Jason Feger
Jason Hastings
David Hurst
by Paul D. Bayne - Kankakee County Speedway Public Relations
(KANKAKEE, IL - August 14) He's known as "The High Side Hustler", and for good reason. Take away the high groove of the racetrack and you might have a sporting chance. However, that wasn't the case Friday night in front of another packed house at Kankakee County Speedway as Bloomington's Jason Feger overtook early point man Dennis Erb Jr. by the tenth circuit and went on to cruise to an easy $2,000 Monster Midwest Series triumph. The victory was the fourth consecutive for Feger in his Rhyne powered / Bob Pierce Race Car and officially served notice to the two-time defending UMP National Champion Erb that he is here to stay and has no intentions of going away any time soon. And while Erb finished a distant second, he had to have been second guessing his tire choice and wishing the race was only 30 laps in length after Feger powered by and vanished as the final 38 laps of the 40-lap affair went green flag racing. "I came out with a harder (rubber compound) tire and when they got hot, I could put that car anywhere I wanted it," Feger said, after notching his fourth feature win in a row. "It makes it a lot easier to go through lapped traffic when you use any part of the track." In fact Feger lapped up to the ninth place car of series point leader Eric Smith, also of Bloomington. Chasing Erb to the stripe were Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Mike Provenzano of Aurora, and Kevin Weaver of Gibson City, who debuted a brand new orange John Hollifield prepared and owned Rocket Chassis. Rounding out the top ten were Joe Harlan, Alan Mondus, Frank Heckenast Jr., Smith, and track points leader Aaron Ricketts. Mondus made his first ever appearance at Kankakeea memorable one, making the tow from Lakeville, MN as part of a two race weekend with the Monster Midwest Series. The fifteenth starting Modus earned the FastLane Web DeZign Hard Charger award for improving his position eight spots.
Heat races were won by Feger, Erb, and Unzicker, while Gary Schalmo claimed the consolation win. Feger was also fastest amongst the 26 entries tripping the timing light at 13.913 seconds, the only car to crack the 14 second barrier.
In UMP Modified action, pole sitter Vince Cooper of Morris, looked to have things under control until another Jason took to the high side to run down the leader. Kankakee's own Jason Hastings powered his Pro Powered / Bob Pierce Race Car past Cooper around the top side of turn four with three laps remaining, then gradually moved down the track in turn two to keep Cooper at bay over the final two circuits. For Hastings, who started fifth it was his first win in several seasons. Dave Porth of Gardner came home third followed by Jim Farris of Odell, who started fifteenth, and Mike Spatola of Manhattan. Rounding out the top ten were newlywed George Aimone, Phil Line, Kevin Hastings, Tommy Kroll, and Nick Allen.
Heat races were won by Cooper, Aimone, and point leader Gary Cook Jr., while Steve McCarty picked up the consi win. Cook Jr., who also came into the night also leading the UMP National points was running third when he developed a misfire in the motor. After several laps of unsuccessfully rectifying the problem, Cook Jr. took his mount pit side for the night and was officially credited with 19th-place. Twenty-six cars were entered in the modified division. For the second race in a row, Kankakee's Kevin Hastings earned the FastLane Web DeZign Hard Charger award for improving his position twelve spots.
Thirty-three UMP Street Stocks entered tonight's action, however it continues to be a battle to the finish between national point leader Rick Thomas of Dwight, Lafayette's (IN) David Hurst, and Joel Funk, also of Dwight. Starting from the pole, Hurst would lead every lap of the 15-lap event and was never seriously challenged for the top spot. Darrin Kohler of Chebanse snuck around Thomas for second and closed the gap on Hurst, but would run out of time and laps. Thomas meanwhile, had his hands full just hanging onto the third spot from his step-son Funk, while mixing it up with lapped traffic in the closing laps. Eric Gaus of Herscher continues to show promise as he rounded out the top five. Heat races were garnered by Hurst, Thomas, Kohler, and Gaus, while Joe Hillman picked up consi honors. While there is no award for the driver who travels the farthest or fastest, pilot Jeff Riley flew in late Friday afternoon from Napa Valley, CA, and with no practice laps on the car, earned the FastLane Web DeZign Hard Charger award for improving his position eight spots.
