Evansville, IN — HOT COMPETITION: The 2008 UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals is just approaching its halfway point, but it has already been unlike any other in the tour’s 20-year history.
In fact, the opening two weeks of the grueling, month-long Super Late Model series have been one for the history books. With nine drivers making visits to RacingJunk.com Victory Lane through June 25, a new record for most different winners in the first 10 events of the Summer Nationals has been established.
For a series that has often seen one driver roll up some big win totals – guys like Billy Moyer of Batesville , Ark. , Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg , Tenn. , Don O’Neal of Martinsville , Ind. , and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua , Ill. – the 2008 edition has boasted unprecedented competition. The only driver with multiple victories after 10 events is Darren Miller of Milledgeville , Ill. , who registered back-to-back wins on June 19 at I-57/I-64 Raceway in Mt. Vernon , Ill. , and June 20 at Farmer City ( Ill. ) Raceway.
The other eight Summer Nationals winners to date include Brad Neat of Dunnville , Ky. ; Wes Steidinger of Fairbury , Ill. ; defending champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville , Ill. ; Terry English of Benton , Ky. ; Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., who recorded a career-first tour triumph on June 18 at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill.; Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich.; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.; and Moyer.
This year’s run of different winners in the first 10 series races tops the previous standard of eight, set in both 1996 and 1997. The Summer Nationals that saw the fewest different victors in the first 10 shows was 1990, when only two drivers were triumphant – Bloomquist nine times, and Moyer once.
Car counts have also been extremely strong throughout this year’s UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals, with the average field numbering 39.1. The largest gathering was 50 cars for the June 20 event at Farmer City Raceway.
A total of 148 different drivers entered at least one of the first 10 Summer Nationals events. Eleven drivers had perfect attendance through 10 programs (Shirley, Erb, Vaught, Steidinger, VanWormer, Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin , Ill. , Dewayne Kiefer of St. Genevieve, Mo., Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, Ky., Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., Tim Lance of Brimfield, Ill., and Jason McBride of Carbondale, Ill.) and six drivers had qualified for all 10 A-Mains (Shirley, Erb, Vaught, Steidinger, VanWormer and Sheppard).
The 2008 UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals A-Main winners and car counts through June 25 and remaining schedule follows:
June 12 – Thurs. – Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway/Calvert City, KY – $7,500 (Brad Neat – 40)
June 13 – Fri. – Brownstown (IN) Speedway – $10,000 (Rain – postponed to July 11)
June 14 – Sat. – Kamp Motor Speedway/Boswell, IN – $10,000 (Wes Steidinger – 36)
June 15 – Sun. – Tri-State Speedway /Haubstadt, IN – $6,000 (Dennis Erb Jr. – 39)
June 16 – Mon – OFF
June 17 – Tues. – Highland Speedway/Highland, IL – $6,000 (Terry English – 47)
June 18 – Wed. – Belle Clair Speedway/Belleville, IL – $6,000 (Will Vaught – 41)
June 19 – Thurs. – I-57/I-64 Raceway/Mt. Vernon , IL – $6,000 (Darren Miller – 37)
June 20 – Fri. – Farmer City Raceway/Farmer City, IL – $10,000 (Darren Miller – 50)
June 21 – Sat. – I-55 Raceway/ Pevely , MO – $10,000 (CANCELED – flooding)
June 22 – Sun. – Vermilion Co. Speedway/Danville, IL – $6,000 (Jeep VanWormer – 43)
June 23 – Mon. – OFF
June 24 – Tue. – Sedalia State Fair Speedway/Sedalia, MO – $6,000 (Brian Shirley – 27)
June 25 – Wed. – Lake Ozark Speedway/Eldon, MO – $6,000 (Billy Moyer – 31)
June 26 – Thurs. – Paducah Int’l Raceway/ Paducah , KY – $6,000
June 27 – Fri. – Lawrenceburg Speedway/Lawrenceburg, IN – $10,000
June 28 – Sat. – Clarksville Speedway/Clarksville, TN – $10,000
June 29 – Sun. – Lincoln Speedway/Lincoln, IL – $6,000
June 30 – Mon. – OFF
July 1 – Tue. – Peoria Speedway/Peoria, IL – $6,000
July 2 – Wed. – Morgan Co. Speedway/Jacksonville, IL – $6,000
July 3 – Thurs. – Macon Speedway/Macon, IL – $6,000
July 4 – Fri. – Tri-City Speedway/Pontoon Beach, IL – $10,000
July 5 – Sat. – Fairbury American Legion Speedway/Fairbury, IL -$10,000
July 6 – Sun. – Quad City Raceway/East Moline , IL – $6,000
July 7 – Mon. – OFF
July 8 – Tue. – Quincy (IL) Speedway – $6,000
July 9 – Wed. – Spoon River Speedway/Canton, IL – $6,000
July 10 – Thurs. – La Salle Speedway / La Salle , IL – $6,000
July 11 – Fri. – Brownstown (IN) Speedway – $10,000 (Rescheduled date)
July 12 – Sat. – Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH – $10,000
NEW LEADER: Buoyed by the car-count bonus points he’s been collecting as a UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals regular, Wes Steidinger moved into the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national points lead following last weekend’s action.
