Mooers 1099 15
5. Rob Sternberg 1081 15
6. Bill May 1050 15
7. Cody Vanosdol 1047 15
8. Jeff Foks 1025 15
9.; Mickey Hines 1004 15
10. Zach Hoffman 974 15
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Rob Shaw 1213 15
2. Lucas Jackson 1178 15
3. Dan Reimserma 1133 15
4. Jordan Suhre 1133 15
5. Ray Watts 1132 15
6. Blayne Ellis 1125 15
7. Michael Rittenberry 1125 15
8. Ryan Hamm 1100 15
9. Trevor Isaak 1096 15
10. Casey Feaster 1094 15
Moyer Completes 2010 Sweep Of Eldora Speedway’s Crown
Jewels With Sixth Career World 100 Victory
ROSSBURG, OH - Sept. 11, 2010 - Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., completed a
lucrative sweep of this season’s two crown-jewel dirt Late Model events at
Eldora Speedway, charging forward from the 23rd starting spot on Saturday night
to win the prestigious DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned World 100 for an unprecedented
sixth time.
The 52-year-old Moyer’s $43,000-plus triumph in the 40th annual spectacular came
almost exactly three months after he pocketed $100,000 for emerging victorious
in the famed half-mile oval’s Dream XVI. He won both 100-lappers in the same
season for the second time in his Hall of Fame career.
Moyer pulled off his previous Dream/World 100 double in 1998 – and the last time
he had held the coveted World 100 globe trophy was in 2000. So with an amazing
2010 effort, he effectively turned back the clock to his glory years at the Big
E.
The past decade was a rough one at Eldora for Moyer, who finished third in the
2001 World 100 but over the next eight years didn’t place higher than 21st and
failed to qualify for the main event four times. He was beginning to wonder if
he’d ever recapture his magic at the track founded by Earl Baltes and now owned
by NASCAR star Tony Stewart.
“I once said if I could win this thing six times I’d get up on my white horse
and walk away,” Moyer said of the World 100, which stands as dirt Late Model
racing’s biggest event. “Right now, I don’t know.”
Moyer can’t quit – not after proving he’s at the top of his game with an epic
come-from-behind victory. He thrilled the capacity crowd as he cut through the
talent-laden field to take the lead from 2005 World 100 winner Dale McDowell of
Chickamagua, Ga., on lap 66 and then beat three-time World 100 champion Scott
Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., to the finish line by about five car lengths.
McDowell, who started 17th and led laps 42-65, settled for third place after
being overtaken by Bloomquist on lap 96. Outside polesitter Don O’Neal of
Martinsville, Ind., finished fourth and 2007 World 100 winner Jimmy Owens of
Newport, Tenn., completed the top five.
But despite the speed Moyer showed with his Banner Valley Hauling Victory Circle
chassis, he had his doubts that Saturday would mark the end of his long World
100 slump.
“The way the weekend started I never would’ve thought it was gonna happen,” said
Moyer, who transferred through a B-Main after qualifying only 48th-fastest in
Friday night’s 134-car time-trial session and finishing a quiet fourth in a heat
race. “But when you get backed up against a corner is when you start throwing
things at the car. We made an estimated guess on what to do to the setup and it
worked.
“Starting that far back, there wasn’t no conserving tires, no conserving
anything. It was just as hard as you can run for a hundred laps. It was like the
good old days here.”
After walking a tight rope around the treacherous top side of the Eldora high
banks to win the Dream on June 13, Moyer switched to the inside lane in the
World 100. He mastered a groove that was brought alive by the mid-afternoon rain
that wet the track enough to cause a one hour, 45-minute delay in the start of
the evening’s heat action.
“Line-wise this place usually isn’t down around the bottom,” said Moyer, who
needed just 33 laps to work his way into the top five. “But I always said you
could race (on the inside) if they would put enough water down there – and
Mother Nature done that for us this time.”
McDowell, 44, beat Moyer to the front of the pack, inheriting the lead when
defending World 100 champ Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, suddenly retired
with mechanical trouble after starting from the pole and leading laps 1-41. But
Moyer slipped by O’Neal for second on lap 51 and ran down McDowell without the
benefit of a caution flag.
“Dale was real good there at the beginning of the race,” said Moyer, who ended a
streak of eight consecutive first-time World 100 winners. “We were kind of
following each other up through there and he got away from me, and I thought,
Well, he’s the winner. He was gone. But something seemed like it gave up on his
car a little bit and we got a little better.”
Good enough, in fact, for Moyer to continue his 2010 renaissance. He’s won three
century-grind events – including a $20,000 score in April’s World of Outlaws
Late Model Series ‘Illini 100’ at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway – and 21 overall
features.
“Being 52, back four or five years ago, I was washed up and done – the word was
going around,” said Moyer. “But even back then I thought we had decent years. We
never had a year where we just won one or two races; we at least won a
half-dozen.
“It’s just a competitive game, and building these (Victory Circle) cars has put
a spark in me.”
The 46-year-old Bloomquist, meanwhile, was on the move as the race wound down
with a 72-lap run of uninterrupted green-flag racing, passing Owens for fourth
on lap 82, O’Neal for third on lap 85 and then McDowell for the runner-up spot
with just four laps remaining. Bloomquist was able to slice his deficit to Moyer
in half over the remaining distance but ran out of time.
“We were three- to five-tenths a lap faster (at the end) and just needed two
more laps,” said Bloomquist, who started fifth. “But what can you say? (Moyer)
gambled. He was starting in the back, and he went with (tires) everybody in the
field would’ve considered ridiculously soft. Nobody can believe it worked – and
I’d say you’ll never see that again here. I don’t think anybody will ever win a
race on that soft a tire again.”
Bloomquist thought his tire selection likely cost him a fourth World 100
victory.
“We ran a harder tire on the left-rear than probably anybody in the field and it
was probably not the right thing to do,” said Bloomquist, who fell as far back
as seventh early in the A-Main. “It just took too long to get the left-rear hot
enough to get it working.
“I never, ever would’ve dreamed the racetrack would stay brown as long as it did
– and the middle was still brown at the end. With it brown, (the hard compound)
just wasn’t the right tire to have on the left-rear of the car. I felt like we
definitely had the best car just to be able to carry that tire as long as we
did.”
McDowell, who was seeking to win the World 100 outright for the first time after
inheriting the checkered flag in 2005 when apparent victor Shannon Babb of
Moweaqua, Ill., was disqualified for weighing in light, felt a miscalculation
dive-bombed his chances.
“I screwed up,” said McDowell, who drove a Warrior car owned by NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series star Clint Bowyer. “I should’ve stayed on the bottom. I made my way
up through there on the bottom, but I didn’t know what I needed to do (once in
the lead) so I just started letting the car run wide to carry some speed. I
probably had a chance (to hold off Moyer) if I stayed down on the bottom.
“I’m the manager, so I take the blame. I didn’t really delegate a spot for the
boys (his crewmen) to give me signals, so I was just lost. It’s hard to feel
what’s fast here when you’re in the lead.”
Five caution flags slowed the event, all during the first 28 laps. None were for
serious incidents.
Drivers who triggered caution periods included Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.
(lap 11), Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill. (lap 12), Matt Miller of
Waterville, Ohio (slowed while fifth on lap 15) and Brian Birkhofer of
Muscatine, Iowa (lap 28).
Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., finished sixth after starting 25th, but
he never drew close enough to bid for a top-five spot. The remainder of the top
10 was filled out by WoO LMS regulars Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., Shane
Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Josh Richards of
Shinnston, W.Va., who started 20th in the A-Main thanks to a provisional he
earned for recording the second-fastest lap in Friday’s time trials.
Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., was fastest in Friday’s qualifying session with
a lap 15.390 seconds. The grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress opted
to start at the rear of the first heat and rely on his fast-time provisional to
gain entry to the A-Main. He moved forward from the 19th starting spot to finish
13th in his first-ever World 100 start.
Heat winners on Saturday night were Chris Madden of Grey Court, S.C.,
Bloomquist, John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., Owens, O’Neal and Hartman.
The B-Mains were captured by Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., and Shirley.
April Farmer of Livingston, Tenn., won Friday night’s 15-lap Non-Qualifiers’
Race, becoming the first female driver to capture a dirt Late Model event at
Eldora.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
World 100 A-Main Results (Finish/Start/Driver/Earnings):
1. (23) Billy Moyer $43,000
2. (5) Scott Bloomquist $15,000
3. (17) Dale McDowell $10,000
4. (2) Don O'Neal $7,500
5. (3) Jimmy Owens $6,000
6. (25) Earl Pearson Jr. $5,000
7. (7) Darrell Lanigan $4,000
8. (19) Shane Clanton $3,500
9. (10) Rick Eckert $3,000
10. (20) Josh Richards $2,500
11. (4) John Blankenship $2,250
12. (26) Casey Roberts $2,000
13. (19) Austin Dillon $1,900
14. (8) Brad Neat $1,800
15. (12) Bub McCool $1,750
16. (21) Brady Smith $1,725
17. (18) Gregg Satterlee $1,700
18. (11) Dennis Erb Jr. $1,675
19. (28) Rick DeLong $1,650
20. (15) Will Vaught $1,645
21. (14) Jeep VanWormer $1,640
22. (13) Tim McCreadie $1,635
23. (6) Chris Madden $1,630
24. (1) Bart Hartman $1,625
25. (24) Jacob Hawkins $1,620
26. (27) Brian Birkhofer $1,615
27. (9) Matt Miller $1,610
28. (22) Brian Shirley $1,605
Lap Leaders: Hartman (1-41); McDowell (42-65); Moyer (66-100)
Caution Flags: 5 (Laps 11, 12, 15, 28, 28)
Provisional Starters: Dillon, Richards
Heat 1 Finish (15 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Chris Madden[2]; 2. Darrell
Lanigan[7]; 3. Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. Billy Moyer[9]; 5. Jonathan Davenport[4]; 6.
Brian Birkhofer[8]; 7. Eddie Carrier Jr.[5]; 8. Ryan Unzicker[10]; 9. Derek
Chandler[13]; 10. Ryan VanderVeen[11]; 11. Frank Heckenast[14]; 12. Jeff
Watson[19]; 13. April Farmer[18]; 14. Bill Lewis[17]; 15. Lee DeVasier[16]; 16.
Curtis Roberts[1]; 17. Jerry Rice[12]; 18. Austin Dillon[6]; 19. Tim Rivers[15]
Heat 2 Finish (15 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Scott Bloomquist[7]; 2. Brad
Neat[2]; 3. Jeep Van Wormer[3]; 4. Brady Smith[4]; 5. Jimmy Mars[5]; 6. Shannon
Babb[1]; 7. Chris Brown[8]; 8. John Mason[10]; 9. Josh Richards[6]; 10. RJ
Conley[9]; 11. Kevin Weaver[12]; 12. Rick Rickman[13]; 13. Dona Marcoullier[14];
14. Daniel Baggerly[19]; 15. Andrew Reaume[15]; 16. Richard Neiser[16]; 17.
Dusty Moore[18]; 18. Tim Lance[17]; 19. Keith Berner[11]
Heat 3 Finish (15 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. John Blankenship[1]; 2. Matt
Miller[3]; 3. Will Vaught[4]; 4. Earl Pearson Jr.[5]; 5. Duane Chamberlain[7];
6. Dan Schlieper[2]; 7. Jay Johnson[10]; 8. Audie McWilliams[11]; 9. Billy Moyer
Jr[8]; 10. Chad Stapleton[19]; 11. Chad Smith[9]; 12. John Henderson[14]; 13.
Curtis Deisenroth[18]; 14. Dave Hartman[17]; 15. Jason Feger[12]; 16. Steve
Francis[6]; 17. Tommy Bailey[16]; 18. Mike Marlar[15]; 19. Dusty Carver[10]; 20.
Wendell Wallace[13]
Heat 4 Finish (15 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jimmy Owens[4]; 2. Rick Eckert[3];
3. Shane Clanton[6]; 4. Steve Lance Jr.[13]; 5. Jacob Hawkins[7]; 6. Ben
Adkins[5]; 7. Jerry Bowersock[9]; 8. Tony Knowles[11]; 9. Rick DeLong[16]; 10.
Brandon Thirlby[18]; 11. Tim McCreadie[15]; 12. Jimmy Dehm[17]; 13. Scott
Orr[14]; 14. Hunter Best[19]; 15. Terry Wolfenbarger[20]; 16. Eric Wells[1]; 17.
Wayne Chinn[10]; 18. Clint Smith[8]; 19. Jeff Babcock[12]; 20. Jon Henry[2]
Heat 5 Finish (15 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Don O'Neal[6]; 2. Dennis Erb
Jr.[2]; 3. Dale McDowell[5]; 4. Brian Shirley[7]; 5. Casey Roberts[15]; 6. DJ
Wells[8]; 7. Dustin Neat[14]; 8. Keith Foss[17]; 9. Scott Schmitt[10]; 10.
Shanon Buckingham[13]; 11. Sammy Epling[16]; 12. JR Hotovy[12]; 13. Guy
Volk[19]; 14. Donnie Moran[11]; 15. Brian Smith[20]; 16. Zack Dohm[1]; 17. Scott
James[4]; 18. Vic Hill[3]; 19. Chad Simpson[9]; 20. Jeff Franklin[18]
Heat 6 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): 1. Bart Hartman[7]; 2. Bub Mccool[1]; 3. Gregg
Satterlee[5]; 4. Michael Asberry[18]; 5. Brandon Kinzer[9]; 6. Chub Frank[12];
7. Brett Wyatt[15]; 8. Kevin Mack[19]; 9. Carl Ries[17]; 10. Steve Casebolt[3];
11. Jared Landers[6]; 12. Doug Drown[11]; 13. Jack Sullivan[2]; 14. Greg
Johnson[13]; 15. Austin Hubbard[4]; 16. Jordan Bland[8]; 17. Ray Cook[10]; 18.
Shannon Thornsberry[14]; 19. Josh McGuire[16]; 20. Anthony Adams[20]
B-Main No. 1 Finish (20 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Brady Smith[2]; 2. Billy
Moyer[1]; 3. Earl Pearson Jr.[3]; 4. Brian Birkhofer[7]; 5. Duane
Chamberlain[6]; 6. Dan Schlieper[9]; 7. Chris Brown[11]; 8. John Mason[14]; 9.
Audie McWilliams[15]; 10. Ryan Unzicker[13]; 11. RJ Conley[17]; 12. Frank
Heckenast[22]; 13. Rick Rickman[23]; 14. Chad Stapleton[21]; 15. Jonathan
Davenport[4]; 16. Jay Johnson[12]; 17. Derek Chandler[16]; 18. Billy Moyer
Jr[18]; 19. Shannon Babb[8]; 20. Chad Smith[24]; 21. Jimmy Mars[5]; 22. Eddie
Carrier Jr.[10]; 23. Ryan VanderVeen[19]; 24. Kevin Weaver[20]
B-Main No. 2 Finish (20 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Brian Shirley[2]; 2. Jacob
Hawkins[4]; 3. Casey Roberts[5]; 4. Rick DeLong[16]; 5. Brandon Kinzer[6]; 6.
Ben Adkins[7]; 7. Tony Knowles[13]; 8. Steve Lance Jr.[1]; 9. Jerry
Bowersock[10]; 10. Chub Frank[9]; 11. Sammy Epling[23]; 12. Brett Wyatt[12]; 13.
Scott Schmitt[17]; 14. Brandon Thirlby[19]; 15. Michael Asberry[3]; 16. Dustin
Neat[11]; 17. Kevin Mack[15]; 18. DJ Wells[8]; 19. Keith Foss[14]; 20. Carl
Ries[18]; 21. Tim Dohm[22]; 22. Shanon Buckingham[20]; 23. Steve Casebolt[21];
24. Jared Landers[24]
Non-Qualifiers Race Finish (15 laps – Friday Night): 1. April Farmer[2]; 2. Jeff
Watson[3]; 3. Russ Frohnaple[6]; 4. Steve Thorsten[9]; 5. Don Gordon[10]; 6.
Michael Stiltner[12]; 7. Mike Glynn[7]; 8. Jill George[4]; 9. Adam Thrush[8];
10. Adam Gendusa[5]; 11. Tom Ramey[11]; 12. Casey Noonan[1]; 13. Randy
Boggs[13]; 14. Mike Collins[14]
DIRTcar Roundup 'Party in Pevely' to Return Bigger Than
Ever March 24-26, 2011
Pevely, Mo. - Sept. 10, 2010 - The DIRTcar Roundup "Party in Pevely" is moving
to its new home on the calendar March 24-26 at I-55 Raceway to launch the 2011
DIRTcar Racing season.
The Party in Pevely features eight divisions of DIRTcar Racing at one of the
most exciting bullrings in the country. Plus, there is live music, autograph
sessions, camping, a wienie roast and more, turning the weekend a true party
atmosphere.
The event gives weekly DIRTcar competitors a chance to race against rivals from
various regions at Ken Schrader's incredible I-55 Raceway, just south of St.
Louis.
With Late Models, UMP Modifieds, Pro Late Models, Sportsman, Limited Modifieds,
Stock Cars, Factory Stocks and Sport Compacts all scheduled to compete it will
be a huge festival of speed.
The weekend will kick off with open practice at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 24. On
Friday, March 25, racing will take the green flag at 7 p.m. with live music in
the Roundup Tent following the evening's final checkered flag. A charity wienie
roast at 3 p.m. starts the show on Saturday, March 26, with racing beginning at
6 p.m.
For updates, go to http://www.dirtcar.com orhttp://www.partyinpevely.com or
follow the Party in Pevely on Twitter at http://www.twittter.com/DIRTcarRoundup.
DIRTcar Racing Weekly Points Update: Battles Head Into
Final With Schlenk (Late Models) & Gilpin (Modifieds) Clinging To Precarious
Leads
CONCORD, NC – Sept. 3, 2010 – DIRTcar Racing’s red-hot national points battles
are heading into the final month of the 2010 season with Rusty Schlenk of
Jackson, Mich. (Late Models) and Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. (UMP Modifieds)
clinging to precarious leads.
The 23-year-old Schlenk’s near season-long points lead in the marquee DIRTcar
Late Model division has shrunk to just 45 points (2,754-2,709) over defending
national champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., entering the busy Labor Day
weekend slate of action, setting up a dramatic run to the finish line.
DIRTcar Racing’s weekly points end the first weekend in October, but the Late
Models and UMP Modifieds will have one final points showdown when the DIRTcar
UMP Championships are contested on Oct. 8-9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg,
Ohio.
With all the Late Model championship contenders already surpassing 35 sanctioned
starts this season, they are now replacing their worst finish/points nights to
improve their totals.
Feger has made a stirring rally, erasing a deficit to Schlenk that was over
1,000 points just before the start of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals in mid-June.
The reigning DIRTcar national and Summer Nationals titlist skimmed more markers
off Schlenk’s edge by earning points in three of his five starts last week – a
victory on Aug. 29 at Shepp’s Speedway in Alexander, Ill., and third-place
finishes on Aug. 21 at Highland (Ill.) Speedway and Aug. 27 at Paducah (Ky.)
International Raceway.
Schlenk, who leads the circuit with 18 feature wins in 2010, had a subpar week,
failing to finish high enough to replace any of his worst finishes/points
nights. A seventh-place run on Aug. 28 at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, was
his only top-10 finish in three starts.
The UMP Modified points race, meanwhile, is shaping up as an epic battle to the
end. Gilpin, 19, leads Clint DeMoss of Bloomington, Ind., by 13 points and Mike
Harrison of Highland, Ill., by 16 points – and the top-seven drivers in the UMP
Modified points standings are separated by just 54 points.
Other DIRTcar Racing national points leaders include Scott Weber of Festus, Mo.
(Pro Late Models), Jeff Herzog of Herculaneum, Mo. (Sportsman), Jonathan Smith
(Limited Modifieds), Joel Funk of Dwight, Ill. (Stock Cars), Brad Venhaus of
Aviston, Ill. (Factory Stocks) and Rob Shaw of Highland, Ill. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of Aug. 30, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 2754 35
2. Jason Feger 2709 35
3. Ryan Unzicker 2527 35
4. Jeep VanWormer 2492 35
5. Dennis Erb Jr. 2420 35
6. Brian Ruhlman 2372 35
7. Alan Vochaska 2324 35
8. Shannon Babb 2300 35
9. Michael Kloos 2265 35
10. Brian Shirley 2202 35
11. Jack Sullivan 2175 35
12. Jeff Walston 2144 35
13. Rich Neiser 2112 35
14. Dillan White 2024 35
15. Brandon Sheppard 2007 35
16. Kevin Nelson Jr. 2006 33
17. Eric Spangler 1962 34
18. Jason McBride 1939 35
19. Mike Hammerle 1918 35
20. Phil Ausra 1882 35
UMP Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Devin Gilpin 1972 25
2. Clint DeMoss 1959 25
3. Mike Harrison 1956 25
4. Nick Allen 1938 25
5. Rusty Griffaw 1929 25
6. Stormy Scott 1927 25
7. Todd Sherman 1918 25
8. Randle Sweeney 1877 25
9. Mike Spatola 1863 25
10. Jeff Leka 1841 25
11. Rich Robinson Jr. 1829 25
12. Jim Farris 1785 25
13. Bobby Bittle 1770 25
14. Jason Russell 1737 25
15. McKay Wenger 1724 25
16. Vince Cooper 1717 25
17. Zach Fair 1714 25
18. Dave Crawley Jr. 1703 25
19. Gabe Menser 1690 25
20. Brian Bielong 1687 25
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Weber 1165 15
2. Bobby Pierce 1148 15
3. Mark Oller 1113 15
4. Tai Davenport 1085 15
5. Credence Mott 1079 15
6. Bobby Martintoni 1056 15
7. Nick Bauman 1046 15
9. Bobby Dauderman 1026 15
10. Dustin Griffin 1026 15
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Herzog 1149 15
2. Randy Petro 1128 15
3. Russell Eilers 1113 15
4. Steve Peeden 1106 15
5. Joey Ladouceur 1101 15
6. Jocelyn Roy 1100 15
7. Joe Kelley 1091 15
8. Jimmy Cummins 1089 15
9. Louie Jackson 1082 15
10. Christy Georges 1081 15
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jonathan Smith 1095 15
2. Jeff Lawson 984 15
3. Clay Settles 965 15
4. Christy Georges 963 15
5. Tyler Nicely 963 15
6. Ronnie Cotton 955 15
7. Scotty Oliver 928 15
8. Sherman Barnett 920 15
9. Kevin Dupont 875 15
10. Paddy Rush 873 15
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Joel Funk 1146 15
2. Don Hilleary 1130 15
3. J.R. Mason 1125 15
4. Jerrad Krick 1107 15
5. Mike Lynn 1075 15
6. Aaron Fields 1071 15
7. Andrew Funk 1057 15
8. Dan Dykman 1052 15
9. Larry Russell Jr. 1047 15
10. Gary Vandermark 1038 15
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Brad Venhaus 1156 15
2. Dave Grega 1123 15
3. Scott Mooers 1086 15
4. Rob Sternberg 1081 15
5. Jim Scout 1052 15
6. Cody Vanosdol 1033 15
7. Bill May 1007 15
8. Zach Hoffman 973 15
9. Mickey Hines 944 15
10. Danny Hupp 932 15
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Rob Shaw 1205 15
2. Lucas Jackson 1166 15
3. Jordan Suhre 1133 15
4. Ray Watts 1130 15
5. Michael Rittenberry 1120 15
6. Blayne Ellis 1115 15
7. Dan Reimersma 1101 15
8. Trevor Isaak 1096 15
9. Ryan Hamm 1090 15
10. Rich Lieb 1075 15
Hogge sweeps first annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified West
Coast Nationals
Dan Beaver (with track reports) Western DIRTcar Public Relations 520.249.8486 /
[email protected]
This weekend, DIRTcar Racing UMP Modifieds took center stage in Central
California with a hugely successful two-night show at Antioch and Merced
Speedway.
The first annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified West Coast Nationals packed the
grandstands and filled the pits, giving testimony to the fan base for this type
or car, the promotional talent of John Soares' Oval Motorsports, and the appeal
of DIRTcar Racing in general.
"We were near capacity at both Speedways," said Soares, the promoter of Antioch
and Merced. "The large fan turnout proves that modifieds are what the fans want
to see."
"Both tracks had all-modified shows, and had the largest crowds of the season.
Modifieds are still growing in popularity. The modifieds out-drew the 410 Sprint
cars as the major racing attraction at our Central California tracks," Soares
continued.
"Working with John is always a great experience because you know he's going to
put on a great show and the fans are going to leave happy," said Chris Morgan,
Director of Western Operations for DIRTcar, "and to see the fan support in this
area shows the potential for what we can do with DIRTcar UMP Modifieds in the
region."
"We are looking forward to putting on quite a few more shows of this caliber
next year," Morgan continued."
"The modified division is loaded with new talent, has the top experienced
drivers, and still draws big-name veterans," said Soares. "The modified division
also has the car count that people know will result in a spectacular show."
Soares' comments were proven correct when the checkered flag waved over the
A-Main at Merced to conclude the two nights of racing.
Both races had thrilling storylines and showcased just how strong DIRTcar Racing
UMP Modified action is in California. A whopping 58 cars showed up the first
night at Antioch and 42 were on hand to pack the preliminaries at Merced.
The challenges were different each night, but the outcome was the same in the
first annual DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified West Coast Nationals as California's
Bobby Hogge IV claimed $8,000 in prize money for winning the two-day show at
Antioch and Merced on August 28th and 29th.
"The $8,000 couldn't have come at a better time," Hogge said. "We support our
racing with our own money and our winnings, and this will keep us going."
Each race paid $3,500 to win, with Hogge pocketing an additional $1,000 bonus
for sweeping the two events.
On the first night of racing at Antioch, Hogge had to contend with Scott Busby
and Kenny Neu in a side-by-side battle that was not decided until the 28th
circuit of the 35-lap A-Main. Busby and Neu finished second and third, with
Chris Shannon and Michael Paul rounding out the top five.
But where raw power decided the Antioch feature, Hogge needed a little luck to
sweep the weekend. The decisive pass at Merced was also made in the closing laps
when leader Shannon's car suddenly lost power, causing him to swerve out of the
racing line.
"A clump of mud hit the emergency power kill switch on the cockpit deck,"
Shannon said after the race. "It has never happened before - all I could do in a
split second is turn the wheel to get the car out of the way. I didn't want to
get killed."
"I didn't have the best car," Hogge replied in victory lane. "It was unfortunate
for Chris, but I'll have to take it as it is. I would have liked to win by
passing him. But, I'd rather be lucky than good any day."
Shannon re-fired his car and rejoined the fray, eventually climbing to eighth.
Hogge's luck wasn't limited to the late-race incident, as he also narrowly
avoiding spinning on a lap-12 restart. When Shannon darted into the lead, Hogge
and Alex Sanford both dove for the opening behind him. The two made contact and
Sanford spun; Hogge continued.
"It was a typical racing scenario," Hogge said. "One guy is fighting for a
position and the other one is protecting it. Chris left an opening, and Alex and
I were fighting for the same spot."
Rounding out the top five at Antioch were Robby Sawyer in second, Paul Stone in
third, Antioch Speedway's Modified point leader Troy Foulger in fourth, and New
Mexico's Jimmy Ray in fifth.
While the battles for the win featured California natives, some drivers made
long tows to compete in the DIRTcar Racing UMP Modified show in order to gain
valuable national points. Stormy Scott and Jimmy Ray, a pair of New Mexico
natives, traveled more than 1,100 miles to compete in the first ever West Coast
Nationals and swell the car count in an effort to chase those points.
Both Scott and Ray had tire problems at Antioch and finished outside the top
five. Scott rebounded to finish eighth in that race, but experienced even more
frustration at Merced, where he was 17th.
Ray was not as lucky at Antioch. He had to leave the track to make repairs after
his tire troubles, which caused him to finish 15th, but he more than made up for
that disappointment the following night at Merced when he chased the leaders
across the line in fifth.
"It's only the fourth race on this car, which I built myself," Ray said. "I like
to travel, experience new tracks, and learn. If I set up my car like I did
tonight, I would have run better at Antioch the night before."
