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40th annual "the Hell Tour"


Carpenter Gets First Career Summer Nationals Win, English Clinches 2026 Championship

ORRVILE, OH (July 12, 2026) — Tyler Carpenter added to his growing resume Sunday night at Wayne County Speedway with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, but Tanner English claimed the biggest prize of the summer as Hell Tour champion.

English, of Benton, KY, officially clinched the 2026 Summer Nationals championship after a dominant run of consistency that netted him four wins, 17 podium finishes, 19 top-fives and 21 top-10s in 23 starts. Among all the accolades he collected, English also broke through and made Summer Nationals history as the first driver from the state of Kentucky to win the season-long points title.

“It’s pretty cool just to be that consistent, and that says a lot about our equipment and everything we’ve got going on — our maintenance, everything, it’s just amazing to be able to accomplish that,” English said. “And at all these different racetracks, too. That’s what a lot of people don’t realize — no two of these tracks are the same. Some of them you don’t want to race at, some of them you do. It’s just pretty cool to be that consistent.”

In the final main event of the summer, Carpenter, of Parkersburg, WV, took his No. 28 machine to the front and scored his first career Summer Nationals win after nearly six years of trying, leading the final 21 laps around the 3/8-mile oval to secure the big check.

“This win definitely ranks toward the top, and the biggest thing is it’s just for the fact that it’s such an established deal,” Carpenter said. “The Hell Tour is well known and there are a lot of eyes on it. It’s just so cool for my team and I to come out here. We’ve been trying to come win this race for two or three years and we’ve always had speed, but it just never panned out.”

The finale of the Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary season kicked off with Ohio natives Eric Wilson and Lincoln Smith leading the field to green. The No. 217 of Wilson rocketed around Smith in Turns 1 and 2 and led the opening lap.

A Lap 7 caution for a slowing Todd Brennan bunched the field up and allowed for a showcase of speed and precision to commence around the Ohio oval.

The restart saw Ryan Montgomery throw a slide job on Wilson for the lead in Turn 2, but the No. 217 machine crossed back underneath to retain the top spot. Behind the two leaders was Carpenter, waiting for an opportunity. That opportunity soon presented itself, as he went for a slider in Turns 3 and 4, clearing both Wilson and Montgomery.

The lead trio went three wide exiting Turn 4 with race-long leader Wilson taking the point at the stripe once again. The three-car show continued as Montgomery led Lap 9 but Carpenter rolled to the inside of both again, clearing and taking the lead at the exit of Turn 2, but a caution for Montgomery slowing negated the pass.

Carpenter took the lead for good on the Lap 9 restart and led the final 21 laps unchallenged to bank his first career Summer Nationals victory.

“This kind of style of racetrack I was raised on,” Carpenter said. “I was trying to focus hard on where I needed to be or where would be the best spot before we ever took the initial green. Once I took the lead, I felt I was really confident then because I could just try and enter above the rough in Turns 1 and 2. There really wasn’t room so you had to enter straight, get your right front on the guardrail and then you could just lay the hammer down all the way across.”

Wilson finished second, J.R. Gentry rebounded from flipping in Qualifying to finish third, Montgomery was fourth, and Kyle Moore rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

While the DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary campaign has concluded, the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals wrap up their season at Fairbury Speedway during the Prairie Dirt Classic alongside the World of Outlaws Late Models presented by DIRTVision — Friday-Saturday, July 24-25.

Tickets for the event are on sale now at WorldofOutlaws.com. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 28-Tyler Carpenter[4]; 2. 217-Eric Wilson[1]; 3. 14-JR Gentry[16]; 4. 12-Ryan Montgomery[3]; 5. 1*-Kyle Moore[10]; 6. 79-Doug Drown[7]; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[8]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]; 9. 21B-Rich Bell[9]; 10. 7-Nick Cox[18]; 11. 17-Tyler Evans[15]; 12. (DNF) 20B-Todd Brennan[6]; 13. (DNF) 31-Lincoln Smith[2]; 14. (DNF) 14C-Corey Conley[11]; 15. (DNF) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 16. (DNF) B52-Delbert Crum Jr[12]; 17. (DNF) 59-Tanner McLoughlin[17]; 18. (DNF) 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 19. (DNF) 96-Tanner English[19]; 20. (DNF) 32-Chad Roush[22]; 21. (DNS) 1Z-Logan Zarin; 22. (DNS) 57-Caiden Black

 

Dalton Lane Returns to Summit Modified Victory Lane at Wayne County

He’s waited nearly three years, but Dalton Lane is back in Victory Lane with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals.

Lane scored the win with the Summit Modifieds Sunday night at Wayne County Speedway for the second time in his career and the first since breaking through at Oakshade Raceway in 2023.

The Feature began with Matthew Baker taking the early lead over Kyle Moore. A caution for a slowing Jason King restacked the field for a restart on Lap 2.

The restart was where Baker began to take fire from Moore as the local favorite went for a slide job maneuver in Turns 3–4 that ended with both drivers scrubbing the outside wall. While both drivers were able to straighten out, Baker came away with damage to the nose of his No. B5 car and began to fall back. This opened the door for Lane to move into second and set his sights on Moore, still leading the race.

A Lap 7 caution for Ryan Markham slowing created another opportunity for a restart. Moore pulled away while Lane found himself in a battle for second as Nathan Loney made a bid for that position to his inside.

The race then turned on its head as Moore’s No. 21D slowed on the backstretch on Lap 13, turning what was the battle for second between Lane and Loney into the battle for the win. Over the next 10 laps, the two ran neck-and-neck for the top spot — Lane ripping the top side around the track and Loney riding the bottom.

Their battle reached a boiling point on Lap 22, crossing the stripe in a dead-heat tie. But with momentum from a great run off the top side in Turn 2, Lane charged ahead of Loney and led the field back around to the checkers.

“We put together a great night, we started off a little slow in Qualifying and we made that up all night,” Lane said. “A place like this, right around the wall like that where you can just get after it, really fits my driving style. So, it just came to us tonight. There really was nothing left on the bottom so all I had left was just to get up there and pound the cushion for 25 laps.”

Loney finished second, Dusty Swecker was third, Andre Layfield finished fourth, and Jimmy Lennex Jr finished in fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals heads to Fairbury Speedway to crown a champion at the Prairie Dirt Classic on July 24-25.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14-Dalton Lane[3]; 2. 10-Nathan Loney[6]; 3. 21-Dusty Swecker[22]; 4. 11L-Andre Layfield[8]; 5. 21CZ-Jimmy Lennex Jr[9]; 6. B5-Matthew Baker[1]; 7. 89-Jason King[16]; 8. 22G-Jesse Griffitts[12]; 9. (DNF) 01-Denny Benjamin[21]; 10. (DNF) 21D-Kyle Moore[2]; 11. (DNF) 5-Ryan Markham[7]; 12. (DNF) 42JR-Chaz Dawson Jr[11]; 13. (DNF) 68-Andrew Hammond[13]; 14. (DNF) 185-Ron Miller[17]; 15. (DNF) T23-John Toppozini[10]; 16. (DNF) 16-Caden Alexander[19]; 17. (DNF) 60-Jimmy Humphrey[4]; 18. (DNF) 16H-Ron Hamlin[20]; 19. (DNF) 75-Tristen Bickford[18]; 20. (DNF) 18-Michael Amick[15]; 21. (DNS) 11-Jason Brennan; 22. (DNS) S25-Pete Caplinger; 23. (DNS) 41-Brad Goff; 24. (DNS) 76JD-Darrick Hubbard Jr.

 

Heckenast Jr. Gets Third Summer Nationals Win of 2026 at Oakshade

WAUSEON, OH (July 11, 2026) — Two days after celebrating a birthday of his own, Frank Heckenast Jr. got one of his biggest presents of the summer — a $10,000 check as victor of the 29th annual Birthday Race.

The Frankfort, IL-native led all 50 laps around Oakshade Raceway Saturday night, garnering his third DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory of the season and eighth of his career. After struggling early during the Hell Tour, Heckenast is closing the tour with momentum, earning all three of his wins in a span of 11 days.

“We’ve been fortunate. I won an Outlaw race on my birthday probably five years ago, so that was cool, but this means a lot,” Heckenast said. “This was so emotional for me. It was hard. I’ve tried for so long to win this race, and I’ve gotten beat so many times at this place. I’ve started up front before, and they went by me on both sides. I was in my head tonight. I don’t usually talk to myself when I’m racing, but tonight I did. I told myself, ‘Just make the best lap you can.’ I tried to build speed, and it worked out.”

Heckenast capitalized on his pole starting position and took control early. After starting fourth, Ryan Unzicker moved into third before a Lap 3 caution allowed his No. 24 to pull alongside Sam Seawright for second on the restart.

Seawright and Unzicker battled hard for second, giving Heckenast room to extend his lead. Unzicker found traction through the middle and drove around Seawright in Turns 1 and 2, moving the El Paso, IL-driver into the runner-up spot.

As the race neared halfway, lapped traffic became a factor. Unzicker closed to within a car length of Heckenast before a Lap 23 caution for a spun Mark Voigt paused the battle for the lead and gave Heckenast a clear track ahead for the restart.

Over the final 27 laps, Heckenast ran consistent laps and maintained a comfortable lead to secure his first Birthday Race win at Oakshade.

“Today was just 100% us, I got a little sideways in my head about stuff. It’s not major but the crew got me straightened out and gave me the confidence to go win the race,” Heckenast said. “I hate to admit it, but I’ve let so many people get in my head. Other racers, people and just things like that. They try every night and, you know, shout out to Logan, my crew guy, he pulled me aside and told me to just do my own thing and stop listening to these people. I want to tell my boys that you don’t quit, you don’t give up, don’t let other people bully you around.”

Unzicker finished second, Seawright was third, Rusty Schlenk finished fourth, and Luke Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models wraps up its 40th anniversary celebration with a visit to Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, OH, on Sunday, July 12. Tickets will be available at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[4]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[3]; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[7]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[8]; 6. 96-Tanner English[5]; 7. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[11]; 8. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[10]; 9. 4-Travis Stemler[13]; 10. 74-Mitch McGrath[2]; 11. 21B-Rich Bell[17]; 12. 77-Steve Kester[12]; 13. 51-Devin Shiels[20]; 14. 46-Colin Shipley[16]; 15. 15B-Mike Bores[9]; 16. 63-Terry Rushlow[21]; 17. 06-Jake Rendel[22]; 18. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 19. 1N-Casey Noonan[14]; 20. 50-Ryan Missler[6]; 21. 75M-Dusty Moore[18]; 22. 42-Chad Finley[15]

 

Zeke McKenzie Gets Third Career Summit Modifieds Win at Oakshade

While others have flashed speed on occasion, Zeke McKenzie has been a model of consistency with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals this summer.

On Saturday night, that consistency turned into a win at Oakshade Raceway.

McKenzie has been a familiar face with the Summit Modifieds in 2026, logging 17 starts — most of any competitor. Now in the final full week of competition, the Claypool, IN-driver has yet to finish outside the top ten. That consistency has put him in position for wins and the season points championship.

“When you run in the top five and get podiums, the wins are going to come,” McKenzie said. “I know we don’t have the wins but they’re definitely coming the rest of the year, and I feel our cars are good enough to win almost every night, we just have to put more nights together.”

The beginning of the main event kicked off with the front row of Jerry Bowersock and Drew Charlson tangling in Turn 3, ending both their chances for victory. This moved McKenzie and Mathew Baker to the front row in a brand-new race up front for the restart.

Baker led the field into Turn 1 on the restart, but McKenzie found traction in the middle of Turns 1 and 2, got around the Baker No. B5 and began to pull away.

A Lap 14 caution bunched the field up and took McKenzie out of lap traffic, allowing him to set sail out front for the rest of the race. He crossed under the checkered flag unchallenged to secure his third career Summit Modified victory, continuing a dream season for the No. 24 team.

“We started out planning on only doing the first week to help some customers and we ran really good,” McKenzie said. “We actually had to go find a little help to do the whole thing because it just wasn’t on our schedule. Tonight, we saw guys not be forgiving and I was just fortunate enough to not get into them.”

Matthew Baker was second, Dillon Nusbaum was third, John McClure finished fourth, and Dylan Woodling finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals heads to Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, OH, on Sunday, July 12.