Race fans be sure to come on out and join us with your families next Friday night, August 21st, as U-Pull-It Self Serve Auto Parts of Chicago Heights and Miller Hydraulic Services of Manteno present a Full show of racing plus the Hornets. Also on tap will be the Kids Big Wheel races (ages 3-4 & 5-7) and Foot races (ages 8-9 & 10-12) for both boys and girls sponsored by Court Street Ford Collision Center, Kankakee City Police, Haigh Quarry, and Kankakee Chamber of Commerce. Also be sure to visit the Kids Korner page of our website to print out & color a picture of your favorite race car driver. All pictures will be posted at the main concession stand. Lastly, kids keep your eye out for one of your favorite characters as Dora The Explorer makes her first ever visit to the Kankakee County Speedway sponsored in part by FastLane Web DeZign, Simply Suspension, and Kankakee Speedway Promotions.
Adult admission is just $12, with Kids ages 11-22 just $4 with Student I.D. Children 10 & Under are always FREE. Pit admission is $25 for this event.
Pit gates open at 3PM, with Main Grandstands opening at 5PM. Hotlaps at 6PM, Qualifying at 630PM, and Racing at 730PM.
Watch for $2 OFF discount coupons on our website and in this week's Daily-Journal. For more information, visit our website at www.kankakeecountyspeedway.com or call 815-935-9000.
Summary of Results, Kankakee County Speedway, August 14th
Monster Midwest Series Late Models $2,000 to win
26 Late Models
Fast Time Feger 13.913
Heat 1
1. 25 Feger
2. 9 Smith
3. 0 Hedrick
4. 55 Toczek
5. 11 Dimmick
6. 1W Walden
7. 23jr Funk
8. 7T Thorsten
9. 43 Gendusa
Heat 2
1. 28 Erb
2. 99JR Heckenast Jr.
3. B12 Weaver
4. 99SR Heckenast Sr.
5. 99J Dehm
6. 05 Schalmo
7. S36 Schultz
8. 10H Hilleary
9. 42 Casey - no start
Heat 3
1. 24 Unzicker
2. M27 Provenzano
3. 95 Ricketts
4. Z Harlan
5. 55M Mondus
6. 45 Busch
7. 14 Thompson
8. 77M Morris
Consi
1. 05 Gary Schalmo
2. 45 Zach Busch
3. 23jr Joel Funk
4. S36 Matt Schultz
5. 7T Steve Thorsten
6. 10H Don Hilleary
7. 43 Allen Gendusa
8. 14 Glenn Thompson
9. 1W Donny Walden - no start
10. 77M Jay Morris - no start
11. 42 Terry Casey - no start
FEATURE (40-laps)
1. 25 Jason Feger (3)
2. 28 Dennis Erb (4)
3. 24 Ryan Unzicker (2)
4. M27 Mike Provenzano (5)
5. B12 Kevin Weaver (8)
6. Z Joe Harlan (12)
7. 55M Alan Mondus (15)
8. 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr. (1)
9. 9 Eric Smith (6)
10. 95 Aaron Ricketts (9)
11. 11 Steve Dimmick (13)
12. 99J Jimmy Dehm (14)
13. 99SR Frank Heckenast Sr. (11)
14. S36 Matt Schultz (19)
15. 7T Steve Thorsten (20)
16. 23jr Joel Funk (18)
17. 55 Shawn Toczek (10)
18. 0 Richie Hedrick (7)
19. 45 Zach Busch (17)
20. 05 Gary Schalmo (16)
FastLane Web Design Hard Charger Award - Alan Mondus
26 Modifieds
Heat 1
1. 70 Cooper
2. 21JR McCoy
3. 36L Lomax
4. 5J Johnson
5. 57 Grosvenor
6. 7 Klopp
7. 17 Martin
8. 06 Kortge
9. 36 K. Hastings
Heat 2
1. G4 Aimone
2. 35 J. Hastings
3. 21A Allen
4. 89 Spatola
5. 1K Kroll
6. 83 Balensiefen
7. 41 McCarty
8. 20 Dixon
9. 64X Klingbell
Heat 3
1. 64 Cook Jr.