With A-Main features traditionally limited to 18 drivers at Antioch and Merced,
the competition to simply make the show was fierce, but a total of 29 different
drivers qualified for the pair of A-Mains with eight of them racing into both
shows. One car was added to the Antioch feature because there were an odd number
of heat races.
Along with the undefeated Hogge, Busby finished second at Antioch and was
seventh at Merced, Shannon finished fourth at Antioch and was eighth at Merced,
while the remainder of the list had a mixed bag of results.
Sawyer was 14th at Antioch and second at Merced; Ray finished 15th and fifth,
Scott finished eighth and 17th, Stanford finished 19th and sixth, while Austin
Burke was 16th both nights.
Antioch Finish:
1. Bobby Hogge IV 2. Scott Busby 3. Bobby Neu 4. Chris Shannon 5. Michael Paul
6. Kellen Chadwick 7. Brian Cass 8. Stormy Scott 9. Randy McDaniel 10. Sean
O'Gara 11. Nick Collins 12. Micky Hill 13. Keith Brown, Sr. 14. Robby Sawyer 15.
Jimmy Ray 16. Austin Burke 17. Dwayne Cleveland 18. Richard Pappenhausen 19.
Alex Stanford
Merced Finish:
1. Bobby Hogge IV 2. Robby Sawyer 3. Paul Stone 4. Troy Foulger 5. Jimmy Ray 6.
Alex Stanford 7. Scott Busby 8. Chris Shannon 9. Aaron Barnell 10. Steve Noack
11. Cody Burke 12. Jim DiGiovanni 13. Jerry Reeves 14. Ryan Porter 15. Lance
Mari 16. Austin Burke 17. Stormy Scott 18. Jeff Streeter
Contact: Dan Beaver
Western DIRTcar Public Relations
520.249.8486 / [email protected]
Twitter: @DIRTcarWest
Chris Morgan
Director Western Operations
World Racing Group/ DIRTcar
805.637.1426 / [email protected]
Oregon DIRTcar Late Models to support World of Outlaws
Sprints
When the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series rolls into town, the excitement
level gets ratcheted up a notch or two, but that could be a tall order on
Wednesday, September 1st as the touring sprint car aces add their star power to
a DIRTcar Late Model points' battle that has been exciting Cottage Grove
Speedway fans all year.
A full field of approximately 25 late models will provide extra exhilaration for
a packed grandstand and that enthusiasm carries over into pits. "It's great when
we get that many fans in the stands and the pits are full; it's just a whole
different excitement level," said Portland's John Duty, one of several drivers
who is always on hand for the big shows at Cottage Grove. "I wish we could do
more of that out here, actually."
The late model race this week will cap off a great season of racing at Cottage
Grove. With one more weekly show to be run on September 11th, this won't be the
last opportunity to run at the track, but it will certainly be one of the
largest crowds of the year.
"They pack the house there when the Outlaws come to town," said Tangent Oregon's
Trevor Glaser. "That's probably one of the most fun races we go to in Oregon
because there are fans everywhere. We get to race in front of more people and
get to race in front of all the big dogs in the sprint car deal with Tony
Stewart's teams and Kasey Kahne's teams showing up."
With DIRTcar Racing sanctioning late models at Cottage Grove this year and
offering national points for those shows, this season has been one of incredible
expansion. "The class over the course of this year has taken a big growth," said
track manager Brian Crockett. "The car counts from the beginning of the year
until now are almost double."
And along with DIRTcar's World of Outlaws Sprint Car series making a guest
appearance, it provides a unique opportunity for weekly drivers to race on a
bigger stage in not only this coming race, but also in the shows leading up to
this week. "The last couple of races we've had leading up to this night have
seen a few more of the out of town guys show up who are planning to run this
race," Crockett said, "which has made our late model racing overall even more
competitive."
A weekly card has allowed Mark Carrell and Mike Miller to put on a ferocious
points' battle that keeps their fans turning up every week. The two drivers have
finished nose to tail on a number of occasions throughout the season; in the
first week of August, Miller led Carrell across the line in a one-two finish;
last week, Carrell turned the tables and finished one spot ahead of Miller to
claim the victory-and that fierce competition will only be intensified with the
addition of some out of town drivers like Glaser and Duty.
"We've been running pretty well there," said Glaser. "We've been able to do
three or four races since they've been running more weekly races, so it helps
make the competition really good this year. Mike Miller has won a couple of the
races and Mark Carrell's won a few races down there too. When I won, Mark got
second, Mike was third, so it's going to be a pretty good show this week. There
are three or four guys winning races there, so it's going to be pretty tight."
"I think this is going to be a good race," Duty agreed. "Last year, we ran this
same show and it was a battle right to the end. At Cottage Grove, they've been
prepping the track really good and it's been a racy surface."
Another thing everyone can agree on is that there is a need for more races in
the region.
"Last year, we ran all of the DIRTcar Late Model races when they ran the (DIRTcar
I-5) touring division," said Duty. "I would have like to have run more of the
weekly races at Cottage Grove this year, but scheduling conflicts didn't allow
me to do that," said Duty. "Hopefully we can do a little more next year."
"And hopefully we can get a touring series running again next year so I can do a
little more traveling," Duty continued. "I like to travel and that is a big part
of the reason why I don't stick to one track. Hopefully DIRTcar can get
something together for next year; that would be awesome. "
Glaser agrees: "To have a sanctioning body as big as DIRTcar in the region seems
to be a good thing. Having a national body to essentially organize us as a
bigger group gives us more bargaining power with the race tracks and that's a
good deal."
More races in the region means more opportunities to earn valuable DIRTcar
points and puts the West Coast racers on the same level as their counterparts in
the East and Midwest regions.
"The problem in this area is that we are able to run only about 13 races," said
Cottage Grove's manager Crockett, "and to get anywhere in the points you have to
run in the 40 race range. Early in the year, Mark Carrell was up in the top 30
or so in national points, but since those guys in the Midwest are able to run
several days a week, he hasn't been able to keep up with them because of the
lack of races he's been able to go and run."
"From that standpoint, if we had a couple of more tracks up here to join in and
offer DIRTcar points, we'd be able to get more races in."
As strong as he's been on his home track, that would be all the incentive
Carrell needs to travel to some other tracks and increase their car count like
Glaser and Duty have done for Cottage Grove. "I always try to keep my schedule
open and I would run on some other tracks for DIRTcar points," Carrell said.
"I'm definitely all about a series. Anything DIRTcar can do is really
appreciated from my end."
Contact: Dan Beaver
Western DIRTcar Public Relations
520.249.8486 / [email protected]
Chris Morgan
Director Western Operations
World Racing Group/ DIRTcar
805.637.1426 / [email protected]
DIRTcar CLMA Championship Up For Grabs In Wyoming
GILLETTE, WY - The DIRTcar Colorado Late Model Association (CLMA) championship
battle invades Gillette Thunder Speedway on Saturday night, capping a weekend
that started Friday at Casper Speedway.
The races are $1,200 to win and $200 to start, but for four drivers there is
even more on the line: a chance to take home the series championship. With only
69 points separating points leader Eddie Kirchoff from fourth-place Scott Lewis
entering the weekend, this is anyone's championship to win.
With five wins in the first seven features this year, Kirchoff is the driver to
beat, and he's cautiously convinced that he will get the job done. "You can
always be confident, but you don't want to be too confident," Kirchoff said.
"I'm just hoping that the car stays together and everything goes well this
weekend in regards to breaking an engine or getting into a wreck. Those are the
kinds of things that can ruin your chances in the race. "
One more win and Kirchoff will take sole possession of first place in series
wins. He was tied for the most victories with Brett Hallmark at 16 victories
apiece entering the weekend.
Kirchoff's odds are good he'll be in contention since he has won eight of the
past nine CLMA races held at Gillette. "I'm very comfortable with the track and
I've pretty much figured out what works for me there," Kirchoff said.
He knows that the victories won't come easy, however. "Every night the track is
just a little bit different; the bigger motors have a little different affect on
the track than spec motors do. After a while, you get the hang of it."
"With the CLMA coming up more often, they get faster every time they visit,"
Kirchoff continued. "So it's kind of hard to tell who's going to be fast here on
a given night. It all depends on the track, how the race plays out, what draw
you get. And I have a knack for drawing in the back. It never fails."
As the only driver other than Kirchoff to win at Gillette in the last two years,
Jason Schierkolk believes he has a great chance to take the victory there.
"Basically, it's attention to detail. The previous nights we were running at
Gillette we had some rough outings with incidents and what-not. Actually in one
of the races at Gillette we lost a motor, so we need to just make sure that we
don't overlook something that could cost us a good finish."
Entering the weekend in second, only 27 points out of first-place in the CLMA
standings, Dave Garmann is also in a good position to take the championship. He
was second to Kirchoff the last time the series rolled into Gillette in May. He
needs to improve by only one spot to earn maximum points.
If Garman is able to pass Kirchoff in the points, he will become only the second
driver in series history to repeat as champion in consecutive seasons. Hallmark
won back-to-back in 2002 and 2003 only to be dethroned by Garmann in 2004, who
also won last year's points championship.
Garmann knows that passing Kirchoff is going to be difficult, but not
impossible. "I think we have a good chance to beat him; if he breaks, we have a
real good chance. That guy's real hard to beat on his home track there. We're
going to hit it right on-and do good in the qualifying race."
More opportunities to race in the region have made for better shows. Garmann
credits track time for his improvement at Gillette, where his best finish last
year was an eighth. This season, he finished fifth there in May and second in
June. "We've had more opportunities to race there," Garmann said, "and we've
changed the setup a little bit. We've just got better at that particular track;
plus it's a fun track to race on."
Having three races at Gillette in 2010 has not only been great for Kirchoff, but
also the fans of the track his father Ed promotes.
"It's great to have the fans come out and watch different cars show up,"
Kirchoff said. "Anytime you can get a touring series to show up three or four
times a year that's good for the crowd. They love to see new cars and
competition among new people. Different cars are always fun to watch-to root
against or root for."
"I think it's a great thing that the CLMA comes up here as often as they do and
they've been great to work with. I have nothing but respect for all the guys and
I really enjoy racing them. They're great competitors and I look forward to
every time they come up here."
This week, Kirchoff might not find all the drivers so amiable though. Since he
has won so often on his home track, an anonymous sponsor has placed a $500
bounty on his head to any driver who can beat him while he is still running at
the end of the Gillette showdown.
"If anything, maybe I'll get my door smashed in," Kirchoff laughed. "It might
make for a little rougher show than usual, but that's a good way to get people
to race a little harder. I think it's a great idea. As long as we put on a good
show for the fans, that's all I care about; the fans are what makes the race
possible."
Current top 10 in Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar Series Points
1.) Eddie Kirchoff, 484
2.) Dave Garmann, 457
3.) Jason Schierkolk, 444
4.) Scott Lewis, 415
5.) David Brack, 255
6.) JT Botts, 254
7.) Eric Mass, 236
8.) John Bey, 233
9.) Dan Henrickson, 224
10.) Steve Lewis, 215
Current top 10 in DIRTcar Northwest Region Points
1.) Scott Lewis, 715
2.) Jason Schierkolk, 685
3.) Dave Garmann, 652
4.) Eddie Kirchoff, 484
5.) Gary Gorby, 421
6.) David Brack, 415
7.) Steve Lewis, 391
8.) Brad Fortney, 372
9.) JT Botts, 351
10.) Cale Gottschalk, 341
Contact: Dan Beaver
DIRTcar Western Region Public Relations
520.249.8486 / [email protected]
Cory Moul
Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar Series
Promotions Director
303.263.5489
[email protected]
Chris Morgan
Director Western Operations
World Racing Group/ DIRTcar
805.637.1426
[email protected]
McCreadie Kicks Off USA Nationals With Hard-Fought DIRTcar UMP Late Model Victory On Thursday Night At Cedar Lake Speedway
NEW RICHMOND, WI - Aug. 5, 2010 - Tim McCreadie put $5,000 in
his pocket on Thursday night at Cedar Lake Speedway.
Now he’d like to grab a check with one more zero.
A hard-fought victory in Thursday’s 40-lap DIRTcar UMP Late Model A-Main was a
solid first step toward the $50,000 top prize up for grabs in the
three-eighths-mile track’s 23rd annual USA Nationals presented by U.S. Steel
Corporation, which takes center stage with time trials, heat races and a dash on
Friday night (Aug. 6) and the B-Mains and 100-lap World of Outlaws Late Model
Series event on Saturday night (Aug. 7).
McCreadie, 36, of Watertown, N.Y., assured himself a starting spot in Saturday
night’s USA Nationals headliner with his mid-week triumph. The highest finisher
in Thursday’s DIRTcar UMP A-Main who doesn’t qualify for the 100 receives a
provisional to start last in the 26-car field.
“I wish we could carry it all over to tomorrow, but you can only race what’s in
front of you,” said McCreadie, who is currently third in the WoO LMS points
standings as he aims to repeat his 2006 title on the national tour. “At least we
know we definitely have a car that’s competitive. We just gotta do some tricks
to hopefully make it good for qualifying tomorrow night and in the 100-lapper on
Saturday.”
McCreadie started from the pole position and led the entire distance in the
Sweeteners Plus Rocket, but he had to hold off challenges from his fellow WoO
LMS regulars Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., and Josh Richards of Shinnston,
W.Va., to secure the checkered flag. Richards came from the sixth starting spot
to bid for the lead after the halfway point, but the defending WoO LMS champion
settled for a second place finish after his hopes were hampered by the race’s
lone caution flag on lap 28.
Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., finished third, nipping Jimmy Mars of Menomonie,
Wis., by inches at the finish line. Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who started
10th, picked up two spots after the lap-28 caution period for the stopped car
driven by Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., and completed the top five.
McCreadie was an excited winner after defeating Richards by 0.488 of a second in
a race that at one point had the top-five cars running under a virtual blanket
around the fast, high-banked track.
“Man, this place is aggressive,” said McCreadie, winded after whipping off 40
intense laps in just over 12 minutes. “It got pretty wild out there. I saw
Austin almost by me (with an inside move in turns three and four on lap 17) and
I saw Josh beside me (rounding turns one and two on lap 26), but I just stayed
on the gas up on the cushion and was lucky enough to hold them off.
“I was so good up there in (turns) one and two I didn’t dare to get off it. I
did that once to get under Scott (Bloomquist) when I was trying to lap him and
it didn’t work, so I didn’t want to do it again and cost us a win.”
The caution flag certainly benefited McCreadie, who kept Richards at bay during
the final 12-lap sprint to the finish. Richards, 22, knew his best shot at
unseating McCreadie was lost when the yellow lights blinked on.
“I thought we had a chance because we were reeling (McCreadie) in pretty good
(after reaching second with a lap-21 pass of Hubbard),” said Richards, the
current WoO LMS points leader. “But once the caution came out he got some clean
air and was able to get out there and keep his momentum up.
“We were trying hard – that was one heck of a race,” he added, sweat dripping
from his face during the post-race ceremonies. “I had a lot of fun racing with
Darrell, Timmy, Mars and Austin. If the fans didn’t like that, they should go
somewhere else. That’s about as good as it gets I think.”
A winner for the first time since capturing the WoO LMS ‘Gopher 50’ on July 7 at
Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., McCreadie heads into Friday’s USA
Nationals qualifying program confident about his chances for a five-figure
triumph. He has a solid performance record in the 100-lap event; he was third
last year, fourth in 2005 and 2007 and was leading the race with just 20 laps to
go in 2008 when a broken wheel left him with a heartbreaking 20th-place finish.
“We’ve had a good car almost every time we’ve been here and that’s a good
feeling,” said McCreadie. “I know there’s places we go that we struggle, so it’s
nice that a big-time paying race is at a track where I actually feel
comfortable.”
Hubbard, who started from the outside pole in his first-ever start at Cedar
Lake, slipped to sixth at the finish. Fifth-starter Rick Eckert of York, Pa.,
placed seventh, five-time USA Nationals winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.,
advanced from the 12th starting spot to eighth, 18th-starter Shane Clanton of
Fayetteville, Ga., was ninth and Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., rounded out the
top 10.
Moyer was fastest in the 53-car qualifying session with a lap of 13.257 seconds.
He started third in the sixth heat, however, because the top-18 qualifiers were
inverted.
Five of the night’s six heat races were won by WoO LMS regulars: McCreadie,
Hubbard, Lanigan, Eckert and Richards. Mars was the only driver to break the
Outlaws’ hold on the prelim checkered flags.
The B-Mains were captured by Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, 2009 WoO LMS
rookie of the year Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, and Matt Miller of
Waterville, Ohio.
Among the drivers who ran into trouble and didn’t turn a time-trial lap were WoO
LMS veteran Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville,
Ga. Both racers experienced engine trouble and scratched from the remainder of
the night’s competition.
Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., and Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill. –
the reigning and former DIRTcar Summer Nationals and DIRTcar UMP national
champions, respectively – failed to qualify for the A-Main. Feger missed
transferring by one spot in the first B-Main and Erb finished sixth in the third
last-chance event.
The USA Nationals weekend continues at Cedar Lake Speedway on Friday (Aug. 6)
and Saturday (Aug. 7). The World of Outlaws Late Model Series will sanction the
headline event, which features time trials, heat races and a dash on Friday
night and last-chance races and the $50,000-to-win 100-lapper on Saturday
evening.
For more information on the USA Nationals, visit
www.cedarlakespeedway.com.
Additional info on DIRTcar Racing is available by logging on to
www.dirtcar.com.
Results of DIRTcar UMP Late Model Feature at
Cedar Lake Speedway (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed):
1. (1) Tim McCreadie/40
2. (6) Josh Richards/40
3. (3) Darrell Lanigan/40
4. (4) Jimmy Mars/40
5. (10) Steve Francis/40
6. (2) Austin Hubbard/40
7. (5) Rick Eckert/40
8. (12) Billy Moyer/40
9. (17) Shane Clanton/40
10. (9) Brian Shirley/40
11. (8) Brady Smith/40
12. (16) Darren Friedman/40
13. (18) Chad Simpson/40
14. (24) Scott Bloomquist/40
15. (11) Bub McCool/40
16. (19) Brian Birkhofer/33
17. (7) Earl Pearson Jr./27
18. (15) Shannon Babb/27
19. (21) Matt Miller/27
20. (20) Russell King/26
21. (14) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth/26
22. (22) Matt Lux/17
23. (23) Pat Doar/8
24. (13) Clint Smith/0
NOTE: Clint Smith was scheduled to start 13th,
but engine trouble in his own No. 44 forced him to take the green flag from the
rear of the field in Shane Clanton’s backup car
Time of Race: 12 Mins., 21.555 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.488 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (Lap 28)
Lap Leaders: McCreadie (1-40)
Time Trial Results
(Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 13.257
2. 7-Matt Miller/Waterville, OH 13.289
3. 15F-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 13.297
4. 1d-Don O’Neal/Martinsville, IN 13.329
5. 25F-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 13.342
6. 44H-Adam Hensel/Barron, WI 13.367
7. 25s-Chad Simpson/Mt. Vernon, IA 13.384
8. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.385
9. 28M-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 13.427
10. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 13.433
11. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 13.446
12. 44P-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 13.457
13. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 13.469
14. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 13.481
15. 89-Darren Friedman/Forrest, IL 13.488
16. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 13.506
17. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 13.514
18. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 13.518
19. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 13.522
20. 18RH-Ronny Lee Hollingsworth/Northport, AL 13.531
21. 18b-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 13.533
22. 1v-Will Vaught/Crane, MO 13.569
23. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 13.577
24. 28e-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 13.584
25. F15-Justin Fegers/Mound, MN 13.584
26. 95-Keith Foss/Winona, MN 13.610
27. 32s-Chris Simpson/Oxford, IA 13.622
28. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 13.623 ***
29. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 13.624 ***
30. 19F-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 13.638
31. 15B-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 13.649
32. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 13.754
33. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 13.766
34. 25H-Kerry Hansen/Spencer, WI 13.784
35. 90-Lance Mathees/Winona, MN 13.786
36. 71-Andrew McKay/Edina, MN 13.793
37. s9-Dan Schlieper/Sullivan, WI 13.804
38. 75-Brian Harris/Davenport, IA 13.868
39. 41-Josh McGuire/Grayson, KY 13.875
40. 58-A.J. Diemel/Bonduel, WI 13.908
41. 9E-Even Hubert/Cross Timbers, MO 13.980
42. 90x-Eric Pember/Pittsville, WI 14.001
43. 73-Zach Johnson/Kensington, MN 14.134
44. 3-Kevin Sather/Ankeny, IA 14.154
45. 18H-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND 14.254
46. 32A-Terry Anvelink/Navarino, WI 14.340
47. 8-Gregg Hill/Eveleth, MN 14.482
48. 10-Pete Parker/Kaukauna, WI 14.502
49. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA N/T
50. 49-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA N/T
51. 40-Bryan Wennen/Lindstrom, MN N/T
52. 15A-Nick Anvelink/Navarino, MN N/T
53. 29R-Ronnie Rihn/Bloomer, WI N/T
*** Denotes drivers who missed their spots in
time-trial order and were thus eligible for only one lap at end of session. By
rule the best they could finish in the qualifying order was 28th (half the field
plus one spot).
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): McCreadie, Pearson, C. Smith, Birkhofer,
Hensel, Schlieper, Z. Johnson, Fegers (FNS) Frank
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Hubbard, B. Smith, Hollingsworth, Feger,
Foss, Lux, Harris, Sather (DNS) Davenport
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Lanigan, Shirley, Babb, Chris Simpson,
King, O’Neal, McGuire, Hapka (DNS) Wennen
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Mars, Francis, Friedman, Doar, Vaught,
Diemel, Hansen, T. Anvelink (DNS) N. Anvelink
Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Eckert, McCool, Clanton, Miller,
Bloomquist, Mathees, Hubert, Hill, Rihn
Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Richards, Moyer, Chad Simpson, Fuller,
Erb, Pember, McKay, Parker
B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Birkhofer, Lux, Feger, Z. Johnson,
Schlieper, Hensel, Fegers, Harris, Foss (DNS) Sather, Frank, Davenport
B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): King, Doar, O’Neal, Chris Simpson,
Hansen, McGuire, Hapka, Diemel, Vaught. T. Anvelink (DNS) Wenne, N. Anvelink
B-Main No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Miller, Bloomquist, Fuller, Mathees,
Pember, Erb, McKay, Hubert, Parker, Rihn, Hill
DIRTcar Racing Weekly Points Update: Schlenk (Late Models) & Gilpin (UMP Modifieds) Pad National Points Leads
CONCORD, NC – June 17, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.
(Late Models) and Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. (UMP Modifieds) padded their
leads in DIRTcar Racing's UMP national points standings after 11 weeks of weekly
competition.
Schlenk, 23, hit double-figures in feature wins this season with his second
straight triumph at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, on June 12, helping him
push his DIRTcar Late Model national points edge from 470 to a commanding 558
points. His other weekend start was an 18th-place finish on June 11 at Mount
Pleasant (Mich.) Speedway.
The young Michigander is seeking his first-ever DIRTcar Late Model national
championship. He finished a career-high third in last year’s points battle.
Moving to second in the points standings for events run through June 13 was
veteran Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., who overtook the idle Ryan Unzicker
of El Paso, Il., for the position. Hammerle leads all drivers with 27 starts so
far this year, one more than Schlenk in a points race that is determined using
drivers’ best 35 finishes/points nights.
Gilpin, 19, enjoyed a solid weekend of UMP Modified racing in the Midwest,
winning on June 11 at Moler Raceway Park in Willamsburg, Ohio, and finishing
third on June 13 at Windy Hollow Speedway in Owensboro, Ky. He added 21 points
to his national points lead, ending the weekend with a 37-point advantage
(1,756-1,719) over Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo.
Griffaw also won once over the weekend, emerging victorious on June 11 at
Callaway Raceway in Fulton, Mo. It was his only points-producing start of the
weekend.
Veteran Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., who led the UMP Modified standings for
several weeks before being overtaken by Gilpin, lost more ground to Gilpin
despite winning on June 12 at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway. A fourth-place
finisher behind Gilpin on June 13 at Windy Hollow, Sweeney sits third in the
points standings, 166 markers behind Gilpin.
In other DIRTcar Racing divisions, Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late
Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Jeff Lawson of Greenville,
Ky. (Limited Modifieds), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and
Michael Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts) remained national
points leaders. Frank Burnell of Waterloo, N.Y., jumped into the top spot in the
Stock Car points race.
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of June 13, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1 . Rusty Schlenk 1859 26
2. Mike Hammerle 1301 27
3. Ryan Unzicker 1263 20
4. Jeff Walson 1177 19
5. Jason McBride 1016 19
6. Brandon Sheppard 1010 19
7. Michael Kloos 1009 17
8. Brian Shirley 997 16
9. Alan Vochaska 986 15
10. Brian Ruhlman 951 15
11. Dillan White 930 17
12. Phil Ausra 920 18
13. Dennis Erb Jr. 898 15
14. Mike Schulte 898 18
15. Jeep VanWormer 875 12
16. Richie Hedrick 865 17
17. Rich Neiser 860 15
18. Dusty Moore 849 16
19. Eric Spangler 843 14
20. Jim Moon 832 18
UMP Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Devin Gilpin 1756 25
2. Rusty Griffaw 1719 25
3. Randle Sweeney 1590 25
4. Stormy Scott 1569 23
5. Clint DeMoss 1329 19
6. Levi Kissinger 1262 23
7. Todd Sherman 1171 18
8. Dave Wietholder 1157 20
9. Brett Korves 1149 20
10. Mike Spatola 1146 20
11. Dustin Isom 1119 22
12. Dean Hoffman 1078 19
13. Trent Young 1054 19
14. Zach Fair 1017 18
15. Rob Penny 1008 23
16. Jeff Matthews 1006 15
17. Will Krup 996 24
18. Bryce Jewell 992 20
19. Mike Harrison 978 15
20. Jimmy Ray 977 16
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 963 15
2. Bobby Pierce 857 12
3. Credence Mott 840 15
4. Scott Weber 840 12
5. Bobby Martintoni 790 14
6. Matt Santel 775 15
7. Matt Liner 733 14
8. Casey Montague 688 12
9. Nick Bauman 677 10
10. Kyle Hammer 658 13
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 1030 15
2. Chris Hillman 883 15
3. Dennis Wernle 880 15
4. Rocky Warner 839 13
5. Bruno Cyr 826 13
6. Stephane Lemire 813 13
7. Randy Petro 809 14
8. Steve Peeden 798 13
9. Brad Cummings 756 14
10. Aaron Barsness 749 12
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Lawson 837 15
2. Scotty Oliver 781 14
3. Jonathan Smith 725 11
4. Shelli O’Bryan 689 14
5. Ronnie Cotton 679 12
6. Clay Settles 636 11
7. John Paul Talkington 594 11
8. Kevin Dupont 554 10
9. Michael Stratton 547 9
10. Josh Tyler 521 10
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Frank Burnell 758 12
2. Mike Lynn 753 12
3. Larry Russell Jr. 743 13
4. Rick Rush 713 15
5. Tim Hughes 708 12
6. Josh Smith 703 14
7. J.R. Mason 699 10
8. Jerrad Krick 682 10
9. Josh Frye 678 13
10. Mike Welch 673 12
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 1017 15
2. Brad Venhaus 677 10
3. Zac Hoffman 665 11
4. Luke Sadler 615 12
5. Brian Crawford 568 10
6. Dave Grega 547 8
7. Troy Bunfill 516 9
8. Stephen Fohne 504 10
9. Mickey Hines 486 9
10. Richard Calmes Jr. 475 11
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 1080 15
2. Jordan Suhre 1026 15
3. Trevor Isaak 935 15
4. Blayne Ellis 926 15
5. Rob Shaw 912 12
6. Eldon Hemken 900 15
7. Justin Hall 837 15
8. Cook Crawford 819 15
9. Jay Gordon 788 15
10. Bradley McGhee 781 14
Billy Moyer Runs Tight Rope To $100,000 Victory In Sunday’s ‘Dream XVI’ At Eldora Speedway
ROSSBURG, OH - June 13, 2010 - Billy Moyer walked a tight rope
to victory in Sunday afternoon’s postponed DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned Dirt Late
Model Dream XVI at Eldora Speedway.