If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 2. B5-Matthew Baker[3]; 3. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[5]; 4. 12M-John McClure[7]; 5. 3W-Dylan Woodling[14]; 6. 14-Dalton Lane[12]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson[10]; 8. 60-Shannon Fisk[6]; 9. 13M-Mitchell Opatik[9]; 10. 25L-Josh Lolmaugh[16]; 11. 52-Weasel Phlipot[18]; 12. 9R-Garrett Rons[20]; 13. 8C-Corey Bevard[21]; 14. 17J-Jarrod Klay[17]; 15. 87Z-George Zieman[13]; 16. 4-Logan Beckwith IV[11]; 17. 25M-Brian Mcfeeters[22]; 18. 1A-Andrew Hollister[19]; 19. T23-John Toppozini[15]; 20. (DNF) 5X-Jerry Bowersock[1]; 21. (DNF) 21C-Drew Charlson[2]; 22. (DNF) 16-Jeff Koz[8]

 
Ryan Unzicker Returns to Summer Nationals Victory Lane at Crystal
By Dawson Elliott

CRYSTAL, MI (July 11, 2026) – A two-year winless drought is tough on anyone, but for Ryan Unzicker, it felt like an eternity.

The El Paso, IL native put that to an end Friday night at Crystal Motor Speedway with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, leading all 40 laps to pick up the $10,000 check and his first Series win since Spoon River Speedway in 2024.

“I’m pumped to be back in Victory Lane; it has been way too long,” Unzicker said. “Momentum is huge; you have to have confidence in racing. We had great momentum up until two weeks ago, and then I decided to park the equipment and regroup. I was scared to have the momentum lost, but we picked right back up where we left off, and just having that little bit of a break felt good.”

The main event kicked off with Unzicker launching to the lead from the pole, leaving outside polesitter Devin Shiels to battle with points leader Tanner English for second.

English took second rolling the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 and then tried to put pressure on Unzicker, but the No. 24 machine was stronger around the middle lane in Turns 3 and 4.

Lap traffic became a factor on Lap 8, giving English an opportunity to chip into Unzicker’s 1.3-second advantage. But a caution one lap later for a spun Mitch McGrath helped put Unzicker back in clean air once the race resumed.

The No. 24 built another impressive lead until lap traffic returned on Lap 21, giving English another opportunity to close. However, Unzicker never allowed him the opportunity. He led every lap to the checkered flag, becoming the third different winner in the Series’ three appearances at the Crystal, MI oval.

He is also now tied with Jeep Van Wormer for 13th on the overall wins list.

“Starting on the front row is a big point of it. Last night, I felt like if we started on the front row, we had a good shot for the win,” Unzicker said. “The track was definitely challenging tonight, and just finding a smooth line was difficult. I feel like my car all year long has been accepting to a little bit of choppy and a little bit of rough, and it just feels really good right now when it’s like that.

“I knew we had a good car; I knew we had a chance, and it’s just one of those deals where you hope you make the right decisions. We put on a hard tire, and a lot of them went on with threes (NLMT tire). I don’t know if that hurt them, but mine felt really good after we fired after five laps.”

English maintained second, extending his Week 5 points lead – currently 50 points ahead of Luke Morey – Frank Heckenast Jr. finished third, Shiels finished fourth, and Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals head to Ohio’s Oakshade Raceway for the Birthday Race on Saturday, July 11.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals if you’re not at the track? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English[3]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 4. 51-Devin Shiels[2]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 6. 4-Travis Stemler[11]; 7. 42-Chad Finley[7]; 8. 16S-Sam Seawright[9]; 9. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[15]; 10. 07-Rylee Knoll[13]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath[8]; 12. 27-Eric Spangler[12]; 13. 21B-Rich Bell[14]; 14. 18-Brenten Deyoung[18]; 15. 18B-Chase Burda[16]; 16. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 17. 06-Jake Rendel[22]; 18. 32-Chad Roush[20]; 19. 57V-Mason VanderVeen[17]; 20. M14-Brandon Thirlby[4]; 21. 21N-Logan Nickerson[10]; 22. 41-Mike Vandermark Jr[21]

ARTICLE: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/recaps/ryan-unzicker-returns-to-summer-nationals-victory-lane-at-crystal/

Nusbaum Outduels McKenzie For First Career Summit Modified Triumph at Crystal

By Dawson Elliott

Dillon Nusbaum has been on the verge of his first DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals victory all week. On Friday night at Crystal Motor Speedway, he finally scored.

After finishing third, fourth, and second, respectively, in the first three races of Week 5 of the Hell Tour, the Warsaw, IN driver won a 25-lap brawl against his neighbor and current Series points leader Zeke McKenzie to earn his first Series win.

“There’s a lot of prestige that comes with winning a Summer Nationals race, and we’ve been trying for several years now,” Nusbaum said. “We don’t get to travel a whole lot or run a whole lot of the schedule, but we try and hit at least this swing that’s up here by us.”

The beginning stages of the main event saw front-row starters, Nusbaum and McKenzie, exchange the lead multiple times, trading sliders around the 3/8-mile dirt track. Nusbaum led the opening lap before McKenzie led Lap 2 as he drove around an attempted slider by the No. 17N of Nusbaum.

Nusbaum threw another slider in Turn 4, clearing McKenzie’s No. 24 car, giving him the lead back on Lap 3. McKenzie abandoned the top and ran the bottom in an attempt to get around Nusbaum, but it wasn’t enough as Nusbaum led the final 24 laps to become the newest first-time winner with the Series.

“I knew I had to get out in front of him there and kind of set the pace myself,” Nusbaum said. “Honestly, once I got out in front of him, I almost backed the pace down a little but just to kind save equipment. I didn’t want to catch lap cars any quicker than I had too. It was a lot of fun throwing haymakers back and forth with Zeke (McKenzie) there at the beginning. It’s a lot of fun when you can race with somebody that close and that hard, I don’t think we touched a single time.”

McKenzie finished second, John Toppozini finished third, his first career Series podium, Todd Sherman was fourth, and Brennan Sherman was fifth.

UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Oakshade Speedway in Wauseon, OH for the Birthday Race on Saturday, July 11.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[1]; 2. 24-Zeke McKenzie[2]; 3. T23-John Toppozini[3]; 4. 65-Todd Sherman[4]; 5. 82-Brennan Sherman[10]; 6. 60-Shannon Fisk[14]; 7. 87Z-George Zieman[9]; 8. B5-Matthew Baker[15]; 9. 25L-Josh Lolmaugh[11]; 10. 1A-Andrew Hollister[13]; 11. (DNF) 8C-Corey Bevard[8]; 12. (DNF) 12M-John McClure[12]; 13. (DNF) 14-Dalton Lane[6]; 14. (DNF) 18B-Bradley Inman[17]; 15. (DNF) 7L-Matt Leland[16]; 16. (DNF) 9R-Garrett Rons[7]; 17. (DNS) 17J-Jarrod Klay

 

Tanner English Dominates Butler for Fourth Hell Tour Win of 2026

QUINCY, MI (July 9, 2026) — As the DIRTcar Summer Nationals begins to wind down in the home stretch, Tanner English is still bringing the heat.

The Benton, KY-racer led the final 28 laps of the main event Thursday night at Butler Motor Speedway to get his tenth career Hell Tour triumph and his fourth win of the summer. 2026 has been a summer that has seen him finish in the top 10 every start he's made thus far except one, showing just how dominant a force English has been in 2026.

“It’s just amazing when things start falling your way, they just fall your way. It’s been a great year, and I can’t thank everybody enough,” English said. “I think we pretty much got the national deal wrapped up since Jason (Feger) is gone, which is a big weight off my shoulders. We still got work to do and we’re just going to try to win every race from here on it, that’s the goal. Now I feel like we can try some stuff and get out of our comfort zone to get even better.”

Michigan native Chad Finley led the field to green in the 30-lap main event with points leader English on the outside of the front row. Finley got a good start on the initial green flag and led the opening lap of the Summer Nationals’ seventh appearance at Butler.

English found the bottom lane was clear and showed the nose to Finley as the No. 42 washed high exiting Turn 4. Finley and English drag raced to the line and English led by only .012 seconds over Finley on Lap 2.

English nailed the bottom once more as Finley struggled to find traction on the top in Turns 1 and 2, which allowed English to pull away on Lap 3. Finley began to backtrack a bit as Ryan Unzicker found some traction on the top side of the speedway and moved around Finley down the back stretch to take second place.

Unzicker began to close English’s gap in lap traffic on Lap 10 as he continued to make the top work around Butler. But English was consistent on the bottom, maintaining space between himself and Unzicker over the next 20 laps as he drove the field back around to collect his fourth checkered flag in the last nine races on the Hell Tour.

“I dreaded every car I got to because it was pretty bottom dominant, but I kind of surprised myself a few times when I’d go to the outside and I’d get right around them,” English said. “The slower cars were keeping a really good pace and were hard to pass. It was just really dirty and there was nothing much outside the bottom. I was counting laps and looking for that white flag.”

Unzicker finished second, Finley finished third, Frank Heckenast Jr. rebounded after a broken rear end last night to finish fourth, and Luke Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals heads to Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, MI, on Thursday, July 9. Tickets will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race if you can’t be at the track? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 96-Tanner English[2]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[6]; 3. 42-Chad Finley[1]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[5]; 6. 16S-Sam Seawright[12]; 7. 89-Mike Spatola[9]; 8. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[4]; 9. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[8]; 10. 41-Mike Vandermark Jr[11]; 11. 27-Eric Spangler[7]; 12. 19M-Carter Murday[10]; 13. 21B-Rich Bell[14]; 14. 18-Chase Burda[16]; 15. 32-Chad Roush[13]; 16. 4-Travis Stemler[17]; 17. 74-Mitch McGrath[19]; 18. 07-Rylee Knoll[15]; 19. 30-Mark Voigt[22]; 20. 46-Colin Shipley[18]; 21. 15-Austin Harnick[21]; 22. 1*-Kyle Moore[20]

 

David Stremme Goes Back-to-Back with Summit Modifieds at Butler

David Stremme had gone his whole career without winning with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals before this week. After 25 laps around Butler Motor Speedway, he’s now won two-in-a-row.

Stremme, of Mifflintown, PA, made it back-to-back victories with the Summit Modifieds Friday night after first going to Victory Lane Thursday at I-96 Speedway. The 49-year-old led every circuit around the 3/8-mile oval of Butler, continuing to spearhead his self-built Lethal Chassis company and carry the brand’s name into Victory Lane.

“We just keep working, I mean everyone. All of our customers, our partners, we all just keep working at it,” Stremme said. “Probably a month ago, we started on a new package and this all has to do with everyone involved. The guys at the shop, our friends, everybody that plays a part in it. They’re not easy, so we’ll keep after it.”

Stremme and Indiana native Dillon Nusbaum led the field to green, and it was Stremme who got the jump on the outside lane of the speedway in Turn 4 to lead the opening lap.

Stremme then hit lap traffic on Lap 8 and vacated the bottom lane that was working so well for him. However, a restart on Lap 10 gave the No. 35 a clear track and his preferred bottom lane back.

Stremme continued to be patient over the final 15 laps, surviving an additional restart and leading the field back around to the checkered flag unchallenged to seal the victory.

“I knew I had to be aggressive with Dillon (Nusbaum) — this is his home track and he runs good here. I knew I had to give it everything right at the beginning. It was a way different mentality because last night you didn’t know where they were running and tonight you knew if you carried speed on the bottom, everything was good. We’ve had a lot of fun the last couple days.”

Nusbaum finished second, Tyler Spalding was third, Zeke McKenzie was fourth, and Mike McKinnney finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds head to Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, MI, on Friday, July 9.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[2]; 2. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[1]; 3. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[5]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie[3]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney[4]; 6. 14-Dalton Lane[7]; 7. 5CS-Curt Spalding[6]; 8. B5-Matthew Baker[8]; 9. 45-Robby Henderson[9]; 10. 65-Todd Sherman[10]; 11. 8C-Corey Bevard[11]; 12. 9R-Garrett Rons[13]; 13. 5D-David VanGuilder[15]; 14. 82-Brennan Sherman[18]; 15. T23-John Toppozini[12]; 16. 17J-Jarrod Klay[16]; 17. 1A-Andrew Hollister[14]; 18. 18B-Bradley Inman[17]; 19. 84-Brandon Beeching[22]; 20. 11-Tyler Morehouse[19]; 21. 14S-Terry Sroufe[20]; 22. 41-Connor Stetler[21]

 

Rusty Schlenk Returns to Summer Nationals Victory Lane at I-96

LAKE ODESSA, MI (July 8, 2026) — July 17, 2010. A date that stood as a reminder of Rusty Schlenk’s last Feature win with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals. That was, until Wednesday.

