EVANSVILLE, IN – Nov. 13, 2007 – The unfortunate side of a dramatic, razor-close championship points battle is that there will probably be a loser.
In 2007 that fate befell Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., who came up a mere four points short in one of the tightest national points races in the history of the UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified division.
Leka, 41, led all UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified drivers in 2007 with 27 feature wins during the points season (29 overall), but the lofty total wasn’t enough to bring him a first career national title. He finished second in the points standings to Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, Ill., who captured 18 features but accumulated four more points (2,517-2,513) than Leka.
Despite losing a $20,000 title that was literally in doubt until the last circuit of the points-season finale – the 25-lap UMP DIRTcar Racing Fall Nationals on Oct. 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio – the preternaturally positive Leka showed no disappointment.
“There’s no reason to hang our heads,” asserted Leka, “because we’ve been fast all year.”
Indeed, Leka’s distinctive Bob Pierce Race Cars/Hovis Racing Engines No. 3L was blazing fast in ’07. He dominated the action at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (winning 11 features en route to his fourth consecutive championship at his Friday-night home), but he was no one-track wonder. Leka won at 13 other racetracks in four states, including Illinois’s Lincoln Speedway (five wins), Fairbury American Legion Speedway (two wins), Macon Speedway, Highland Speedway, Spoon River Speedway, Morgan County Speedway, Kankakee Motor Speedway and La Salle Speedway; Indiana’s Shady Hill Speedway and Lawrenceburg Speedway; Kentucky’s Paducah International Raceway and Western Kentucky Speedway; and Missouri’s I-55 Raceway.
All the visits to Victory Lane couldn’t get Leka a firm grip on the UMP DIRTcar Racing national points lead, however. After swapping the top spot in the standings with Schwartz several times during the late-summer and early-fall, he entered Eldora’s deciding Fall Nationals weekend trailing Schwartz by two points.
Under the UMP DIRTcar Racing points system, the national open-wheel Modified champ is determined using a driver’s best 35 finishes/points nights with an emphasis on car counts. A field of 21 cars provides one bonus point for each finishing position, with a one-point-per-car increase up to a maximum of 20 bonus points for fields numbering 40 or more.
Schwartz gained his slight advantage on Leka thanks to performing well in some events with higher car counts, but the title was still up for grabs in Eldora’s $3,000-to-win open-wheel Modified A-Main. If Leka could win the feature with Schwartz finishing outside the top four, the championship would belong to Leka by two points. Beyond that, the points would end in a tie if Leka won and Schwartz finished fourth or if Leka placed second and Schwartz couldn’t crack the top four.
The title battle in the Fall Nationals appeared to be a moot point after Leka qualified through a B-Main and Schwartz had to use a points provisional to start the A-Main because he experienced an assortment of problems during preliminary action.
But Leka refused to go down without swinging. Mired with the 20th starting spot, he made a breathtaking charge forward, reaching second place behind Scott Orr by lap 11. With Schwartz having just cracked the top 10 at that point and battling an ailing engine to boot, Leka’s hopes suddenly appeared bright.
Alas, Leka couldn’t pull off a pass of Orr and had to settle for second place – and Schwartz made a valiant late-race assault of his own to finish third and hold on for his second career UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified national points crown.
“I looked up at the scoreboard once and seen we were second and I didn’t know where Denny was, so I thought we might have a shot at pulling it out,” Leka said after the race. “But then I got in the cushion and packed the right-rear (wheel) full of mud. The car started vibrating, and after that I couldn’t slide-job Scotty without getting into him.
“I wasn’t gonna get into Scotty to win the race, so I said, ‘Well, let’s take our stuff home in one piece, and if we don’t win the points, we don’t win the points.’”
Leka didn’t win the UMP DIRTcar Racing national open-wheel Modified championship, the one honor that has proved elusive for a driver who has arguably been the Midwest’s biggest Modified star for the past decade. He has won over 200 features in the span, but his national points finishes include second (2004), third (1998), fourth (2006) and fifth (2003 and 2005).