Living up to his ‘Mr. Smooth’ nickname, the 52-year-old dirt Late Model Hall of
Famer from Batesville, Ark., overtook Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., for the lead
on a lap-20 restart and never made a mistake the remainder of the 100-lap
distance. He tamed a slick daytime track surface dominated by a precarious top
lane to pocket the prestigious race’s $100,000 winner’s check for the second
time in his legendary career.
In a race that saw cars repeatedly sustain right-rear body damage from bouts
with the Big E’s unforgiving outside wall – including those driven by runner-up
Cook and third-place finisher Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga. – Moyer got his
Clements-powered Victory Circle Chassis to the checkered flag virtually
unscathed.
“Your mind’s gotta be razor sharp to run on that ledge for a hundred laps like
that and never bobble,” said Moyer, describing the thin cushion just inches from
the high-banked, half-mile oval’s concrete barrier. “This track is like running
on an ice cube. You just slide in there and time it just perfectly to where you
get your right front on that lip first. If you get in there a little bit too
hard, you’re in the wall over that little berm.”
Moyer, who started from the pole position, weathered a mid-race challenge from
2008 World 100 winner Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., before pulling away
from Cook during the final laps. He crossed the finish about a half-straightaway
ahead of Cook, who started second and led laps 1-20 in his battle-scarred
MasterSbilt car.
McDowell, who started 19th, benefitted from the race’s attrition to place a
quiet third in NASCAR star Clint Bowyer’s Warrior machine. Chris Madden of Grey
Court, S.C., started 21st and wasn’t far behind McDowell throughout the distance
en route to a fourth-place finish in his Team Zero by Bloomquist car, while
Madden’s chassis builder, five-time Dream champion Scott Bloomquist of
Mooresburg, Tenn., completed the top five after recovering from a lap 75 pit
stop to change a flat right-rear tire.
Moyer’s triumph returned him to the spotlight at Eldora, a track he dominated
during the ‘90s. He won the World 100 a record five times between 1991 and 2000
and captured the Dream in 1998.
“The last three or four years I haven’t even been close here,” said Moyer, who
joined Bloomquist (five) and Freddy Smith (two) as repeat winners of the Dream
event. “I’ve been working to try and figure this place out again. Things are so
much different from the last time I won here to now.
“The sport evolves so fast and you just gotta stay on top of it, and I think we
finally found something that works here again.”
Moyer flexed his new-found Eldora muscle on a lap-20 restart following a caution
flag for Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who slowed in turn four with body
damage. The veteran dove underneath Cook entering turn one and exited turn two
in control of the lead for good.
“I measured him up there on that first (re)start,” said Moyer, who won one of
six heat races run on Saturday night before thunderstorms postponed the
remainder of the program to Sunday afternoon. “I could’ve did it (made the pass)
that first time, but I went in a little soft and I just didn’t want be an idiot
and wreck us both like that.
“The next (restart) I just kind of knew where his little weak spot was. It was
really early in the race, but I figured the way the track was I better get after
it right now and get into the lead.”
Cook, 38, had already damaged the right-rear corner of his car from slapping the
wall, but he credited Moyer with a slick move to take command.
“Billy done a good job there,” said Cook, a five-time Dream starter who matched
his career-best event finish of second in 2000. “We were talking about him being
a senior citizen earlier, but that experience paid off. He got a good run on me
on the restart and got us with a slide down there.”
Cook was happy to secure a $20,000 runner-up finish despite racing nearly the
entire distance with a crushed rear spoiler and losing second place briefly to
Clanton.
“I knocked that (spoiler) off while we were leading actually,” said Cook, who
added to his car’s body damage when he slid into the turn four wall while
battling for second with Clanton on lap 61. “I just got up there (in the corner)
too hard.
“This track was probably as challenging as it gets because it was just really,
really slick right to that concrete cushion. But it’s Eldora, and you just gotta
stay after it. We almost got it done, so we’ll just come back and try it again.”
Moyer likely saw his stiffest late-race threat disappear when Clanton’s bid came
to an abrupt end. Sixth at the halfway mark after starting 10th, the 34-year-old
driver vaulted up to second by lap 61 and caught Moyer moments later.
Clanton ducked underneath Moyer rounding turns one and two on lap 65, but that
was as close as he got to the lead. His attempt to join Moyer, Bloomquist,
Donnie Moran and Jimmy Owens as the only drivers to win both the World 100 and
the Dream evaporated when he slowed with a broken right-rear shock bolt on lap
69, bringing out the seventh of the race’s eight caution flags.
The rough-and-tumble A-Main was slowed by three caution flags for debris on the
track and four for disabled cars. The only serious accident occurred on lap 58
when Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., gave up his race-long hold on third
place after slapping the turn-one wall, bouncing off Clanton’s passing car and
collecting fifth-place Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., whose machine sustained
heavy damage, and eighth-place John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who was
able to continue.
Defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Josh Richards of
Shinnston, W.Va., who started 16th, finished sixth after being knocked from the
top five by Bloomquist on lap 91. Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., transferred
to the Dream after running the C- and B-Mains and marched forward from the 25th
starting spot to finish seventh and Blankenship was the last driver on the lead
lap in eighth place.
Several potential challengers saw their hopes dashed by smacks of the wall that
tore up their cars and led to their early departures. That group included World
of Outlaws regulars Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who hit the concrete on lap
one but still ran fourth until a turn-four wall encounter on lap 41 ended his
day; Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who climbed from the 13th starting spot
to fifth in just eight laps but bent up his mount’s front end when he caught the
turn-two wall three circuits later (he ultimately retired with an overheating
engine while still holding fifth on lap 55); and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.,
who was bidding for sixth when he crushed the right-rear corner of his mount on
lap 49.
Sunday’s preliminary action saw Doug Drown of Wooster, Ohio, emerge victorious
in the 15-lap C-Main and McDowell capture the 20-lap B-Main.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
Dirt Late Model Dream XVI Finish
(Finish/Start/Driver/Laps Completed):
1. (1) Billy Moyer/100
2. (2) Ray Cook/100
3. (19) Dale McDowell/100
4. (21) Chris Madden/100
5. (12) Scott Bloomquist/100
6. (16) Josh Richards/100
7. (25) Don O’Neal/100
8. (11) John Blankenship/100
9. (20) Jeep VanWormer/97
10. (7) Dan Schlieper/97
11. (5) Jonathan Davenport/80
12. (24) Brad Neat/76
13. (10) Shane Clanton/68
14. (8) Steve Casebolt/59
15. (13) Tim McCreadie/54
16. (14) Darrell Lanigan/49
17. (3) Brandon Kinzer/47
18. (18) Mike Marlar/45
19. (15) Brady Smith/45
20. (9) Brian Birkhofer/45
21. (4) Steve Francis/42
22. (24) Dennis Erb Jr./30
23. (25) Bub McCool/28
24. (17) Jimmy Owens/22
25. (22) Brian Shirley/19
26. (6) Casey Roberts/11
C-Main Finish (15 laps – Top 7 Transfer to
B-Main): 1. Doug Drown[2]; 2. Don O'Neal[3]; 3. Zack Dohm[4]; 4. Jeremy
Payne[20]; 5. Jason Feger[7]; 6. Donnie Moran[11]; 7. Wayne Chinn[10]; 8. Jared
Landers[16]; 9. John Henderson[15]; 10. Keith Foss[13]; 11. Wayne Maffett
Jr.[9]; 12. Brian Ruhlman[5]; 13. Curtis Roberts[1]; 14. Clint Smith[12]; 15.
Dave Hartman[19]; 16. Shanon Buckingham[6]; 17. Jon Henry[8]; 18. Jerry
Bowersock[14]; 19. Nick Marolf[17]; 20. Shannon Thornsberry[17]
B-Main Finish (20 laps – Top 7 Transfer to
A-Main): 1. Dale McDowell[2]; 2. Chris Madden[7]; 3. Brian Shirley[9]; 4.
Brad Neat[3]; 5. Dennis Erb Jr.[14]; 6. Bub Mccool[1]; 7. Don O'Neal[20]; 8.
Chad Smith[12]; 9. Earl Pearson Jr.[8]; 10. Terry Phillips[16]; 11. Will
Vaught[10]; 12. Jason Feger[18]; 13. Chub Frank[18]; 14. Wayne Chinn[19]; 15.
Jared Landers[21]; 16. Tony Knowles[14]; 17. Donnie Moran[24]; 18. John
Henderson[19]; 19. Doug Drown[15]; 20. JR Hotovy[5]; 21. Dustin Neat[3]; 22.
Matt Miller[6]; 23. Jeremy Payne[22]; 24. Jackie Boggs[11]
Thunderstorms Force Postponement Of Dream XVI At Eldora Speedway Following Heat-Race Action
The C-Main, B-Main and 100-lap DIRTcar Late Model feature paying $100,000 to win is tentatively set to be run on the weekend’s advertised raindate of Sun., June 13, but a final decision will be made at 8 a.m. on Sunday.
“In the interest of safety for our fans and competitors, we had to postpone the remainder of tonight’s program,” said Eldora Speedway general manager Larry Boos. “We will decide in the morning whether the weather will allow us to go ahead as planned with racing on Sunday.”
Boos said if conditions are suitable for racing on Sunday, the track’s tentative plan is to clear the grounds at 10 a.m. and then immediately readmit all spectators. A time schedule for the day would be announced in the morning.
Saturday night’s six 15-lap heats were completed before the rain became too heavy for racing to continue. The heats beat the weather after an initial light burst of precipitation red-flagged the fifth heat with three laps left.
Heat winners were Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Brandon Kinzer of Allen, Ky., Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who was the fastest qualifier in Friday’s 104-car time-trial session, moved up from the fifth starting spot in the first heat to finish third and transfer to the Dream XVI. He is scheduled to start 18th in the 100-lapper.
NASCAR star/Eldora owner Tony Stewart was unable to parlay his second-fastest time-trial lap into heat-race success, dropping out of the second prelim on lap three. He has the 19th starting spot in the Dream thanks to a fast-time provisional, but he won’t be able to run the event if it is contested on Sunday afternoon due to his Sprint Cup commitment at Michigan International Speedway.
The second fast-time provisional was claimed by Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., who was eliminated from action after slapping the turn-two wall on the opening circuit of the third heat.
The latest information on the status of the Dream XVI can be obtained on Sunday morning by visiting www.eldoraspeedway.com or calling the track office at 937-338-3815.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
Heat 1 Finish: 1. Casey Roberts[3]; 2. Dan Schlieper[1]; 3. Tim McCreadie[5]; 4. Bub Mccool[8]; 5. Chris Madden[4]; 6. Jackie Boggs[2]; 7. Curtis Roberts[7]; 8. Jason Feger[11]; 9. Donnie Moran[18]; 10. Jeremy Payne[9]; 11. Jack Sullivan[10]; 12. Jerry Bowersock[15]; 13. Jacob Hawkins[14]; 14. Dave Hartman[17]; 15. Lee Davasier[16]; 16. Brent Kreke[12]; 17. Kent Robinson[13]
Heat 2 Finish: 1. Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. Steve Casebolt[3]; 3. Darrell Lanigan[6]; 4. Dale McDowell[4]; 5. Earl Pearson Jr.[8]; 6. Dennis Erb Jr.[12]; 7. Doug Drown[9]; 8. Shanon Buckingham[16]; 9. Jay Johnson[7]; 10. Justin Rattliff[13]; 11. Keith Berner[11]; 12. Gregg Satterlee[1]; 13. Tony Stewart[5]; 14. Scott James[10]; 15. Scott Orr[14]; 16. Jason Jameson[15]
Heat 3 Finish : 1. Steve Francis[2]; 2. Brian Birkhofer[1]; 3. Brady Smith[10]; 4. Brad Neat[4]; 5. Brian Shirley[3]; 6. Bart Hartman[9]; 7. Don O'Neal[14]; 8. Brett Wyatt[7]; 9. Keith Foss[11]; 10. Robby Hensley[15]; 11. Christopher Brown[13]; 12. Shannon Thornsberry[16]; 13. Jerry Rice[12]; 14. Chris Ferguson[8]; 15. Bryant Dickinson[17]; 16. Jeep Van Wormer[5]; 17. Eddie Carrier Jr.[6]
Heat 4 Finish: 1. Brandon Kinzer[1]; 2. Shane Clanton[5]; 3. Josh Richards[11]; 4. Dustin Neat[2]; 5. Will Vaught[4]; 6. Terry Phillips[7]; 7. Zack Dohm[13]; 8. Jon Henry[12]; 9. Wayne Chinn[15]; 10. Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 11. Ryan VanderVeen[16]; 12. John Mason[14]; 13. Keith Kennedy[17]; 14. Austin Hubbard[9]; 15. Ben Adkins[6]; 16. Chris Wall[8]; 17. Jimmy Mars[10]
Heat 5 Finish: 1. Ray Cook[4]; 2. John Blankenship[6]; 3. Jimmy Owens[5]; 4. JR Hotovy[1]; 5. Shannon Babb[7]; 6. Tony Knowles[9]; 7. Brian Ruhlman[10]; 8. Wayne Maffett Jr.[14]; 9. John Henderson[8]; 10. Nick Marolf[12]; 11. Nick Fronapfel[16]; 12. Frank Heckenast[2]; 13. Tim Dohm[3]; 14. Cliff Morrow[17]; 15. Josh Williams[13]; 16. Tim Sabo[15]
Heat 6 Finish: 1. Billy Moyer[1]; 2. Scott Bloomquist[4]; 3. Mike Marlar[2]; 4. Matt Miller[3]; 5. Chad Simpson[5]; 6. Chub Frank[7]; 7. Eric Wells[14]; 8. Vic Hill[6]; 9. Clint Smith[8]; 10. Eric Jacobsen[11]; 11. Jared Landers[13]; 12. Aaron Ridley[9]; 13. Jeff Larson[12]; 14. Andrew Reaume[16]; 15. Casey Noonan[15]; 16. Tommy Klein[16]
DIRTcar Racing Weekly Points Update: Young Lions Schlenk (Late Models) & Gilpin (UMP Modifieds) Remain Atop National Standings
CONCORD, NC – June 11, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.
(Late Models) and Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. (UMP Modifieds) remained in
command of the DIRTcar Racing national points standings after 10 weeks of weekly
competition.
Schlenk, 23, saw his DIRTcar Late Model national points lead over Ryan Unzicker
of El Paso, Ill., shrink by 96 points following last weekend’s action, but he
still holds a healthy 470-point edge (1,735-1,263). The young Michigander did,
of course, only enter one sanctioned event during the first week of June – a
weekly show on June 4 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park that he won, giving him nine
wins in 24 starts this season.
Unzicker, meanwhile, made three starts last weekend, with a top finish of second
on June 6 at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway. He also registered finishes of
eighth on June 4 at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and 10th on June 5 at
I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., leaving him with 20 races under his belt this
season.
Veteran Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., sits third in the national standings,
507 points behind Schlenk. He leads all DIRTcar Late Model drivers with 25
starts to his credit in 2010.
The DIRTcar Late Model national points standings are determined this year using
drivers’ best 35 finishes/points nights.
Gilpin, meanwhile, lost a handful of points from his advantage in the UMP
Modified national standings, ending the weekend with a precarious 16-point lead
(1,692-1,676) over Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo. Both drivers have now made 25
starts this season, reaching the threshold at which UMP Modified competitors
begin replacing their worst finishes/points nights.
The 19-year-old Gilpin had a busy weekend, racing at three different tracks in
successive nights. He was victorious in a feature run on June 4 at Moler Raceway
Park in Williamsburg, Ohio, before finishing second on June 5 at Brownstown
(Ind.) Speedway and fifth on June 6 at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville,
Ill.
Griffaw came close to a perfect weekend, winning on June 4 at Fredericktown
(Mo.) Speedway and scoring runner-up finishes on June 5 at I-55 Raceway and June
6 at Shepp’s Speedway in Alexander, Ill.
There was a change at the top in two of DIRTcar Racing’s six other national
points races as Scotty Oliver of Owensboro, Ky., took over the Limited Modified
points lead and Larry Russell Jr. of Harristown, Ill., grabbed control of the
Stock Car points battle. Maintaining their national points leads were Tait
Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo,
Ill. (Sportsman), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and Michael
Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of June 7, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 1735 24
2. Ryan Unzicker 1263 20
3. Mike Hammerle 1228 25
4. Jeff Walston 1042 17
5. Jason McBride 1016 19
6. Brandon Sheppard 1010 19
7. Brian Shirley 961 15
8. Michael Kloos 931 16
9. Dillan White 930 17
10. Brian Ruhlman 927 14
11. Richie Hedrick 865 17
12. Dennis Erb Jr. 859 14
13. Mike Schulte 841 16
14. Jim Moon 832 18
15. Frankie Martin 831 14
16. Phil Ausra 826 16
17. Jeep VanWormer 821 11
18. Dusty Moore 804 15
19. Alan Vochaska 795 12
20. Jason Feger 756 12
UMP Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Devin Gilpin 1692 25
2. Rusty Griffaw 1676 25
3. Randle Sweeney 1488 24
4. Stormy Scott 1414 21
5. Clint DeMoss 1329 19
6. Levi Kissinger 1207 22
7. Todd Sherman 1171 18
8. Dave Wietholder 1115 19
9. Mike Spatola 1081 19
10. Brett Korves 1079 18
11. Dustin Isom 1026 20
12. Dean Hoffman 1023 18
13. Zach Fair 1017 18
14. Trent Young 984 18
15. Jimmy Ray 977 16
16. Denny Schwartz 974 16
17. Mike Harrison 968 14
18. Rob Penny 953 22
19. Will Krup 948 23
20. Mark Tullis 936 17
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 927 15
2. Credence Mott 840 15
3. Scott Weber 840 12
4. Bobby Martintoni 790 14
5. Bobby Pierce 782 11
6. Matt Santel 775 15
7. Casey Montague 688 12
8. Nick Bauman 677 10
9. Bobby Dauderman 639 10
10. Daniel Heck 617 11
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 1009 15
2. Chris Hillman 883 15
3. Dennis Wernle 815 14
4. Randy Petro 809 14
5. Steve Peeden 798 13
6. Rocky Warner 789 12
7. Brad Cummings 756 14
8. Aaron Barsness 715 11
9. Jeff Herzog 706 11
10. Jason Keller 700 15
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Scotty Oliver 781 14
2. Jeff Lawson 722 13
3. Jonathan Smith 655 10
4. Ronnie Cotton 629 11
5. Shelli O’Bryan 589 12
6. John Paul Talkington 548 10
7. Michael Stratton 547 9
8. Clay Settles 506 9
9. Kevin Dupont 479 9
10. Josh Tyler 477 9
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Larry Russell Jr. 743 13
2. Mike Lynn 705 11
3. Rick Rush 703 15
4. Frank Burnell 649 10
5. J.R. Mason 629 9
6. Josh Smith 628 13
7. Josh Frye 598 11
8. Trevor Gamble 593 10
9. Tim Hughes 593 10
10. Mike Welch 556 10
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 938 14
2. Brad Venhaus 607 9
3. Luke Sadler 549 11
4. Zac Hoffman 542 9
5. Mickey Hines 486 9
6. Dave Grega 472 7
7. Stephen Fohne 464 9
8. Cody Vanosdol 452 6
9. Brian Crawford 448 8
10. Richard Calmes Jr. 442 10
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 1080 15
2. Jordan Suhre 1026 15
3. Trevor Isaak 926 15
4. Eldon Hemken 900 15
5. Rob Shaw 832 11
6. Cook Crawford 813 15
7. Justin Hall 811 15
8. Blayne Ellis 794 13
9. Bradly McGhee 781 14
10. Jay Gordon 777 15
Explaining The System: How The 2010 DIRTcar Racing Points Champions Are Determined
The organization's post-season recognition and awards program has been fine-tuned in 2010 to benefit the weekly racer and reward drivers' success without requiring them to run the most events. The return of State champions will bring the chase to the home tracks, with State points funds leading to the lucrative national standings that create a national ranking, rewards and prestige.
National and State points standings are maintained for DIRTcar Late Models, UMP Modifieds, Pro Late Models, Sportsman, Limited Modifieds, Stock Cars, Factory Stocks and Sport Compacts and overall will recognize hundreds of drivers and teams competing across the country.
This season's DIRTcar points awards system largely mirrors the one used in 2009, with some minor alterations to benefit the thousands of weekly, one-track teams. Bonus points will once again be available based on car counts as in the past, but DIRTcar Racing officials have adjusted the number of races that drivers will count toward their overall points totals.
As the battle for the national and state points titles roars into its third month of weekly action, here's some bullet points detailing how drivers will accumulate points in hopes of collecting a share of the nearly $400,000 in points-fund cash on the line in 2010.
* In all divisions, winners of sanctioned feature events receive 75 points. There's a five-point per position drop through sixth place, then two points per position through 11th and one point per position from 12th through last place.
* Bonus points are awarded only to feature event participants on a scale of one point for every car over 20 entered in an event. A bonus-points ceiling of 10 points per race has been established, so the most 'event' points – the combination of finish and bonus points – a driver can receive for a single race is 85 (feature win with a field of 30 or more cars).
* When a B-Main is run, drivers not qualifying for the feature receive finish points starting with the first non-transfer and dropping one point per position to a minimum of 10 points. Any driver participating in an event will receive a minimum of 10 points.
* Drivers may begin replacing their lowest 'event' points nights after completing a minimum number of sanctioned races – 35 for the Late Models, 25 for the UMP Modifieds and 15 for all other divisions. Last year Late Model drivers began replacing races after 40 events and UMP Modified competitors after 30 events.
* All races must have 10 or more cars entered in order for driver to receive full points. If a race has nine or less cars, points will be reduced 10 percent for each car – ie., nine cars equals 90 percent points, eight cars equals 80 percent points, etc.
* All points ties at the end of the season will be broken by the greatest number of wins among the dead-locked drivers. If a tie still exists, the number of second-place, third-place, etc. finishes will be compared until the tie is broken.
* For any event to award points, a sanctioning agreement between the track and DIRTcar Racing must be in place. Added events must be approved 10 days prior to the event.
* Drivers who do not have DIRTcar Racing memberships by July 15, 2010, will not be eligible to share in the post-season points fund. In addition, eligibility to participate in the points-fund awards may be forfeited by any member violating DIRTcar rules.
* The 2010 points season began on Jan. 1, but only a driver's highest finish-points race each week was counted from that date through March 31. All DIRTcar-sanctioned races count toward accumulated points from April 1 through Oct. 3, and the Late Models and UMP Modifieds close out the points season with the DIRTcar UMP Championship weekend on Oct. 8-9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
* DIRTcar Western Region State points racing may continue through Nov. 14 and end with a championship event the weekend of Nov. 19-20, but drivers' will only accumulate points toward their State battles and not the national standings.
Over $160,000 in points-fund cash has been earmarked for the DIRTcar Late Model division in 2010, including the $55,100 payout for the upcoming DIRTcar Summer Nationals 'Hell Tour' that runs from June 16-July 17. The national champion will receive $20,000 and State titlists will pocket $2,000.
UMP Modified racers will chase over $120,000 in points-fund awards, including $65,535 that will be divided among the top 50 finishers in the national standings. The national champ will earn a $20,000 check and State titlists will receive $2,000.
The payoffs for the national champions in DIRTcar Racing's six other sanctioned divisions: Pro Late Models ($10,000), Sportsman ($3,000), Stock Cars ($3,000), Limited Modifieds ($1,000), Factory Stocks ($1,000) and Sport Compacts ($1,000). Drivers in each class will also compete for State points crowns.
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk (Late Models) & Gilpin (Modifieds) Add To National Points Leads
MARYVILLE, IL – June 4, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.
(Late Models) and Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. (Modifieds) added to their
leads in DIRTcar Racing's UMP national points standings after nine weeks of
weekly competition.
Both young lions won twice over the holiday weekend, helping them pump up their
points leads in races completed through May 31. Schlenk, 23, made the most
dramatic gains, extending his edge by 124 points to a hefty 566 markers
(1,650-1,084) over Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., while Gilpin, 19, increased
his edge over Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo., by 14 points to a more modest
25-point margin (1,479-1,454).
Schlenk's three-race Memorial Day weekend of racing on the DIRTcar-sanctioned
American Late Model Series was highlighted by his milestone first career win at
the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. He captured the track's annual
'Johnny Appleseed Classic' on Sunday night (May 30) for what he called "without
doubt the biggest win of my career."
The triumph at the Big E came after Schlenk finished fifth in the ALMS weekend
opener on Friday night (May 28) at Mount Pleasant (Mich.) Speedway and recorded
his 61st career win at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, on Saturday night (May
29). He overtook Matt Miller for the lead on a late restart and never looked
back at Oakshade.
Schlenk has won eighth features this season in his 23 overall starts. He
currently leads all drivers in the UMP national points standings in the
races-completed category. Unzicker, who last weekend finished fifth on May 28 at
Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and sixth on May 29 at Highland (Ill.) Speedway, has
17 starts to his credit, while Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., who sits third
in the national standings after holiday-weekend finishes of third on May 28 at
Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., and fourth on May 29 at I-55 Raceway
in Pevely, Mo., has made 21 starts.
Gilpin, meanwhile, remained on top of the UMP Modified national points standings
for the second consecutive week after scoring feature wins on May 28 at Moler
Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio, and May 30 at Windy Hollow Speedway in
Owensboro, Ky., and finishing second on May 29 at Twin Cities Raceway Park in
North Vernon, Ind.
Griffaw nearly kept pace with Gilpin with his performance last weekend, which
included a victory on May 28 at Fredericktown (Mo.) Raceway, a second-place
finish on May 29 at I-55 Raceway and a third-place outing on May 30 at Shepp's
Speedway in Alexander, Ill.
Veteran Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., who led the UMP Modified standings for
several weeks before being overtaken by Gilpin, lost more ground to Gilpin and
Griffaw. He registered runner-up finishes on May 29 at Clarksville (Tenn.)
Speedway and May 30 at Windy Hollow, but a 22nd-place run on May 28 at Paducah
(Ky.) International Raceway was a big blow to his points total, leaving him 126
points behind Gilpin in third place.
There was no change at the top of the national points standings in five of
DIRTcar Racing's six other UMP divisions. Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky.
(Pro Late Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Jeff Lawson of
Greenville, Ky. (Limited Modifieds), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory
Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts) remained
points leaders, while Rick Rush of Brownstown, Ill., overtook Trevor Gamble of
DeLeon Springs, Fla., for the lead in the Stock Car national rankings.