July 8, 2026. The 2018 DIRTcar Late Model national points champion from Jackson, MI, returned to Victory Lane on the Hell Tour for the first time in nearly 16 years in front of a packed home-state crowd at I-96 Speedway to celebrate his third career series victory.

“I’m a sore loser, man. I hate losing and I know it’d be different if I knew we couldn’t win them,” Schlenk said. “We’re competitive with these guys; we always run good with them. I knew we could do it, so I kept trying. I love the Hell Tour. We’re always in contention; we just could never pull off another one. We’ve had stuff break, crashes, you name it. So, thank goodness we got it done tonight.”

The 30-lap main event in the Hell Tour’s return to Lake Odessa for the first time in five years started with a three-car battle for the lead in the opening laps between Sam Seawright, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Tanner English.

Seawright took the lead on Lap 1, but behind them, Schlenk was on the move as he charged to the front of the field from fifth on the starting grid. On Lap 6, Schlenk found momentum off the exit of Turn 2 and crossed under Heckenast to take third as he set his sights on the lead duo of Seawright and English.

Schlenk continued to work his way around the 3/8-mile oval on the top side in pursuit of the leaders, and by Lap 13 had closed the gap to their rear bumpers. When Seawright and English both went low in Turns 1 and 2, Schlenk powered by both on the top, getting both cars in one corner to take the lead on Lap 14.

Schlenk hit lap traffic just after the halfway point, but a caution on Lap 17 for a slowing Heckenast in Turn 1 paused the action gave him a clear track for the restart.

English was strong on the bottom as the field went back to green, but Schlenk was too strong on the cushion, pulling away over the final 13 laps and leading the field back around to the checkers.

“Winning is cool but winning in front of your home state crowd is even cooler,” Schenk said. “We moved back to Michigan this year, so I consider this one of our home tracks. I’ve won a lot of races around this place, and it’s always been one of my favorites. I got a whole bunch of fans up in the stands, so to do it in front of them, it’s absolutely huge.”

English finished second, Feger was third, Travis Stemler charged from 12th to finish fourth, and Luke Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals heads to Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, MI, on Thursday, July 9 for the tour’s second of three stops in the state of Michigan. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5]; 2. 96-Tanner English[4]; 3. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 4. 4-Travis Stemler[12]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 6. 42-Chad Finley[11]; 7. 21B-Rich Bell[9]; 8. 51-Devin Shiels[10]; 9. 41-Mike Vandermark Jr[7]; 10. 74-Mitch McGrath[18]; 11. 87-Rich Neiser[17]; 12. 07-Rylee Knoll[22]; 13. 46-Colin Shipley[20]; 14. 27-Eric Spangler[21]; 15. 94-Bill Bray[16]; 16. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 17. 23-Brian Ruhlman[13]; 18. 16S-Sam Seawright[2]; 19. M14-Brandon Thirlby[8]; 20. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 21. 1*-Kyle Moore[14]; 22. 21N-Logan Nickerson[15]

 

David Stremme Wins First Career Summit Modified Feature at I-96

David Stremme has accomplished a lot in his motorsports career. But never had he won with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, until now.

Since the days of his career in the top divisions of NASCAR, Stremme has made the commitment to Dirt Modified racing as both a driver and co-owner/founder of popular UMP Modified brand, Lethal Chassis. From Volusia Speedway Park to the high banks of a dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway, Stremme has tasted victory on some of the sport’s biggest stages.

Wednesday night at I-96 Speedway, the native of Mifflintown, PA, punched through to win for the first time in his career with UMP Modified racing’s most prestigious touring series.

“It just feels good to run good,” Stremme said. “We’ve had a good car; we just had engine problems last night and didn’t get to run. We still got some work to do, but it is cool to win a Summit Modified race, finally. We’ve had some get away from us, so it’s neat.”

Stremme and Curt Spalding led the 22-car field to green from the front row. Spalding took the lead on Lap 1 and continued to work the top, but Stremme was consistent and fast on the low side of the speedway. On Lap 10, the leaders hit lap traffic, giving Stremme the opportunity he needed as he worked the low side underneath Spalding.

The lead duo went side-by-side around the 3/8-mile oval, and it was Stremme who led by a nose at the line on Lap 11. Spalding refused to go away quietly as the No. 5CS machine worked the middle lane, finding speed and traction to maintain the battle for the lead.

A slip-up off Turn 4 cost Spalding and allowed Stremme to sneak away and build a half-second lead on the field. However, Spalding was persistent in the middle lane and caught Stremme in lap traffic, but the caution flag waved on Lap 22, extinguishing the momentum Spalding had built.

“I just ran my own race and Curt (Spalding) is really good,” Stremme said. “But we’ve been really good in our own stuff, so I just needed to run my own race, my own pace, and I knew I’d be fine.”

The green flag dropped once more and Stremme pulled away from the field, leading the rest of the way to seal the win over Curt Spalding, Tyler Spalding, Dillon Nusbaum in fourth and Mike McKinney rounding out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, MI, on Thursday, July 9.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds if you’re not at the track? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[1]; 2. 5CS-Curt Spalding[2]; 3. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[9]; 4. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[3]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney[4]; 6. 3W-Dylan Woodling[8]; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman[6]; 8. 24-Zeke McKenzie[14]; 9. T23-John Toppozini[13]; 10. 60-Shannon Fisk[11]; 11. B5-Matthew Baker[7]; 12. 9R-Garrett Rons[17]; 13. 43-Mark Anderson[5]; 14. 84-Brandon Beeching[15]; 15. 1A-Andrew Hollister[20]; 16. 14T-Mario Toniolo[22]; 17. 87Z-George Zieman[19]; 18. 17J-Jarrod Klay[12]; 19. 12M-John McClure[18]; 20. 14-Dalton Lane[10]; 21. 74M-Manix Furqueron[16]; 22. (DNS) 32H-Dan Hubbell

 

Heckenast Jr. Dominates Montpelier for Seventh Career Summer Nationals Win

MONTPELIER, IN (July 7, 2026) — Frank Heckenast Jr. is turning up the heat on his 2026 DIRTcar Summer Nationals campaign.

Heckenast, of Frankfort, IL, led 27 of 30 laps Tuesday night at Montpelier Speedway for his second win in the last five races. His seventh career Hell Tour triumph solidified a turnaround after starting the season winless in the first 13 events and winless in six consecutive years competing in various Summer Nationals events.

“I didn’t put it in perspective how good everyone I was racing with was at the beginning of the tour,” Heckenast said. “Tanner (English) and Jason (Feger) were extremely good, and then I kind of got off of what I was doing a little. We have always been close, just not really in the hunt. So then the other night at [Red Hill Raceway], I just went right back to where we were the first night and tonight, the same thing and it’s like ‘Okay, I don’t think we slowed down at all here.’ I feel like I slowed us down a little bit there.”

Sam Seawright led the field to green with Heckenast to his outside. Early on, Seawright charged ahead and led the opening lap with Heckenast following close behind.

Heckenast was relentless on the top of the track and worked by Seawright to lead Lap 3. A caution on Lap 5 for a slow car on the front stretch gave Heckenast a clear track on the restart, and he took advantage of it over the next 25 laps.

Heckenast worked the middle of the speedway and found the speed to extend his lead to over three seconds as the laps wound down. In the end, nobody was able to challenge the driver of the No. 99JR and Heckenast cruised to the win in front of a big Indiana crowd.

“I’ve raced a while now, so I’ve seen a lot better and I’ve seen a lot worse,” Heckenast said. “It was alright in the middle there, as far as my opinion, you could have ran around the whole track and never hit a hole. You were just going to be a little bit slower.

“I was shocked going down the front stretch that the white flag was waving, I couldn’t believe it was that quick.”

Kyle Moore charged to second from eighth, Tristan Chamberlain finished third, Rich Bell was fourth, and Mitch McGrath rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals heads to Michigan and Lake Odessa’s I-96 Speedway on Wednesday, July 8.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals if you can’t be at the track? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 2. 1*-Kyle Moore[8]; 3. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 4. 21B-Rich Bell[5]; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath[7]; 6. 46-Colin Shipley[18]; 7. 20B-Todd Brennan[16]; 8. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[15]; 9. 18B-Chase Burda[9]; 10. 49-Luke Morey[17]; 11. 51B-Brayden Shiels[20]; 12. 25-Jason Feger[12]; 13. 1-Wayne Chinn[21]; 14. 51-Devin Shiels[10]; 15. 07-Rylee Knoll[11]; 16. 20-Tyler Neal[14]; 17. 16S-Sam Seawright[1]; 18. 91-Rusty Schlenk[3]; 19. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 20. 42-Chad Finley[13]; 21. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[22]; 22. 96-Tanner English[6]

 

Trevor Neville Earns Seventh Career Summit Modifieds Win at Montpelier

Trevor Neville continues to make the most of his momentum with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, capturing his second win in the last six races.

Neville, of Mackinaw, IL, led the final 23 laps of Tuesday night’s main event Montpelier Speedway, garnering his second victory of the season and seventh of his career.

“We’ve been working hard, we put in 12 or 13 hours yesterday just making sure everything was right, the body, just everything was on point,” Neville said. “Last year we were really grinding and this year we took a little step back and just kind of looked at what was worth it. We’ve come out the gate really good here. We should have had one the other night but that was driver error, so we’ll go on from there.”

Tyler Spalding and Neville started out the 25-lap main event side-by-side around the 1/4-mile oval with Spalding leading the opening lap.

Neville continued his persistence on the outside, finding some momentum to drive around Spalding to lead on Lap 2. Neville washed high exiting Turn 4, opening the door for Spalding to get underneath Neville’s No. 777 to take the lead on Lap 3.

The first five laps saw three lead changes as Neville continued to work the cushion and drove back around Spalding to lead Lap 5.

Over the next 20 laps, Neville continued to build his advantage, pulling away from the field unchallenged enroute to career win No. 7 with the Summit Modifieds.

Spalding finished second, Dillon Nusbaum was third, Dylan Woodling was fourth, and Dalton Smith finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals return to action at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, MI on Wednesday, July 8.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 777-Trevor Neville[2]; 2. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[1]; 3. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[3]; 4. 3W-Dylan Woodling[7]; 5. 05-Dalton Smith[10]; 6. 24H-Steven Hogue[5]; 7. B5-Matthew Baker[22]; 8. T23-John Toppozini[15]; 9. 4M-Dustin Moore[8]; 10. 9R-Garrett Rons[13]; 11. 22T-Tony Anderson[21]; 12. T5X-Bub Roberts[20]; 13. 14-Dalton Lane[12]; 14. 21C-Drew Charlson[4]; 15. 82-Brennan Sherman[18]; 16. 5CS-Curt Spalding[9]; 17. 2-Garrett Bradley[17]; 18. 166-Travis Shoulders[14]; 19. 25L-Josh Lolmaugh[6]; 20. (DNS) 10-Brody Davis; 21. (DNS) 65-Todd Sherman; 22. (DNS) 24-Zeke McKenzie

 

Tanner English Wins at Kankakee for Third Victory in Last Six Races

KANKAKEE, IL (July 6, 2026) — Over the past four weeks, Tanner English has gone from searching relentlessly for a win to now making a habit of it.

English, of Benton, KY, went winless through the first 11 races of the 2026 DIRTcar Summer Nationals before breaking through at Farmington Empire Speedway one week ago and Highland Speedway three nights later. On Monday night at Kankakee County Speedway, English parked it in Victory Lane for the third time in the last six races, asserting his dominance as the hottest driver currently on the Hell Tour.

“I think we all get in our heads a little bit and think, well, that won’t work because it didn’t work one time,” English said. “Now I am getting more like ‘now that I won that first one, I feel alright, I don’t care if I lose the rest of them if I need to.’ I am just trying to learn and do what needs to be done.”

English and Sam Seawright led the field to green from the front row for the 30-lap main event. Seawright led the opening lap, using the outside lane to propel himself to the lead with English and third-place Carson Ferguson battling directly behind him.

Seawright looked to be in control early on before lap traffic began to play a factor on Lap 12, bringing English and Ferguson right back to the No. 16S in the battle for the lead. English soon found a moisture strip on the bottom of the 1/4-mile oval and used it to pull even with the Coltman Farms Racing machine, briefly taking the lead as they raced down the backstretch.