“I’ve got second-place trophies, and third-place trophies, and fourth-place trophies, but I haven’t won it,” said Leka. “I don’t have that first-place trophy.
“But you know what? If I don’t win it, I won’t lose no sleep over it. Because, man, the stuff we did this year, to me, it’s a lot. Me, my wife, my kids, my guys – we all had fun this year. I’m a mechanic at my brother-in-law’s (auto repair) shop, and I feel fortunate to be able to do what we do.”
Leka, a former winner of the UMP DIRTcar Racing Sportsman of the Year Award, is a steely-eyed competitor, but he won’t let an unsuccessful title pursuit tear him up inside.
“I like to race. I like to compete. I like pressure,” said the approachable Leka. “You give me a challenge, and I’m gonna go to my fullest to get it done, but I’m not gonna get all worked up about it.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and this points deal wasn’t nerve-racking to me. When we won the (NASCAR) Winston Racing Series national championship (in 1999) that paid $150,000 – now that was nerve-racking.
“Like I told everybody – we’re not gonna drag our heads because we didn’t win the UMP championship,” he added. “We walked in smiling, and we’re gonna walk out smiling. We wish it would’ve turned out better for us, but that’s the way it is.”
Schwartz noted after clinching the title that he wouldn’t have minded finishing the national points in a tie with Leka, and Leka felt similarly.
“I think it would’ve been neat as heck if we tied,” said Leka, who did tie Schwartz for the UMP DIRTcar Racing North Region points title and won the Illinois State points outright. “There’s never been a tie, so we would’ve been the first ones. We could’ve put the $20,000 (for first place) and $10,000 (for second place) together and split it, and we both would’ve been happy.”
Regardless, Leka was happy he battled to the wire with a driver he deeply respects.
“Everybody thinks me and Denny don’t like each other, but we get along,” Leka said of Schwartz. “Denny calls me, I call Denny. Hell, last year I ran his car when mine broke.
“Everybody thinks that when you go to the racetrack and you see Denny Schwartz and Jeff Leka – man, there’s gonna be a battle! Well, we’ll put a show on for you, but we’ll put a clean show on for you. We’ll slide-job each other, and we won’t take each other out.
“That’s what it’s all about. When you can race a guy like that, and put a show on for the fans, people appreciate it.”
Leka will be back behind the wheel of his UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified in 2008, racing side-by-side with Schwartz for plenty of wins and making another run at that national title.
“We ran the Late Models for a long time and won track championships,” said Leka, a solid supporter of the UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified class. “But I just could never compete with guys like Bloomer (Scott Bloomquist), Moyer (Billy Moyer) – those big guys – in the big shows.
“This here, (UMP) Modified racing, we can afford to do it. I’m not one to take away from the house (and family) to go racing. With the Modified I don’t do that, and we can still go to a $5,000 (to win) Modified race and hopefully we’re gonna be running for a spot in the top five.”
And a UMP DIRTcar Racing national title, too.
“Next year we’re gonna try again to win it,” said Leka. “If it happens, we’ll be happy. If it doesn’t, we’ll just try again.”
For more information about UMP DIRTcar Racing, visit www.umpracing.com.
2007 UMP DIRTcar Racing Open-Wheel Modified Top 20 Feature Winners List (UMP DIRTcar members only):
1. Jeff Leka 27
2. Randle Sweeney 21
3. Clayton Miller 20
4. Denny Schwartz 18
5. Brian Bielong 16
6. Danny Schwartz 14
7. John McCaul 14
8. Andy Sprague 13
9. Brent Londeree 13
10. Bub Patrick 12
11. Shelby Miles 12
11. Dean Hoffman 12
13. Ben Stephens 11
14. Doug Adkins 11
15. Scott Orr 10
15. Bill Lewis 10
15. Gregg Hollingsworth 10
18. Bobby Martintoni 9
18. Jesse Cramer 9
20. Ken Schrader 8
20. Shane Hebert 8
20. Mike Harrison 8
In 2007 that fate befell Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., who came up a mere four points short in one of the tightest national points races in the history of the UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified division.
