(NORRIS CITY, ILLINOIS) The Riggs Motorsports team and driver Tanner English celebrated in victory lane on Thursday, June 23 at Spoon River Speedway in Banner, Illinois to headline a busy five-race week! In DIRTcar Summer Nationals time trials, Tanner stopped the clock fourth quickest in his group during qualifying prior to running third in his stacked heat race. The Benton, Kentucky ace then started the 40-lap feature from the outside of the fifth row and immediately pointed his new #81E entry towards the front of the stellar field. Tanner then took advantage of leader Cade Dillard’s mechanical woes to lead the final two circuits in bagging the $5,000 payday ahead of runner-up Bobby Pierce, Max Blair, Ryan Unzicker, and Brian Shirley!
In other action during the hectic week, Tanner entered a similar $5,000 to win “Hell Tour” battle on Wednesday at Adams County Speedway in Quincy, Illinois. After finishing fourth in his heat race, he was able to advance past a trio of competitors during the 40-lapper to land in the twelfth finishing position. Over the weekend in the inaugural ‘St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff’ at Federated Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri, a pair of Summer Nationals / World of Outlaws Case Construction Late Model Series co-sanctioned showdowns were held at the St. Louis-area facility. In Friday’s $10,000 to win weekend opener, Tanner ran seventh in his heat race, third in his B-Main, and fifteenth in the 40-lap main event. With a $20,000 top prize up for grabs on Saturday, Tanner finished sixth in his heat race and won his B-Main prior to blasting all the way up to sixth in the 55-lap affair.
The action-packed week then came to a close on Sunday with stop at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois, as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presided over a $10,000 to win throwdown. Tanner laid down the fifteenth quickest lap overall during the qualifying session and later placed fourth in his heat race. After rolling off from the outside of the sixth row in the 40-lap ‘Wild Man Kelly Classic,’ Tanner steered past eight racecars to close out the week with an impressive fourth place showing behind only victor Brandon Sheppard, Shannon Babb, and Shane Clanton. He still finds himself third in the latest version of the WOOLMS point standings – 170 markers behind current leader Dennis Erb, Jr. Complete results from all five races can be viewed by pointing your web browser to www.dirtcarsummernationals.com and www.woolms.com.
“We had an up-and-down week overall, but it sure felt great to get that win on Thursday at Spoon River,” quoted English yesterday in a telephone conversation. “We debuted a new (Longhorn) car and tweaked on it and it was on point there in the feature. I think it’s going to be a good car for us, but we just need to learn what adjustments to make and when to make them. All week, we just got buried deep in the starting field for the features and had to pass a bunch of cars. Hopefully, we can get our qualifying and heat race program a little better, which sets you up for a better chance at being successful in the main event. But thanks to all of the Riggs family for believing in me, as well as all of our great sponsors and product supporters!”
Another busy week is on tap for Riggs Motorsports from June 28-July 2, as the DIRTcar Summer Nationals tour snakes through the states of Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Jack Riggs is slated to make his Super Late Model debut later tonight at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Illinois. With only a few handfuls of Crate Late Model starts under his belt, Jack will battle the “Hell Tour” foes for the $5,000 winner’s check tonight at the newly reopened facility in the Land of Lincoln.
From there, both Jack and Tanner English will be in action on Thursday in a $10,000 to win program at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, Illinois. Jason Riggs will then join teammates Jack Riggs and Tanner English over the weekend in similar $10,000 to win events at both Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, Kentucky on Friday and on Saturday at Clarksville Speedway in Clarksville, Tennessee. All of the Summer Nationals competition this week will once again be broadcast LIVE on DIRTVision. You can keep up on the “Hell Tour” all summer long online at www.dirtcarsummernationals.com.
Riggs Motorsports would like to thank the following group of sponsors and partners for their continued support: Riggs Drilling Solutions, Haas Horizontal, Best One Tire & Auto Care, Lents Towing & Recovery, Seay Motors, Holbrook Metal Fabrication, Base Racing Fuel, Allstar Performance, XR1 Rocket Chassis, Slicker Graphics, Wiles Racing Driveshafts, Swift Springs, Hoosier Racing Tires, Pro Power Racing Engines, Jay D1ckens Racing Engines, Budda Bert Transmissions, Speedwerx, Peterson Fluid Systems, Performance Rod & Custom (PRC), Performance Bodies, Multi-Fire Spark Plug Wires, Winning Edge Carburetion, Hooker Harness, Wilwood Engineering, QuickCar Racing Products, Impact Race Gear, and Peterson Fluid Systems.
Keep up with Riggs Motorsports all year long by logging onto www.RiggsMotorsports81.com or follow the team on social media – Facebook @RiggsMotorsports, Twitter @rmsports81, and Instagram @jasonriggs81.
Media Contact: Ryan Delph – Delph Communications