The JHA Motorsports team opted out of coming to Fairbury Speedway for the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals’ most recent visit last month. This time around, they’re walking out as Feature winners.
Will Krup took the lead from Jeff Leka on Lap 17 and never looked back, scoring the $1,500 check and his third career Summit Modifieds victory at a track that’s presented him challenges in the past.
“This track’s always been kinda rude to me, but to end up here in Victory Lane, that’s huge,” Krup said. “We’ve kinda had some bad luck here in the last couple weeks, but this feels good to finally put one together and actually end up in Victory Lane.”
Leka shot out to the race lead in the opening laps before receiving a big challenge down low by Krup. The lead changed hands once, then back again between the two before Krup was able to maintain his pass for the lead on Lap 17.
Using the very bottom of the track, Krup was able to hold the great speed and control and actually open up a bit of a gap in the closing laps on fellow Elite Chassis pilot Nick Hoffman and six-time Summit Modified champion Mike Harrison.
Hoffman crossed the line in second, coming all the way from his 10th-place starting spot to keep his streak going of finishes no worse than second throughout the tour. Mike Harrison rounded out the podium while Tyler Peterson and Mike McKinney capped-off the top-five.
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals next take on the “Mighty” Macon Speedway Thursday night, Aug. 13, as part of the Herald & Review 100 event for the DIRTcar Summer Nationals. Catch all the action on DIRTVision presented by Drydene.
Qualifying Flight-A
1. 59R-Jacob Rexing, 13.97; 2. 35H-Jason Hastings, 14.081; 3. 25W-Allen Weisser, 14.102; 4. 7-Nick Hoffman, 14.179; 5. 69SR-Jim Farris, 14.271; 6. 3W-Dylan Woodling, 14.387; 7. O-Travis Kohler, 14.414; 8. 1L-Dave Lilja, 14.496; 9. 17H-Scott Hauge, 14.642
Qualifying Flight-B
1. 3L-Jeff Leka, 14.074; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger, 14.101; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, 14.187; 4. 96M-Mike McKinney, 14.221; 5. 34W-James Walters, 14.244; 6. 14-Rick Conoyer, 14.263; 7. 27C-Justin Cundiff, 14.431; 8. 35-Ethan Weber, 14.941
Qualifying Flight-C
1. 24H-Mike Harrison, 13.97; 2. K19-Will Krup, 14.068; 3. 64-Dawson Cook, 14.115; 4. 37L-Michael Ledford, 14.184; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie, 14.209; 6. 36-Kenny Wallace, 14.349; 7. 11S-Nick Seplak, 14.54; 8. 12-Richard Craven, 14.781
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 9 Transfer
1. 35H-Jason Hastings [2]; 2. 25W-Allen Weisser [3]; 3. 59R-Jacob Rexing [1]; 4. 7-Nick Hoffman [4]; 5. 69SR-Jim Farris [5]; 6. 3W-Dylan Woodling [6]; 7. 1L-Dave Lilja [8]; 8. O-Travis Kohler [7]; 9. 17H-Scott Hauge [9]
Heat #2 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 9 Transfer
1. 3L-Jeff Leka [1]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger [2]; 3. 34W-James Walters [5]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson [3]; 5. 14-Rick Conoyer [6]; 6. 27C-Justin Cundiff [7]; 7. 35-Ethan Weber [8]; 8. 96M-Mike McKinney [4]
Heat #3 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 9 Transfer
1. K19-Will Krup [2]; 2. 64-Dawson Cook [3]; 3. 24H-Mike Harrison [1]; 4. 36-Kenny Wallace [6]; 5. 37L-Michael Ledford [4]; 6. 11S-Nick Seplak [7]; 7. 24-Zeke McKenzie [5]; 8. 12-Richard Craven [8]
Feature (25 Laps)
1. K19-Will Krup [2][]; 2. 7-Nick Hoffman [10][]; 3. 24H-Mike Harrison [9][]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson [11][]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney [23][]; 6. 3L-Jeff Leka [3][]; 7. 25W-Allen Weisser [4][]; 8. 34W-James Walters [8][]; 9. 77-Ray Bollinger [5][]; 10. 36-Kenny Wallace [12][]; 11. 64-Dawson Cook [6][]; 12. 14-Rick Conoyer [14][]; 13. 37L-Michael Ledford [15][]; 14. O-Travis Kohler [22][]; 15. 27C-Justin Cundiff [17][]; 16. 35-Ethan Weber [20][]; 17. 12-Richard Craven [24][]; 18. 59R-Jacob Rexing [7][]; 19. 24-Zeke McKenzie [21][]; 20. 3W-Dylan Woodling [16][]; 21. 69SR-Jim Farris [13][]; 22. 1L-Dave Lilja [19][]; 23. 35H-Jason Hastings [1][]; 24. 11S-Nick Seplak [18][]; 25. 17H-Scott Hauge [25][]
KSE Hard Charger Award: 96M-Mike McKinney[+18]