Leka, 41, led all UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified drivers in 2007 with 27 feature wins during the points season (29 overall), but the lofty total wasn’t enough to bring him a first career national title. He finished second in the points standings to Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, Ill., who captured 18 features but accumulated four more points (2,517-2,513) than Leka.
Despite losing a $20,000 title that was literally in doubt until the last circuit of the points-season finale – the 25-lap UMP DIRTcar Racing Fall Nationals on Oct. 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio – the preternaturally positive Leka showed no disappointment.
“There’s no reason to hang our heads,” asserted Leka, “because we’ve been fast all year.”
Indeed, Leka’s distinctive Bob Pierce Race Cars/Hovis Racing Engines No. 3L was blazing fast in ’07. He dominated the action at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (winning 11 features en route to his fourth consecutive championship at his Friday-night home), but he was no one-track wonder. Leka won at 13 other racetracks in four states, including Illinois’s Lincoln Speedway (five wins), Fairbury American Legion Speedway (two wins), Macon Speedway, Highland Speedway, Spoon River Speedway, Morgan County Speedway, Kankakee Motor Speedway and La Salle Speedway; Indiana’s Shady Hill Speedway and Lawrenceburg Speedway; Kentucky’s Paducah International Raceway and Western Kentucky Speedway; and Missouri’s I-55 Raceway.
All the visits to Victory Lane couldn’t get Leka a firm grip on the UMP DIRTcar Racing national points lead, however. After swapping the top spot in the standings with Schwartz several times during the late-summer and early-fall, he entered Eldora’s deciding Fall Nationals weekend trailing Schwartz by two points.
Under the UMP DIRTcar Racing points system, the national open-wheel Modified champ is determined using a driver’s best 35 finishes/points nights with an emphasis on car counts. A field of 21 cars provides one bonus point for each finishing position, with a one-point-per-car increase up to a maximum of 20 bonus points for fields numbering 40 or more.
Schwartz gained his slight advantage on Leka thanks to performing well in some events with higher car counts, but the title was still up for grabs in Eldora’s $3,000-to-win open-wheel Modified A-Main. If Leka could win the feature with Schwartz finishing outside the top four, the championship would belong to Leka by two points. Beyond that, the points would end in a tie if Leka won and Schwartz finished fourth or if Leka placed second and Schwartz couldn’t crack the top four.
The title battle in the Fall Nationals appeared to be a moot point after Leka qualified through a B-Main and Schwartz had to use a points provisional to start the A-Main because he experienced an assortment of problems during preliminary action.
But Leka refused to go down without swinging. Mired with the 20th starting spot, he made a breathtaking charge forward, reaching second place behind Scott Orr by lap 11. With Schwartz having just cracked the top 10 at that point and battling an ailing engine to boot, Leka’s hopes suddenly appeared bright.
Alas, Leka couldn’t pull off a pass of Orr and had to settle for second place – and Schwartz made a valiant late-race assault of his own to finish third and hold on for his second career UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified national points crown.
“I looked up at the scoreboard once and seen we were second and I didn’t know where Denny was, so I thought we might have a shot at pulling it out,” Leka said after the race. “But then I got in the cushion and packed the right-rear (wheel) full of mud. The car started vibrating, and after that I couldn’t slide-job Scotty without getting into him.
“I wasn’t gonna get into Scotty to win the race, so I said, ‘Well, let’s take our stuff home in one piece, and if we don’t win the points, we don’t win the points.’”
Leka didn’t win the UMP DIRTcar Racing national open-wheel Modified championship, the one honor that has proved elusive for a driver who has arguably been the Midwest’s biggest Modified star for the past decade. He has won over 200 features in the span, but his national points finishes include second (2004), third (1998), fourth (2006) and fifth (2003 and 2005).