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of May 31, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 1650 23
2. Ryan Unzicker 1084 17
3. Mike Hammerle 1032 21
4. Jeff Walston 931 15
5. Brian Ruhlman 927 14
6. Jason McBride 926 17
7. Brandon Sheppard 854 16
8. Dillan White 838 15
9. Brian Shirley 823 13
10. Jeep VanWormer 821 11
11. Michael Kloos 806 14
12. Richie Hedrick 797 16
13. Phil Ausra 771 15
14. Dusty Moore 759 14
15. Frankie Martin 752 13
16. Alan Vochaska 730 11
17. Mike Schulte 729 14
18. Dennis Erb Jr. 719 12
19. Eric Smith 701 11
20. Jared Miley 660 10
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Devin Gilpin 1479 22
2. Rusty Griffaw 1454 22
3. Randle Sweeney 1353 22
4. Stormy Scott 1256 19
5. Clint DeMoss 1136 16
6. Levi Kissinger 1132 21
7. Mike Spatola 1025 18
8. Todd Sherman 1005 15
9. Brett Korves 964 16
10. Dave Wietholder 952 16
11. Zach Fair 931 16
12. Dean Hoffman 922 16
13. Trent Young 914 17
14. Dustin Isom 886 18
15. Jeff Matthews 871 13
16. Will Krup 842 20
17. Jimmy Ray 834 14
18. Tony Anderson 822 15
19. Rob Penny 822 19
20. Denny Schwartz 815 13
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 846 14
2. Credence Mott 776 14
3. Matt Santel 729 14
4. Scott Weber 723 10
5. Bobby Pierce 647 9
6. Bobby Martintoni 620 11
7. Nick Lyons 575 10
8. Casey Montague 548 10
9. Nick Bauman 532 8
10. Bobby Dauderman 529 8
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 971 15
2. Chris Hillman 846 14
3. Steve Peeden 798 13
4. Brad Cummings 756 14
5. Randy Petro 751 13
6. Rocky Warner 734 11
7. Aaron Barsness 715 11
8. Dennis Wernle 705 12
9. Shaun Daugharty 690 11
10. Jeff Herzog 628 10
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Scotty Oliver 613 11
2. Jeff Lawson 604 11
3. Ronnie Cotton 509 9
4. Jonathan Smith-1 505 8
5. Shelli O'Bryan 492 10
6. John Paul Talkington 483 9
7. Kevin Dupont 479 9
8. Clay Settles 451 8
9. Josh Tyler 412 8
10. Shane Hebert 407 6
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Rick Rush 650 14
2. Mike Lynn 630 10
3. Trevor Gamble 593 10
4. Tim Hughes 593 10
5. Larry Russell Jr. 592 10
6. Mike Welch 556 10
7. JR Mason 554 8
8. Andy Fisk 552 9
9. Josh Smith 552 11
10. Josh Frye 538 10
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 866 13
2. Brad Venhaus 561 8
3. Luke Sadler 549 11
4. Zac Hoffman 542 9
5. Stephen Fohne 464 9
6. Brian Crawford 448 8
7. Richard Calmes Jr. 442 10
8. Mickey Hines 426 8
9. Wally Douglass 421 9
10. Troy Bunfill 420 7
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 1030 15
2. Jordan Suhre 901 14
3. Eldon Hemken 862 14
4. Trevor Isaak 832 15
5. Justin Hall 772 15
6. Rob Shaw 757 10
7. Blayne Ellis 724 12
8. Cook Crawford 716 14
9. Bradley McGhee 716 12
10. Jason Schmidt 705 12
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Schatz, Clanton Power to Top of LaCrosse ‘Extreme Tough Challenge’ Standings
Tony Stewart Racing's Schatz held off Kasey Kahne Racing's Joey Saldana on Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event televised nationally on SPEED. One night later at West Virginia Motor Speedway, Clanton battled for the win and was the top finishing World of Outlaws Late Model Series racer, earning five points to pull into a tie with Schatz atop the Extreme Tough Challenge standings.
The Extreme Tough Challenge features 16 overall events - eight per series - where drivers who are competing full-time in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series or the World of Outlaws Late Model Series earn points toward the championship, which will be decided at the World of Outlaws World Finals in November at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The top five finishers no matter the series will share a $15,000 point fund, and the winning driver will receive the Extreme Tough Challenge champion trophy.
"Any time anybody steps up and puts money in our program, you got to take your hat off to them," said Clanton, of Locust Grove, Ga. "For a corporation to want to sponsor us and help us get on the road and do what we do, it's pretty neat. It's pretty cool to have a points scenario with the Sprint Car guys that will come down to the World Finals. Maybe I'll be tied with somebody going into the World Finals and I can win all of it."
"When we go out there we try to win what we can," said Schatz, a four-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion from Fargo, N.D. "The extra incentive is great, we all thrive off of it."
Also, at each Extreme Tough Challenge event, LaCrosse will distribute keepsake posters as well as provide hat and t-shirt giveaways. Fans can get involved at every race through a unique Extreme Tough competition with the chance to win a pair of LaCrosse boots.
LaCrosse Footwear develops performance footwear and apparel designed to help users dominate their ground in work and recreation. LaCrosse boots, including the Extreme Tough™ line, can be found at premium retailers such as Bass Pro Shops and Gander Mountain.
Visit http://www.extremetoughchallenge.com for all of the up-to-date news and standings. For more information on LaCrosse Footwear, go to http://www.lacrossefootwear.com.
LACROSSE EXTREME TOUGH CHALLENGE STANDINGS (through May 31)
1. Donny Schatz (WoO Sprint)............ 5
Shane Clanton (WoO LM)............... 5
2. Joey Saldana (WoO Sprint)............. 4
Steve Francis (WoO LM)................. 4
3. Lucas Wolfe (WoO Sprint).............. 3
Darrell Lanigan (WoO LM)............... 3
4. Steve Kinser (WoO Sprint).............. 2
Tim McCreadie (WoO LM).............. 2
5. Danny Lasoski (WoO Sprint)........... 1
Tim Fuller (WoO LM)...................... 1
LACROSSE EXTREME TOUGH CHALLENGE EVENTS
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars
May 28 - The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Concord, NC (Donny Schatz)
June 3 - Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
July 16 - Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, OH
July 23 - Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
July 25 - Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY
Oct. 1 - Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
Oct. 9 - Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, NY
Nov. 5 - The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Concord, NC
World of Outlaws Late Models
May 30 - West Virginia Motor Speedway, Mineral Wells, WV (Shane Clanton)
June 26 - Lernerville Speedway, Sarver, PA
July 3 - Tazewell Speedway, Tazewell, TN
Aug. 7 - Cedar Lake Speedway, New Richmond, WI
Aug. 20 - Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, NY
Sept. 4 - Tri-City Speedway, Franklin, PA
Sept. 18 - I-55 Raceway, Pevely, MO
Nov. 5 - The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Concord, NC
About LaCrosse Footwear, Inc.
LaCrosse Footwear, Inc. is a leading developer and marketer of branded, premium and innovative footwear for expert work and outdoor users. The Company's trusted Danner(R) and LaCrosse brands are distributed domestically through a nationwide network of specialty retailers and distributors, and internationally through distributors and retailers in Asia, Europe and Canada. Work customers include people in law enforcement, agriculture, firefighting, construction, industry, military services and other occupations that need high-performance and protective footwear as a critical tool for the job. Outdoor customers include people active in hunting, outdoor cross training, hiking and other outdoor recreational activities. For more information about LaCrosse Footwear products, please visit www.lacrossefootwear.com.
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk Pads Late Model National Lead, Gilpin Moves To Top Of Modified Standings
MARYVILLE, IL – May 28, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.,
continued to pad his lead in DIRTcar Racing's UMP Late Model national points
standings while Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., took control of the Modified
national rankings after eight weeks of weekly action.
Schlenk, 23, pushed his edge to 432 points (1,415-973) over Ryan Unzicker of El
Paso, Ill., in UMP-sanctioned DIRTcar Late Model races contested through May 24,
adding 60 points to his already hefty advantage from the previous week. He
registered finishes of second on May 22 at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio
(with a 41-car field) and sixth on May 23 at Vermilion County Speedway in
Danville, Ill.
Unzicker also competed on May 23 at Vermilion County, finishing fourth to
maintain second in the national points battle. He has 15 UMP-sanctioned starts
under his belt compared to Schlenk's 20.
The 19-year-old Gilpin, meanwhile, vaulted from fourth to first in the UMP
Modified national points standings, replacing veteran Randle Sweeney of Clifty,
Ky., atop the division's battle. He enters this weekend's competition holding a
13-point lead (1,250-1,239) over Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo.
Sweeney, who had paced the Modified standings for several weeks, fell to fourth
in the rankings. He now trails Gilpin by 71 points, with both drivers boasting
19 starts.
There was no change at the top of the national points standings in DIRTcar
Racing's six other UMP divisions. Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late
Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Jeff Lawson of Greenville,
Ky. (Limited Modifieds), Trevor Gamble of DeLeon Springs, Fla. (Stock Cars),
Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of
Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts) remained points leaders.
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of May 24, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 1415 20
2. Ryan Unzicker 973 15
3. Mike Hammerle 927 19
4. Jason McBride 878 16
5. Jeff Walston 827 13
6. Brandon Sheppard 789 15
7. Dillan White 751 13
8. Brian Ruhlman 729 11
9. Richie Hedrick 708 14
10. Michael Kloos 680 11
11. Dennis Erb Jr. 665 11
12. Brian Shirley 658 10
13. Mike Schulte 637 12
14. Dusty Moore 611 11
15. Jeep VanWormer 606 8
16. Phil Ausra 605 12
17. Jim Moon 594 13
18. Jared Miley 592 9
19. Frankie Martin 590 11
20. Rick Standridge 584 12
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Devin Gilpin 1250 19
2. Rusty Griffaw 1239 19
3. Stormy Scott 1181 18
4. Randle Sweeney 1179 19
5. Levi Kissinger 1014 19
6. Clint DeMoss 919 13
7. Mike Spatola 915 16
8. Todd Sherman 873 13
9. Jeff Matthews 871 13
10. Dave Wietholder 861 14
11. Dustin Isom 850 17
12. Trent Young 834 15
13. Will Krup 803 19
14. Dean Hoffman 780 13
15. Zach Fair 779 14
16. Brett Korves 779 13
17. Jimmy Ray 769 13
18. Tony Anderson 754 14
19. Fito Gallardo 734 12
20. Rob Penny 724 17
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 771 13
2. Matt Santel 682 13
3. Credence Mott 668 12
4. Scott Weber 603 8
5. Nick Lyons 575 10
6. Bobby Pierce 486 7
7. Nick Bauman 466 7
8. Bobby Martintoni 461 8
9. Tony Albright 445 8
10. Matt Liner 425 9
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 959 15
2. Steve Peeden 733 12
3. Chris Hillman 729 12
4. Aaron Barsness 645 10
5. Randy Petro 640 11
6. Brad Cummings 638 12
7. Shaun Daugharty 630 10
8. Jeff Herzog 588 9
9. Dennis Wernle 588 10
10. Rocky Warner 584 9
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Lawson 525 9
2. Scotty Oliver 492 9
3. John Paul Talkington 483 9
4. Kevin Dupont 479 9
5. Ronnie Cotton 444 8
6. Shane Hebert 407 6
7. Corey Buhler 406 7
8. Clay Settles 396 7
9. Shelli O'Bryan 372 8
10. Josh Tyler 368 7
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Trevor Gamble 593 10
2. Larry Russell Jr. 555 9
3. Tim Hughes 533 9
4. Frank Burnell 514 8
5. Rick Rush 513 11
6. Phillip Brown 486 8
7. JR Mason 479 7
8. Mike Welch 459 8
9. Mike Lynn 456 7
10. Josh Smith 451 9
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 796 12
2. Brad Venhaus 561 8
3. Luke Sadler 513 10
4. Zac Hoffman 467 8
5. Richard Calmes Jr. 402 9
6. Stephen Fohne 394 8
7. Brian Crawford 393 7
8. Dennis Ponder 393 8
9. Mickey Hines 389 7
10. Jordan Bauer 383 7
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 987 15
2. Eldon Hemken 795 13
3. Jordan Suhre 771 12
4. Bradley McGhee 716 12
5. Justin Hall 711 15
6. Trevor Isaak 702 13
7. Rob Shaw 680 9
8. Cook Crawford 673 13
9. Jason Schmidt 635 11
10. Jay Gordon 604 12
R2C Performance Partners with World Racing Group
Air Filter Program Rewards Teams in World of Outlaws, DIRTcar UMP Summer Nationals
R2C Performance intake systems and air filters deliver the most efficient performance in the market, with compressed air cleaning only and no oiling required. They have lower average restriction throughout the life of the filter and more dust holding capacity than any other filter available. Whether using the Sprint Car filter or the Late Model filter, R2C synthetic filters are fully washable and can be cleaned with low pressure compressed air and be race-ready in minutes.
"As a manufacturer and supplier of premium, oil-free Super Late Model and Sprint Car competition air filters and E-Z Seal base systems for World of Outlaws competitors, our contingency relationship provides an excellent opportunity to say thanks to the racers for helping R2C Performance Products become one of the fastest growing manufacturers in circle track motorsports and to give back to a prominent segment of the racing community," Vice President of Sales Ed Sroka said. "As the recognized leader in sanctioned dirt track racing, the World Racing Group works tirelessly to provide an excellent platform, tasked with the goal of increasing R2C's brand awareness and recognition. We look forward to a long and successful relationship."
For the World of Outlaws series, R2C Performance will reward participating winning teams with cash and product certificates. Plus, at the season-ending World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series banquet, a custom-built, factory-assembled Sprint Car Base and Filter System will be awarded to two teams, and at the World of Outlaws Late Model Series banquet two cases of R2C Super Late Model filters will be awarded. Prizes for teams competing in the Summer Nationals Hell Tour will be announced at a later date.
"R2C Performance air filter systems are one of the best new products we've seen in quite some time and we are excited they have partnered with both World of Outlaws Series and the Summer Nationals," said World Racing Group CMO Ben Geisler. "These three series reach over 1,500 of the toughest late model and sprint car competitors in the country and we think they'll be happy to see the awesome support program R2C has put in place for them."
For more information on R2C Performance and its Sprint Car or Late Model filters, visit www.r2cperformance.com.
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk Expands National Late Model Lead, Sweeney's Modified Edge Shrinks To Single Point
MARYVILLE, IL – May 20, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.,
continued to expand his early-season lead in DIRTcar Racing's UMP Late Model
national points standings, pushing his edge to a healthy 372 points after seven
weeks of weekly competition.
The UMP Modified national points battle, meanwhile, has suddenly become
extremely tight. Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., remains atop the standings in
races contested through May 17, but his lead is down to a single point and just
43 points separate the top-four drivers in the rankings.
Schlenk, 23, put together another solid weekend under DIRTcar's UMP banner,
finishing third on May 14 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park and emerging victorious
on May 15 at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio. The triumph was his sixth
overall of the 2010 season, the 60th of Schlenk's young dirt Late Model career
and moved him into the points lead at Oakshade.
With 18 UMP-sanctioned starts already under his belt, Schlenk has accumulated an
impressive 12 top-three finishes as he chases his first-ever UMP Late Model
national crown. His closest pursuer in the points standings is now Ryan Unzicker
of El Paso, Ill., whose finishes last weekend of fifth on May 14 at Farmer City
(Ill.) Raceway and 18th on May 15 at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway left him with 14
starts to his credit this season.
In the UMP Modified ranks, the veteran Sweeney saw his lead in the national
points standings virtually disappear during a weekend in which his lone
points-scoring outing come on May 15 at Soggy Bottom Raceway in Morgantown, Ky.,
where he finished second. He entered the weekend with a 39-point advantage over
Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., but ended it leading Rusty Griffaw of Festus,
Mo., by just one point (1,069-1,068).
Griffaw rocketed up from fourth in the previous week's standings on the strength
of back-to-back wins, on May 14 at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway and May 15 at La
Salle. He has seven victories this season.
Twenty-year-old Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., remained third in the UMP
Modified points standings, six points behind Sweeney after finishing second on
May 14 at El Paso (Texas) Raceway Park and winning on May 15 at Southern New
Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. Gilpin, meanwhile, fell from second to
fourth after recording a single points-scoring start last weekend – a
third-place finish on May 14 at Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio.
There was no change at the top of the national points standings in five of
DIRTcar Racing's six other divisions. Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro
Late Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Trevor Gamble of
DeLeon Springs, Fla. (Stock Cars), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks)
and Michael Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts) remained points
leaders, while Mississippi's Jeff Lawson moved to the top of the Limited
Modified standings.
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of May 17, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 1276 18
2. Ryan Unzicker 904 14
3. Jason McBride 826 15
4. Mike Hammerle 775 16
5. Jeff Walston 752 12
6. Dillan White 709 12
7. Brandon Sheppard 697 13
8. Dennis Erb Jr. 665 11
9. Brian Ruhlman 654 10
10. Richie Hedrick 599 12
11. Brian Shirley 574 9
12. Phil Ausra 572 11
13. Dusty Moore 562 10
14. Mike Schulte 551 10
15. Jared Miley 547 8
16. Jeep VanWormer 527 7
17. Mark Voigt 526 8
18. Jeff Babcock 521 10
19. Eric Turner 521 8
20. Michael Kloos 518 9
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Randle Sweeney 1069 17
2. Rusty Griffaw 1068 16
3. Stormy Scott 1063 16
4. Devin Gilpin 1026 16
5. Levin Kissinger 880 16
6. Jeff Matthews 811 12
7. Dustin Isom 800 16
8. Todd Sherman 790 12
9. Mike Spatola 784 14
10. Trent Young 759 14
11. Clint DeMoss 724 10
12. Dave Wietholder 693 11
13. Will Krup 684 16
14. Tony Anderson 680 13
15. Chad Evans 675 12
16. Rob Penny 664 16
17. Brett Korves 661 11
18. Zach Fair 648 12
19. Jimmy Ray 648 11
20. Dean Hoffman 637 11
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 771 13
2. Matt Santel 643 12
3. Credence Mott 593 11
4. Nick Lyons 575 10
5. Scott Weber 528 7
6. Cary King 410 7
7. Bobby Pierce 410 6
8. Nick Bauman 405 6
9. Bobby Martintoni 396 7
10. Tony Albright 380 7
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 820 13
2. Steve Peeden 696 11
3. Chris Hillman 659 11
4. Shaun Daugharty 585 9
5. Aaron Barsness 569 9
6. Brad Cummings 535 10
7. Jeff Herzog 532 8
8. Randy Petro 505 9
9. Troy Clark 491 9
10. Lee Hobbs 476 8
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Lawson 406 7
2. Scotty Oliver 399 7
3. John Paul Talkington 378 7
4. Kevin Dupont 336 6
5. Shane Hebert 335 5
6. Ronnie Cotton 319 6
7. Josh Tyler 303 6
8. Clay Settles 300 5
9. Grant Brown 297 6
10. Shelli O'Bryan 292 6
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Trevor Gamble 523 9
2. Tim Hughes 520 9
3. Rick Rush 467 10
4. Larry Russell Jr. 435 7
5. Phillip Brown 426 7
6. JR Mason 409 6
7. Frank Burnell Jr. 387 6
8. Mike Lynn 386 6
9. Charles Christian 359 6
10. Ed Kuhn 356 6
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 666 10
2. Brad Venhaus 561 8
3. Zac Hoffman 467 8
4. Luke Sadler 438 9
5. Stephen Fohne 394 8
6. Brian Crawford 393 7
7. Dennis Ponder 393 8
8. Jordan Bauer 383 7
9. Troy Bunfill 372 6
10. Richard Calmes Jr. 354 8
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 842 13
2. Eldon Hemken 684 11
3. Justin Hall 672 14
4. Bradley McGhee 646 11
5. Jordan Suhre 641 10
6. Rob Shaw 596 8
7. Jay Gordon 565 11
8. Trevor Isaak 558 11
9. Cook Crawford 539 10
10. Shawn Kozier 529 8
Eddie Kirchoff Closing In On Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar Series Alltime Win Record
After
Season-Opening Victories In Kansas, Wyoming Star Looks To Continue CLMA Success
This Weekend On Home Turf
DENVER, CO – May 12, 2010 – Eddie Kirchoff performed spectacularly 12 hours from
home last weekend. This weekend he'll try to put together another perfect
performance in his backyard.
Hot off a sweep of a historic doubleheader co-sanctioned by the Colorado Late
Model Association DIRTcar Series and Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series at Dodge
City (Kan.) Raceway Park, Gillette, Wyo.'s Kirchoff is ready to defend his home
turf when the CLMA tour visits Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D., on
Friday night (May 14) and Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway on Saturday evening
(May 15).
And Kirchoff, 27, will also be chasing history this weekend. After doubling up
at Dodge City he owns 13 career CLMA DIRTcar Series victories, moving him past
Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colo., for second on the tour's alltime win list and
within striking distance of the record 16 triumphs held by Brett Hallmark of
Grand Junction, Colo.
"I didn't even realize I was close to the record," said Kirchoff, one of the top
DIRTcar Late Model talents in the Rocky Mountain region. "Hopefully we can move
a little closer to it this weekend."
Kirchoff brings plenty of momentum into the Black Hills/Gillette double-dip. He
tore through the field twice last weekend at Dodge City, advancing from the
eighth starting spot to win the Friday-night preliminary and charging from the
12th slot in Saturday evening's 30-lapper to complete his sweep of the 'Six
Shooter Showdown.'
"It was a long drive to Kansas but it was definitely worth it after the weekend
we had," said Kirchoff, who pocketed a total of $2,700 for his triumphs in the
first-ever CLMA and MDLMS events under the DIRTcar Racing banner. "The track was
beautiful, and the shape and size (three-eighths-mile) kind of reminded me of my
hometown track (Gillette Thunder) but with a wall around it."
Kirchoff, who won the CLMA DIRTcar Series championship in 2007, has won six CLMA
events at Gillette and one at Black Hills Speedway over the past three years.
"It'll be nice to have two races within a two-hour drive of home," said Kirchoff,
who currently works at his father Ed's K&K Import Repair after being laid off
from his engineer's job at the Jacob Ranch coal mine in Wright, Wyo., following
a change of ownership. "We're off to a good start and want to keep it going."
A December 2008 graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in
Rapid City, S.D., Kirchoff is a proponent of the CLMA and MDLMS tours now
running under the sanction of DIRTcar Racing, which provides him and other
drivers from Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and nearby states more opportunities to
be part of DIRTcar's UMP points program.
"The sanction with UMP and DIRTcar is one of the best things that could happen
(for the series)," said Kirchoff, who got a taste of racing in DIRTcar UMP's
heartland when he traveled to the Midwest to follow the grueling UMP Summer
Nationals tour in 2007. "Hopefully it keeps building out here."
Kirchoff will face plenty of tough competition this weekend, including Colorado
drivers Scott Lewis, Dean Moore and Dave Garmann and Casper, Wyo.'s Jason
Schirkolk, who finished 12 points behind Eddie in the 2009 weekly Late Model
points standings at Gillette. Both races will pay $1,200 to win and $200 to
start.
For more information on the CLMA DIRTcar Series, visit www.coloradolatemodel.com
or contact CLMA Promotions Director Cory Moul at 303-263-5489 or [email protected].
The Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series, meanwhile, will be back in action this
Saturday night (May 15) at Minneapolis (Kan.) Raceway. The event pays $1,200 to
win and $200 to start, with bonus money guaranteeing at least $250 for drivers
traveling more than 200 miles and $300 for those who come from at 300 or more
miles away to compete.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Alltime Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar
Series Win List:
16 – Brett Hallmark – Grand Junction, CO
13 – Eddie Kirchoff – Gillette, WY
11 – Kelly Boen – Henderson, CO
9 – Dean Moore – Grand Junction, CO
6 – Gary Dechant – Northglenn, CO
6 – Jeep Berry – Grand Junction, CO
4 – Dave Garmann – Brighton, CO
4 - Ken Brack – Johnstown, CO
4 – John Kuchar – Henderson, CO
4 – Mike Stadel – Rapid City, SD
3 – Bill Sabin – Broomfield, CO
3 – Jim Clifton – Fort Morgan, CO
3 – Jim Beaman – Littleton, CO
2 – Steve Drake – San Luis Obispo, CA
2 – Steve Kosiski – Papillon, NB
2 – Delbert Smith – Wichita, KS
2 – Kyle Berk – Marquette, NB
2 – Rick Lieser – Greeeley, CO
2 – Scott Lewis – Henderson, CO
1 – Mike Cox, Gary Gorby, Alan Vaughn, Mitch Johnson, Brett LaFollette, Terry
Boushee, Eric Mass, Chris Johnson, Al Purkey, Curt Daniels, Scott Cimfl, Jason
Schierkilk
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk (Late Models) & Sweeney (Modifieds) Remain Atop National Standings
MARYVILLE, IL – May 12, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.
(Late Models) and Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky. (Modifieds) remained atop
DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit national points standings with six weeks of weekly
competition completed.
Schlenk, 23, continued to build a significant early-season edge in the DIRTcar
Late Model points battle, extending his lead to 342 points (1,120-778) over
Jason McBride of Carbondale, Ill., in races run through May 9. The Michigander's
edge increased by a healthy 59 points after he scored a pair of top-10 finishes
last weekend.
With rain hampering Schlenk's efforts to find a race close to home over the
weekend of May 6-8 – among the cancellations were American Late Model Series
events scheduled in Ohio on May 7 at Limaland Motorsports Park and May 8 at
Fremont Speedway – he hit the road and went racing in the Land of Lincoln. He
finished sixth (after winning a heat race) on May 8 at Fairbury (Ill.) American
Legion Speedway and placed fifth in a Big 10 Series event on May 9 at Shepp's
Speedway in Alexandria, Ill.
The big mover in the latest DIRTcar Late Model national points standings was
Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., whose back-to-back victories at Fairbury and
Shepp's vaulted him from seventh to third in the rankings.
The veteran Sweeney, meanwhile, saw his lead in the UMP Modified national points
standings cut almost exactly in half, ending the weekend with a 39-point edge
(999-960) over Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. Sweeney entered the weekend with a
77-point cushion.
Sweeney, Gilpin and many other high-profile UMP Modified drivers invaded Soggy
Bottom Raceway in Morgantown, Ky., on May 8 for the $3,000-to-win 'Monster
Modified 40.' Trent Young of Hopkinsville, Ky., won the event over Sweeney, with
Gilpin settling for a 16th-place finish.
National points leaders in DIRTcar Racing's six other divisions after six weeks
of action include Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late Models), Jimmy
Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Scotty Oliver of Owensboro, Ky. (Limited
Modifieds), Trevor Gamble of DeLeon Springs, Fla. (Stock Cars), Scott Mooers of
Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn.
(Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of May 10, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 1120 16
2. Jason McBride 778 14
3. Ryan Unzicker 721 11
4. Mike Hammerle 717 15
5. Dennis Erb Jr. 665 11
6. Jeff Walston 624 10
7. Dillan White 551 10
8. Brandon Sheppard 550 11
9. Brian Shirley 506 8
10. Jason Feger 503 8
11. Mark Voigt 486 7
12. Mike Schulte 483 9
13. Jared Miley 480 7
14. Eric Turner 479 7
15. David Clegg 475 8
16. Richie Hedrick 472 10
17. Michael Kloos 468 8
18. Craig Smith 465 8
19. Jim Moon 456 10
20. Brian Ruhlman 454 7
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Randle Sweeney 999 16
2. Devin Gilpin 960 15
3. Stormy Scott 910 14
4. Rusty Griffaw 900 14
5. Levi Kissinger 800 14
6. Jeff Matthews 741 11
7. Trent Young 704 13
8. Dustin Isom 693 14
9. Mike Spatola 678 12
10. Chad Evans 619 11
11. Dave Wietholder 615 10
12. Rob Penny 604 15
13. Brett Korves 596 10
14. Dean Hoffman 591 10
15. Will Krup 587 14
16. Todd Sherman 572 9
17. Jimmy Ray 546 9
18. Denny Schwartz 545 9
19. Zach Fair 542 10
20. Paul Miles 542 9
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 732 12
2. Nick Lyons 575 10
3. Matt Santel 557 10
4. Credence Mott 478 9
5. Scott Weber 461 6
6. Bobby Martintoni 357 6
7. Nick Bauman 345 5
8. Bobby Pierce 340 5
9. Cary King 338 6
10. Tony Albright 320 6
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 749 12
2. Chris Hillman 541 9
3. Steve Peeden 537 8
4. Shaun Daugharty 486 7
5. Aaron Barsness 461 7
6. Jeff Herzog 456 7
7. Brad Cummings 446 8
8. Dennis Wernle 405 7
9. Matt McGillvary 404 7
10. Trey Harris 399 5
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Scotty Oliver 339 6
2. Jeff Lawson 336 6
3. John Paul Talkington 328 6
4. Clay Settles 300 5
5. Shane Hebert 298 4
6. Ronnie Cotton 269 5
7. Kevin Dupont 261 5
8. Grant Brown 257 5
9. Jansen Morris 249 5
10. Jonathan Smith 248 4
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Trevor Gamble 453 8
2. Tim Hughes 433 7
3. Rick Rush 419 9
4. Larry Russell Jr. 389 6
5. Phillip Brown 378 6
6. JR Mason 334 5
7. Nate Zimmer 326 5
8. Mike Eubanks 319 7
9. Mike Lynn 311 5
10. Ed Kuhn 306 5
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 442 7
2. Brd Venhaus 347 5
3. Luke Sadler 339 7
4. Randy Strehle 304 6
5. Jordan Bauer 291 5
6. Zac Hoffman 289 5
7. Dennis Ponder 279 6
8. Wally Douglass 261 6
9. Stephen Fohne 258 5
10. Richard Calmes Jr. 256 6
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 767 12
2. Eldon Hemken 612 10
3. Bradley McGhee 600 10
4. Justin Hall 591 12
5. Jordan Suhre 570 9
6. Rob Shaw 519 7
7. Trevor Isaak 509 10
8. Jay Gordon 508 10
9. Cook Crawford 489 9
10. Joe Reed 488 9
Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series Kicks Off 2010 Season On Saturday Night (May 1) At Oklahoma's Wild West Speedway
CLINTON, OK – April 29, 2010 – The first green flag of the 2010
Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series season is ready to fly.