Seawright battled back with a strong run on the top side through Turns 3 and 4, retaking the lead by a nose at the line on Lap 13. The battled continued on Lap 14 with more side-by-side action; Seawright still holding the top spot. Lap traffic began to thicken over the next few laps as the top three of Seawright, English, and Ferguson now made up the battle for the top spot.

English soon took advantage of Seawright’s struggles in lap traffic and shot by Seawright out of Turn 4 to lead Lap 17. From there, it was all English’s No. 96 out front as he led the final 13 laps unchallenged to pick up his ninth career Summer Nationals Feature win and extend his points lead to 123 over second-place Jason Feger.

“Early on, I found that little traction strip on the bottom and I knew it was probably going to be there the whole race,” English said. “When we got to the lappers, I started following Sam (Seawright), just trying to buy time and keep my tires cool. When he hit lap cars, I made my moves there and it was just the right time. Everything worked out just right, he got hung up by a car on the back stretch and I shot by him and took his line away.”

Ferguson got by for second in the closing laps, Seawright finished third, Feger finished fourth, and Brenden Smith rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals makes its only stop in Indiana at Montpelier Speedway on Tuesday, July 7. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals if you are not at the track? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 96-Tanner English[1]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[2]; 4. 25-Jason Feger[5]; 5. 17SS-Brenden Smith[4]; 6. 89-Mike Spatola[7]; 7. 91-Rusty Schlenk[9]; 8. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 9. 130-Chase Osterhoff[8]; 10. 07-Rylee Knoll[14]; 11. 32S-Chris Simpson[11]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner[13]; 13. 17SR-Brody Smith[10]; 14. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[20]; 15. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[12]; 16. 30-Mark Voigt[22]; 17. M27-Mike Provenzano[18]; 18. 12-Jack Franklin[16]; 19. 21K-Jacob Kolwyck[15]; 20. BK3-Billy Knippenberg III[17]; 21. 729-Mike Winn[23]; 22. Z61-Alex Wilson[19]; 23. 74D-Dan DeYoung[21]; 24. (DNS) 74-Mitch McGrath

 

Steven Brooks Returns to Victory Lane with the Summit Modifieds at Kankakee

It’s been nine years in the making for Steven Brooks, but the hometown favorite has found his way back to DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Victory Lane.

Brooks, of Bourbonnais, IL, first broke through with the UMP Modified series on July 6, 2017. Fast forward to Monday night — almost nine years to-the-day — and he’s done it again, leading the final 15 laps of the main event at his home track of Kankakee County Speedway for his second career series triumph.

“I am on Cloud 9 right now,” Brooks said. “We’ve done this thing for a long time. We’ve chased these wins for a while, and I can’t believe it’s been nine years since we got a Summer Nationals win. To get one here at Kankakee, it’s in our backyard, it’s our home track. I always say I am going to defend the home turf and we got it done, this is so awesome.”

At the start, Mike McKinney and Brooks showed shades of their weekly battles at the Illinois 1/4-mile oval, racing side-by-side for the top spot.

McKinney led the opening lap by a nose as he worked the low lane while Brooks used the top and began to find some momentum. Michael Ledford soon became a factor, taking advantage of Brooks slipping on the top to go by for second.

On Lap 10, lap traffic was in play, and just as Ledford made a move around the outside of McKinney, the caution flew for a car spun in Turns 3 and 4. Brooks found the middle lane on the restart and used it to propel himself to second off Turn 2. Brooks used that momentum to drive to the outside of McKinney, leading Lap 11 by a nose at the line.

A caution on Lap 11 for a three-car pileup saw McKinney head off the racetrack under the yellow with a flat tire. On the restart, Ledford found new life as he worked the bottom and pulled even with Brooks. As the battle for the lead intensified, a new challenger approached as Zeke McKenzie railed the top to make it a three-car duel for the lead.

McKenzie washed high exiting Turn 2, allowing both Brooks and Ledford to get by. As the race continued, Brooks continued to get faster, and he pulled away to over a one-second advantage and crossed the start/finish line to secure the victory.

Ledford finished second, McKenzie extends his points lead with a third-place finish, Curt Spalding was fourth, and Tyler Spalding was fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals returns to action at Montpelier Speedway in Montpelier, IN on Tuesday, July 7.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTViison.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5-Steven Brooks[2]; 2. 09-Michael Ledford[3]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie[5]; 4. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 5. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[15]; 6. 27D-Beau DeYoung[9]; 7. B5-Matthew Baker[6]; 8. 0-Travis Kohler[11]; 9. T23-John Toppozini[14]; 10. 7-Brad DeYoung[10]; 11. 01K-Billy Knippenberg[12]; 12. 77-Ray Bollinger[8]; 13. 48-Adam Pockrus[7]; 14. 310-Guy Sutton[13]; 15. 68W-Damion Wilmoth[16]; 16. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 17. 94-Nick Pasek[18]; 18. 40F-Tyler Fengya[20]; 19. (DNS) 25B-Braiden Bohlmann; 20. (DNS) 23B-Ethan Boomsma

 

Brandon Sheppard Dominates Macon to Win Second Herald & Review 100

MACON, IL (July 5, 2026) — One year after coming up short in the quest for his second career Herald & Review 100 victory, Brandon Sheppard returned to Macon Speedway Sunday night and avenged his past defeat.

Sheppard, the 2012 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion from New Berlin, IL, finished runner-up in the 2025 edition of the historic event after a flat tire ruined his advantage out front and forced him to charge from the tail. This time around, all four tires stayed up through the distance as he dominated the 46th running of the Hell Tour’s crown jewel, becoming the third driver in race history to lead all 100 laps around the 1/5-mile bullring.

“It’s hard to forget the ones that you come so close at, and unfortunately, there are a lot more of those than there are wins in anybody’s career,” Sheppard said. “I think there’s a lot of them that could have been. Our car has just been phenomenal all year, night-in and night-out. Whether it’s in the Rocket 1 or the B5, we were on kill, that’s for sure.

“And then I lost power steering and I am pretty much dead right now; my arms are done. It was all I could do to hang onto it.”

Despite the mechanical malfunction in the home stretch of the race, Sheppard showed the field no mercy from the drop of the green. Starting on the outside pole, he went straight to the cushion around Turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap and drove by Mike Spatola to secure the top spot.

Lap traffic quickly became a factor as Sheppard encountered the tail of the field only nine laps in and began working his way through the slower cars.

The first caution flag waved on Lap 23 for debris, erasing Sheppard’s lead and bringing him back in sight of Spatola and Summer Nationals points leader Tanner English, who were both locked in an intense battle for the runner-up spot.

The ensuing restart marked the beginning of a long green flag run that saw Sheppard extend his lead to over seven seconds at its largest and lap the field up to sixth place.

Even when Sheppard’s power steering system went kaput with under 20 laps remaining, the top five were unable to deplete the B5’s gap. His advantage held until a caution flag on Lap 99 for a slowing Ryan Miller in Turn 3 erased it one final time and put Luke Morey and English on his tail for the restart.

But again, Sheppard was unfazed, driving away under the green, the white, and the checkered flag to collect the $7,500 check and career win No. 29 with the Hell Tour — tying him with the late Scott Bloomquist for seventh on the all-time wins list.

“We come support these races because we love these tracks and our local dirt tracks,” Sheppard said. “These places are close to my heart; I grew up racing here [Macon]. I can remember sitting in the stands and watching the scoreboard during the day because I wasn’t old enough to go into the pits. I’d watch all the winners, and I’d see my uncle Ed come across there.”

Luke Morey crossed in second, English in third, Kyle Hardy in fourth, and Mitch McGrath rounding out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals begins the final week of competition for the 2026 campaign Monday, July 6 at Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, IL. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

If you can’t be at the track, how can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Herald & Review 100 pres. by Pepsi (100 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 3. 96-Tanner English[3]; 4. 99-Kyle Hardy[5]; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 6. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 7. 31M-Tyler Millwood[10]; 8. 42W-Mckay Wenger[13]; 9. 15-Clay Stuckey[19]; 10. 25-Jason Feger[7]; 11. 91-Rusty Schlenk[20]; 12. 16-Rusty Griffaw[14]; 13. 17SR-Brody Smith[11]; 14. 30-Mark Voigt[22]; 15. 11M-Ryan Miller[16]; 16. 16S-Sam Seawright[8]; 17. ZT1-Zach Taylor[18]; 18. 17SS-Brenden Smith[4]; 19. 38J-Jake Little[21]; 20. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[17]; 21. 12-Jack Franklin[12]; 22. (DQ) 45-Kyle Hammer[15]

 

Michael Ledford Passes Trevor Neville Late for Macon Win

Trevor Neville was a 1/5-mile away from a second DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals triumph of the season Sunday night at Macon Speedway. And then, one bobble, hop, and a push later, and Michael Ledford was standing in Victory Lane.

Ledford, of Pontiac, IL, stole the win in dramatic fashion as leader Neville stumbled on the cushion in Turn 4 coming to the white flag, opening the door for Ledford’s No. 09 to race on by for the lead and his fifth career Summit Modified Feature win.

“I was pretty committed to running the bottom, it’s where I felt the most comfortable with my car,” Ledford said. “I got fortunate with [Neville] messing up over in turn four, it just worked out.

“This place is really cool, and I really enjoy coming here. Track was great, you could run almost anywhere you wanted to.”

The opening lap was led by polesitter Mike Harrison with Ledford and Neville in tow behind him. On Lap 3, Neville began to make his bid for the lead on Harrison before a caution halted his progress. The restart saw things get exciting as the lead trio went three wide off the exit of Turn 4 after Harrison stumbled on the cushion.

Neville saw the door open and ran through it, coming out on top of the three-car battle as they raced back into Turn 1 on Lap 5. Harrison battled back on the cushion before Neville pulled a slide job to block the charge.

Harrison crossed back under and the two went side-by-side entering Turn 1, making contact and allowing Ledford to reel them back in. Harrison was able to clear Neville again as they went down the backstretch, leading Lap 8.

Right as Neville retook the lead on Lap 9, a caution flag flew, halting the incredible battle for the lead. On the restart, Neville pulled away and looked well on his way to victory before coming to the white flag.

Neville hopped and stumbled on the top side of Turn 3, causing him to wash high in Turn 4 as the white flag waved. Ledford was waiting for any mistake from the leader and got it, sneaking by for the lead on the bottom as he drove across the start/finish line. Neville got his car pointed straight again and charged down the backstretch with speed in an attempt to get the top spot back, but it was too late as Ledford crossed under the checkers.

Neville finished second, Zeke McKenzie finished third, Beau DeYoung was fourth, and Ray Bollinger rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, IL on Monday, July 6.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 09-Michael Ledford[3]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[2]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie[5]; 4. 27D-Beau DeYoung[6]; 5. 77-Ray Bollinger[9]; 6. 72A-Austin Lynn[4]; 7. 27E-Dalton Ewing[10]; 8. 27B-Kyle Barker[12]; 9. 0-Damian Kiefer[11]; 10. T23-John Toppozini[14]; 11. 81C-Christopher Cole[16]; 12. 11D-Brian Diveley[7]; 13. 14S-Carter Standerfer[17]; 14. 78-Maxx Emerson[20]; 15. 71-Jeff Graham[13]; 16. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 17. 14-Dalton Lane[15]; 18. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[8]; 19. 01-Jeremy Nichols[19]; 20. 24M-Matt Milner[18]; 21. (DNS) 10-Todd O'Neill; 22. (DNS) X75-Dylan Turpin

 

Tanner English Wins Eighth Career Summer Nationals Feature at Highland

HIGHLAND, IL (July 4, 2026) — After fighting race-after-race to break through to Victory Lane once in the first half of the summer, Tanner English only needed three days to do it again.

English, of Benton, KY, endured the first 11 rounds of the 2026 DIRTcar Summer Nationals with 10 top-five finishes and eight podiums, but no wins. He finally broke through Wednesday night in Missouri and did it again Saturday night at Highland Speedway to bank his eighth career Hell Tour victory.

“I made a couple moves there about halfway through the race that was probably the game changer,” English said. “I’ve been pretty conservative; I’m trying to wrap this points deal up. Trying not to make any stupid moves, so I could’ve ran harder but I didn’t have to.”

Early in the 40-lap Feature it was Sam Seawright and Jordan Bauer who battled for the lead. Bauer edged ahead as they entered Turn 3, but Seawright threw a slide job in Turn 4 that cleared Bauer’s No. 10J and gave him the lead on Lap 1 by a nose.

