June 30, 2024 | By Colby Trotter

Feger becomes all time Hell Tour winner at Highland

HIGHLAND, Ill. — Jason Feger’s third DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model Feature win at Highland Speedway came with a bonus milestone Saturday night.

The victory was his 29th career win overall, passing Scott Bloomquist for sixth on the Hell Tour’s all-time wins list.

“Growing up, I never dreamed of winning one Summer Nationals race,” Feger said. “To be able to break any record with Scott being one of the best ever, it’s really cool. I definitely looked up to the way he raced. It definitely makes it a little more special on top of a really great night.”

To accomplish the feat, Feger started on the outside pole of the 40-lap Feature but fell behind polesitter Chad Zobrist in the early going. He never let Zobrist get further than a car length ahead and made the move to get by him on Lap 14.

With Zobrist on the high side and Feger low, Feger pulled even with Zobrist coming out of Turn 2 and down the backstretch and edged in front of him on the bottom coming out of Turn 4, sealing the pass by the start/finish line on Lap 14.

“I was just being really patient down there,” Feger said. “I just kept waiting and putting a little pressure on him. He was overdriving a little on entry and pushed out and I got it timed good. Got him squared up, got a pull off the corner and got underneath of him.”

Once Feger got by Zobrist, he started to set a sizeable gap between himself and the field. Even as he ran into lap traffic, Feger distanced himself more from the cars chasing him, using every lane of the 1/4-mile oval.

“I felt like I could run top, bottom or middle so I felt like I was really confident in lap traffic,” Feger said. “The more you can get between you and the next guy, the more of the buffer or safe zone you have so I felt very confident in that.”

Then, the only caution of the race came on Lap 37 and forced Feger to restart with 2022 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year Tanner English and Week 1 points champion Tyler Erb lined up right behind him. On the restart, Feger proved he had the best car as he got a great jump and crossed under the checkered flag a second ahead of runner-up English for his third win of the season.

“I definitely didn’t want to see [the caution],” Feger said. “Just try not to overdrive the corner, make sure you come off the bottom and then maybe swing a little wide to the wall so if somebody is trying to run that top they couldn’t get a run on it.”

With the win, Feger is atop of the Week 3 points standings, eight ahead of Erb, who finished third. Going into Sunday’s race at Red Hill Raceway, Feger has to finish ahead of Erb or stay a spot within him to clinch the Week 3 points championship.

UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models will crown the Week 3 champion at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, IL on Sunday, June 30. Tickets will be available at the gate. The pit gate opens at 3 p.m. (CT) and the grandstands open at 5 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.


RESULTS

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 96-Tanner English[4]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 4. 7-Chad Zobrist[1]; 5. 27M-Rodney Melvin[6]; 6. 24H-Mike Harrison[10]; 7. 10J-Jordan Bauer[5]; 8. 52-Matt Bailey[13]; 9. 58-Tyler Clem[12]; 10. 33-Kye Blight[8]; 11. 6K-Michael Kloos[17]; 12. 8-Dillon McCowan[19]; 13. 75-Daniel Adam[14]; 14. 15-Clayton Stuckey[15]; 15. 28-Carson Brown[9]; 16. 30-Mark Voigt[22]; 17. 12-Ashton Winger[11]; 18. 1H-Josh Heuiser[18]; 19. 11K-Shannon Kuhn[16]; 20. 4-Jordan Suhre[21]; 21. 14M-Morgan Bagley[20]; 22. 10K-Daryn Klein[3]

Consolation Race (8 Laps): 1. 11K-Shannon Kuhn[5]; 2. 6K-Michael Kloos[4]; 3. 1H-Josh Heuiser[6]; 4. 38-Thomas Hunziker[8]; 5. 7P-David Payne[9]; 6. 18M-Jimmy Miller[10]; 7. 22-Dan Jacober[13]; 8. 14M-Morgan Bagley[7]; 9. 4-Jordan Suhre[3]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 11. 30-Mark Voigt[2]; 12. 4D-Doug Tye[12]; 13. (DNS) 9T-Travis Horner