An inaugural visit to Wild West Speedway in Clinton, Okla., is set for this
Saturday night (May 1), propelling the growing tour into its exciting first
season under the banner of the well-known DIRTcar Racing sanctioning body.
Saturday's 30-lap, $1,000-to-win A-Main kicks off an important campaign for the
second-year series, which currently boasts 12 dates at eight different tracks
spread across Kansas and Oklahoma. Several additional events remain under
negotiation.
"We're looking forward to a great season," said president Dusty Wiegert, a
27-year-old from Ramona, Kans., who led the formation of the MDLMS in the fall
of 2008 and oversaw a six-race debut schedule in 2009. "Our goal this season is
to impress the promoters with a competitive, entertaining show so that all of
them will want to bring the series back in 2011 and other promoters will want to
come on board as well."
The MDLMS will begin its mission by putting DIRTcar Late Model racing in front
of a Wild West Speedway crowd eager to witness the full-fender division's unique
brand of action. A steeply-banked, three-eighths-mile oval located one hour west
of Oklahoma City on I-40, the track has not hosted a Late Model event in 15
years.
A solid field of drivers is expected to sign in at Wild West Speedway to begin
chasing the MDLMS title and earning points toward the national and
state/regional points programs associated with DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit.
Entrants should include Gary Gorby of Caney, Kans., who will make his debut
driving for the Collins Racing Team; Brad Fortney of Wichita, Kans.; brothers
Tyler and Cale Gottschalk of Benton, Kans.; Cliff Morrow of Enid, Okla.; Andy
Gerstenkorn of Independence, Kans.; Brookin Stephens of Muskogee, Okla.; and
MDLMS Rookie of the Year candidates Doug Sieh of Wichita, Kans., and Darin Busch
of Enid, Okla.
Wild West Speedway's gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m, with racing set to
begin at 8 p.m.
Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $7 for youths 6-12 and free for kids
5-and-under. Pit passes will be $30.
More information on Wild West Speedway is available by visiting
www.wildwestspeedway.com or calling 580-323-3993.
Saturday's lidlifter begins a busy two-week period for the MDLMS, which will
roll right back into action next weekend (May 7-8) with a big two-day 'Six
Shooter Showdown' program at Dodge City (Kans.) Speedway. The doubleheader,
which includes features paying $1,200 to win on Fri., May 7, and $1,500 to win
on Sat., May 8, will mark the first time that the MDLMS will race under a
co-sanction with its new DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned sister tour, the Colorado
Late Model Association DIRTcar Series.
Dodge City's 'Six Shooter Showdown' will serve as the season-opening events for
the CLMA DIRTcar Series after the tour's scheduled lidlifters were called off by
bad weather on April 24 at Colorado Motorsports Park in Byers and April 25 at
I-76 Speedway in Fort Morgan, Colo.
Many CLMS DIRTcar Series regulars will, however, have a chance to tune up for
the Dodge City show by competing this Sunday (May 2) in the first DIRTcar-sanctioned
Late Model event at the new Colorado Motorsports Park.
For more information on the Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series, visit
www.mdlms.net or call 336-DIRTCAR (336-347-8227).
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk (Late Models) & Sweeney (Modifieds) Remain Atop National Standings
MARYVILLE, IL – April 29, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich.
(Late Models) and Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky. (Modifieds) remained atop
DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit national points standings after four weeks of
weekly competition.
Schlenk, 23, is off to superb start in his bid for a first-ever UMP national
title in the DIRTcar Late Model division. He was almost perfect last weekend,
scoring a second-place finish on April 23 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park and then
winning a feature on April 24 at Thunderbird Raceway in Muskegon, Mich.
A winner five times already in 2010, Schlenk pushed his early-season points lead
to an impressive 214 points (883-669) over Jason McBride of Carbondale, Ill. He
has made 12 UMP-sanctioned starts so far this season and has now led the
national standings for two consecutive weeks.
The veteran Sweeney, meanwhile, saw his Modified points lead balloon to 154
points (919-765) over young Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., following a pair
of consistent finishes last weekend. Sweeney placed third on April 22 at Paducah
(Ky.) International Raceway and fourth on April 23 at Soggy Bottom Raceway in
Morgantown, Ky.
Scott did not make a UMP-sanctioned start last weekend, leaving him with 12
races under his belt this season versus Sweeney's 15.
For the second straight week there was no change at the top of the national
standings in UMP's six other divisions. Points leaders remained Tait Davenport
of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill.
(Sportsman), Shane Hebert of Lafayette, La. (Limited Modifieds), Trevor Gamble
of DeLeon Springs, Fla. (Stock Cars), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory
Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of April 26, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 883 12
2. Jason McBride 669 12
3. Jeff Walston 565 9
4. Mike Hammerle 500 11
5. Ryan Unzicker 462 7
6. Jeep VanWormer 442 6
7. Richie Hedrick 417 8
8. Dennis Erb Jr. 414 7
9. Jason Riggs 411 8
10. David Clegg 405 7
11. Dillan White 402 8
12. Dillon Wood 389 7
13. Brian Shirley 387 6
14. Brian Ruhlman 384 6
15. Joe Kump 370 7
16. Chris Shelton 357 8
17. Brandon Sheppard 352 7
18. Mark Voigt 346 5
19. Jason Feger 344 5
20. Jim Moon 334 7
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Randle Sweeney 919 15
2. Stormy Scott 765 12
3. Devin Gilpin 752 12
4. Levi Kissinger 688 12
5. Jeff Matthews 666 10
6. Dustin Isom 609 12
7. Trent Young 581 11
8. Rusty Griffaw 559 9
9. Rob Penny 552 14
10. Denny Schwartz 508 8
11. Mike Spatola 496 9
12. Tommy Seets Jr. 493 8
13. Todd Sherman 485 8
14. Chad Evans 484 9
15. Chad Kinder 438 7
16. Jimmy Ray 438 7
17. Will Krup 437 10
18. Dean Hoffman 429 7
19. Dave Wietholder 422 7
20. Tony Anderson 412 8
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 672 11
2. Nick Lyons 575 10
3. Credence Mott 441 8
4. Matt Santel 439 8
5. Scott Weber 386 5
6. Tony Albright 320 6
7. Bobby Martintoni 292 5
8. Cary King 288 5
9. Brant Kehrer 279 6
10. Nick Bauman 270 4
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 503 8
2. Steve Peeden 463 7
3. Chris Hillman 416 7
4. Shaun Daugherty 411 6
5. Aaron Barsness 406 6
6. Brad Cummings 367 7
7. Matt McGillvary 344 6
8. Josh Taylor 337 7
9. Chuck Bailey 331 6
10. Paul Shead 329 6
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Shane Hebert 298 4
2. John Paul Talkington 284 5
3. Kevin Dupont 261 5
4. Johnny Holden 234 4
5. Jeff Lawson 231 4
6. Corey Buhler 230 4
7. Scotty Oliver 227 4
8. Kamron Campbell 195 4
9. Brent Broussard 190 4
10. Sherman Barnett 189 3
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Trevor Gamble 415 7
2. Tim Hughes 358 6
3. J.R. Mason 334 5
4. Mike Eubanks 319 7
5. Phillip Brown 313 5
6. Jody Wells 286 5
7. Larry Russell Jr. 280 4
8. Charles Christian 278 5
9. Rick Rush 277 6
10. Tony Cruse 265 5
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 442 7
2. Luke Sadler 339 7
3. Randy Strehle 304 6
4. Dennis Ponder 269 5
5. Brad Venhaus 265 4
6. Wally Douglass 261 6
7. Richard Calmes Jr. 256 6
8. Courtney Eubanks 254 6
9. Donnie Nobles 253 5
10. Jordan Bauer 248 4
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 617 10
2. Bradley McGhee 545 9
3. Justin Hall 487 9
4. Aimee Foster 437 7
5. Shawn Kozier 420 6
6. RJ Glaser 393 6
7. Jordan Suhre 379 5
8. Eldon Hemken 365 6
9. Casey Feaster 351 6
10. Jay Gordon 351 7
DIRTcar Racing UMP Weekly Points Update: Schlenk Takes Late Model Lead, Sweeney Remains Atop Modified National Standings
MARYVILLE, IL – April 23, 2010 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson,
Mich., is eyeing DIRTcar Racing's UMP Late Model national championship is 2010 –
and so far, he's proving that he's a serious contender for the crown.
The campaign has only just begun, but Schlenk, 23, took over the circuit's
national points lead following last weekend's action. He overtook fellow young
lion Jason McBride of Carbondale, Ill., after scoring a top-three finish in all
three of his starts.
Schlenk registered a second-place finish in the season-opening Sunoco American
Late Model Series event on April 16 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park. He then
finished third in another ALMS show on April 17 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg,
Ohio, and third in a weekend-ending program on April 18 at Waynesfield (Ohio)
Motorsports Park.
The solid weekend pushed Schlenk to a 96-point (728-632) lead over McBride in
the national standings. Schlenk has made 10 starts and McBride 11 so far in
2010.
Veteran Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., meanwhile, remained atop the UMP Modified
national points standings. He enters this weekend's action holding a 21-point
lead (786-765) over young Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M.
There was no change at the top of the national standings in UMP's six other
divisions. Points leaders remain Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late
Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Shane Hebert of Lafayette,
La. (Limited Modifieds), Trevor Gamble of DeLeon Springs, Fla. (Stock Cars),
Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of
Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as
of April 19, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 728 10
2. Jason McBride 632 11
3. Jeff Walston 527 8
4. Mike Hammerle 500 11
5. Richie Hedrick 417 8
6. Dennis Erb Jr. 414 7
7. David Clegg 405 7
8. Dillon Wood 389 7
9. Brian Shirley 387 6
10. Ryan Unzicker 387 6
11. Jeep VanWormer 357 5
12. Jason Riggs 354 7
13. Brandon Sheppard 352 7
14. Mark Voigt 346 5
15. Jason Feger 344 5
16. Dillan White 335 7
17. Jim Moon 334 7
18. Shannon Babb 333 5
19. Joe Kump 332 6
20. Mike Schulte 326 6
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Randle Sweeney 786 13
2. Stormy Scott 765 12
3. Devin Gilpin 711 11
4. Jeff Matthews 622 9
5. Levi Kissinger 555 10
6. Dustin Isom 525 10
7. Rusty Griffaw 515 8
8. Rob Penny 510 13
9. Denny Schwartz 508 8
10. Mike Spatola 496 9
11. Tommy Seets Jr. 493 8
12. Chad Evans 484 9
13. Trent Young 474 9
14. Jimmy Ray 438 7
15. Will Krup 437 10
16. Dean Hoffman 429 7
17. Dave Wietholder 422 7
18. Bobby Bittle 412 6
19. Zach Fair 405 8
20. Todd Sherman 405 7
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 633 10
2. Nick Lyons 397 7
3. Credence Mott 371 7
4. Tony Albright 320 6
5. Brent Lewis 259 5
6. Bobby Dauderman 239 4
7. Cary King 233 4
8. Evan Taylor 220 6
9. Nick Bauman 210 3
10. Matt Santel 202 4
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 503 8
2. Steve Peeden 463 7
3. Chris Hillman 416 7
4. Shaun Daugherty 411 6
5. Aaron Barsness 406 6
6. Brad Cummings 367 7
7. Matt McGillvary 344 6
8. Josh Taylor 337 7
9. Chuck Bailey 331 6
10. Paul Shead 329 6
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Shane Hebert 298 4
2. John Paul Talkington 284 5
3. Kevin Dupont 261 5
4. Johnny Holden 234 4
5. Corey Buhler 230 4
6. Kamron Campbell 195 4
7. Brent Broussard 190 4
8. Grant Brown 187 4
9. Clay Settles 175 3
10. Ronnie Cotton 173 3
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Trevor Gamble 415 7
2. Tim Hughes 358 6
3. Mike Eubanks 319 7
4. Phillip Brown 313 5
5. Jody Wells 286 5
6. Larry Russell Jr. 280 4
7. Charles Christian 278 5
8. JR Mason 278 4
9. Rick Rush 277 6
10. Nate Zimmer 256 4
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 411 6
2. Randy Strehle 304 6
3. Luke Sadler 288 6
4. Dennis Ponder 269 5
5. Brad Venhaus 265 4
6. Wally Douglass 261 6
7. Richard Calmes Jr. 256 6
8. Courtney Eubanks 254 6
9. Donnie Nobles 253 5
10. Jordan Bauer 248 4
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 617 10
2. Bradley McGhee 545 9
3. Justin Hall 432 8
4. Shawn Kozier 420 6
5. RJ Glaser 393 6
6. Jordan Suhre 379 5
7. Eldon Hemken 365 6
8. Aimee Foster 362 6
9. Casey Feaster 351 6
10. Jay Gordon 351 7
Visit To New Colorado Motorsports Park Kicks Off 2010 Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar Series This Saturday Night (April 24)
Weekend
Doubleheader Also Takes Tour To I-76 Speedway On Sunday Night (April 25)
CONCORD, NC – April 21, 2010 – A historic season for DIRTcar Racing in the Rocky
Mountain region is set to kick off this weekend.
The Colorado Late Model Association DIRTcar Series will begin its first campaign
under the banner of the nationally-known sanctioning body with a huge
doubleheader, visiting the new Colorado Motorsports Park in Byers on Sat., April
24, and I-76 Speedway in Fort Morgan, Colo., on Sun., April 25.
Saturday night's 'Thunder in the Rockies' program will serve as a grand
coming-out party for Colorado Motorsports Park, a newly-opened track that will
be a hub of DIRTcar Late Model racing in the Denver area this season. I-76
Speedway, meanwhile, will close out the weekend with its 'Icebreaker' event –
the only CLMA DIRTcar Series show scheduled in 2010 at the quarter-mile oval.
"This is shaping up as one of the biggest weekends of Late Model racing that
Colorado fans and racers have had the opportunity to enjoy in years," said
DIRTcar Racing Western Region director Chris Morgan. "It's an exciting way for
DIRTcar Racing to begin our involvement in a region where Late Model racing is
on the rise."
Colorado Motorsports Park is positioned to play a major role in DIRTcar Racing's
expansion into Colorado and nearby states. Formerly a quarter-mile greyhound
dog-racing track, the 250-acre complex was purchased in 2008 by commercial
mortgage banker Jerry Kendall and reconfigured into a nearly one-third-mile,
semi-banked clay oval.
Located directly off Interstate 70 less than an hour's drive east of Denver, the
facility features a completely enclosed 2,000-seat grandstand building, allowing
fans to watch the races from behind glass in climate-controlled comfort.
Spectators can also stand or sit outside in lawn chairs on a sloped concrete
terrace, and there are numerous fan amenities, including nearly 20 acres of
parking, concrete walkways throughout the spectator area and 20,000 square feet
of concession and entertainment space underneath the main grandstand.
"The place was closed for the last 20 years, but people would always see it from
the freeway and say, 'That would make a great racetrack,'" said Kendall, who
grew up in northern Indiana as a regular attendee of wingless Sprint Car races
with his father. "I thought the Denver area could use a dirt track so I decided
to go for it.
"This is a facility that will provide fans a totally unique experience," he
added. "How many dirt tracks have an enclosed grandstand? It's real neat to sit
inside and be able to listen to the announcer call the race and hear all the
fans cheering for their particular favorite drivers."
CMP officially opened on April 11 with an afternoon program highlighted by
NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader's participation in the open-wheel Modified action.
This Saturday's show will mark the track's first night race and the first
appearance for the DIRTcar Late Models, which will be one of the primary
attractions in 2010 at CMP.
Kendall has scheduled nine events for the full-fender division, including three
CLMA DIRTcar Series points races. Sunday dates are set for April 24 (CLMA), May
2, May 23, June 6, July 4, July 18 (CLMA) and Aug. 15, and the '10 season will
round out with Saturday shows on Sept. 4 and Sept. 11 (CLMA).
Every Late Model event at CMP will be sanctioned by DIRTcar Racing, making the
track a centrally-located hub for DIRTcar Late Model competition in the region.
The CMP events will compliment touring shows for the CLMA DIRTcar Series
(Colorado/Wyoming) and the Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series (Kansas/Oklahoma),
giving DIRTcar-licensed drivers across the region more opportunities to collect
points toward the lucrative and prestigious DIRTcar UMP program.
"We're excited to have Colorado Motorsports Park come on board as a signature
track for DIRTcar Late Model racing in the region," said Morgan, who visited CMP
for the recent season-opening program. "Combining the CMP events with those of
the CLMA DIRTcar Series and the Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series, teams will
now have at least one chance to race for UMP points virtually every weekend."
Kendall is a big proponent of having a DIRTcar sanction for his track's Late
Model division – not only for the points-fund and recognition possibilities, but
as a catalyst for future growth of Late Model racing in the region.
"I'm a believer in letting people know where they're going to be rules-wise not
only this year, but next year," said Kendall. "If the racers know they'll have
stability with the rules they'll invest in a car for the long-term. Being part
of a group with uniform rules like DIRTcar will allow that to happen.
"We think our relationship with DIRTcar and CLMA will help build Late Model car
counts in this region and, in turn, build excitement for Colorado Motorsports
Park."
CLMA DIRTcar Series Cory Moul also sees CMP's addition to the tour and the
DIRTcar family as a positive for DIRTcar Late Model racing in the Rocky Mountain
region.
"Colorado Motorsports Park is definitely going to be a huge boost for our tour
and DIRTcar Late Model racing in general out here in Colorado," said Moul. "It
gives the CLMA a hometrack, and it's going to bring out more cars to help grow
the series and DIRTcar Late Model racing in the Denver area."
For more information on this weekend's CLMA DIRTcar Series events, visit
www.www.coloradolatemodel.com, www.coloradomotorsportspark.com or
www.i-76speedway.com.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
DIRTcar UMP Weekly Points Update: Young McBride (Late Models), Veteran Sweeney (Modifieds) Top National Standings
MARYVILLE, IL – April 16, 2010 – Rising young talent Jason
McBride of Carbondale, Ill. (Late Models) and veteran Randle Sweeney of Clifty,
Ky. (Modifieds) sit atop the national points standings after the first two weeks
of the 2010 weekly points season for DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit.
Now in his third year of DIRTcar Late Model competition, the 23-year-old McBride
enters this weekend's action leading the national points standings by 76 points
(584-508) over Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich. He's coming off a solid
three-race weekend that saw him score a victory on April 10 at Clarksville
(Tenn.) Speedway, a third-place finish on April 9 at Paducah (Ky.) International
Raceway and a seventh on April 11 in the first race at Vermilion County Speedway
in Danville, Ill., promoted by legendary driver and car builder Bob Pierce.
Schlenk, who finished third in last year's national points standings, also raced
three times last weekend. His highlight came on April 10 at I-55 Raceway in
Pevely, Mo., where he rolled to a victory that made his long haul to the Show-Me
State worthwhile.
Sweeney, 45, once again is off to a strong start in the UMP Modified ranks,
leading the national rankings by 24 points (659-635) over Stormy Scott of Las
Cruces, N.M. The Bluegrass State standout has led the national standings early
in each of the past several seasons and has been among the circuit's most
prolific winners, but he's still in search of his first national title.
Other divisional points leaders include Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro
Late Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Shane Hebert of
Lafayette, La. (Limited Modifieds), Trevor Gamble of DeLeon Springs, Fla. (Stock
Cars), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of
Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circiut
and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of April 12, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Jason McBride 584 10
2. Rusty Schlenk 508 7
3. Jeff Walston 452 7
4. David Clegg 340 6
5. Mike Hammerle 336 8
6. Richie Hedrick 327 6
7. Billy Moyer 325 4
8. Dillon Wood 314 6
9. Dennis Erb Jr. 306 5
10. Michael Kloos 306 5
11. Ivedent Lloyd Jr. 287 5
12. Joe Kump 284 5
13. Mike Schulte 268 5
14. Charles Zimmerman 264 5
15. Shane Williams 263 6
16. Tim Manville 261 4
17. Dillan White 261 6
18. Chris Shelton 256 6
19. Ryan Unzicker 252 4
20. Jason Riggs 251 5
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Randle Sweeney 659 10
2. Stormy Scott 635 10
3. Devin Gilpin 578 9
4. Jeff Matthews 552 8
5. Dustin Isom 439 8
6. Rob Penny 435 11
7. Mike Spatola 426 8
8. Denny Schwartz 424 6
9. Paul Miles 396 7
10. Bumper Jones 383 5
11. Tommy Seets Jr. 380 6
12. Levi Kissinger 376 7
13. Trent Young 365 7
14. Chad Evans 349 7
15. Bobby Bittle 345 5
16. Rusty Griffaw 341 5
17. Jeff Leka 339 5
18. Ronnie Chance 336 5
19. Kenny Wallace 335 5
20. Chad Kinder 319 5
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 498 8
2. Nick Lyons 347 6
3. Tony Albright 272 5
4. Credence Mott 250 5
5. Bobby Dauderman 239 4
6. Brent Lewis 215 4
7. Matt Santel 202 4
8. Steve Cole 190 4
9. Ronnie Cooper 189 3
10. Evan Taylor 184 5
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 354 6
2. Aaron Barsness 336 5
3. Shaun Daugherty 336 5
4. Steve Peeden 324 5
5. Ryan Gegg 305 6
6. Chris Hillman 304 5
7. Matt McGillvary 284 5
8. Chuck Bailey 283 5
9. Gary Haynes 281 5
10. Jason Keller 276 6
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Shane Hebert 220 3
2. Kevin Dupont 219 4
3. John Paul Talkington 209 4
4. Kamron Campbell 164 3
5. Johnny Holden 161 3
6. Corey Buhler 160 3
7. Evan Delahoussaye 158 3
8. Chris Buhler 151 3
9. Brent Broussard 143 3
10. Grant Brown 142 3
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Trevor Gamble 340 6
2. Tim Hughes 293 5
3. Phillip Brown 258 4
4. Jody Wells 226 4
5. Mike Eubanks 225 5
6. JR Mason 225 3
7. Nate Zimmer 191 3
8. Rick Rush 183 4
9. Tony Cruse 180 3
10. Kenneth Hoffman III 171 3
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 347 5
2. Donnie Nobles 253 5
3. Randy Strehle 235 5
4. Bill Stewart 225 4
5. Courtney Eubanks 222 5
6. Dennis Ponder 220 4
7. Richard Calmes Jr. 219 5
8. Wally Douglass 211 5
9. Luke Sadler 209 5
10. Kelly Snyder 187 4
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 475 8
2. Bradley McGhee 444 7
3. Shawn Kosier 360 5
4. R.J. Glaser 323 5
5. Justin Hall 319 6
6. Todd Meyer 313 5
7. David Frost 307 5
8. Jordan Suhre 306 4
9. Aimee Foster 292 5
10. Jay Gordon 290 6
Defending National Champ Jason Feger Heads List Of Midwesterners Ready For DIRTcar UMP Roundup March 18-20 At I-55 Raceway
PEVELY, MO - March 13, 2010 - The Champ is ready to help get the
2010 party started on DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit.
Defending DIRTcar UMP Late Model national titlist Jason Feger of Bloomington,
Ill., heads a long list of Midwestern drivers who are expected to invade I-55
Raceway from March 18-20 for the DIRTcar UMP Roundup, an early-season showcase
of UMP's eight sanctioned divisions that's also known as the 'Party in Pevely.'
Rescheduled for the spring after poor weather forced the postponement of the
original date last fall, the second edition of the DIRTcar UMP Roundup promises
to provide fans an interesting mix of down-home dirt-tracking. The two full
evenings of racing will feature everything from UMP's marquee Late Model and
Modified divisions to wild action in the entry-level classes that are the
backbone of the country's short-track scene.
Feger, of course, stands as the shining star of the diverse group of drivers set
to converge on the high-banked, one-third-mile oval operated by NASCAR veteran
Ken Schrader and Ray Marler. The 31-year-old is coming off a spectacular,
break-out 2009 campaign (23 feature wins and his first-ever UMP national points
crown), positioning him as a favorite to capture the 30-lap, $5,000-to-win UMP
Late Model A-Main that headlines the weekend's activities.
And make no mistake -- Feger dearly wants a triumph at I-55 Raceway. He's never
won at the popular track outside St. Louis, putting the facility at the top of
his hit list.
"I'd love for our first win of the season to come at Pevely," said Feger, who
reached Victory Lane at 13 different tracks in four states last year. "I really
like the place and we usually run good there, but it seems like I never get that
starting spot I need to be in the best possible position to go for a win. I
think the best finish I've had there is a third."
Back driving his family-owned Pierce Chassis machine this season, Feger is
looking forward to his initial appearance of 2009 in the heart of DIRTcar UMP
country.
"I always like going to Pevely," said Feger, who finished fifth in the inaugural
DIRTcar UMP Roundup Late Model A-Main in October 2008. "It's only a couple hours
away from home, and it's a track that usually has an inside, a middle and top
groove. I think (the Roundup) will be another great show."
It's going to be fun, too. While Feger's primary focus will be on defeating such
expected standouts as two-time UMP national champion Randy Korte of Highland,
Ill. (runner-up in the 2008 Roundup), Will Vaught of Crane, Mo. (third-place
finisher in '08 event), former UMP national titlist Kevin Weaver of Gibson City,
Ill., and a host of other entrants, the outgoing racer will also enjoy the
festive post-race atmosphere that is a big part of the 'Party in Pevely.'
After action is completed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the Roundup
Tent in the pit area will offer entertainment that brings racers and fans
together for some camaraderie.
"We'll have a good time," said Feger, one of the most approachable drivers in
any pit area. "We have a lot of friends down in that area and we always enjoy
meeting new people."
The UMP Modifieds will also receive plenty of attention during the Roundup,
competing in a 25-lap championship feature paying $2,000 to win. Former national
champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., is among the drivers with plans to compete
in the Modified activities.
Other DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned divisions on the Roundup card are the Pro Late
Models (20 laps/$2,000 to win), Sportsman (20 laps/$1,000), Limited Modifieds
(15 laps/$750), Stock Cars (20 laps/$750), Factory Stocks (15 laps/$400) and
4-Cylinders (15 laps/$400).
The DIRTcar UMP Roundup -- the only event featuring all eight of the
organization's sanctioned divisions -- kicks off on Thurs., March 18, with an
open practice session from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Registration and inspection begin
at 3 p.m.
On Fri., March 19, registration begins at 2 p.m. and inspection commences at 3
p.m. Racing gets the green flag at 7 p.m. and will include all heat races and
any necessary D- and E-Mains for the eight classes in action.
The finale on Sat., March 20, features C- and B-Mains as well as the
championship features for all divisions. Registration begins at 12 noon,
inspection at 1 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
Grandstand admission is free on Thursday, $20 on Friday and $25 on Saturday,
with kids 12-and-under admitted free each evening. Pit passes are $15 on
Thursday, $30 on Friday and $30 on Saturday.
Reserved camping spots are available for $20 by calling Laura at 314-602-5530.
I-55 Raceway is located 30 minutes south of downtown St. Louis, off Pevely exits
180 and 178 of Interstate 55.
Additional info on the DIRTcar UMP Roundup is available by logging on to
www.i55raceway.com, www.UMPDIRTcarRoundup.com or by calling 636-479-3219.
DIRTcar UMP Roundup Daily Schedule
Thursday, March 18
9 a.m. - Campground Opens
3 p.m. - Registration Opens, Inspection Begins
5 p.m. - Open Practice
10 p.m. - PITS CLOSED
Roundup Tent – Party
Friday, March 19
10 a.m. - Roundup Tent - Breakfast
2 p.m. - Registration Opens
3 p.m. - Inspection Begins
7 p.m. - RACING!