Bauer battled back to the inside of Seawright as they drove back into Turn 1, but the No. 16S maintained the top spot with a great run off Turn 2. For the next 30 laps, Seawright paced the field through lapped traffic until disaster struck for the Fort Payne, AL-driver on Lap 32 as he made contact with a slower car and spun to a stop in Turns 1 and 2, ending his hopes at a second Summer Nationals triumph.

Before the caution flag was thrown, English had worked his way past Bauer and into the runner-up spot and was beginning to trim Seawright’s gap of over four seconds at its largest. When Seawright retired to the pits after his incident, English inherited the lead with eight circuits remaining.

The green flag dropped and English pulled away from the field, leading the rest of the distance and driving off with a $10,000 check.

“I hate that for [Seawright], I have lost them like that before too. It sucks, but I am glad I was there to capitalize,” English said. “Sam had a four [NLMT tire], I think he was the only one so that might’ve sent him off; he really took off. When that four fired, he was going, so I guess I was the best car with a three on. I felt like at the beginning of the night, I made a few wrong moves on setup, it slicked off a lot better than I thought it would.”

Tyler Millwood was second, Rusty Schlenk was third, Daryn Klein was fourth, and Bauer finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals wrap up Week 4 at Macon Speedway on Sunday, July 5 in the 46th annual Herald & Review 100.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 96-Tanner English[4]; 2. 31M-Tyler Millwood[3]; 3. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 4. 10-Daryn Klein[6]; 5. 10J-Jordan Bauer[2]; 6. 25-Jason Feger[16]; 7. 49-Luke Morey[12]; 8. 15-Clay Stuckey[11]; 9. 89-Mike Spatola[9]; 10. 74-Mitch McGrath[15]; 11. 26-Jordan Suhre[17]; 12. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 13. (DNF) 52-Matt Bailey[7]; 14. (DNF) 51B-Brandon Carpenter[5]; 15. (DNF) 17SR-Brody Smith[14]; 16. (DNF) 16S-Sam Seawright[1]; 17. (DNF) T4-Adam Tischhauser[13]; 18. (DNF) LIL91-Carter Schlenk[18]; 19. (DNF) 99-Kyle Hardy[22]; 20. (DNF) 51-Dean Carpenter[10]; 21. (DNF) 35-Claude Walker[21]; 22. (DNF) 6K-Michael Kloos[20]

 

Mike Harrison Dominates Highland for Summit Modified Career Win No. 64

There are few things that are as automatic as Mike Harrison is at Highland Speedway.

Harrison, the six-time DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion from Highland, IL, led all 25 laps of Saturday’s main event to bank his ninth career Summit Modified triumph at Highland and his 64th career series victory.

“I’ve got more laps around this place than anybody in the Modifieds here,” Harrison said. “This is like home to me. I literally live right here in town, I made my first start here and I’ll probably make my last start here. It’s always fun coming back home and especially when you’re racing in front of a Summer Nationals crowd. It’s always fun winning in front of the hometown.”

Harrison shot to the lead at the drop of the green flag, turning away a challenge from Ray Bollinger to lead the opening lap. A multi-car stack-up in Turn 1 forced a restart on Lap 2, which Harrison swiftly handled as Zeke McKenzie took the runner-up spot from Bollinger behind him.

For the next 23 laps, Harrison put on a clinic, extending his gap on the field up to over three seconds at its largest before crossing under the checkered flag nearly two-and-a-half seconds over McKenzie in second, Bollinger in third, Jacob Steinkoenig in fourth, and Damian Kiefer, who rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals returns to action Sunday, July 5 at Macon Speedway.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 24-Zeke McKenzie[3]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 4. 24S-Jacob Steinkoenig[6]; 5. 0-Damian Kiefer[5]; 6. 14C-Rick Conoyer[18]; 7. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[8]; 8. 95S-Rick Salter[4]; 9. 87Z-Zeb Moake[7]; 10. 51-Timmy Hill[11]; 11. 94-Mark Clary[10]; 12. 787-Cody Zobrist[15]; 13. T23-John Toppozini[14]; 14. 21T-Talen Beard[16]; 15. 88L-Christian Lee[22]; 16. 19S-Nathan Schmitt[20]; 17. (DNF) 52-Billy Knebel[17]; 18. (DNF) 25X-Kyle Helmick[9]; 19. (DNF) 29-Chris Spalding[13]; 20. (DNF) E55-Chad Sellers[12]; 21. (DNF) 816-Travis Raterman[19]; 22. (DNF) 45S-Chandler Smith[21]

 

Frank Heckenast Jr. Ends Six-Year Summer Nationals Dry Spell at Red Hill

SUMNER, IL (July 3, 2026) — It’s been nearly six years since Frank Heckenast Jr. tasted victory with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals. Friday night at Red Hill Raceway, the drought finally came to an end.

Heckenast, of Frankfort, IL, took the lead on Lap 12 of the main event and never looked back, winning by over five seconds at the big, 4/10-mile oval for career win No. 6 during the 40th anniversary season of the Hell Tour.

“Six years, sixth win — that’s a long time,” Heckenast said. “I’ve had a lot of seconds and a lot of thirds; these are just hard to win. People think if they just show up, they’re gonna win one because they’re out on the road or something. It’s not that easy.”

Heckenast took the green flag from the pole with two-time series champion Jason Feger starting to his outside. Feger got the jump on the initial start of the race but a caution for two cars tangling brought a complete restart with no laps completed.

Feger got another good launch on the second try at the start and looked to be in control until things got dicey in lap traffic on Lap 11. Series points leader, Tanner English, had worked his way into second and was challenging for the lead before a caution slowed that charge.

While Feger maintained the lead on the Lap 11 restart, Heckenast made the move on English for second down the backstretch. As the top three crossed the start/finish line to complete Lap 12, Feger slowed dramatically, revealing a flat right-rear tire as the caution was thrown once again.

With Feger in the pits for repairs, Heckenast inherited the lead for the restart with 26 laps left. What came next was domination from the No. 99JR, leading the rest of the distance unchallenged for his first Summer Nationals win since August 2020.

“I got into a little argument with my dad because I thought we needed two or three tenths in the heat there because Babb and Feger showed three more tenths than we did,” Heckenast said. “But the car felt good, steered good. Not sure what tires everyone put on; we didn’t even look. It was one of those nights where we had the phones down and the heads down and went with the feel of our ass and it worked out.”

English finished second, Sam Seawright finished third, Kyle Hardy was fourth, and Clay Stuckey finished sixth. Feger rebounded from the flat tire to finish sixth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals celebrates July 4 at Highland Speedway in Highland, IL on Saturday.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English[4]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[9]; 4. 99-Kyle Hardy[8]; 5. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 6. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 7. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[10]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[13]; 9. 31M-Tyler Millwood[6]; 10. 17SR-Brody Smith[18]; 11. 82B-Jason Milam[16]; 12. (DNF) 49-Luke Morey[15]; 13. (DNF) K67-Braiden Keller[12]; 14. (DNF) 17W-Lee Williams[11]; 15. (DNF) 81-Logan Mounce[20]; 16. (DNF) 51-Dean Carpenter[7]; 17. (DNF) 17-Jarrett Jones[14]; 18. (DNF) 80-Tucker Chastain[19]; 19. (DNF) 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 20. (DNF) 67-Gregory Carrico[23]; 21. (DNF) LIL91-Carter Schlenk[22]; 22. (DNF) 91-Rusty Schlenk[17]; 23. (DNF) 30-Mark Voigt[21]

 

Cole Falloway Scores First Summit Modified Win of 2026 at Red Hill

Kentucky native Cole Falloway stormed into Illinois’ Red Hill Raceway Friday night and emerged a Feature winner with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals for the first time in 2026.

Falloway, of Owensboro, KY, made the pass for the lead slightly before the halfway point of the main event and never looked back, banking his fourth career Summit Modified Feature win.

Ray Bollinger led the field into Turn 1 before a two-car tangle in Turns 1 and 2 restacked the field for a complete restart.

Bollinger again took control of the race on the second attempt at the start until a Lap 9 red flag for a Christopher Cole tip over brought the race to a stop.

On the restart, Bollinger pulled away once more before slowing briefly in Turn 2, allowing Falloway drive by for the lead down the back stretch on Lap 11.

Falloway extended the advantage out to over five seconds over the remainder of the distance and crossed under the checkered flag for his second DIRTcar UMP Modified win at Red Hill in 2026.

“That red was good because my stuff was running a little hot before that, so it gave it a chance to come back down,” Falloway said. “I was kind of just biding my time behind [Bollinger], seeing where I could make a little bit more speed than he was. I don’t know what happened, he went off the pace, and I got into him a little bit. And then he got back going.”

Bollinger finished second, Zeke McKenzie was third, Levi Kissinger was fourth, and Matthew Baker rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals return to action on July 4 at Highland Speedway in Highland, IL.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway[3]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger[1]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 4. 95K-Levi Kissinger[2]; 5. B5-Matthew Baker[6]; 6. 27G-Jason Garver[5]; 7. 37-Everett Bradham[7]; 8. 744-Justin Jones[11]; 9. 91K-Cody Kibby[8]; 10. (DNF) 2X-Wes Harms[15]; 11. (DNF) 7815-Brandon Justus[10]; 12. (DNF) 81C-Christopher Cole[9]; 13. (DNF) 43A-Larry Anderson[14]; 14. (DNF) 81K-Kyle Cole[13]; 15. (DNF) 22-Jordan Borgmann[16]; 16. (DNS) 118-Dustin Atchison

 

Jason Feger Earns Milestone Summer Nationals Win No. 40 at Lincoln

LINCOLN, IL (July 2, 2026) — Milestone moments rarely come easy. Jason Feger had to work for a big one Thursday night at Lincoln Speedway, topping a thrilling, three-car battle for the lead and going on to his 40th career DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win.

Feger, the two-time Hell Tour champion from Bloomington, IL, made the most of a restart just past the halfway point to get by Sam Seawright and race-long Tanner English in a race that had the crowd on their feet before driving off with his fifth Feature win of the summer.

“When it’s right, Lincoln puts on a heck of a show,” Feger said. “I feel like a lot of times it can get a little top dominant, but usually when you can keep the bottom around and run the top like that, it’s a lot of fun. The top is just skinny and technical, so it’s not like anyone can get up there and do really good.”

A Lap 18 debris caution was the catalyst for a thrilling battle for the lead that started with current points leader English leading the opening 18 laps.

What happened next was nothing short of spectacular as the field restarted with just 12-to-go. Seawright dove under English entering Turn 3 and threw a big slide job on the No. 96 before making contact with the outside wall in Turn 4 and allowing English to slip back by to his inside.

As English and Seawright continued their battle, Feger soon reeled-in both drivers to make it a three-car duel for the top spot.

Feger rolled the bottom and attempted to pick off both as the exited Turn 2 with just 10 laps to go. The lead trio went three wide down the backstretch, splitting Seawright and leaving the top two in points side-by-side as they entered Turn 3.

Feger then executed a slide job of his own on English, bouncing off the Turn 4 wall and speeding down the front stretch to take the lead on Lap 21. From there, it was all Feger and his No. 25 out front as he went on to lead the final 10 laps and pick up the win in front of his home-state crowd.

“I didn’t think my car was that good; I was just trying to be really patient, and I knew there was a few different tire combinations there, and I wasn’t sure what was going to play out,” Feger said. “I was really struggling to get off the bottom like I wanted to, I didn’t think we had anything for [English]. I raced Sam (Seawright) hard because I wanted that row on the restart. I got to the bottom on the restart and everything I needed to happen, happened.”

English finished second, Jake Little rallied for third, Luke Morey was fourth, and Trey Mills rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models head to Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, IL, on Friday, July 3. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How else can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[5]; 2. 96-Tanner English[1]; 3. 38J-Jake Little[9]; 4. 49-Luke Morey[8]; 5. 14JR-Trey Mills[4]; 6. 16S-Sam Seawright[2]; 7. 91-Rusty Schlenk[3]; 8. 45-Kyle Hammer[10]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[15]; 10. 99-Kyle Hardy[12]; 11. 21B-Rich Bell[16]; 12. 74-Mitch McGrath[11]; 13. 17SR-Brody Smith[21]; 14. 37L-Michael Ledford[13]; 15. 31M-Tyler Millwood[14]; 16. 15-Clay Stuckey[18]; 17. 09-Michael Leach[19]; 18. 89-Mike Spatola[6]; 19. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 20. 74X-Ethan Dotson[7]; 21. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[17]; 22. 75-Daniel Adam[22]

 

Trevor Neville Wins at Lincoln for Sixth Career Summit Modified Win

Trevor Neville came into Lincoln Speedway hungry for the taste of victory. After 25 laps around the Illinois bullring, consider his hunger satisfied.