The 25-year-old talent finished second in last year’s national points battle and is focused on grabbing the title in 2008.
Clifty , Ky. ’s Randle Sweeney, meanwhile, continued his torrid pace to remain atop the UMP DIRTcar Modified national points standings. He won features last weekend at Chandler ( Ind. ) Speedway and Soggy Bottom Raceway in Morgantown , Ky. , giving him a circuit-best 19 victories – including an amazing 16 wins in his last 19 starts.
UMP DIRTcar RACING INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
ATTENTION: Any UMP DIRTcar track or race team with news that could be used in the ‘UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update’ release can e-mail the info to Kevin Kovac at kkovac@dirtcar.com.
UMP DIRTcar Racing National Points Standings (as of June 23):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Wes Steidinger 1689 26
2. Dennis Erb Jr. 1626 25
3. Mike Hammerle 1505 34
4. Jason Feger 1446 25
5. Michael Kloos 1415 29
6. Steve Sheppard Jr. 1370 26
7. Ryan Unzicker 1307 32
8. Rusty Schlenk 1213 24
9. Ed Dixon 1117 22
10. Billy Moyer 1110 14
11. Brian Shirley 1094 18
12. Jason McBride 1060 31
13. Mike Schulte 1017 24
14. Jeep VanWormer 1003 17
15. Scott Bull 968 20
16. Kevin Weaver 956 22
17. Rusty Griffaw 953 21
18. Brian Diveley 945 23
19. Kerry Mathew 942 22
20. Chris Shelton 910 20
Open-Wheel Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Randle Sweeney 2208 29
2. Tim Hancock 2056 32
3. Kent Robinson 2040 31
4. Jeff Leka 1759 25
5. Chad Evans 1691 32
6. Gary Cook Jr. 16 44 26
7. Anthony Madrid 1543 22
8. Denny Schwartz 1523 26
9. Mike Spatola 1394 24
10. McKay Wenger 1366 26
11. Jon Henry 1327 22
12. Rob Fuqua 1315 23
13. Jason Noll 1256 22
14. John DeMoss 1254 20
15. Bobby Martintoni 1235 19
16. Matt Boknecht 1222 18
17. Clayton Miller 1217 21
18. Clint DeMoss 1164 20
19. Danny Schwartz 1163 20
20. Chad Osterhoff 1160 21
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 1328 18
2. Kevin Hardin 1241 21
3. Jason Jones 1136 23
4. Josh Harris 1124 19
5. Caleb Ashby 1111 20
6. Levi Ashby 1095 21
7. Phil Gregory 945 18
8. Carnell Parker 924 13
9. Brad Denney 750 10
10. Matt Liner 727 13
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jeremy Hines 1224 19
2. Brad Cummings 1207 20
3. Chris Hillman 1200 19
4. Derrick Hufford 1181 19
5. Troy Clark 1154 21
6. Jimmy Cummins 1133 23
8. Jeff Herzog 1097 19
9. Stephanie Lebrun 899 16
10. Jason Unzicker 878 16
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jonathan Clayton 1055 15
2. Alex Ashley 757 12
3. Derek Brooks 659 10
4. Brandon Buhler 658 10
5. Eric Adkins 641 10
6. Zach Dennis 606 10
7. John Paul Talkington 605 10
8. Matthew Holmes 598 10
9. Rob Madrid 595 9
10. Dustin Shoemaker 554 10
Street Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Travis Myers 1191 18
2. Jerrad Krick 1139 16
3. Dave Mannise 1110 17
4. Chris Fisher 1083 18
5. Josh Griffith 1036 17
6. Lee Hall 1025 18
7. David Hurst 1012 15
8. Steve Ewing 947 17
9. Jon Wix 901 15
10. Randy Arnold 898 17
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Mickey Hines 769 12
2. William Burton 747 12
3. Jim Scout 630 7
4. Casey Crane 619 9
5. Clay Ellison 612 13
6. Chris Henry 593 7
7. Josh Phelps 582 11
8. Donnie Wilson 569 11
9. Bill Moore 560 11
10. Willie Sallee 549 11
4-Cylinders (driver/points/races):
1. Joe Reed 1435 20
2. Keaton Downing 1113 18
3. Jeffery Bailey 1095 18
4. Michael Rittenberry 1022 16
5. Bob Zbinden 999 15
6. Daniel Stephens 905 15
7. Michael Perrigo 877 14
8. Jeff Rittenberry 871 13
9. James Lovelady 771 14
10. Travis Staats 738 11