Late Models - Heats
UMP Mods - Heats, D, E Qualifiers
Pro Late Models - Heats
Sportsman - Heats & D-Main
Limited Mods - Heats
4-Cylinders - Heats
Stock Cars - Heats
Factory Stocks - Heats
10 p.m. - Roundup Tent - LIVE Music
Saturday, March 20
10 a.m. - Roundup Tent - Breakfast
12 noon - Registration Opens
1 p.m. - Inspection Begin
3 p.m. - Charity Weenie Roast
6 p.m. - RACING!
Late Models - C & B Qualifiers, 30-lap Championship Feature
UMP Mods - C & B Mains, 25-lap Championship Feature
Pro Late Models - C & B Qualifiers, 20-lap Championship Feature
Sportsman - C & B Qualifiers, 20-lap Championship Feature
Limited Mods - C & B Qualifiers, 15-lap Championship Feature
Stock Car - C & B Qualifiers, 20-lap Championship Feature
Factory Stocks - C & B Qualifiers, 15-lap Championship Feature
4-Cylinders - C & B Qualifiers, 15-lap Championship Feature
10 p.m. - Roundup Tent - LIVE Music/Trophy Party/Payoff
DIRTcar Racing Announces Sanctioning Of Midwest Dirt Late Model Series For 2010 Season
CONCORD, NC March 8, 2010 The Midwest Dirt Late Model Series
(MDLMS) will carry the sanctioning of DIRTcar Racing in 2010, officials from the
two organizations have announced.
Renamed the Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series, the Wichita, Kans.-based tour
will focus on full-fender competition at tracks in the Kansas/Oklahoma area. It
will feature several co-sanctioned events with the Colorado Late Model
Association DIRTcar Series, which will also run under the DIRTcar banner for the
first time this season.
"Bringing the Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series into the DIRTcar family
continues our expansion west of the Mississippi River," said DIRTcar Racing
Western Region director Chris Morgan, who negotiated to set up the MDLMS and
CLMA as sister DIRTcar tours. "The Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series serves as a
geographic bridge between our core DIRTcar series and tracks in the heartland to
new DIRTcar territory in the Rocky Mountains and on to the West Coast, enhancing
DIRTcar's reach as we strive to provide fans and race teams more exciting events
across the country."
The MDLMS will remain under the direction of president Dusty Wiegert of Ramona,
Kan., but all events in 2010 will offer DIRTcar Racing-licensed drivers points
toward DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit state/regional and national standings.
Drivers will have an opportunity to share in a DIRTcar UMP points fund that
annually tops $200,000 and also participate in the enhanced insurance program
available to all DIRTcar Racing members.
In an effort to reinvigorate the dirt Late Model scene for local racers in
Kansas and Oklahoma, Wiegert, 27, led the formation of the MDLMS in the fall of
2008. The tour debuted in 2009 with a six-race schedule (four other scheduled
events were rained out) and Chuck Comer of Joplin, Mo., emerged as the inaugural
champion.
"We knew there were a lot of dirt Late Model cars and drivers in the area who
just weren't racing because the opportunities weren't out there, so we decided
to put a series together," said Wiegert, who has worked as an announcer and
public relations representative in recent years. "We wanted to spark some
interest for the teams in our area and bring back some excitement to the fans,
and in our first year we accomplished those goals.
"Now we're excited to take another big step this season. Being involved with a
nationally-known organization like DIRTcar is going to bring a lot more
attention and recognition to our series and drivers."
The tentative 2010 MDLMS schedule currently lists 11 events at seven different
tracks, starting on May 1 at Wild West Speedway in Clinton, Okla. Other ovals
set to host the tour are Dodge City (Kans.) Raceway Park (May 7-8); Minneapolis
(Kans.) Raceway (May 15, Aug. 21 and Sept. 11); Mid-America Speedway in South
Coffeyville, Okla. (May 22 and Aug. 28); Brill Motor Speedway in Meeker, Okla.
(June 26); Hutchinson (Kans.) Raceway Park (July 31); and Liberal (Kans.)
Fairgrounds Speedway (Aug. 1). The events at Dodge City, Hutchinson and Liberal
Fairgrounds are scheduled for co-sanction by the CLMA DIRTcar Series.
Wiegert said he expects to add several dates to the 10 MDLMS, which offers a
$1,000 top prize for most events.
For more information on the Midwest DIRTcar Late Model Series, visit
www.mdlms.net.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
This Weekend's Winter Meltdown Puts DIRTcar West Modifieds In Spotlight Again At Southern New Mexico Speedway
LAS CRUCES, NM - March 4, 2010 - Big money and DIRTcar West
Modified racing have become synonymous at Southern New Mexico Speedway.
And no one is prouder of that fact that Royal Jones, the co-owner of the
5/16th-mile oval sanctioned by the DIRTcar Racing organization.
A veteran DIRTcar West Modified driver, Jones is ready to put the division he
loves in the spotlight once again this weekend (March 5-7) with the running of
the 15th annual Winter Meltdown/Chub Daniels Memorial. The 50-lap headline event
on Sun., March 7, boasts a top prize of at least $10,000 and a cool $1,250
payoff just for taking the green flag.
"Everybody knows that if it's the first weekend in March or the first weekend in
November, Southern New Mexico Speedway is having a big show for the (DIRTcar)
Modifieds," said Jones, who also posts a five-figure winner's purse for the
10-year-old Fall DIRTcar Nationals that traditionally cap the track's season.
"We've been doing these races for so long now, the racers trust us and know
we're not gonna let them down. That's why we've gotten so much support."
Indeed, a 77-car field was signed in for last year's Winter Meltdown and a
whopping 104 DIRTcar West Modifieds entered the Fall Nationals. Jones is
confident that this weekend's three-day spectacular will draw more than 80
competitors, including some of the division's best drivers from the Southwest
and Midwest regions.
The huge event will give drivers an opportunity to earn maximum points toward
DIRTcar Racing's UMP circuit state/regional and national points races, which in
2009 paid out nearly $200,000 in points-fund cash.
"Royal Jones and his staff have built Southern New Mexico Speedway into a
mainstay of the DIRTcar West Modified program," said DIRTcar Racing Western
Region director Chris Morgan, "and DIRTcar Racing is honored to be part of the
Winter Meltdown. After the Modifieds just completed a great DIRTcar Nationals by
UNOH at (Florida's) Volusia Speedway Park, it's exciting to cross the country
and fly the DIRTcar Racing banner over one of the division's most prestigious
early-season events in the Southwest."
The DIRTcar Modified teams will make the long haul to the Land of Enchantment
knowing that Jones might put even more money up for grabs in Sunday's finale.
The 55-year-old trucking company magnate was so pleased with the turnout for
last November's Fall Nationals that he added $5,000 to the first-place pay,
producing a $15,000 booty for young winner Johnny Scott of Las Cruces, N.M.
"If we're O.K. with cash after paying our bills, I'll do that again," Jones said
of the possibility that the Winter Meltdown/Chub Daniels Memorial will receive a
last-minute purse increase. "But instead of putting the extra money on top, I
might do something different with it. We'll see what happens."
Scott and his twin brother Stormy Scott, who won a DIRTcar UMP Modified feature
last month at Florida's East Bay Raceway Park, head the very talented local
contingent of drivers ready for this weekend's action. Christy Georges of El
Paso, Texas, who finished third in the 2009 DIRTcar UMP Wild West Region points
standings and is the only female DIRTcar West Modified driver with a $10,000
victory to their credit, is another area standout to watch.
The hometown crowd will also be represented, of course, by Jones, who will
balance his weekend track-operation concerns with racing his Modified, and
several other contenders who have close links to the longtime SNMS promoter.
That group includes Royal's son Bumper Jones, who is looking for his first
Winter Meltdown triumph, and daughter Holly, who is emerging as a Modified
contender after excelling in the Limited Late Model and Stock Car classes; 2009
Southern New Mexico Speedway UMP DIRTcar Modified champion Fito Gallardo of Las
Cruces, N.M., who is Royal's son-in-law, and Gallardo's son Jacob; and 2009
DIRTcar UMP Wild West Region champion Jimmy Ray of Las Cruces, N.M., a
60-year-old veteran who happens to be Royal's business partner and co-owner of
SNMS.
"There's a lot of Modified racers in the family," smiled Jones, who won the 2002
Fall Nationals at SNMS but is still searching for a victory in the March event.
"And all three of my kids have little boys who are three or four years old, so
we might have more racers on the way."
An array of well-known drivers from across the country are expected to top off
the field, including defending Winter Meltown/Chub Daniels Memorial winner and
reigning DIRTcar MARS Racing Series champion Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo.,
and his young teammate Jeremy Payne, a native of Tucson, Ariz., who now lives in
the Show-Me State; Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., who won the rich 'Gator
Championship' event for DIRTcar UMP Modifieds during last month's DIRTcar
Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park; Jason Hughes of Watts, Okla., who
finished second in last year's Winter Meltdown finale; R.C. Whitwell of Tucson,
Ariz., who finished third in last year's Chub Daniels Memorial; eight-time USMTS
champion Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa; and Kellen Chadwick of Oakley, Calif.
The weekend will be jam-packed with racing. Preliminary programs -- consisting
of heats (lined up by pill draws), last-chance races and a feature -- will be
contested on Fri., March 5, and Sat., March 6, with each day's 25-lap A-Main
locking five drivers directly into the 50-lap championship headliner on Sun.,
March 7, and additional finishers into Sunday's B- and C-Mains. The Sunday
finale will feature several last-chance events and the series of 'alphabet'
races topped by the Chub Daniels Memorial.
Sunday's 50-lapper offers a hefty $1,250 just to take the green flag, while
drivers making it to the B-Main are guaranteed $700 and those reaching the
C-Main are assured $400.
Support-division action for Street Stocks, Legends Cars and Super Trucks will
also be part of the weekend, which boasts a total payout in the neighborhood of
$100,000.
Gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 5, with racing getting
underway at 6:30 p.m. The Saturday and Sunday programs will begin earlier --
gates opening at 12 noon and racing at 2 p.m.
General admission is $10 on both Friday and Saturday and $12 on Sunday. A $3
discount is available each day for students ages 11-15, New Mexico State
University students with I.D., senior citizens and members of the military (with
ID), and children 10-and-under are admitted free of charge.
Pit passes are $35 on both Friday and Saturday and $40 on Sunday, with a
three-day combo pass available for $100.
To view the full Winter Meltdown/Chub Daniels Memorial DIRTcar West Modified
entry list, log onto
http://forums.snmspeedway.com/showthread.php?t=3835.
For more information on Southern New Mexico Speedway, visit
www.snmspeedway.com or call 575-524-7913.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Rain cancels Friday action at DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH, sets stage for huge Saturday finale featuring World of Outlaws Late Models and Super DIRTcar Big-Blocks
Barberville, FL -- February 12, 2010 -- A steady rain that began overnight never let up and for the fourth time during the 39th Annual DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park, officials were forced to cancel Friday night's doubleheader action.
The rainout sets up a huge DIRTcar Nationals finale on Saturday, featuring the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds. Twin 50-lap features headline the last day of competition on the 12-day agenda, with grandstand gates opening at 5 p.m., hot laps and qualifying beginning at 6 p.m. and heat races at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday will also be the last chance for fans to take advantage of a unique offer provided throughout the 2010 DIRTcar Nationals. A Free Fan Pit Pass is available to every ticket buyer coming through the main gates, and all they have to do is take their stub and head toward the turn one pits. A table has been set up to sign in for an up-close look at the cars and drivers who will be racing that night.
Two of the most prominent figures that Big-Block followers may bump into are Super DIRTcar Series stars Matt Sheppard and Jimmy Phelps, currently setting the pace atop the Florida tour points standings after the initial two 30-lap affairs. Phelps hopes to match the recent success of Sheppard and opening night winner Stewart Friesen, as he too is in search of his first career checkered flag in the Sunshine State.
Sheppard (106 pts) finished sixth in round one before scoring his first Florida feature win on Thursday. Phelps (100) remains a model of consistency with back-to-back fourth-place finishes. Friesen (1st, 10th) and Bobby Varin (3rd, 6th) are deadlocked with 98 points apiece while Dale Planck (2nd, 11th) rounds out the front-five with 92 points.
On the strength of his Thursday night victory in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series season opener, Josh Richards is leading the DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH Late Model standings with 204 points, as Monday night winner Darrell Lanigan (191 points) and Dale McDowell (190 points) give chase.
Tickets purchased for the Friday show may be presented for the DIRTcar Nationals finale on Saturday. In the event that tickets cannot be used, they may be mailed to Volusia Speedway Park, 1500 E SR 40, De Leon Springs, FL 32130 to obtain a refund.
Babb Rolls To Victory In DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH Debut On Wednesday At Volusia Speedway Park
BARBERVILLE, FL - Feb. 10, 2010 - There was no stopping Shannon
Babb on Wednesday night at Volusia Speedway Park.
Babb, 36, of Moweaqua, Ill., dominated the 30-lap DIRTcar UMP Late Model A-Main,
rolling to a flag-to-flag victory in his first night of action during the 39th
annual DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio.
Driving his Sheltra Construction Rocket car, Babb grabbed the lead at the
initial green flag from his pole starting position and never looked back. He
easily withstood two caution flags to secure the $7,000 triumph by 2.163 seconds
over fifth-starter Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who inherited second place
on lap 17 when Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., spun in turn four but wasn't
able to challenge Babb with his Bowyer Dirt Motorsports Warrior car.
"The track was just in my favor tonight," said Babb, a two-time champion of the
grueling DIRTcar UMP Summer Nationals tour. "When that bottom lane is dominant,
it's really hard to pass. So I just sat there and cruised.
"My guys were sitting here (in the infield) communicating with me real good and
I could understand them, and that put me in the driver's seat where I could just
relax, breathe and drive the car."
Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis., fought forward from the eighth starting spot to
finish third. Defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Josh
Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., started and finished fourth and three-time DIRTcar
UMP Summer Nationals titlist Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., settled
for fifth after taking the green flag from the outside pole.
Babb ended a long victory drought with his standout performance, winning for the
first time since July 10, 2009, in a DIRTcar UMP Summer Nationals event at
Ohio's Waynefield Motorsports Park.
In addition, Babb scored his first win at Volusia behind the wheel of a Rocket
Chassis car. His last win at the half-mile oval, on Feb. 14, 2007, came in a
Rayburn mount.
"We learned a lot here over the last couple of years in this Rocket Chassis,"
said Babb. "It's getting more to where I know what to do all the time (with a
Rocket), more consistent. I'm real happy with the car."
Babb sat out Monday night's DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH opener for the UMP Late
Models, opting to spend some extra time working on his equipment at his teammate
Patrick Sheltra's shop in Indiantown, Fla. Tuesday night's rainout pushed his
2010 Volusia debut to Wednesday -- and Sheltra, a young ARCA Racing Series stock
car regular who enters selected dirt Late Model events, was on hand to join Babb
in Victory Lane.
According to Babb, Sheltra plans to climb behind the wheel of a team car to
compete in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series season opener on Thursday
night (Feb. 11) at Volusia.
The race's two caution flags were for minor incidents. Tim McCreadie of
Watertown, N.Y., was left sitting in turn two on lap one after a scrape with
Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and Bland suffered the heartbreak of the evening
when he lost control of his fleet car on lap 17 and spun out of second place --
a position he had held from the start -- while chasing Babb.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., finished sixth, followed by Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt
Rock, W.Va., opening-night winner Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who started
14th, Billy Moyers of Batesville, Ark., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.
A field of 68 cars entered the evening's action.
Babb turned the best overall lap of the group time-trial session, flashing
around the sweeping track in 16.523 seconds.
Other group fast-timers included Erb (16.689 seconds), Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky.
(17.531), Richards (17.938), McDowell (17.952) and Eckert (17.759).
Heat winners were Babb, Erb, Bland, Richards, McDowell and Eckert. The B-Mains
were captured by McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., and Jack
Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark.
The 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH continue on Thursday (Feb. 11) with
the season-opening 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event for the World of Outlaws Late
Model Series. A full program featuring the Super DIRTcar Series for big-block
Modifieds is also on the agenda.
For more information visit www.dirtcar.com,
www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com or
www.dirtcarnationals.com.
DIRTcar UMP Late Model A-Main Finish (30 laps):
1. Shannon Babb
2. Dale McDowell
3. Dan Schlieper
4. Josh Richards
5. Dennis Erb Jr.
6. Rick Eckert
7. Eddie Carrier Jr.
8. Darrell Lanigan
9. Billy Moyer
10. Tim Fuller
11. Eric Jacobsen
12. Eric Wells
13. Brad Neat
14. Brandon Sheppard
15. Jordan Bland
16. Mike Knight
17. Earl Pearson Jr.
18. Jack Sullivan
19. Wendell Wallace
20. Clint Smith
21. Jimmy Owens
22. Tim McCreadie
23. Austin Hubbard
24. Randy Korte
Lap Leaders: Babb (1-30)
Heat No. 1 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Shannon Babb, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3.
Brad Neat, 4. Steve Sheppard Jr., 5. Eric Jacobsen, 6. Tim McCreadie, 7. Dan
Stone, 8. Russell King, 9. Chub Frank, 10. Ronnie DeHaven Jr., 11. Tyler Reddick
(DNS) Dillan White
Heat No. 2 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Dennis Erb Jr., 2 Dan Schlieper, 3.
Darrell Lanigan, 4. Brady Smith, 5. Tim Dohm, 6. Kyle Berck, 7. Steve Francis,
8. Jason Feger, 9. Whitney McQueary, 10. Chuck Julien, 11. Roy Mitchell (DNS)
Brian Birkhofer
Heat No. 3 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jordan Bland, 2. Eric Wells, 3. Clint
Smith, 4. Earl Pearson Jr., 5. Tommy Kerr, 6. Greg Johnson, 7. Stacy Boles, 8.
Jared Landers, 9. Brandon Kinzer, 10. Danny Mitchell (DNS) Mason Ziegler
Heat No. 4 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Josh Richards, 2. Tim Fuller, 3.
Wendell Wallace, 4. Bub McCool, 5. Randy Korte, 6. Ricky Weiss, 7. Will Vaught,
8. Jonathan DeHaven, 9. Donald Beyers, 10. Ronnie Rihn, 11. Vic Coffey
Heat No. 5 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Mike
Knight, 4. Austin Hubbard, 5. Joe Callahan, 6. Jason McBride, 7. Tyler Ivey, 8.
Rick Briggs, 9. Justin Rattliff, 10. Brian Nuttal Jr., 11. Kevin Colston
Heat No. 6 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Rick Eckert, 2. Eddie Carrier Jr., 3.
Billy Moyer, 4. Jack Sullivan, 5. Brent Robinson, 6. Jeff Beyers, 7. Tyler
Bruneing, 8. Dave Zona, 9. John Blankenship, 10. Darren Peters, 11. Mike
Hammerle
B-Main No. 1 (10 laps -- Top 2 Transfer): McCreadie, Jacobsen, Berck, Frank, S.
Sheppard, Feger, Stone, McQueary, Reddick, Julien, B. Smith, Dohm, R. DeHaven,
King, Mitchell (DNS) White, Birkhofer, Francis
B-Main No. 2 (10 laps -- Top 2 Transfer): Pearson, Korte, Kerr, Boles, Johnson,
Weiss, McCool, Vaught, J. DeHaven, Mitchell, Kinzer, Lander, D. Beyers, Rihn
(DNS) Ziegler, Coffey
B-Main No. 3 (10 laps -- Top 2 Transfer): Sullivan, Hubbard, Robinson, J.
Beyers, Callahan, Ivey, Bruening, Briggs, McBride, Nuttal, Blankenship, Zona,
Hammerle, Colston, Peters (DNS) Ratliff
Rain Forces Cancelation Of Tuesday Night's DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH Action At Volusia Speedway Park
BARBERVILLE, FL - Feb. 9, 2010 - Wet weather continued to plague
the 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio, forcing
the cancelation of Tuesday night's DIRTcar UMP Late Model/Modified doubleheader
at Volusia Speedway Park.
Steady rain associated with a cold front that swept across the state of Florida
began falling on the half-mile oval around 1 p.m. and continued for several
hours, soaking the racing surface and grounds. Officials decided shortly after 3
p.m. to cancel the evening's planned program.
It was the third rainout in eight nights of the 2010 DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH
but marked the first lost show for the DIRTcar UMP Late Model division that
invaded Volusia on Monday. The cancelation ended the week of competition for the
UMP Modified class, which was a victim of all three rainouts.
With Tuesday's program scheduled to end the UMP Modified portion of the
mid-winter racing extravaganza outside Daytona Beach, Dave Hess Jr. of
Waterford, Pa., was declared the division's 2010 DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH
champion.
Four nights of doubleheader action remain for the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH,
highlighted by UMP Late Model events on Wednesday (Feb. 10) and Friday (Feb. 12)
and the season-opening World of Outlaws Late Model Series programs on Thursday
(Feb. 11) and Saturday (Feb. 13). Each evening's card will also include the
Super DIRTcar Series for big-block Modifieds, which were slated to get in
practice laps on Tuesday night.
Tickets purchased for Tuesday night's rained-out event may be presented for any
of the remaining programs during the DIRTcar Nationals. In the event that
tickets cannot be used, tickets may be mailed for a refund to Volusia Speedway
Park, 1500 E SR 40, DeLeon Springs, FL, 32130.
For more information visit www.dirtcar.com,
www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com or
www.dirtcarnationals.com.
Lanigan Outduels Owens & Birkhofer To Capture DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH Opener For UMP Late Models
BARBERVILLE, FL - Feb. 8, 2010 - Darrell Lanigan won't be a bridesmaid during
the 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio.
The standout racer from Union, Ky., made sure of that on Monday night, scoring a
hard-fought victory in the 30-lap UMP Late Model A-Main that opened the meet's
full-fender action at Volusia Speedway Park.
Lanigan, 39, outdueled Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., and Brian Birkhofer of
Muscatine, Iowa, to pocket a $7,000 top prize -- almost exactly one year after
finishing second in the first event of the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH. He went on
to record two more runner-up finishes in the remaining five nights of the 2009
series.
"It feels good to get a win right out of the box this year," said Lanigan, the
2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion. "But we didn't do anything
real different from last year. We just made some little tweaks and got some
breaks."
Driving a Rocket Chassis car he debuted late in the 2009 season, Lanigan used
the inside lane to move forward from the fifth starting spot and grab the lead
from Birkhofer on lap 14. Birkhofer regained command on lap 16, but Lanigan
surged ahead on lap 19 and repelled late-race challenges in lapped traffic from
Owens and Birkhofer to emerge victorious.
Owens settled for second place, 0.582 of a second behind Lanigan after his
high-side bid rounding turns three and four on the final lap fell short. He
started seventh in his Team Zero by Bloomquist machine.
Birkhofer finished third in his MB Customs car after leading laps 1, 3-13 and
16-18 in the wildly competitive affair, which included five lead changes among
three drivers.
Completing the top five was 17th-starter Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., and
eighth-starter Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis.
"The car was awesome and the track was perfect tonight," said Lanigan, who made
his first start of 2010 in preparation for his seventh consecutive season as a
WoO LMS regular. "You could race all over it -- so hat's off to the Volusia
Speedway track crew, and hat's off to my crew too."
Owens, a four-time DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion, wasn't disappointed
with his second-place finish.
"To race like that with Lanigan and Birkhofer -- man, that was fun," said Owens.
"It was a great race."
Birkhofer, meanwhile, came through his first appearance of the season with a
good idea of what he should have done to his machine.
"We thought one thing and should've done the other," said Birkhofer, who didn't
plan to enter the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH until less than two weeks ago. "I'm
looking forward to the rest of the week. It's an awesome racetrack, and you're
gonna have to get your car right if you want to win."
Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., finished sixth after starting 20th,
followed by Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark.,
who started from the pole position and led lap two, Dennis Erb Jr. of
Carpentersville, Ill., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.
Two cautions flags slowed the feature -- on lap five for a spin by Dale McDowell
of Chickamauga, Ga., and lap 10 for the slow car driven by Tommy Kerr of
Maryville, Tenn.
Sixty-seven cars entered the evening's action.
Owens turned the best overall lap of the evening's group time-trial session,
blistering the sweeping track in 15.962 seconds.
Other group fast-timers included Kyle Berck of Marquette, Neb. (16.360), Erb
(16.268), McCreadie (16.347), Will Vaught of Crane, Mo. (16.328) and Jared
Landers of Batesville, Ark. (16.704).
Heat winners were Sullivan, Birkhofer, Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., Jordan
Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Lanigan and Ross Camponovo of Clarksdale, Miss.,
who pulled off an impressive prelim triumph in his first-ever start at Volusia.
The B-Mains were captured by Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., Pearson and Rick
'Boom' Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa.
The 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH continue on Tuesday (Feb. 9) with a
DIRTcar UMP Late Model/Modified doubleheader. Race time is 7:30 p.m.
For more information visit www.dirtcar.com, www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com or
www.dirtcarnationals.com.
DIRTcar UMP Late Model A-Main Finish (30 laps):
1. Darrell Lanigan
2. Jimmy Owens
3. Brian Birkhofer
4. Billy Moyer
5. Dan Schlieper
6. Earl Pearson Jr.
7. Tim McCreadie
8. Jack Sullivan
9. Dennis Erb Jr.
10. Tim Fuller
11. Dale McDowell
12. Josh Richards
13. Jason Feger
14. Vic Coffey
15. Rick Eckert
16. Rick Briggs
17. Brady Smith
18. Clint Smith
19. Steve Francis
20. Tommy Kerr
21. Jordan Bland
22. Tyler Ivey
23. Eric Jacobsen
24. Ross Camponovo
Lap Leaders: Birkhofer (1); Sullivan (2);
Birkhofer (3-13); Lanigan (14-15); Birkhofer (16-18); Lanigan (19-30)
Heat No. 1 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jack Sullivan, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Rick
Eckert, 4. Jason Feger, 5. Jason McBride, 6. John Blankenship, 7. Dan Stone, 8.
Mike Knight, 9. Ronnie Rihn, 10. Chuck Julien, 11. Steve Sheppard Jr. (DNS)
Brandon Kinzer
Heat No. 2 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Brian Birkhofer, 2. Dan Schlieper, 3.
Tim Fuller, 4. Justin Rattliff, 5. Dale McDowell, 6. Eric Wells, 7. Kyle Berck,
8. Dave Zona, 9. Dillan White, 10. Danny Mitchell (DNS) Brent Robinson
Heat No. 3 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Vic Coffey, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Josh
Richards, 4. Brady Smith, 5. Ricky Weiss, 6. Bub McCool, 7. Russell King, 8.
Chub Frank, 9. Tim Dohm, 10. Brandon Sheppard, 11. Mason Ziegler
Heat No. 4 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jordan Bland, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3.
Steve Francis, 4. Earl Pearson Jr., 5. Eddie Carrier Jr., 6. Brad Neat, 7.
Austin Hubbard, 8. Dwight Falcon, 9. Jonathan DeHaven, 10. Darren Peters (DNS)
Jeff Phipps
Heat No. 5 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Darrell Lanigan, 2. Billy Moyer, 3.
Tyler Ivey, 4. Clint Smith, 5. Ronnie DeHaven Jr., 6. Randy Korte, 7. Whitney
McQueary, 8. Will Vaught, 9. Tyler Bruening, 10. Stacy Boles, 11. Wendell
Wallace
Heat No. 6 (8 laps -- Top 3 Transfer): 1. Ross Camponovo, 2. Eric Jacobsen, 3.
Tommy Kerr, 4. Rick Briggs, 5. Jared Landers, 6. Jeff Beyers, 7. Joe Callahan,
8. Kevin Colston, 9. Donald Beyers, 10. Mike Hammerle (DNS) Tyler Reddick
B-Main No. 1 (10 laps -- Top 2 Transfer): Feger, McDowell, Stone, Rattliff,
Blankenship, Berck, Wells, Knight, Zona, S. Sheppard, McBride, Kinzer, White,
Rihn, Julien, Mitchell (DNS) Robinson
B-Main No. 2 (10 laps -- Top 2 Transfer): Pearson, B. Smith, Neat, Carrier,
McCool, Dohm, Hubbard, Frank, B. Sheppard, Peters, Ziegler, J. DeHaven, Falcon,
Weiss, King (DNS) Phipps
B-Main No. 3 (10 laps -- Top 2 Transfer): Briggs, C. Smith, Korte, R. DeHaven,
Wallace, J. Beyers, Bruening, Boles, Callahan, McQueary, D. Beyers, Colston,
Reddick, Hammerle, Vaught (DNS) Landers
DIRTcar Racing Western Region Late Model Drivers Share Over $22,000 In 2009 Points-Fund Awards
CONCORD, NC - Feb. 2, 2010 - DIRTcar Racing Western Region Late
Model drivers shared over $22,000 in points-fund awards for the 2009 season,
providing another milestone in the growth of the organization's fledgling
full-fender activities in the Pacific Time Zone.