Neville, of Mackinaw, IL, hadn’t won in DIRTcar Modified competition since May. But on Thursday night, the 25-year-old capitalized on his pole starting position to end the drought in a big way with his first Feature win with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals in over a year.

“We’re just doing this for fun this year,” Neville said. “We decided to catch the back half of this, we were working on stuff and decided to have some fun. This tour is what makes or breaks people on this whole deal because the back-to-back racing makes you a better driver.”

The green flag dropped on the main event and into the lead went polesitter Austin Friedman, leading the opening lap with Neville in tow.

Neville quickly battled back and pulled even down the backstretch as the lead duo went side-by-side around the 1/4-mile oval. Friedman tried to slide up as they exited Turn 4, but Neville had the outside lane momentum and cleared Friedman before crossing the start/finish line to lead Lap 2.

Multiple cautions throughout the race forced Neville’s No. 777 to maintain the lead through multiple restarts, but he stood tall each time and kept the field behind him.

Neville went the rest of the way uncontested, leading the final 23 laps for his first win with the series since June 2025 at Peoria Speedway.

Steven Brooks finished second, Zeke McKenzie third, Ray Bollinger fourth, and Carson Friedman was fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, IL on Friday, July 3.

How can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 777-Trevor Neville[1]; 2. 5-Steven Brooks[4]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie[7]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger[12]; 5. 389-Carson Friedman[3]; 6. 10K-Kelly Kovski[10]; 7. 150-Collin Alexander[6]; 8. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[5]; 9. 2-Brayden Doyle[8]; 10. 01-Jeremy Nichols[13]; 11. 25W-Allen Weisser[9]; 12. 96M-Mike McKinney[14]; 13. B5-Matthew Baker[20]; 14. 27G-Jason Garver[21]; 15. 01K-Billy Knippenberg[19]; 16. 11D-Brian Diveley[23]; 17. 14L-Brian Lynn[15]; 18. 89-Austin Friedman[2]; 19. 110-Landen Miller[17]; 20. 97-Charles Hess[16]; 21. 35-Brandon Roberts[11]; 22. 9S-Ken Schrader[18]; 23. (DNS) 19C-Carter Sinkhorn; 24. (DNS) 14-Dalton Lane

 
Tanner English Grabs First Summer Nationals Win of 2026 at Farmington

FARMINGTON, MO (July 2, 2026) – Since building a new team from scratch, Tanner English had been checking every box with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals to show it was worth it. But one box remained empty – a win.

That changed Wednesday night at Farmington Empire Speedway when English went uncontested to score his seventh career Summer Nationals victory, and first since 2024.

“It’s pretty cool to get this done finally,” English said. “I feel like we should’ve had five or six. Man, super grateful to be here.

“I know nobody wants to hear this story, but I started this deal from scratch with a lot of good people behind me. I can’t thank my family enough and everybody behind me. I appreciate them a ton. In March, I didn’t have nothing. Pretty cool to be here.”

English entered the night in a close point battle with reigning Series champion Jason Feger, and they brought that title fight to the front row of the 30-lap Feature with English on the pole and Feger to his outside.

The Kentucky driver moved ahead of Feger as they took the green and entered Turn 1. Feger pounded the cushion but was unable to find any momentum and backtracked through the field early on.

English maintained a healthy race lead as the race hit Lap 20, but a caution for a spinning Dean Carpenter stacked the field up and gave Sam Seawright, who worked his way to second, an opportunity to catch the No. 96.

English fired off on the bottom and pulled away, leading the final nine laps en route to the victory and extending his overall points lead.

“It feels really good just to get everyone to quit talking about it,” English said on his winless drought. “We’ve been really close and just made the wrong moves. It’s a big weight off my shoulders to get this done, just so I can just race and try to win more races and not worry about points. I get in my head a lot, and this is big.”

Seawright finished second, Clay Stuckey was third, Tyler Millwood was fourth, and Kyle Hardy finished fifth. Feger ended the night seventh.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models head back to the “Land of Lincoln” with a return to Illinois’ Lincoln Speedway on Thursday, July 2.

How can you watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 96-Tanner English[1]; 2. 16S-Sam Seawright[3]; 3. 15-Clay Stuckey[4]; 4. 31M-Tyler Millwood[5]; 5. 99-Kyle Hardy[10]; 6. 91-Rusty Schlenk[7]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 8. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[11]; 9. 09-Michael Leach[9]; 10. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[17]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola[13]; 12. 49-Luke Morey[8]; 13. 25B-Chevy Boyer[15]; 14. 17SR-Brody Smith[18]; 15. 2-Charlie Cole[23]; 16. 16-Rusty Griffaw[20]; 17. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 18. 147-Kyle Stolzer[21]; 19. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 20. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]; 21. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[16]; 22. 10-Daryn Klein[12]; 23. 51-Dean Carpenter[22]

ARTICLE: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/recaps/tanner-english-grabs-first-summer-nationals-win-of-2026-at-farmington/

 


Summit Modified Nationals’ 400th Race Won by Kiefer at Farmington

Two weeks ago, Damian Kiefer was ecstatic to just get one DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals win. Now, he has two and his name associated with a historic milestone.

Kiefer, of Ste. Genevieve, MO, picked up the win at Farmington Empire Speedway after a battle with Mike Savage in the Summit Modified Nationals’ 400th Series race.

Savage bolted from third to the lead in the opening lap after pole-sitter Ray Bollinger washed up high in Turn 4. However, they had to reset with the start being called back.

On the next attempt, Bollinger led the opening lap. But Savage made another quick march to the front, using the bottom line to race his way back to the lead on Lap 2.

Behind Savage, who checked out, Kiefer was charging from the ninth position. He was sixth on Lap 2, fifth on Lap 4, and second on Lap 9.

The long green flag run allowed lap traffic to become a factor, and that proved to be what Kiefer needed to catch Savage. Building a run on Lap 10, he was able to pass the No. 13 for the lead down the backstretch on Lap 11.

Kiefer led the final 14 laps to grab his second career Summit Modified win in the Series’ debut at Farmington.

“It’s an honor to even be on this stage,” Kiefer said. “We got a great piece of equipment under us here, and I can thank each and every person that gets me up and down the road. I just had to stay calm and hit my marks. It felt like I made a few mistakes, but all in all, we got the job done.”

Savage finished second, points leader Bollinger finished third, Dylan Sharp was fourth, and Zeke McKenzie rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals heads to Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, IL on Thursday, July 2.

How can you watch every Summit Modifieds race? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 0-Damian Kiefer[9]; 2. 13S-Mike Savage[3]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[1]; 4. 23-Dylan Sharp[7]; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 6. 27G-Jason Garver[5]; 7. J82-Treb Jacoby[8]; 8. 18-Brent Thompson[10]; 9. 74-James Hileman[16]; 10. 21-Chasten Boen[13]; 11. 7-Tim Nash[20]; 12. 1-Shane Blair[12]; 13. T23-John Toppozini[15]; 14. 98-Joshua Hawkins[11]; 15. 13K-Kodi Savage[14]; 16. 94-Mark Clary[2]; 17. 52-Bradley Stanfill[19]; 18. 14-Dalton Lane[22]; 19. (DNF) 4G-Paul Schrempf Jr[17]; 20. (DNF) 27J-Johnny Crump[18]; 21. (DNF) 23W-Tyler Worley[6]; 22. (DNF) 22-Jordan Borgmann[21]

ARTICLE: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/recaps/summit-modified-nationals-400th-race-won-by-kiefer-at-farmington/

 

EVENT INFO: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/schedule/event-info/?event=4549706
 

FAN 101: https://about.dirtcar.com/

 

Jason Feger Ties Don O’Neal with 39th Summer Nationals Win at Old No. 1

HARRISBURG, AR (June 30, 2026) — Some drivers grind it out just for a shot to win once on the Hell Tour. Jason Feger notched a meaningful 39th career DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win Tuesday night at Old No. 1 Speedway and reached a historic mark in the record books.

Feger, the two-time Hell Tour champion from Bloomington, IL, led all 30 laps of the main event around the Arkansas oval to capture his fourth win of the summer and 39th of his career on tour, tying him with 2004 series champion Don O’Neal for fifth on the all-time Feature wins list.

“It’s crazy, just growing up watching all your childhood heroes and a lot of them guys, I saw them win most of them races,” Feger said. “I raced against them for a lot them too. I never thought I’d win one of them, let alone that many.”

The Feature began with Feger lined up on the pole alongside Monday night’s Feature winner, Sam Seawright.

The battle for the lead heated up on Lap 6 between series points leader Tanner English – who had just worked his way into second – and Feger, who had led since the drop of the green.

English pulled even as they exited Turn 2 and Feger was challenged for the first time early in the race. Feger continued to get strong runs off the cushion in Turn 2, maintaining his advantage over English’s No. 96. Later in lapped traffic, English was able to make the pass for the lead briefly using the bottom lane through Turns 1-2, but again, Feger’s explosive drive down the backstretch powered him right back into the top spot as the pair entered Turn 3.

From there, Feger navigated lap traffic well, keeping English behind him, and survived a restart on Lap 19 to secure the victory in the series’ second-ever visit to Old No. 1. With the win, Feger continues to stay within striking distance of both the Week 4 and overall points titles.

“My goal is to run top three and be in one piece, and then after that, obviously I want to win,” Feger said. “You make more money winning races. So, ultimately, I feel like if you do that, the points take care of themselves. But it’s going to be tough to beat Tanner (English), he’s a model of consistency.”

English showed that consistency and finished second, Seawright finished third, Clay Stuckey was fourth, and Luke Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models return to the “Show-Me State” with a stop at Farmington Empire Speedway in Farmington, MO on Wednesday, July 1. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English[5]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[2]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 6. 91S-Rusty Schlenk[9]; 7. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[8]; 9. 17SR-Brody Smith[10]; 10. 86-Kyle Beard[13]; 11. 15S-Shane Stephens[20]; 12. 09-Michael Leach[11]; 13. 7W-JC Waller[15]; 14. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[12]; 15. 31M-Tyler Millwood[3]; 16. 12C-Scott Crigler[14]; 17. 51-Dean Carpenter[17]; 18. 2-Charlie Cole[21]; 19. 30-Mark Voigt[16]; 20. 99-Kyle Hardy[19]; 21. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[22]; 22. (DNS) 30B-Nathan Brown

 

Jason Garver Picks Up First Career Summit Modified Win at Old No. 1

Jason Garver made the 750-mile trip north from his Florida home to compete with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals in search of his first touring Modified series win. Inside the lines of The Natural State, he finally got it.

Garver, 49, of Starke, FL, picked up his first career Summit Modified triumph Tuesday night at Old No. 1 Speedway, leading all 25 laps of the main event around the Arkansas oval to score the win over Hunter Breland and Dalton Lane.

At the drop of the green, Garver used his pole starting spot to dart away with the lead over Breland, a Mississippi native.

Lap traffic became a factor on Lap 16 as Garver continued to work the inside lane, but Breland was working the top lane around the 1/4-mile oval and was able to close the gap.

With four laps-to-go, Breland pulled alongside Garver with a strong run off the bottom of Turn 2. But Garver stayed strong and won the drag race into Turn 3, maintaining his lead off Turn 4.

Garver continued to work through lap traffic in the closing circuits and opened up a gap on the rest of the field, one that he carried across the finish line with him to score the $1,500 prize.

“This history of the Hell Tour is why we came and did it,” Garver said. “We wanted to be a part of history. The way we ran the first two races, I really didn’t think we were going to be capable of winning. We worked on the car today and got some help from David Stremme and it all came together.”

Breland finished second, Lane was third, Zeke McKenzie finished fourth, and Landon Meilke finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals return to action at Farmington Empire Speedway in Farmington, MO on Wednesday, July 1.

How can you watch every Summit Modifieds race? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 27G-Jason Garver[1]; 2. 21B-Hunter Breland[2]; 3. 14-Dalton Lane[5]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie[7]; 5. 14M-Landon Meilke[6]; 6. 7-Grayson Moore[4]; 7. 97-Chad Williams[9]; 8. 57-Tyler Cox[8]; 9. 60-Blake Bass[14]; 10. 7A-Travis Agee[10]; 11. 789-Henry Gustavus[12]; 12. 56-Hunter Alls[13]; 13. (DNF) 29-Colby Richardson[11]; 14. (DNS) 99-Justin Haley

 

Seawright Outduels Morey at Camden for First Summer Nationals Win

CAMDEN, TN (June 29, 2026) — Sam Seawright checked a major career box Monday night at Camden Speedway, scoring his first career victory with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models in a thrilling photo finish.