2. 25P Porth
3. 63 Coleman
4. 66 Line
5. 69 Farris
6. 52 Porth
7. 7K Myszkiewicz
8. 5o Todd
Consi
1. 41 Steve McCarty
2. 36 Kevin Hastings
3. 7K Kevin Myszkiewicz
4. 06 Ryan Kortge
5. 17 Neil Martin
6. 5o Mike Todd
7. 20 AJ Dixon
8. 64X Bill Klingbell
FEATURE (20-laps)
1. 35 Jason Hastings (5)
2. 70 Vince Cooper (1)
3. 25P Dave Porth (6)
4. 69 Jim Farris (15)
5. 89 Mike Spatola (11)
6. G4 George Aimone (2)
7. 66 Phil Line (12)
8. 36 Kevin Hastings (20)
9. 1K Tommy Kroll (14)
10. 21A Nick Allen (8)
11. 83 Nathan Balensiefen (17)
12. 63 Calvin Coleman (9)
13. 52 Mike Porth (18)
14. 41 Steve McCarty (19)
15. 21JR Justin McCoy (4)
16. 57 Mark Grosvenor (13)
17. 5J Jeremy Johnson (10)
18. 7 Jason Klopp (16)
19. 64 Gary Cook Jr. (3)
20. 36L Jamie Lomax (7)
FastLane Web Design Hard Charger Award - Kevin Hastings
33 Sreet Stocks
Heat 1
1. 8 Hurst
2. 55 Wicker
3. 96 Malone
4. B13 Peters
5. 92 Riley
6. 21 Jankowicz
7. 240R Woodruff
8. 70H Huffman
9. 64 Richardson
Heat 2
1. 23T Rhomas
2. 23JR Funk
3. 6 Hamilton
4. 1W Wirtz
5. 12 Steveson
6. J01 Hillamn
7. 0 Miller
8. 70x McCarty
Heat 3
1. 21 Kohler
2. 43 Hubert
3. V7 Montalta
4. 03 Bluer
5. 46 Kroll
6. 23 Hemp
7. 10 Franks
8. 94 Lewis
Heat 4
1. 15G Gaus
2. V17 McCarty
3. 16 Turner
4. 99 Payton
5. 52 Kingsnorth
6. 33G Gaus
7. 68 Thompson
8. 18 Billingsley
Consi
1. J01 Joe Hillman
2. 92 Jeff Riley
3. 23 Tony Hemp
4. 33G Katie Gaus
5. 70X Matt McCarty
6. 46 Nate Kroll
7. 21 Jimmy Jankowicz
8. 18 Dave Billingsley
9. 52 Rick Kingsnorth
10. 68 J. Thompson
420 Richard Woodruff - no start
10 Lon Francis - no start
70H Wayne Huffman - no start
94 Rick Lewis - no start
64 Chris Richardson - no start
12 Bill Stevenson - no start
0 Damon Miller - no start
FEATURE (15-laps)
1. 8 David Hurst (1)
2. 21 Darrin Kohler (3)
3. 23T Rick Thomas (2)
4. 23JR Joel Funk (6)
5. 15G Eric Gaus (4)
6. V17 Don McCarty (8)
7. 55 Billy Wicker (5)
8. B13 Brett Peters (13)
9. 96 Joe Malone (9)
10. 92 Jeff Riley (18)
11. 6 Jay Hamilton (10)
12. 1W Brian Wirtz (14)
13. J01 Joe Hillman (17)
14. 23 Tony Hemp (19)
15. 33G Katie Gaus (20)
16. 99 Nate Payton (16)
17. 03 Ryan Bleuer (15)
18. 43 Dustin Hubert (7)
19. 16 Robert Turner (12)
20. V7 Nick Montalta (11)
FastLane Web Design Hard Charger Award - Jeff Riley