“I’ve got second-place trophies, and third-place trophies, and fourth-place trophies, but I haven’t won it,” said Leka. “I don’t have that first-place trophy.
“But you know what? If I don’t win it, I won’t lose no sleep over it. Because, man, the stuff we did this year, to me, it’s a lot. Me, my wife, my kids, my guys – we all had fun this year. I’m a mechanic at my brother-in-law’s (auto repair) shop, and I feel fortunate to be able to do what we do.”
Leka, a former winner of the UMP DIRTcar Racing Sportsman of the Year Award, is a steely-eyed competitor, but he won’t let an unsuccessful title pursuit tear him up inside.
“I like to race. I like to compete. I like pressure,” said the approachable Leka. “You give me a challenge, and I’m gonna go to my fullest to get it done, but I’m not gonna get all worked up about it.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and this points deal wasn’t nerve-racking to me. When we won the (NASCAR) Winston Racing Series national championship (in 1999) that paid $150,000 – now that was nerve-racking.
“Like I told everybody – we’re not gonna drag our heads because we didn’t win the UMP championship,” he added. “We walked in smiling, and we’re gonna walk out smiling. We wish it would’ve turned out better for us, but that’s the way it is.”
Schwartz noted after clinching the title that he wouldn’t have minded finishing the national points in a tie with Leka, and Leka felt similarly.
“I think it would’ve been neat as heck if we tied,” said Leka, who did tie Schwartz for the UMP DIRTcar Racing North Region points title and won the Illinois State points outright. “There’s never been a tie, so we would’ve been the first ones. We could’ve put the $20,000 (for first place) and $10,000 (for second place) together and split it, and we both would’ve been happy.”
Regardless, Leka was happy he battled to the wire with a driver he deeply respects.
“Everybody thinks me and Denny don’t like each other, but we get along,” Leka said of Schwartz. “Denny calls me, I call Denny. Hell, last year I ran his car when mine broke.
“Everybody thinks that when you go to the racetrack and you see Denny Schwartz and Jeff Leka – man, there’s gonna be a battle! Well, we’ll put a show on for you, but we’ll put a clean show on for you. We’ll slide-job each other, and we won’t take each other out.
“That’s what it’s all about. When you can race a guy like that, and put a show on for the fans, people appreciate it.”
Leka will be back behind the wheel of his UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified in 2008, racing side-by-side with Schwartz for plenty of wins and making another run at that national title.
“We ran the Late Models for a long time and won track championships,” said Leka, a solid supporter of the UMP DIRTcar Racing open-wheel Modified class. “But I just could never compete with guys like Bloomer (Scott Bloomquist), Moyer (Billy Moyer) – those big guys – in the big shows.
“This here, (UMP) Modified racing, we can afford to do it. I’m not one to take away from the house (and family) to go racing. With the Modified I don’t do that, and we can still go to a $5,000 (to win) Modified race and hopefully we’re gonna be running for a spot in the top five.”
And a UMP DIRTcar Racing national title, too.
“Next year we’re gonna try again to win it,” said Leka. “If it happens, we’ll be happy. If it doesn’t, we’ll just try again.”
For more information about UMP DIRTcar Racing, visit www.umpracing.com.
2007 UMP DIRTcar Racing Open-Wheel Modified Top 20 Feature Winners List (UMP DIRTcar members only):
1. Jeff Leka 27
2. Randle Sweeney 21
3. Clayton Miller 20
4. Denny Schwartz 18
5. Brian Bielong 16
6. Danny Schwartz 14
7. John McCaul 14
8. Andy Sprague 13
9. Brent Londeree 13
10. Bub Patrick 12
11. Shelby Miles 12
11. Dean Hoffman 12
13. Ben Stephens 11
14. Doug Adkins 11
15. Scott Orr 10
15. Bill Lewis 10
15. Gregg Hollingsworth 10
18. Bobby Martintoni 9
18. Jesse Cramer 9
20. Ken Schrader 8
20. Shane Hebert 8
20. Mike Harrison 8