Seawright, of Fort Payne, AL, dominated the main event, leading all 30 laps around the Tennessee oval amid challenges from Coltman Farms Racing teammate Luke Morey and Summer Nationals points leader Tanner English.

The 22-year-old rising Super Late Model talent lined up outside of the front row alongside English for the drop of the green flag and went right to work, using the middle lane to get around English as they entered Turn 1 and leading all the way back around the 3/8-mile oval to lead Lap 1.

The action began to heat up with six laps left as the top three broke away from the rest of the field. English went high into Turn 1, trying to find something to get around Seawright, but Morey was able to take advantage and slipped by English on the bottom to take the runner-up spot out of Turn 2.

As the white flag waved it was Morey who found just enough of the inside lane left open and took advantage, pulling even with Seawright as they exited Turn 4. The duo drag raced to the checkered flag, and it was Seawright coming out on a top in a photo finish at the line by .076 seconds.

“Our car’s been really good all year, I am just glad we got something to show for it, I’m excited for the next couple weeks,” Seawright said. “I know [Morey] was on me there and the lap cars were holding me up bad and I just kept getting in dirty air and putting myself in bad spots. Luckily, it all worked out.”

Morey crossed the line in second, making it a one-two punch for Coltman Farms Racing on the podium to kick off Week 4 of the Hell Tour’s 40th anniversary campaign.

“I’m proud of [Morey],” Seawright said. “He has done a good job. I know Brett’s ecstatic, and that’s all that really matters because he’s the one who puts all the money into this and he’s happy, so I’m happy.”

Kyle Hardy finished third, Tanner English fourth, and Rusty Schlenk rounded out the podium.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals next makes a stop at Old No.1 Speedway in Harrisburg, AR, on Tuesday, June 30. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

If you can’t be at the track, how else can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 16-Sam Seawright[2]; 2. 49-Luke Morey[3]; 3. 99-Kyle Hardy[5]; 4. 96-Tanner English[1]; 5. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[4]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[6]; 8. 25-Jason Feger[12]; 9. 17SR-Brody Smith[10]; 10. 81F-Jadon Frame[9]; 11. 09-Michael Leach[7]; 12. 31M-Tyler Millwood[11]; 13. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[14]; 14. 30-Mark Voigt[13]; 15. 12-Jack Franklin[18]; 16. 51-Dean Carpenter[15]; 17. 81-Jason Riggs[20]; 18. (DNF) 67-Gregory Carrico[16]; 19. (DNF) C6-Oakley Johns[17]; 20. (DNF) 17-Jarrett Jones[19]; 21. (DNF) 15W-Brian Woodard[21]; 22. (DNS) 75-Daniel Adam

 

Justin Haley Dominates at Camden to Score First Career Summit Modified Win

Justin Haley set out on the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals trail in 2026 with one goal — improve. Monday night at Camden Speedway, he showed exactly how far he’s come.

Haley, the NASCAR Truck Series regular from Winamac, IN, dominated the field, leading all 25 laps of the main event to score career win No. 1 with the Summit Modifieds.

Haley started on the pole, and early on, it was clear he was the one to beat. At the drop of the green flag, he darted away from polesitter and two-time series winner, Zeke McKenzie.

A caution on Lap 15 was the only chance anyone had of getting close to Haley, considering the lead of over five seconds he’d built at one point in the first half of the race. But in the end, nobody in the field had anything for the Darkhorse Racing No. 99.

Haley went on to lead the final 10 laps without challenge to bank his first career win with the Summit Modifieds, sweeping the night with a new track record in Qualifying, victory in his Heat Race and every lap led in the Feature.

“It’s rare to get in a race car and feel that good straight out from the rip. I’m just extremely happy. This track just fit my driving style and, obviously, coming to all these tracks for the first time is hard,” Haley said. “This is just fun; I was fortunate to get a few weeks off from the NASCAR stuff. This car is my pride and joy; it’s everything I work for. It means more because this is my own program and kind of calling the shots with my crew chief, Matt Smith.”

McKenzie finished second, Cole Falloway finished second, Charlie Mefford finished fourth, and Hunt Gossum finished fifth.

UP NEXT:

The Summit Modifieds next make a stop at Old No.1 Speedway in Harrisburg, AR, on Tuesday, June 30. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

If you can’t be at the track, how else can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 99-Justin Haley[2]; 2. 24-Zeke McKenzie[1]; 3. 66-Cole Falloway[4]; 4. 13-Charlie Mefford[3]; 5. 99G-Hunt Gossum[5]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee[6]; 7. 14-Dalton Lane[11]; 8. 101-Jarrett Melton[9]; 9. 4-Brenden Heizer[8]; 10. 27G-Jason Garver[7]; 11. (DNS) 57-Tyler Cox

 
Heavy Rainfall Cancels DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Windy Hollow

OWENSBORO, KY (June 28, 2026) – With heavy rainfall hitting Windy Hollow Speedway overnight, after already being flooded with several inches of rain the day prior, DIRTcar and track officials have canceled tonight’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals program at the Kentucky track.

Those who pre-purchased tickets will be refunded via My Race Pass this week.

The focus now shifts to Week 4 of the tour, with both series set to make their debut at Camden Speedway in Camden, TN on Monday, June 29.

If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

Thunderstorms Cancel DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Tri-State Speedway

 

HAUBSTADT, IN (June 27, 2026) — Due to heavy rain received Friday evening and thunderstorms passing through the region Saturday morning, coupled with additional rain showing in future weather models, DIRTcar and track officials have canceled tonight’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals program at Tri-State Speedway.

 

The tours resume Week 3 competition on Sunday, June 28, at Windy Hollow Speedway in Owensboro, KY. Tickets for the event can be bought in advance at the link below and will also be sold at the track on race day.

 

WINDY HOLLOW TICKETS

 

If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

 

Rain Cancels Paducah, Lincoln Replaces LaSalle July 2

 

PADUCAH, KY (June 26, 2026) — Heavy rainfall received Friday morning and future weather models showing more precipitation later in the evening have canceled the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals events at Paducah International Raceway. Additionally, Lincoln Speedway will be taking LaSalle Speedway’s date on July 2 due to electrical damages from recent storms.

 

High winds caused by storms that swept through the region Wednesday evening have severely damaged the power grid and electronic infrastructure at LaSalle, rendering the facility inoperable. After a thorough assessment and consultation with experts, the track has determined that full repair is not possible in time to host its Summer Nationals event on July 2, leading officials to cancel the Freedom 40.

 

Fans who purchased tickets in advance through MyRacePass will automatically receive refunds in the coming days.

 

In its place, Track Enterprises has agreed to take the July 2 date and will host both the Late Models and Summit Modifieds at Lincoln Speedway. Lincoln was originally set to host both tours on June 21 before rain canceled the program.

 

This reshapes the map of the Week 4 schedule for the Hell Tour’s 40th anniversary season, starting with a debut at Camden Speedway Monday, June 29, followed by visits to Old No.1 Speedway, Farmington Empire Speedway, Lincoln, Red Hill Raceway, and Highland Speedway before concluding the week with the most prestigious event of the season — the 46th running of the Herald & Review 100 at Macon Speedway on Sunday, July 5.

 

If you can’t make it to the track, how can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every event is broadcast live on DIRTVision.

 

 

Rain Cancels DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Springfield Raceway

 

SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 25, 2026) — Due to future weather models showing continuous rainfall throughout Thursday afternoon and into the evening, DIRTcar and Springfield Raceway officials have made the decision to cancel tonight’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models program.

 

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals will resume action at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY, on Friday, June 26. Tickets for the event are available in advance by clicking the link below and will also be sold at the track on race day.

 

PADUCAH TICKETS

 

If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

 

Rain Cancels DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Quincy Raceways

 

QUINCY, IL (June 24, 2026) — Heavy rainfall throughout the region Wednesday afternoon has rendered the track and surrounding property at Quincy Raceways unsuitable for racing conditions, leading DIRTcar and track officials to cancel tonight’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals events.

 

The Late Models will continue on to Springfield Raceway in Springfield, MO, for the next event on Thursday, June 25, while the Modifieds will take the night off and pick the action back up Friday, June 26, at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY.

 

Tickets for both events will be sold at the track on race day. If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

 

Billy Moyer Wins at Benton for 102nd Career Summer Nationals Victory

BENTON, MO (June 23, 2026) — No matter the place. No matter the time. No matter the competition. Billy Moyer continues to show why he’s one of dirt track racing’s all-time greats.

Moyer, the 68-year-old National Dirt Late Model Hall-of-Famer from Batesville, AR, scored the 102nd win of his DIRTcar Summer Nationals career Tuesday night at Benton Speedway, leading all but one lap around the Missouri oval to kick off Week 3 of the Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary celebration.

“I’m kind of trying to retire bit, but I just get bored,” Moyer said on what keeps his drive alive. “This has just been my life. The competition drives you in my family, and all the people that are here. It just makes it fun to keep coming back. Some of my friends with successful businesses told me, ‘If you’d work at anything as hard as you work on that race car, you wouldn’t be able to spend all the money you have.’ This sport’s been really good to me.”

The six-time Hell Tour champion lined up to the outside of fellow series champion Jason Feger as the green flag dropped on the 30-lap main event.

The front row stayed side-by-side throughout the first lap, but it was Moyer using the topside momentum to his advantage and rocketing around Feger off turn four to grab the lead.

Traffic became a factor on Lap 6 and allowed Feger to pull alongside Moyer as the battle for the lead intensified. Moyer was able to fend off the challenges of the No. 25 of Feger and maintain the lead. But after Moyer stumbled on the cushion through Turns 1-2 on Lap 10, Feger dove to the bottom in Turns 3-4 and pulled ahead of Moyer at the line by less than a tenth to lead the lap. However, Moyer was able to find just enough room to squeeze by Feger and the outside wall to retake the lead as they raced back into Turn 1.

As Moyer held strong out front, Tanner English was able to get by Feger for second on Lap 20 to take the runner-up spot. One final restart with five laps-to-go put English right on the leader’s bumper, but Moyer was not going to be denied, fending off the No. 96’s challenges and driving off to career Summer Nationals win No. 102 and his first at Benton.

“The one place I’ve never won, I guess that’s a cool thing. Theres been a lot of them that I’ve won at and then I go back and run like crap,” Moyer said. “There’s not a lot of notes so maybe that helps me a little bit. We didn’t have many things to go off, just make an educated guess and it all worked out.”

English continues to be consistent with a second-place finish, Feger was third, Tyler Millwood was fourth, and Clay Stuckey finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models head to Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL, on Wednesday, June 24. Tickets for the event will be available at the track on race day.

If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 2. 96-Tanner English[3]; 3. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 4. 31M-Tyler Millwood[4]; 5. 15-Clay Stuckey[6]; 6. 49-Luke Morey[7]; 7. 17SR-Brody Smith[8]; 8. 25B-Chevy Boyer[10]; 9. 18C-Matt Cooper[9]; 10. 57M-Camaron Marlar[18]; 11. 16-Rusty Griffaw[17]; 12. 12-Scott Crigler[11]; 13. 74-Mitch McGrath[19]; 14. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 15. 09-Michael Leach[14]; 16. 30B-Nathan Brown[16]; 17. 15W-Brian Woodard[13]; 18. 91-Mike Lough[12]; 19. 45M-Nate Yount[15]; 20. 11-CODY VANOVER[22]; 21. 11M-Robby Moore[23]; 22. 75-Daniel Adam[5]; 23. (DNS) 94-Allan Rettig

 

Damian Kiefer Gets First Career Summit Modified Triumph at Benton

One hour north of Benton Speedway sits Ste. Genevieve, MO — home to the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals’ newest Feature winner, Damian Kiefer.

Kiefer, 26, swept the night at the Missouri oval by setting quick time in Qualifying, winning his Heat Race and leading all 25 laps of the Feature to get his first career Summit Modified win.

At the drop of the green flag, Kiefer used his outside-front-row starting position to rip around Hunt Gossum and lead Lap 1.

On Lap 10, the race’s first caution spawned the first restart with Gossum sitting right behind Kiefer’s No. 0. Kiefer continued his strong evening with a good restart, hitting the cushion and surging down the backstretch to pull away from the field.