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English[2]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 24H-Mike Harrison[3]; 5. 52-Matt Bailey[6]; 6. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 7. 6K-Michael Kloos[7]; 8. 14M-Morgan Bagley[8]; 9. 18M-Jimmy Miller[9]; 10. 22-Dan Jacober[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Chad Zobrist[2]; 2. 10J-Jordan Bauer[1]; 3. 33-Kye Blight[4]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 5. 75-Daniel Adam[3]; 6. 30-Mark Voigt[6]; 7. 11K-Shannon Kuhn[8]; 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker[7]; 9. 9T-Travis Horner[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10K-Daryn Klein[1]; 2. 27M-Rodney Melvin[3]; 3. 28-Carson Brown[4]; 4. 58-Tyler Clem[2]; 5. 15-Clayton Stuckey[6]; 6. 4-Jordan Suhre[5]; 7. 1H-Josh Heuiser[7]; 8. 7P-David Payne[9]; 9. 4D-Doug Tye[8]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger, 00:12.787[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English, 00:12.908[3]; 3. 24H-Mike Harrison, 00:12.946[9]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:12.996[2]; 5. 1-Tyler Erb, 00:13.038[6]; 6. 52-Matt Bailey, 00:13.275[10]; 7. 6K-Michael Kloos, 00:13.355[7]; 8. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 00:13.455[4]; 9. 18M-Jimmy Miller, 00:13.796[5]; 10. 22-Dan Jacober, 00:13.872[8]

Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 10J-Jordan Bauer, 00:12.885[3]; 2. 7-Chad Zobrist, 00:12.894[9]; 3. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:13.178[1]; 4. 33-Kye Blight, 00:13.187[4]; 5. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:13.349[8]; 6. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:13.611[7]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:13.691[5]; 8. 11K-Shannon Kuhn, 00:13.882[6]; 9. 9T-Travis Horner, 00:14.432[2]

Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 10K-Daryn Klein, 00:12.720[7]; 2. 58-Tyler Clem, 00:12.808[5]; 3. 27M-Rodney Melvin, 00:13.278[3]; 4. 28-Carson Brown, 00:13.310[4]; 5. 4-Jordan Suhre, 00:13.395[1]; 6. 15-Clayton Stuckey, 00:13.593[6]; 7. 1H-Josh Heuiser, 00:13.735[8]; 8. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:13.887[9]; 9. 7P-David Payne, 00:14.106[2]


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MCKINNEY CLAIMS THIRD SUMMIT RACING MODIFED TOUR WIN OF 2024 AT HIGHLAND SPEEDWAY

HIGHLAND, Ill.  -- After winning the first DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals race of the season, Mike McKinney struggled to find his rhythm on the Hell Tour. However, he found it this week.

He scored his second win of the week Saturday night at Highland Speedway, only a couple days after winning at Macon Speedway on Thursday.

“Kind of got our butts kicked last week and just went home and got to work,” McKinney said. “We come out here to win and nothing else is acceptable. We know we can do it. We know we can run like this. Went back to the basics on some things and got a little more comfortable and it’s really paid off this week.”

After setting overall Quick Time and winning his Heat, McKinney drew the outside pole and lined up next to Kenny Wallace for the 25-lap race. At the drop of the green, Wallace beat McKinney to the start/finish line on Lap 1 and led the next few circuits with McKinney right behind him.

On Lap 3, McKinney got by Wallace on the outside just before the start/finish line and then a caution came out the next lap. On the restart, Wallace got the jump on McKinney and then pulled out the shield.

Wallace hugged the bottom of the track, while McKinney ran a lane higher. The two stayed nose-to-tail lap after lap, but eventually the top lane prevailed. Wallace couldn’t hold off McKinney any longer as the No. 96M powered around the outside off Turn 4 and officially took the lead on Lap 16.

Once in the lead, McKinney drove to the victory unchallenged.

“Did it once and felt like once we got some laps going, I’d be able to do it again,” McKinney said of passing Wallace. “Was able to find some grip right there through the middle … felt good to find that and kind of stood there the rest of the race and it worked out really good.”

With the victory, McKinney now sits 65 points behind Trevor Neville, who finished fifth, in the championship standings.

UP NEXT:  The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals will conclude Week 3 at Red Hill Speedway in Sumner, IL, accompanying the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models. Tickets will be available at the gate. The pit gate opens at 3 p.m. (CT) and the grandstands open at 5 p.m. 

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.


DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 2. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[5]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace[1]; 4. 24H-Mike Harrison[4]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville[9]; 6. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[8]; 7. 14-Dalton Lane[15]; 8. 67-Austin Seets[6]; 9. 14C-Rick Conoyer[13]; 10. 95-Rick Salter[18]; 11. E55-Chad Sellers[12]; 12. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[7]; 13. 787-Cody Zobrist[11]; 14. 87Z-Zeb Moake[21]; 15. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[17]; 16. 6-Jeremy Pate[3]; 17. 16E-Todd Eyman[19]; 18. 54-Zachary Hawk[10]; 19. 121-Deece Schwartz[20]; 20. 21T-Talen Beard[22]; 21. 3-Ryan Eilers[16]; 22. 128-Zach Schantz[14]

Last Chance Showdown (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[1]; 2. 95-Rick Salter[3]; 3. 87Z-Zeb Moake[5]; 4. 21T-Talen Beard[4]; 5. 88L-Rob Lee[7]; 6. 66M-Jordan Meadows[2]; 7. 63E-Bret Eilerman[9]; 8. 52JR-Cole Knebel[11]; 9. 63V-Cody Ventimiglia[8]; 10. 27E-Tory Ernst[13]; 11. 5X-Matt Santel[12]; 12. 6G-Ashton Gaffner[16]; 13. 16E-Todd Eyman[15]; 14. 00M-Brennan Meadows[14]; 15. 121-Deece Schwartz[6]; 16. (DNS) 10-Bryan Leach

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[2]; 3. 777-Trevor Neville[3]; 4. 14C-Rick Conoyer[5]; 5. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[6]; 6. 87Z-Zeb Moake[4]; 7. 63E-Bret Eilerman[7]; 8. 27E-Tory Ernst[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Jeremy Pate[1]; 2. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[2]; 3. 787-Cody Zobrist[3]; 4. 14-Dalton Lane[5]; 5. 95-Rick Salter[4]; 6. 88L-Rob Lee[6]; 7. 52JR-Cole Knebel[7]; 8. 16E-Todd Eyman[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 67-Austin Seets[3]; 3. 54-Zachary Hawk[2]; 4. 128-Zach Schantz[4]; 5. 66M-Jordan Meadows[5]; 6. 121-Deece Schwartz[6]; 7. 10-Bryan Leach[7]; 8. 00M-Brennan Meadows[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Kenny Wallace[1]; 2. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[2]; 3. E55-Chad Sellers[4]; 4. 3-Ryan Eilers[5]; 5. 21T-Talen Beard[8]; 6. 63V-Cody Ventimiglia[6]; 7. 5X-Matt Santel[3]; 8. 6G-Ashton Gaffner[7]

Qualifying A (3 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison, 00:14.483[10]; 2. 6-Jeremy Pate, 00:14.586[5]; 3. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr, 00:14.658[13]; 4. 58R-Ryan Hamilton, 00:14.689[8]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville, 00:14.725[11]; 6. 787-Cody Zobrist, 00:14.784[14]; 7. 87Z-Zeb Moake, 00:14.837[4]; 8. 95-Rick Salter, 00:14.843[6]; 9. 14C-Rick Conoyer, 00:14.976[7]; 10. 14-Dalton Lane, 00:14.989[9]; 11. 18S-Jarrett Stryker, 00:15.000[12]; 12. 88L-Rob Lee, 00:15.377[15]; 13. 63E-Bret Eilerman, 00:15.588[3]; 14. 52JR-Cole Knebel, 00:15.817[1]; 15. 27E-Tory Ernst, 00:16.600[2]; 16. 16E-Todd Eyman, 00:17.530[16]

Qualifying B (3 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney, 00:13.753[7]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace, 00:14.024[4]; 3. 54-Zachary Hawk, 00:14.448[8]; 4. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig, 00:14.450[13]; 5. 67-Austin Seets, 00:14.461[5]; 6. 5X-Matt Santel, 00:14.752[12]; 7. 128-Zach Schantz, 00:14.766[3]; 8. E55-Chad Sellers, 00:14.972[2]; 9. 66M-Jordan Meadows, 00:15.125[14]; 10. 3-Ryan Eilers, 00:15.140[10]; 11. 121-Deece Schwartz, 00:15.206[6]; 12. 63V-Cody Ventimiglia, 00:15.420[1]; 13. 10-Bryan Leach, 00:15.502[11]; 14. 6G-Ashton Gaffner, 00:15.853[16]; 15. 00M-Brennan Meadows, 00:15.920[15]; 16. (DNS) 21T-Talen Beard