The 2009 DIRTcar Western Region points-fund figure more than tripled the total
cash distributed to drivers following the 2008 season, which served as DIRTcar's
debut campaign on the West Coast Late Model scene through sanctioning of the
DIRTcar Western Allstars Late Model Series and the Southwest Dirt Racing
Association (SWDRA) tour. DIRTcar increased its presence in 2009 with the
addition of the DIRTcar Northwest I-5 Late Model Tour and the creation of
Pacific and Southwest Regions under the DIRTcar UMP Late Model points program.
"The 2009 season was a great step forward for DIRTcar Late Model racing on the
West Coast," said DIRTcar Racing Western Region director Chris Morgan. "Teams
had more opportunities to be rewarded and recognized for their performances and
a solid foundation for the future was put in place. Now we're looking forward to
bringing more special events to fans throughout California, Oregon and the rest
of the West Coast in 2010."
The biggest DIRTcar Western Region prize went to Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas,
Calif., who collected a $3,000 check for winning the 2009 DIRTcar Western
Allstars Late Model Series championship during the tour's awards dinner on Jan.
23 in Bakersfield, Calif. It was his first title on the California-based series.
A total of $10,000 was distributed to the top 15 finishers in the 2009 Western
Allstars points standings. Chris Shannon received $1,500 for placing second,
followed by Rob Sanders ($1,000), Nick Bartels ($700), Matt Micheli ($600), Ron
Bartels ($500), Mike Johnson ($400), Andy Obertello ($300), Ken Micheli ($250),
Johnny Malcolm ($200), Jeff Decker ($150), Clay Daly ($150), Richard Papenhausen
($150), John Lowery ($150) and Bill Bartels ($150).
Also during the Western Allstars awards ceremony, a new Victory Circle Chassis
was presented to Micheli Racing. The Micheli operation emerged as the winner of
a drawing featuring all teams that had perfect attendance on the 2009 series.
Earlier in the month, during an awards gathering for the 2009 DIRTcar Northwest
I-5 Late Model Tour held in Albany, Ore., Jeremy Shank of Salem, Ore., pocketed
a $1,000 check for capturing his first series crown.
The top 10 drivers in the 2009 Northwest I-5 Tour points standings shared a
$3,100 points fund. John Duty earned $500 for finishing second, followed by Mike
Miller ($400), Rob Mayea ($300), Billy Workman Jr. ($250), Mark Carrell ($200),
Jim Whisler ($150), Steve Moore ($100), Joey Tanner ($100) and Jimmy Schram
($100).
In addition, Workman received a new body from Victory Lane Chassis for being
named the 2009 Northwest I'5 Tour's Most Improved Driver.
More than two-dozen drivers were also eligible to received points-fund cash for
their finishes in two DIRTcar UMP Late Model regions -- the Pacific Region that
included Western Allstars and Northwest I-5 events, and the Southwest Region
that encompassed SWDRA races and other DIRTcar-sanctioned shows in Arizona, New
Mexico and East Texas.
Young Nick Bartels of El Segundo, Calif., won the Pacific Region championship,
earning $2,000 from the $6,300 points fund. He traveled to the DIRTcar Racing
UMP 'Night of Champions' Awards Banquet on Jan. 9 in Springfield, Ill., to
accept his check and trophy and was also recognized during the recent Western
Allstars awards ceremonies.
Hogge earned $1,000 for finishing second in the Pacific Region, followed by
Shannon ($750), Matt Micheli ($500), Shank ($400), Mayea ($300), Duty ($250),
Sanders ($200), Daly ($150), Papenhausen ($100), Mike Johnson ($100), Obertello
($100), Ron Bartels($100), Whisler ($100) and Carrell ($100).
Lonnie Parker Jr. of El Mirage, Calif., emerged as the champion of the Southwest
Region points battle, collecting a $1,000 check from the $3,100 points fund. His
regional crown was earned on the strength of his sixth consecutive championship
on the DIRTcar-sanctioned SWDRA tour.
Parker was unable to attend the DIRTcar UMP awards banquet because he was
competing in the 'Wild West Shootout' at USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz., so he was
recognized for his regional title by Morgan during the SWDRAs membership
meeting on Jan. 27 in Casa Grande, Ariz.
Anthony Madrid picked up $500 for placing second in the Southwest Region points
standings, followed by Brad Williams ($400), Jeremy Thornton ($300), Joey
Moriarty ($200), Keith Noyes ($150), Jamie Throckmorton ($125), R.C. Whitwell
($115), John Romero ($110) and Art Lacey ($100).
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH Kicks Off Wednesday With Sprint Cars, UMP Modifieds
BARBERVILLE, FL -- Feb. 2, 2010 -- The opening night of racing at the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio was canceled by rain on Tuesday at Volusia Speedway Park.
The forecast is bright for Wednesday, when the All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint Car Series and the DIRTcar Racing UMP Modifieds will get the two-week event started. Pit gates will open at noon with grandstands opening at 5 p.m.
Reserve your seats online to see the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars (Feb. 5-6-7), the World of Outlaws Late Models (Feb. 11 and 13), Super DIRTcar Series Big-Blocks (Feb. 10-11-12-13) and DIRTcar Racing UMP Modifieds (today through Feb. 9) as the DIRTcar Nationals runs through Saturday, Feb. 13. Go to http://www.dirtcarnationals.com to reserve seats and for more information about the annual season-opening event at Volusia.
Not Just A Sponsor: University of Northwestern Ohio Bringing Army Of UMP Modifieds, Students To DIRTcar Nationals
NASCAR Star
David Reutimann Heads List Of UNOH Drivers At Volusia Speedway Park
BARBERVILLE, FL Jan. 29, 2010 The letters UNOH short for University of
Northwestern Ohio will be seen all over Volusia Speedway Park from Feb. 2-13.
And that includes speeding around the sprawling half-mile clay oval.
The 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH will be teeming with DIRTcar UMP
Modifieds that carry the UNOH logo a total of eight cars, to be exact,
including one driven by NASCAR star David Reutimann.
A Lima, Ohio-based school that has earned a reputation as the leader in
providing a high-performance motorsports education, UNOH is bringing an army of
machines and students to Volusia for the eight nights (Feb. 2-9) of UMP Modified
competition during the DIRTcar Nationals. The Sunshine State assault is all part
of a unique extra-curricular activity that provides UNOHs budding mechanical
minds some truly unique real-world training.
Since 1991, UNOH has offered a High Performance/Motorsports degree, making it
the only school of higher learning in the world that boasts such a program.
Three years ago the university enhanced the curriculum by launching a
fully-sponsored UMP Modified team basically, an after-school activity in which
students from the Motorsports program combine to build and maintain UMP
Modifieds and race them in the weekly action at nearby Limaland Motorsports
Park, which is owned and operated by UNOH.
The 36 students on our UMP Modified team are all scholarship athletes, said
Steve Farmer, the UNOH Vice President of Corporate Development. Every year
students in our High Performance/Motorsports program try out for various
positions on the race teams and those that are selected receive scholarships,
just like basketball and football players do at other schools.
The dirt-track program has been a phenomenal success for us, he added. A
grassroots program like this gives us a great platform to recruit students and
show them what the University of Northwestern Ohio has to offer.
The trip to Florida for the DIRTcar Nationals serves as the culmination of the
2009-2010 racing season for the UNOH UMP Modified team, which is housed in a
shop on the universitys 189-acre campus. Farmer said 36 students will be
transported south in vans to spend the week working on the schools UMP
Modifieds. (Another 42 students will also be in Florida working as pit crew
members and ARCA inspectors during the ARCA Racing Series 200 on Feb. 5-6 at the
nearby Daytona International Speedway.)
Seven drivers are set to steer the UNOH cars (an eighth machine will be brought
as a backup), led by the high-profile Reutimann. The son of DIRTcar big-block
Modified legend Buzzie Reutimann, David learned of the UNOH motorsports program
when he drove a UNOH-sponsored Late Model in last years Prelude to the Dream
event at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. When Farmer asked the 2009 Coca-Cola
600 winner if hed be interested in driving one of the schools UMP Modifieds
during the 2010 DIRTcar Nationals, he didnt hesitate to respond in the
affirmative.
He said, Absolutely, Id love to do it, Farmer said of Reutimann, who spent
some time in the 90s competing on the upstate New York DIRTcar 358-Modified
circuit. We have him set up to drive a double-zero (UMP Modified) just like
his (Sprint) Cup car every night as long as his schedule allows him to be
there.
The UNOH driver roster for the DIRTcar Nationals also includes UNOH students
Stephen Schnapf of Newburgh, Ind., and Schuyler Nahre of Indianapolis and former
Limaland Motorsports Park champions Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio, Jeff Babcock of
Wayne, Ohio, Jon Henry of Ada, Ohio, and Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind.
The UNOH team will have little time to catch its breath during the big week of
competition, which features $1,000-to-win A-Mains Feb. 2-5; a pair of
$700-to-win preliminary events on Feb. 6-7 leading into the headline Gator
spectacular paying $5,000 to win on Feb. 8; and a multiple-features-only finale
on Feb. 9.
Throughout the DIRTcar Nationals, UNOH representatives will be available in the
tracks midway area to promote the schools Motorsports programs. And make no
mistake the mid-winter racing extravaganza is a great marketing tool for UNOH.
The University draws students from all 50 states and 16 foreign countries, and
in the last few years we have had an influx of students interested in our High
Performance/Motorsports Programs from the state of Florida, said UNOH President
Dr. Jeffrey A. Jarvis. By building and racing vehicles in Florida that will be
driven and crewed by UNOH High Performance Motorsports students, the University
hopes to continue to encourage both interested prospective students and local
Florida high school instructors to check out everything that UNOH has to offer
them.
Founded in 1920, UNOH is a private, not-for-profit institution comprised of the
College of Business, College of Technologies and College of Distance Learning.
UNOH offers over 60 programs in High Performance, Alternate Fuels, Diesel,
Automotive, HVAC, Agricultural, Business, Medical, Legal, Travel, IT Computer
and Marketing with Associate degrees, Baccalaureate degrees and a Masters
Degree in Business Administration.
For more detailed information about the University of Northwestern Ohio, visit
www.unoh.edu.
The DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH run nightly from Feb. 2-13. Joining the DIRTcar
UMP Modifieds on the schedule are the DIRTcar UMP Late Models (Feb. 8, 9, 10 and
12); the the World of Outlaws Late Model Series (Feb. 11 and 13); the World of
Outlaws Sprint Car Series (Feb. 5-7); the All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint
Car Series (Feb. 3-4); and the Super DIRTcar Series for big-block Modifieds
(Feb. 10-13).
For tickets to the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, visit
www.DIRTcarNationals.com or call Volusia Speedway Park at 386-985-4402. A ticket
package for all eight nights of UMP DIRTcar Modified racing is available for
$200.
For the first time in DIRTcar Nationals history, all fans will have the chance
to see the competitors and their teams up close during each race nightt. A FREE
Fan Pit Pass is available to every ticket-buying fan who comes through the main
gates every night; fans can show their grandstand and sign in to the pits at a
table near the pit entrance.
For more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
DIRTcar Racing Continues Implementation Of Uniform Rules For UMP Stock Car Division In 2010
CONCORD, NC – Jan. 26, 2010 – The implementation of a uniform
rules package for the DIRTcar Racing UMP Stock Car division will take another
major step forward in 2010.
One year after introducing the new Stock Car rules on a trial basis, DIRTcar
Racing officials are working with track promoters to make the technical
specifications a staple of the upcoming campaign.
“Three years ago teams and tracks – especially those in the Midwest – asked us
to develop a common set of rules for the DIRTcar UMP Stock Car division (then
called Street Stocks),” said Sam Driggers, the director of DIRTcar Racing's UMP
circuit. “With input from the tracks and teams, we came up with Stock Car rules
that will put all the cars on the same page, similar to the template we already
have with DIRTcar's successful UMP Late Model and UMP Modified programs.
“We released the Stock Car rules at the start of the 2009 season in order to
begin the process of bringing the tracks and teams under the common set of
rules. This season we're continuing the process and looking forward to great
results for the future of the division.”
The new Stock Car rules have several attractive aspects for track promoters,
including the creation of an ever-increasing pool of cars running under the same
specifications. In addition, drivers competing in DIRTcar UMP Stock Car action
at tracks sanctioned by DIRTcar Racing have the opportunity to battle for the
division's UMP national and state points funds.
All sanctioned tracks will be required to enforce the Stock Car rules in 2010 in
order for drivers to receive national and state points. In that vein, DIRTcar
Racing technical inspectors will visit sanctioned tracks throughout the 2010
season to ensure that the rules are being followed.
Many of the nearly three-dozen DIRTcar-sanctioned tracks that hosted Stock Car
racing in 2009 have announced plans to utilize the new rules this season,
including Track Enterprises sister ovals Macon (Ill.) Speedway and Paducah (Ky.)
International Raceway; Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway; Kankakee (Ill.)
County Speedway; and Michigan tracks such as I-96 Speedway, Mt. Pleasant
Speedway, Thunderbird Speedway and Winston Speedway. A number of other tracks
have also expressed interest in joining the DIRTcar Racing family and running
the growing Stock Car division.
Track Enterprises' Bob Sargent is one promoter solidly behind the new Stock Car
rules package.
“It's always a good thing to get cars running under uniform rules,” said
Sargent, one of the country's most well-known race organizers. “The blueprint
for us is out there with the UMP Late Models and Modifieds. If we follow the
same idea with the Stock Cars, it will benefit the tracks, the teams and the
fans because it will help get more people involved in the division.”
Nearly $18,000 in points-fund cash was distributed to drivers in the DIRTcar UMP
Stock Car class during the 2009 ‘Night of Champions' Awards Banquet held earlier
this month in Springfield, Ill., including a $3,000 prize to national champion
Rick Thomas of Dwight, Ill.
The 2010 Stock Car national champion will receive $3,000, with the top 20 in the
nation points standings rewarded and recognized. Additionally in 2010, the top
15 finishers in each State points race will be recognized.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
Florida In February A Dirt Racing Fan's Paradise: A dozen nights of doubleheaders at Volusia Speedway Park features the best of the best on dirt
BARBERVILLE, FL – Jan. 21, 2020 – For two weeks every February, Florida turns into a dirt racing fan's paradise. From Feb. 2-13 at Volusia Speedway Park, four of the top divisions in dirt track racing share the spotlight at the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH, with double features every night.
The elite World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and World of Outlaws Late Model Series share the spotlight with the hugely popular DIRTcar UMP Modifieds and the thundering Big-Block Modifieds from the Super DIRTcar Series. Volusia Speedway Park is where hundreds of competitors from across North America converge to launch the 2010 season.
This year, a Free Fan Pit Pass gives fans unprecedented access to the stars and cars as they prepare for competition each night in an event that sets them moving toward the World Finals in Charlotte in November.
The annual DIRTcar Nationals is often a solid indicator as to how the year will unfold. It's also the first chance where fans can begin to answer questions they've been asking since last November:
All of these questions and more will begin to be answered over the two weeks of DIRTcar action Feb. 2-13 at Volusia Speedway Park. The big half mile is easy to find on State Road 40 about 15 miles inland from Ormond Beach and Interstate 95, and features exciting action on the track and plenty of activities off of it, including racing simulators.
Fans have come to expect certain traditions each year at Volusia, and it's pretty certain they'll see:
With all of that to experience, it's not hard to see why the DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park has become the place to be to start the dirt track racing season. Florida in February is always exciting. And now, the ticket-buying process is even easier with tickets available online at DIRTcarNationals.com or VolusiaSpeedwayPark.com. Or you can always call the track at 386-985-4402 to reserve a spot to see all of the action. For dirt track fans, 12 nights of the top racers in the country is the only way to get the year started. For many, it is paradise.
$5,000-To-Win ‘Gator' Special, Features-Only Final Night Highlight DIRTcar Nationals Action For UMP DIRTcar Modifieds
BARBERVILLE, FL – Jan. 19, 2010 – UMP DIRTcar Modified racers
will have some well-deserved turns in the spotlight during the 39th annual
DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park.
Beginning with a solo engagement to kick off the DIRTcar Nationals on Feb. 2 and
continuing with the second annual ‘Gator' championship on Feb. 8 and a huge
multiple-feature finale on Feb. 9, the popular open-wheel division will attract
plenty of attention during the mid-winter racing extravaganza outside Daytona
Beach.
“We've worked hard the last couple years to make the DIRTcar Nationals more
attractive for the UMP DIRTcar Modified teams and the overall response has been
great,” said UMP DIRTcar director Sam Driggers. “They see that we're taking care
of them and making them a big part of the DIRTcar Nationals.”
This year's 12-night meet at the sweeping half-mile oval on Route 40 will
actually begin with a UMP DIRTcar Modified-only program paying $1,000 to win on
Tues., Feb. 2. The Modifieds will then contest successive A-Mains for $1,000 top
prizes on Feb. 3-4 (doubleheaders with the All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint
Car Series) and Feb. 5 (alongside the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series) before
diving into two nights of preliminary action that lead into the ‘Gator'
spectacular.
The always-massive field of UMP DIRTcar Modifieds at Volusia will be split in
half for the ‘Gator' preliminaries, with one group competing on Sat., Feb. 6,
and the other hitting the track on Sun., Feb. 7. Both evenings will feature
A-Mains that pay $700 to win and share the bill with the WoO Sprint Car tour.
The two prelim nights will set the lineups for an ‘alphabet' series of races on
Mon., Feb. 8, that culminates with the 30-lap ‘Gator' championship. A $5,000
first-place check will be handed to the winner of the second annual headline
event for the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds.
Last year's inaugural ‘Gator' special was captured by Jared Landers of
Batesville, Ark., who dominated the week's UMP DIRTcar Modified competition. He
won five of the seven features he entered – only teenager Austin Dillon of
Welcome, N.C., who won twice, managed to defeat Landers – en route to snaring
the division's DIRTcar Nationals points crown.
“The ‘Gator' is only a year old but it's definitely already a race that will be
considered a feather in the cap of the driver who wins it,” said Driggers. “They
know that they've outrun some of the best cars in the country if they win the
‘Gator.'”
UMP DIRTcar Modified racing during the DIRTcar Nationals will end on Feb. 9 with
a multi-feature program in which all drivers on hand will battle in a
$700-to-win main event. At least two – and perhaps three or four – 20-lappers
will be run, depending on car count. The starting fields will be determined
using the DCN points standings, with the leader running in the first feature,
the second-place driver in the second event, and so on.
“In the past, the fields of UMP DIRTcar Modifieds have been so big (for the DCN)
that there's 30 or 40 cars that don't even see a feature,” said Driggers. “This
new format will give everyone a chance to get some track time in a feature to
end the week.”
Volusia's pit area will be jammed with drivers from across the country and even
Canada. Landers will lead the charge to the Sunshine State with plans to defend
his DIRTcar Nationals points title.
The UMP DIRTcar Modified field is also expected to include NASCAR drivers David
Reutimann of Zephyrhills, Fla., and Kenny Wallace of Concord, N.C., as well as
2008 UMP DIRTcar Modified national champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill.; Devin
Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., who finished second in the 2009 UMP DIRTcar Modified
national points standings; 2009 American Late Model Series champion Jon Henry of
Ada, Ohio, who will join Reutimann in running a UNOH-backed car; Austin Dillon
and his younger brother Ty, the grandsons of NASCAR team owner Richard
Childress; Peyton Taylor of Batesville, Ark.; Jesse Stovall of Galena, Mo.; and
Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M.
The DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH run nightly from Feb. 2-13. Joining the UMP
DIRTcar Modifieds on the schedule are the Super Late Models (UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned
on Feb. 8, 9, 10 and 12 and World of Outlaws Late Model Series events on Feb. 11
and 13); the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series (Feb. 5-7); the All-Star Circuit
of Champions Sprint Car Series (Feb. 3-4); and the Super DIRTcar Series for
big-block Modifieds (Feb. 10-13).
For tickets to the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, visit
www.DIRTcarNationals.com or call Volusia Speedway Park at 386-985-4402. A ticket
package for all eight nights of UMP DIRTcar Modified racing is available for
$200.
For the first time in DIRTcar Nationals history, all fans will have the chance
to see the competitors and their teams up close during each race nightt. A FREE
Fan Pit Pass is available to every ticket-buying fan who comes through the main
gates every night; fans can show their grandstand and sign in to the pits at a
table near the pit entrance.
For more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
‘Fans of February' Thrilled to Launch 2010 Season With DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia
BARBERVILLE, FL —
Jan. 18, 2010 — Volusia Speedway Park laid down the challenge a month ago. Are
you a Fan of February? Dirt track fans from across North America responded, and
four of them are being rewarded with a free hotel stay and two tickets to the
Feb. 2-13 Florida DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH.
Winners from New Mexico, New York, Oregon and South Dakota are excited to start
the racing season with all of the competitors from the World of Outlaws Sprint
Car Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, the Super DIRTcar Series and
UMP DIRTcar Racing at Volusia Speedway Park, just down State Road 40 from
Interstate 95 and Ormond Beach.
Together with partners 4m.net, Hoseheads.com, STLRacing.com and
DirtTrackDigest.com, Volusia Speedway Park reached across the Web to find four
fans who live and breathe dirt track racing, and who can't wait to start the
2010 season.
“This is the first time I've ever won anything in my life,” said Tim Sweeney
from Oregon, who wants to see his favorite driver, Steve Kinser, rip around
Volusia's high-speed half-mile oval. “I usually go to Volusia every year. It
starts the season for me, and after a long winter I really look forward to
watching the World of Outlaws. It's the first taste of racing for the year and
I'm counting on warm weather.”
For Joel Johnson, a Billy Moyer fan from New Mexico, this year marks a new
adventure.
“This will be the very first time I've gone to Volusia,” Johnson said. “I've
never even been to Florida in my life. I'm a DIRTcar nut. I've gone to
Lernerville and Eldora and I've been to the World Finals every year in
Charlotte. In fact, two years ago I got to carry the New Mexico flag in the
parade of flags at the World Finals. At the World Finals last November I was
talking to a guy who was wearing a Volusia Speedway Park coat and he said I
ought to go because it is some of the best racing you'll see. So I'm really
looking forward to it.”
Then there's Big-Block Modified fan Shannon Dietrich of New York. Her family has
been going to Volusia for three years. She got the tickets for her Dad as a
Christmas gift, but is counting on going to the races to cheer for Danny
Johnson.
“Just going to Florida is fun,” Dietrich said. “It's a beautiful area, and
winning is a nice reward for my dad.”
Wrapping up the Fan of February drawing was winner Nicole Whitman from South
Dakota, who earned a DIRTcar UMP Modified hotel and ticket package.
There is still plenty of time to reserve your favorite seats to the 39th
Annual DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH. Don't miss a chance to see if Donny Schatz and
Jason Meyers will continue their rivalry after the closest points race in World
of Outlaws history, or if Josh Richards can duplicate his success in the World
of Outlaws Late Model Series, or if Brett Hearn can post another Florida victory
to start rolling toward an eighth Super DIRTcar Series crown. Call the track
today at 386-985-4402 or visit
http://www.dirtcarnationals.com for all the latest news and information.
Follow us on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/DIRTcarNats, or visit us on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/WorldRacing.
UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Champ Jason Feger Ready To Tackle DIRTcar Nationals For First Time
BARBERVILLE, FL - Jan. 14, 2010 - Jason Feger officially put the
cap on his spectacular 2009 season last Saturday night when he received his UMP
DIRTcar Racing Super Late Model national championship check and trophy during
the organization's awards banquet in Springfield, Ill.
So what's next for the rising star from Bloomington, Ill.? His first-ever winter
racing trip to Florida, an excursion highlighted by six nights of Super Late
Model action during the 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia
Speedway Park.
Feger, 31, will test his considerable skills at the half-mile oval outside
Daytona Beach in four UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned events (Feb. 8, 9, 10, 12) and two
World of Outlaws Late Model Series programs (Feb. 11 and 13) that open the
national tour's 2010 schedule.
“I'm pretty anxious to get down there,” said Feger, who left the recent UMP
DIRTcar gala with $32,700 in points-fund cash, including 20-grand for winning
his first career national title. “All of the best in the business will be there,
so it's definitely gonna be a measuring stick to show where we're at.”
Coming off a campaign that saw him win a UMP DIRTcar- and career-best 23
features at 13 different tracks in four states, Feger certainly brings a growing
reputation to Volusia's week-long blockbuster. But he'll also be tackling one of
the country's most competitive Super Late Model meets for the first time since
entering the division in 2002.
Feger has previously experienced the DIRTcar Nationals atmosphere, but only as a
high-profile crewman. Two years ago he provided a helping hand during the week
to his buddy from the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals trail, Jeep Van Wormer of
Pinconning, Mich., giving him an up-close taste of what it takes to speed around
the sprawling track.
“I think that year I was (at Volusia) with Jeep is gonna help me a lot,” said
Feger, whose 2009 season included his first-ever WoO LMS A-Main triumph on May
24 at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wis. “It looks like a challenging
place and has a lot of unique characteristics, and I know that with so many good
cars there it's gonna be tough if your car's not right and your stuff's not
good. But I like fast racetracks and feel like I learned a lot just by watching
(while working with VanWormer), and hopefully that will translate to success on
the track.”
Feger's long-awaited chance to kick off his racing season in the Sunshine State
comes courtesy of Stearn Ironworks and Jaxon Chase Steel Detailing, the
Midwestern companies that joined his family-owned team midway through the 2009
schedule. The extra sponsorship gave Feger the financial boost he needed to
obtain a larger hauler and trailer (a transporter formerly used by Scott
Bloomquist) and hit the road more actively.
Two cars built by Midwestern racing legend Bob Pierce will be in strapped into
Feger's rig for the haul south – one a virtually-new machine with just four
starts on it, the other Feger's battle-tested ‘Good Old Girl' that's
two-and-a-half years old and has seen action in more than 120 events.
“We're gonna give it everything we got with our best stuff,” said Feger, who
won't have to adjust to an open-tire rule for the WoO LMS events at Volusia
because the UMP DIRTcar Hoosier tires he knows so well are mandatory in all
DIRTcar Nationals shows. “We're not going down there to run second. We had a
great run (in November) at the World Finals (charging from 19th to second in the
WoO LMS 50-lapper before cutting down a tire) and that was our first time at
Charlotte (Motor Speedway), so hopefully we can do the same thing (at Volusia).
“I know it would be awesome if we could get a win. To kick off the year beating
the best guys in the country – man, that would mean a lot. That would sell Bob
(Pierce) some cars and give me a lot of notoriety.”
Feger should say more notoriety,
because, win or lose, he figures to attract plenty of attention throughout his
visit to Volusia Speedway Park. He's one of the hippest, most gregarious drivers
currently on the dirt Late Model scene, his car sports a cool color scheme and
‘tumbling dice' graphics, he sells trendy apparel and he displays a
hard-charging driving style (he's not called the ‘Highside Hustler' for
nothing).
With a unique first-time promotion for this year's DIRTcar Nationals providing
all ticket-buyers an opportunity to sign into the pits each night at no
additional charge, a steady procession of fans will undoubtedly make their way
to Feger's trailer. You can bet that he'll be accommodating to every last one of
them – after all, he succinctly summed up his feelings toward his supporters
during the speech he delivered to a packed ballroom upon accepting his 2009 UMP
DIRTcar national championship laurels.
“It can't be possible without the fans – that's absolutely positive,” Feger said
near the end of his heartfelt banquet remarks, which stretched for more than 20
minutes. “They buy your t-shirts, they fill (tracks') stands. We all gotta do
what we can in this day and age for the fans, and I'm fortunate I have a lot of
really good ones.
“I work really hard at (fan relations) – I try to treat them good, and I try to
put on a show. Sometimes it's hard to determine if you're in the entertainment
business or the racing business, but it's always really great when you can get
the support of the fans because of what you do.”
The DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH begin on Feb. 2 and run nightly through Feb. 13.
Joining the Super Late Models on the schedule are the World of Outlaws Sprint
Car Series (Feb. 5-7); the Super DIRTcar Series for big-block Modifieds (Feb.
10-13); the All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series (Feb. 3-4); and the
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds (Feb. 2-9).
For tickets to the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, visit
www.DIRTcarNationals.com or call Volusia Speedway Park at 386-985-4402. A
ticket package for all six nights of Super Late Model racing is available for
$175.
Anyone who purchases a ticket before Jan. 15 will be entered in the ‘Fan of
February' contest, which rewards its winner with two free tickets and a free
hotel stay during the DIRTcar Nationals. Fans can log on to
www.fanoffebruary.com for more information.
In addition, for the first time in DIRTcar Nationals history, all fans will have
the chance to see the competitors and their teams up close during each race
nightt. A FREE Fan Pit Pass is available to every ticket-buying fan who comes
through the main gates every night; fans can show their grandstand and sign in
to the pits at a table near the pit entrance.
For more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing and the WoO LMS, visit
www.dirtcar.com and www.worldofoutlaws.com.
DIRTcar Racing Adds Sanctioning To Final Four Nights Of USA Raceway's ‘Wild West Shootout'
TUCSON, AZ – Jan. 13, 2010 – The 2010 DIRTcar Racing campaign
will get off to an early start following the announcement that the organization
will sanction the final four events of the ‘Wild West Shootout' for Super Late
Models and Modifieds at USA Raceway.
Over $150,000 in prize money is posted for the blockbuster six-night event,
which began with weekend shows on Jan. 9 and 10. DIRTcar Racing's sanctioning of
the series starts with the doubleheader scheduled for tonight (Jan. 13) and
continues with the events on Fri., Jan. 15; Sat., Jan. 16; and Sun., Jan. 17.
The grand finale of the three-eighths-mile Arizona oval's season-opening
spectacular comes on Jan. 17 with the running of the Bill Cheesebourg Memorial,
a $10,000-to-win event held in honor of the late Tucson native who starred on
his homestate's dirt-track circuit for decades and made six starts in the
Indianapolis 500 from 1957-1965.
“DIRTcar Racing is honored to be part of the ‘Wild West Shootout' for the first
time,” said DIRTcar Racing Western Region director Chris Morgan. “(USA Raceway
promoter) Benji Lyons has done a great job building anticipation for the series
and we're excited that it will serve as the lead-in to an exciting season of
DIRTcar Racing in the Western Region.
“DIRTcar Racing's sanctioning of the ‘Wild West Shootout' is super news for the
West's Late Model and Modified racers, who will now have several addition
opportunities to build up their points totals in the UMP DIRTcar regional and
national programs.”
USA Raceway is a flagship DIRTcar Racing track in the Southwest, headlining UMP
DIRTcar West Modifieds on a weekly basis. The DIRTcar-sanctioned Southwest Dirt
Racing Association (SWDRA) Late Model series also makes multiple visits to the
speedway each season.
With the ‘Wild West Shootout' now carrying sanctioning from DIRTcar Racing, the
UMP DIRTcar points program will allow drivers to count two finishes toward their
2010 regional and national totals. The weekly UMP DIRTcar points season runs
from April through early October, but drivers can also count their best
finish/points night each week (Sunday-Saturday represents a week during the Wild
West Shootout) from Jan. 1 until the start of weekly points racing – which means
drivers will count their best finish in the events on Jan. 13, 15 and 16 along
with their finish in the Jan. 17 finale.
“DIRTcar Racing and USA Raceway are great partners and we're excited to add
their sanctioning to the remainder of the ‘Wild West Shootout' events for the
Super Late Models and Modifieds,” said Benji Lyons, who co-promotes the Arizona
track with Kevin Montgomery. “This will be a great opportunity for drivers to
start collecting some UMP DIRTcar Racing points and increase their chances of
sharing in some of the 2010 points-fund money.”
Nearly 50 Super Late Model teams and 40 DIRTcar Modified competitors from more
than a dozen states and Canada have already entered Wild West Shootout action.
The Super Late Models have a trio of $3,000-to-win shows and the $10,000-to-win
finale remaining, while the Modifieds will chase $1,000 first-place prizes in
the remaining events.
Racing is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Jan. 13 and 15, while a 4 p.m. start
will be utilized on Jan. 16 and 17.
Ticket pricing and other ‘Wild West Shootout' information can be found online at
www.usaraceway.net or by calling the USA Raceway office at 520-574-8515.
USA Raceway is located east of Tucson off I-10 exit 268, then 1.6 miles south on
Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Illinois Stars Feger & Cook Realize National Title Dreams As Over $400,000 Is Handed Out During UMP DIRTcar Racing Awards Banquet
SPRINGFIELD, IL – Jan. 9, 2010 – Rising Midwestern stars Jason
Feger and Gary Cook Jr. saw their dreams meet reality during Saturday night's
26th annual UMP DIRTcar Racing ‘Night of Champions' Awards Banquet inside the
Springfield Crowne Plaza Hotel's ballroom.
Feger, 31, of Bloomington, Ill., was saluted for his spectacular 2009 season,
which saw him win his first UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national championship –
ending the two-year reign of Carpentersvile, Ill.'s Dennis Erb Jr. – lead the
circuit with 23 feature wins and capture the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Monster
Midwest Series title. The homegrown talent's success earned him a total of
$32,700 in points-fund checks during the gala evening.
Deer Creek, Ill.'s Cook, meanwhile, celebrated his first career UMP DIRTcar
open-wheel Modified national title. The championship crowning was an emotional
moment for the 33-year-old driver, who came back strong after falling short in
the 2008 national points race while receiving treatment for a cancerous tumor
that was found in his nasal package.
Over 750 attendees from more than a dozen states and Canada filled the ballroom
to watch UMP DIRT Racing officials distribute over $400,000 to the
organization's 2009 champions and top performers.
An approachable racer known for his outgoing personality, Feger surprised no one
when he accepted his championship laurels with a heartfelt, banquet-ending
speech that stretched for more than 20 minutes. He spent much of his time behind
the podium thanking the people who made his championship season possible,
including his crew – led by his younger brother Austin, who earlier in the night
was named the 2009 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Mechanic of the Year by vote of
the organization's membership – mother, grandmother, chassis builder Bob Pierce,
engine builder Matt Rhyne and long list of sponsors.
Feger had especially kind words for Pierce, the legendary racer whose chassis
Feger has used for the past two-and-half years.
“It's such an honor to race with my childhood hero and help make his business
succeed,” Feger said of Pierce. “You can't imagine how much that means to me.”
After posing for photos with his close-knit team, Feger reflected on his career
campaign.
“Earlier today I did a radio show at the Speed Expo (at the nearby Illinois
State Fairgrounds) with Larry Lembeck and he kind of put (the national title) in
perspective for me,” said Feger, who won the championship one year after being
named UMP DIRTcar's Most Improved Driver. “He started naming off some of the
guys who have won this deal and the history behind it, and that really made it
sink in for me. To be able to be listed with a group of guys like Gary Webb,
Erb, (Randy) Korte, (Rodney) Melvin and a lot of others – that's pretty
impressive to me.
“Just to think that someday down the road somebody is gonna look back and see my
name on this list (of UMP DIRTcar champions) – I hope they can have the same
respect for me that I have for the guys who have won it.”
Feger's points-fund earnings were topped by the $20,000 he received for the
national title. He picked up another $5,000 for winning Don and Bonnie Hammer's
Monster Midwest Series, plus $5,000 for finishing fourth in the UMP DIRTcar
Summer Nationals points standings; $2,000 for placing second in the Central
Region points battle; and $700 for fourth place in the Northern Allstars Late
Model Series points standings. Feger also received two sets of Dyer's Top Rods
for his national and Monster Midwest Series titles.
The only driver who left the banquet with more points-fund cash than Feger was
Erb, who collected a total of $38,100 despite failing to three-peat as national
champion. He still earned $25,000 for winning his third consecutive UMP DIRTcar
Summer Nationals title; $10,000 for finishing second in the national points
standings; $2,000 for a runner-up placing on the Northern Allstars Late Model
Series; $700 for fourth place on the Monster Midwest Series; and $400 for sixth
place in the Central Region.
A feel-good vibe ran through the banquet attendees when Cook walked across the
stage to receive his 2009 UMP DIRTcar Modified national championship hardware.
His impeccable 24-victory season completed the title march he had begun in 2008
before his health scare sidetracked his hopes.
Cook finished third in the 2008 UMP DIRTcar national Modified points standings
despite missing some mid-season racing time while undergoing radiation and
chemotherapy treatments for an inoperable cancerous tumor that doctors found in
July near his nasal passage. With doctors determining before New Year's Day 2009
that Cook's cancer had gone into remission and subsequent cancer scans finding
that the dead tissue was continuing to deteriorate, Cook was able to race
full-strength for the entire '09 campaign.
“It was pretty emotional,” Cook said of his moment in the UMP DIRTcar banquet
spotlight. “Winning this championship is what we set out to do last year, but we
couldn't do it because of unfortunate circumstances. Fortunately we were able to
come back strong (in 2009) and meet our goal, which makes us feel great.”
Cook reached the UMP DIRTcar promised land driving a Pierce Chassis Modified for
car owners Jim and Kim Scott. With his mission accomplished, the father of two
young children plans to put his focus on chasing big-race wins in 2010.
Cook's points-fund earnings totaled $22,100, including $2,000 for winning the
Northwest Region title and $100 for placing 10th in the Midwest Region.
Cook's crew chief, Bill Klingbiel, was also honored during the night as the 2009
UMP DIRTcar Modified Mechanic of the Year by vote of the organization's
membership.
The night's third-largest championship booty was claimed by Bobby Dauderman of
Alhambra, Ill., who pocketed $10,000 for unseating Tait Davenport of Paducah,
Ky., as the UMP DIRTcar Pro Late Model national titlist. He padded his earnings
with an additional $1,000 check for winning the North Region points standings
during the second season for UMP DIRTcar's fledgling crate-engine Late Model
class.
“It was definitely a nerve-wracking points race,” the 22-year-old Dauderman said
of a dramatic battle with Davenport. “We didn't win it until the last night. It
was pretty exciting.”
Russell Eilers, 19, of Highland, Ill., celebrated his first career UMP DIRTcar
Sportsman national championship after roaring to 17 feature wins in 2009. An
up-and-comer whose older brother drives a Modified and younger brother runs in
the Sportsman division, he earned $3,500, including $500 for capturing the West
Region points.
Chad Boone, 28, of Owensboro, Ky., accepted his first-ever UMP DIRTcar Limited
Modified national title. The union painter won 15 features in 2009 driving his
self-owned equipment and collected $3,500 in points-fund checks, including $500
for topping the East Region standings.
Rick Thomas of Dwight, Ill., celebrated the biggest championship honor of his
three-decade-long racing career, enjoying the spotlight as the UMP DIRTcar Stock
Car national titlist. At 52 the oldest national champion in 2009, Thomas earned
$3,500, including $500 for winning the West Region points race.
Bob Zbinden, 20, of Alhambra, Ill. (Sport Compact) and Bill May, 47, of
Muskegon, Mich. (Factory Stocks) were honored as the national champions of UMP
DIRTcar's entry-level classes, which debuted in 2007. Both drivers earned
$1,500, including $500 checks for capturing regional titles.
Following a 2009 campaign that saw over 10,000 drivers earn points, all eight
2009 national champions wore their crowns for the first time.
What's more, three of the national champs graduated from the same high school.
Dauderman (Class of 2006) as well as Eilers and Zbinden (Class of 2008) attended
Highland (Ill.) High School.
Regional champions were named in all eight divisions.
* Late Model regional titlists Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill. (Central),
Michael Kloos of Trenton, Ill. (West), Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich. (East)
received checks for $3,000 apiece, while Nick Bartels of El Segundo, Calif.,
earned $2,000 as the Pacific Region champ and Lonnie Parker Jr. of El Mirage,
Calif., picked up $1,200 as the Southwest Region king. Only Parker did not make
the trip to accept his laurels in person.
* Capturing Modified regional crowns worth $2,000 apiece were Cook (Northwest),
Gilpin (Southeast), Tim Hancock of Mt. Olive, Ill. (Southwest), Randle Sweeney
of Clifty, Ky. (South), Lance Dehm of Chatsworth, Ill. (Midwest), Todd Sherman
of Churbusco, Ind. (East), John McCaul of Montague, Mich. (Northeast), Jimmy Ray
of Las Cruces, N.M. (Wild West), Curt Rackers of Holts Summit, Mo. (West) and
Jeremiah Oalmann of Franklinton, La. (Deep South). Ray, Rackers and Oalmann were
not on hand.
* Dauderman (North) and Davenport (South) pocketed $1,000 apiece as champions of
the two Pro Late Model regions.
* Sportsman regional champs (worth $500) included Eilers (West), Clayton Perry
of North Vernon, Ind. (South) and Brian Williams of Bailey, Mich. (East).
* Limited Modified regional crowns (worth $500) were claimed by Boone (East) and
John Paul Talkington of Denham Spring, La. (West), who was not in attendance.
* Stock Car regional titles (worth $500) fell to Thomas (West), Ervin Turner of
Marion, Ind. (East), Stacy Tretter of Princeton, Ind. (South) and Dave Mannise
of Fulton, N.Y. (North). Tretter and Mannise were not able to attend the
banquet.
* Entry-level division regional champions (worth $500) included Zbinden (West),
C.J. Rector of Sparta, Mich. (East), Richard Ashby of Caneyville, Ky. (South)
and Joe Reed of Decatur, Ill. (North) in the Sport Compacts and May (North) and
Dennis Ponder of Collinsville, Ill. (South) in the Factory Stocks.
Other UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned series titlists recognized during Saturday's
festivities were Jon Henry of Ada, Ohio (American Late Model Series) and Kevin
Weaver of Gibson City, Ill. (Northern Allstars Late Model Series). Henry also
earned a $1,000 bonus for emerging as the 2009 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model
Rookie of the Year.
A number of special awards determined by a vote of the UMP DIRTcar Racing
membership were handed out:
* Modified driver Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., earned recognition as the
circuit's Most Improved Driver.
* Feger (Late Models) and Cook (Modifieds) received Sportsman of the Year
trophies.
* Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway was announced as the UMP DIRTcar Racing Track of
the Year. Promoter Tim Keithley accepted the award.
* Tom Sprague of Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Mich., was feted as the 2009 UMP
DIRTcar Racing Promoter of the Year.
Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway promoter William Scoggins received the fifth annual
Bob Memmer Achievement Award, which honors the memory of UMP DIRTcar Racing's
late founder. The prestigious plaque was presented to Scoggins by Hoosier Tire's
Terry Young, who won the award last year.
The 2009 UMP DIRTcar Racing Chassis Builder of the Year awards went to Rocket
Chassis of Shinnston, W.Va., in the Late Models and Bob Pierce Race Cars of
Oakwood, Ill., in the Modifieds. Rocket cars won 167 UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned
features and Pierce machines reached Victory Lane 210 times in Modified
competition.
Pierce Race Cars was recognized as the champion chassis builder in the Super
Late Model, Modified and Limited Modified national points races – the first time
a single manufacturer has swept three UMP DIRTcar titles in a single season.
Claiming the 2009 Engine Builder of the Year awards were Pro Power Racing
Engines (Late Models) and Mullins Racing Engines (Modifieds). Late Models using
Pro Power motors scored 38 feature wins and Modifieds equipped with Mullins
powerplants registered 96 triumphs.
The affair began for the second consecutive year with an awards ceremony for the
top-seven drivers in the new Kid Modz division, a four-cylinder version of a UMP
DIRTcar Modified that car builder Bob Pierce launched to bring youngsters into
the sport. Heidi Goodman, 12, of Chillicothe, Ill., received a check for $2,000
as the division's 2009 champion.
Appreciation plaques were presented during the evening to promoters or
representatives from Fairbury American Legion Speedway, Kankakee County
Speedway, Charleston Speedway, Spoon River Speedway, Mt. Pleasant Speedway,
Winston Speedway, Brownstown Speedway, Twin Cities Raceway Park/Thunder Valley
Speedway, Farmer City Raceway/Lincoln Speedway, Eldora Speedway, I-55 Raceway,
Track Enterprises (Macon Speedway/Paducah International Raceway), Clarksville
Speedway, Windy Hollow Speedway, Highland Speedway, Belle-Clair Speedway,
Tri-City Speedway and Shepp's Speedway.
Earlier in the day, World Racing Group Chief Operating Office Tom Deery and UMP
DIRTcar Racing director Sam Driggers hosted a meeting with promoters of several
tracks to discuss a variety of topics, including 2010 UMP DIRTcar memberships,
sanctioning agreements, insurance, rules and publicity initiatives.
The 2010 UMP DIRTcar Racing season begins with a five-day meet for the
open-wheel Modifieds running from Jan. 26-30 at East Bay Raceway Park in
Gibsonton, Fla. Both the Modifieds and Super Late Models will then be part of
the 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park in
Barberville, Fla., with the Modifieds running nightly from Feb. 2-9 and the
Super Late Models contesting sanctioned events on Feb. 8, 9, 10 and 12.
For more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
Sponsors and supporters of the 2009 UMP DIRTcar
Racing season included Hoosier Racing Tires, Midwest Speed Expo, VP Racing
Fuels, Wrisco Aluminum, C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, Bob Pierce Race Car, Dyer's Top
Rods, University of Northwest Ohio, Integra Shocks, Eibach Springs, Just Plugs,
QuarterMaster, ASI Racewear, Racing Electronics, Bert Transmissions,
stlracing.com, Intercomp Scales, dirtondirt.com and Fusion Sign Co.
Western Region DIRTcar Modified Racing Picks Up Steam In 2009 With Down-To-The-Wire Points Battle
CONCORD, NC – Dec. 22, 2009 – A showdown between a grizzled
veteran and a fresh-faced youngster. A dramatic, down-to-the-wire points battle.
A dose of national recognition and cool points-fund checks at the end of the
rainbow.
Those were the lead stories of the 2009 season in DIRTcar Racing Western
Region's open-wheel Modified division, which picked up more steam thanks to an
exciting duel for regional supremacy featuring fellow Las Cruces, N.M.,
residents Jimmy Ray and Stormy Scott.
In what was by far the closest points race among the 10 regions that comprised
the nationally-known UMP DIRTcar Modified program in 2009, the 60-year-old Ray
nipped the 19-year-old Scott by a mere two points (1,989-1,987) to win the
championship of the Wild West Region, which includes the best DIRTcar Modified
racers from New Mexico, Arizona and Western Texas. The title will bring Ray a
$2,000 prize from the $6,400 Wild West Region points fund when checks are
distributed during the 2009 UMP DIRTcar Racing ‘Night of Champions' Awards
Banquet on Jan. 9 in Springfield, Ill.
“Seeing an established standout like Jimmy Ray outduel a rising star like Stormy
Scott in the closest regional points battle in the country made the 2009 season
truly memorable for DIRTcar Modified racing in the DIRTcar Racing Western
Region,” said DIRTcar Racing Western Region director Chris Morgan. “The exciting
points race – and the season-ending points-fund bonuses that went to the top
DIRTcar Modified drivers in the Western Region – put DIRTcar Racing in the
headlines as we continue to build Modified racing in the Western Region under
the DIRTcar Racing banner.”
A prominent proponent of DIRTcar Modified racing's expansion in the Southwest is
Ray, who not only is a leading driver in the region but also co-promotes two
flagship DIRTcar-sanctioned tracks in the area. Ray and his business partner
Royal Jones, a 55-year-old from Las Cruces who also competes regularly in the
DIRTcar Modified class, operate Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces and
El Paso (Texas) Speedway Park.
“I enjoy racing a DIRTcar Modified,” said Ray, who combines with Jones to
operate Mesilla Valley Transportation. “I like the (DIRTcar) rules because a
racer can still feel like he can build things and be creative – to a degree –
rather than having everything controlled, and the points deal is a nice bonus.”
A competitive sort who has driven everything from Modifieds to Sprint Cars to
Late Models to Legends Cars during his long career behind the wheel, Ray built
up his '09 UMP DIRTcar points total running his 10-year-old, homebuilt DIRTcar
Modified weekly at Southern New Mexico and El Paso. He also competed in special
events at other DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned tracks in the region – White Sands
Speedway in Tularosa, N.M., where Ray was crowned the 2009 track champ for his
success in a six-race Modified series, and USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz., where
Tucson's R.C. Whitwell emerged as the Modified titlist (and finished 12th in the
Wild West Region).
Ray held off a furious late-season rush from Scott to secure the Wild West
Region title.
“We knew it was gonna be close coming down the stretch,” Ray said of his points
battle with Scott. “(Scott) had more wins (11) than we did (Ray was victorious
just twice), but we had an awful lot of seconds and that kept us on top.”
Scott, meanwhile, ran out of time in his pursuit of Ray. The teenager (who
turned 20 on Dec. 16) won nearly half his DIRTcar-sanctioned starts in 2009
competing at the same selection of sanctioned tracks as Ray, but he didn't enter
as many events as Ray, putting him at a disadvantage in a points system that
used drivers' best 30 finishes/points nights to determine the regional
standings. While Ray was able to replace several of his worst outings, Scott
didn't make enough starts to wipe out any of his low points nights.
“Once we realized we had a shot in the points we started running more DIRTcar
shows,” said Scott, a DIRTcar Modified racer since the ripe age of 12 who
competed in 2009 as a teammate to his fraternal twin brother Johnny in cars
fielded by his grandparents. “We could've used a few more races.”
Scott figures to be a contender for the Wild West Region title in 2010 – and
perhaps even the UMP DIRTcar national crown (worth $20,000) if he enters more
DIRTcar-sanctioned events. He finished 21st in the national standings in 2009
(besting Ray's 29th-place finish because he earned points outside the Wild West
Region), earning himself an additional $700 to go along with the $1,500 he will
collect for taking the runner-up spot in the regional race.
“I think DIRTcar Modified racing is a good deal for our area,” said Scott, a
sophomore business major at New Mexico State University. “It allows you to
pretty much run anywhere in the country with the same car, and I'm looking
forward to running more races next year.”
In fact, Scott will make his second consecutive February trip to Florida in 2010
for some DIRTcar Modified racing. He has landed a ride in a car owned by J.R.
Baxter of Albuquerque, N.M., for the eight nights of UMP DIRTcar Modified action
(Feb. 2-9) that are part of the 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia
Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
Ray and Scott were two of five Wild West Region drivers who cracked the top 100
in the 2009 UMP DIRTcar Modified national points standings. They were joined by
female driving standout Christy Georges of El Paso, Texas (third regional, 62nd
national), Royal Jones (fourth region, 90th national) and Royal's son Bumper
Jones (fifth region, 64th national).
Scott and Royal Jones also made the tow out to last month's inaugural Silver
State DIRTcar Championships at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,
showing their backing of DIRTcar Modified racing in the West. Scott was
victorious in the weekend's preliminary feature and finished second in the main
event.
Jones made a point of supporting the Silver State DIRTcar Championships. He
wants to see the DIRTcar Modified division expand across the western states.
“I'm a big supporter of DIRTcar,” said Royal Jones, who scored a pair of top-10
finishes at Las Vegas. “I think the rules and structure (DIRTcar provides) can
be a real good thing for our area.”
With strong testimonials from such major players as Jones, DIRTcar Modified
racing's growth in the West is sure to continue in 2010 – with more tracks, more
cars, more big events (like November's Fall DIRTcar Nationals which paid $15,000
to win and drew 107 cars to Jones's Southern New Mexico oval) and more
opportunities for drivers to bid for the biggest UMP DIRTcar points prizes.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Fan of February? Win FREE Hotel and Tickets to DIRTcar Nationals
CONCORD, N.C. — Dec. 18, 2009 — Are you a Fan of February? Are you already packed for the DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park, just waiting to see the superstars from the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, the Super DIRTcar Series and UMP DIRTcar Racing?
Before you go, check out your favorite Web sites to enter into a special drawing for a FREE hotel stay during the event, plus two tickets to see your favorite style of dirt racing.
You're already checking out 4m.net, Hoseheads.com, STLRacing.com or DirtTrackDigest.com for updates and information about the different types of cars that compete in the DIRTcar Nationals every February at Volusia Speedway Park. Now, click the bright red “Fan of February” links on those sites to learn how you can be entered into a drawing for a FREE hotel stay plus two tickets to the DIRTcar Nationals, which runs from Feb. 2-13. There will be four winners, one for each division of car that competes in the event — Sprint Cars, Dirt Late Models, Big-Block Modifieds and UMP DIRTcar Modifieds.
So check out 4m.net, Hoseheads.com, STLRacing.com or DirtTrackDigest.com for the links to enter the drawing.
If you've already purchased your tickets for the event you're automatically entered in the drawing so sit back and enjoy the holidays. For everybody else, the contest ends on Jan. 15, 2010, with the winners being announced on Jan. 16, 2010.
Don't delay, Volusia Speedway Park is Florida's Raciest Nightspot near Daytona Beach and you don't want to miss a minute of the action.
DIRTcar Racing To Sanction Colorado Late Model Association Series In 2010
CONCORD, NC – Dec. 14, 2009 – DIRTcar Racing will sanction the
2010 Colorado Late Model Association (CLMA) series for Super Late Models,
officials from the two organizations have announced.
The CLMA becomes the fourth Super Late Model tour to come under the DIRTcar
Racing Western Region banner since 2008, joining the Western Allstars DIRTcar
Late Model Series, Northwest I-5 DIRTcar Late Model Tour and the Southwest Dirt
Late Model Association (SWDRA) series.
“We're proud to bring the Colorado Late Model Association series under the
DIRTcar Racing umbrella in 2010,” said DIRTcar Racing Western Region director
Chris Morgan. “Sanctioning a growing series like the CLMA is another key element
of DIRTcar Racing's expansion. With the CLMA's location in the Rocky Mountain
region bordering our DIRTcar series to the east and west, we are creating a
bigger base of Super Late Model teams to draw from as we strive to create
bigger, more exciting events for the fans and racers.”
While the CLMA will remain under the direction of president (and racer) J.T.
Botts of Broomfield, Colo., all events in 2010 will offer DIRTcar
Racing-licensed drivers points toward the UMP DIRTcar Racing regional and
national standings. Drivers will have an opportunity to share in a UMP DIRTcar
Racing points fund that annually tops $200,000.
In existence since 2001, the Denver-based CLMA is coming off a 10-event 2009
season that visited I-76 Speedway in Fort Morgan, Colo., Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder
Speedway and Sweetwater Speedway in Rock Springs, Wyo. Dave Garmann of Milliken,
Colo., won the series championship for the second time in his career.
According to CLMA promotions director Cory Moul, tour officials are planning to
expand the schedule in 2010 to as many as 20 events spread over multiple
two-race weekends. He said Colorado and Wyoming will remain the epicenter of the
series, but tracks in Nebraska, Kansas and New Mexico are possible additions.
“We told everybody about the DIRTcar sanctioning during our (awards) banquet (on
Dec. 4 in Westminster, Colo.) and the response was great,” said Moul. “Everyone
with the CLMA is excited about the benefits that being part of DIRTcar will
provide – from the increased recognition and the chance to race for the UMP
DIRTcar national and regional points funds that CLMA drivers will now have, to
the increased insurance coverage that DIRTcar members receive.”
Several CLMA drivers got a preview of DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned competition last
month, competing in the inaugural Silver State DIRTcar Championships on Nov.
20-21 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Colorado contingent
included Botts, Scott Lewis (third-place finisher in the 2009 points standings),
Dean Moore (fifth in points) and Steve Lewis (ninth in points).
For more information on the CLMA, visit www.coloradolatemodel.com.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar
Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.