Kiefer went on to survive every following restart and lead every lap in the 25-lap main event to pick up the win, becoming the 90th different driver ever to win a Summit Modified event.

“It means the world to me to finally win one of these Summer Nationals races,” Kiefer said. “I’ve been going to these since I was a kid with my dad and watching him race against the best. And to be able to compete against the best tonight, we felt really good and it’s quite an accomplishment to finally get one of these off the checklist. Our car was super balanced there; it’s been really balanced the last six weeks. The race car doesn’t bobble, and it just doesn’t get tight. I can do just about anything I want and it’s really fun to drive.”

Justin Haley finished second, Zeke McKenzie was third, Gossum was fourth, and Austin Rettig rounded out the top five by advancing 13 positions.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals heads to Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL, on Wednesday, June 24. Tickets for the event will be available at the track on race day.

If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 0-Damian Kiefer[2]; 2. 99-Justin Haley[3]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 4. 99G-Hunt Gossum[1]; 5. 94R-Austin Rettig[18]; 6. 77-Ray Bollinger[6]; 7. J82-Treb Jacoby[7]; 8. 14C-Rick Conoyer[13]; 9. 21B-Hunter Breland[10]; 10. 6-Ryan Fowler[17]; 11. 9-Ken Schrader[19]; 12. 27G-Jason Garver[9]; 13. 66-Chris Hall[12]; 14. 74S-Chris Sieweke[22]; 15. (DNF) 17-Mikey Wilson[16]; 16. (DNF) 3G-Haleigh Gross[8]; 17. (DNF) 12-Kaleb Jones[14]; 18. (DNF) 98-Joshua Hawkins[5]; 19. (DNF) 94C-Mark Clary[15]; 20. (DNF) 84G-Gary Gross[11]; 21. (DNS) 45-Jeremy Conner; 22. (DNS) 5-Hayden Conner

 

Heavy Rainfall Cancels DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Peoria Speedway

PEORIA, IL (June 21, 2026) — Due to heavy, continuous rainfall throughout the day Sunday that has left portions of the property at Peoria Speedway under water, rendering the track and facility unsuitable for racing conditions, DIRTcar and Track Enterprises officials have made the decision to cancel Monday’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals events.

Fans who purchased tickets in advance will automatically receive refunds in the coming days.

“This is obviously a disappointing outcome for everyone involved,” said Track Enterprises President Bob Sargent. “Unfortunately, the amount of rainfall we’ve received is far too much to conduct an event tomorrow. We appreciate the support of the fans and race teams and share in their disappointment.”

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Modified Nationals are scheduled to resume racing on Tuesday, June 23, at Benton Speedway in Benton, MO, in the kickoff to Week 3 competition. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

Cade Dillard Gets First Career Summer Nationals Win at I-55

PEVELY, MO (June 20, 2026) — They say good things come to those who wait, and Cade Dillard has certainly waited a long time for this one.

Dillard, of Robeline, LA, has collected many wins across multiple different Late Model series in his career, as well as a host of victories in the Modified ranks before joining the national Late Model circuit in 2019. But coming into I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park Saturday night, he was determined to check another series off his to-win list.

For 40 laps, the 35-year-old paced the DIRTcar Summer Nationals field around the 1/3-mile high-banks, leading the main event flag-to-flag to score his first career victory on the Hell Tour.

Since his first appearance with the series in 2019, he’d come close to a win multiple times. But Saturday night was finally his time to shine in the summer heat.

“About four years ago at Spoon River (Speedway), we were leading one of these Hell Tour races, and I think with two laps-to-go, we had a pretty good lead. We broke a drive shaft, so that kind of stung ever since,” Dillard said. “I always thought it would be cool to win one of these, so I’m glad to get my name up there with so many good drivers on the wins list.”

The 40-lap Feature went green, and it was Dillard who got the jump on the opening lap, powering around the outside of polesitter Daryn Klein.

As the bottom became the preferred groove around I-55 toward the halfway point, the top six were nose-to-tail, waiting for a mistake from anyone ahead of them.

Klein stepped out and tried the top side on Lap 23 in an effort to try and make the pass, but Dillard held more speed on the bottom. Fourth-starting Shannon Babb later took a peek to Dillard’s inside on Lap 30, but again, Dillard held strong out front.

No one was able to make a serious bid for the lead the rest of the way as Dillard crossed the line and pocketed the $10,000 check.

Anytime you get a win, it just helps the team morale and boost my confidence. I am pretty hard on myself, so a lot of times, I doubt myself,” Dillard said. “So just to get our confidence back up and get going onto the next race.”

Shannon Babb finished second, Tanner English finished third, Michael Leach in fourth, and Jason Feger rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals moves back into the Land of Lincoln with a stop at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, IL on Sunday, June 21. Tickets will be sold at the track on race day.

How else can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 3. 96-Tanner English[12]; 4. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 5. 25-Jason Feger[6]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[15]; 7. 10-Daryn Klein[1]; 8. 57M-Camaron Marlar[9]; 9. 49-Luke Morey[16]; 10. 17SR-Brody Smith[14]; 11. 75-Daniel Adam[17]; 12. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 13. 33F-Rickey Frankel[8]; 14. 15-Clay Stuckey[11]; 15. 16W-Tony Wolf[5]; 16. 74-Mitch McGrath[7]; 17. 10J-Jordan Bauer[18]; 18. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[20]; 19. 31M-Tyler Millwood[13]; 20. 16-Rusty Griffaw[21]; 21. 4D-Doug Tye[22]; 22. T4-Adam Tischhauser[23]; 23. 6K-Michael Kloos[10]

 

Hunt Gossum Scores Sixth Career Summit Modified Victory at I-55

In the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals’ first appearance in Missouri in 2026, Hunt Gossum brought his Kentucky-born skills to the track and dominated the main event Saturday night.

Gossum, 21, of Mayfield, KY, led all 25 circuits around the 1/3-mile oval of I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park, banking his sixth career series win over Michael Long and Chris Spalding.

Gossum got the jump on the initial start of the race, beating polesitter Rick Conoyer to the bottom lane in Turn 1. He found lap traffic on Lap 14, which allowed Spalding to close the gap to only a few tenths of a second as the race neared the halfway point. Spalding took his No. 29 up to the top side in search of a way by Gossum, but he was unable to find the grip he needed as Long raced by underneath to take the runner-up spot.

This allowed Gossum to stretch his lead once again and drive the field back around to the checkered flag to bank his first Summit Modified win since going to Victory Lane at Lincoln Speedway one year ago.

“It felt like a 100-lap race, I’m going to be honest,” Gossum said. “I got lucky enough to be on the front row. I don’t know if [Conoyer] spun his tires on the start, but I just went. I mean, my car launched and I just turned and got into the rubber.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, IL, on Sunday, June 21. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How else can you watch the Summit Modifieds? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 99-Hunt Gossum[2]; 2. 18L-Michael Long[4]; 3. 29-Chris Spalding[3]; 4. 0-Damian Kiefer[6]; 5. 24S-Jacob Steinkoenig[5]; 6. 51-Timmy Hill[7]; 7. 14C-Rick Conoyer[1]; 8. 9-Ken Schrader[13]; 9. 17V-Mike Vanderiet Jr[15]; 10. 05-Dave Wietholder[9]; 11. 87Z-Zeb Moake[18]; 12. 98-Joshua Hawkins[12]; 13. 77-Ray Bollinger[8]; 14. 74-James Hileman[10]; 15. 21B-Hunter Breland[16]; 16. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[24]; 17. 16-Shawn Deering[22]; 18. J82-Treb Jacoby[23]; 19. 74S-Chris Sieweke[21]; 20. 47-Jack Sartain[19]; 21. 23-Dylan Sharp[14]; 22. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[17]; 23. 24H-Mike Harrison[11]; 24. 4G-Paul Schrempf Jr[20]

 

Jason Feger Passes Ryan Unzicker Late to Win at Farmer City

FARMER CITY, IL (June 19, 2026) — When Jason Feger and Ryan Unzicker square-off in a battle for supremacy on the tight bullrings of Illinois, the excitement level is sure to reach fever pitch.

Fans in attendance at Farmer City Raceway were treated to a generous helping of exactly that Friday night as the two DIRTcar Late Model national champions engaged in a relentless battle for the win around the 1/4-mile oval.

In the end, Feger emerged victorious after capitalizing on a wild incident in lapped traffic in the final laps to collect his 38th career DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win.

Early on, Feger was in control of the 40-lap main event, utilizing his pole starting position to lead the opening 23 laps of the race.

A restart on Lap 24 is where things changed in a hurry as Unzicker threw a slide job exiting turn four on Feger and led Lap 24 before a caution bunched the field up again. But this time, Unzicker led the field back to green.

“I was more frustrated the handling of the car went away,” Feger said. “We were really good early in the race, and then the rain just kind of had the track a little different tonight. We ran a [NLMT-4 tire] tonight, and I really thought the three was the right tire, and it ended up would’ve been the right tire. Once our edges were gone, we were no good.”

Unzicker continued to lead until heavy lap traffic became a factor on Lap 38 and allowed Feger’s No. 25 to close the gap quickly.

With just two laps-to-go, Unzicker made contact with the lapped car Mitch McGrath out of turn four and nearly spun around on the front stretch. Unzicker was able to get going straight again, but Feger had closed in on the rear deck of Unzicker’s No. 24 as they charged into turns one and two.

Feger ripped the top, found the momentum off turn two, and drove deep down low underneath Unzicker into turn three. They touched wheels before the apex of the corner, and as Unzicker slid up the track and into the side of McGrath’s No. 74, Feger was able to capitalize, slipping underneath both cars to retake the lead as he crossed under the white flag.

Feger came back around to take the checkered flag and career win No. 38 with Hell Tour, bringing him within one win of tying 2004 Summer Nationals champion Don O’Neal for fourth on the all-time wins list at 39.

“It’s just really a tough deal. So maybe if I’m leading, I do pick the bottom and I get by the lap cars no problem, but I very easily could’ve made the same choice as Ryan did, just chose the wrong lane,” Feger said. “Me seeing him pick that line made it a lot easier knowing where I had to go. The car’s been good all summer and you’ve got to have some luck or be good, and right now, we are good. You always lose more that way than you’re ever going to win.”

“Any time you lose, it’s a bummer, right?” Unzicker said in his DIRTVision post-race interview. “I don’t know, some of the lappers just need to chill the heck out and just stay in one lane, and unfortunately, they can’t figure that out yet. But the car was good and that’s all I can ask for being on the podium.”

Unzicker hung on to finish second, Clay Stuckey finished third, Tanner English charged from 15th to finish fourth, and Kyle Hammer rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals returns to action at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely, MO, on Saturday, June 20.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[3]; 3. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 4. 96-Tanner English[15]; 5. 45-Kyle Hammer[7]; 6. 38J-Jake Little[11]; 7. 18-Shannon Babb[12]; 8. 31M-Tyler Millwood[16]; 9. 75-Daniel Adam[8]; 10. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 11. 42W-Mckay Wenger[6]; 12. 09-Michael Leach[2]; 13. 122-Timmy Dick[21]; 14. ZT1-Zach Taylor[17]; 15. 1W-Donny Walden[10]; 16. 17SR-Brody Smith[14]; 17. 33H-Roben Huffman[13]; 18. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 19. 4D-Doug Tye[22]; 20. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[23]; 21. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[18]; 22. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 23. 87-Jake Rainey[19]

 

Michael Long Gets 14th Career Summit Modified Win at Farmer City

Michael Long continues to carve his legacy with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals with a strong performance in his latest triumph at Farmer City Raceway.

Long, the 2024 DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion from Fowler, IL, picked up career win No. 14 with the Summit Modifieds Friday night, moving him into a tie for fifth on the all-time wins list with current series points leader, Ray Bollinger.

“It’s a good deal. It’s a good summer series that comes around here every year,” Long said. “There are a lot of top guys that run the series and it’s good to be up there with them. It’s something we like doing every year.”

The Feature went green at the 1/4-mile confines of Farmer City as Zeke McKenzie — a winner at Fairbury Speedway one week ago — took the initial lead over outside polesitter and Vanquish Race Cars teammate, Bollinger.

McKenzie led the first nine laps before a caution on Lap 9 gave Long the opening he needed on the restart.

Long found speed and momentum on the cushion that propelled him around the top side of McKenzie on Lap 12.

Long went unchallenged in the final 13 laps to pick up the Summit Modifieds win in the series’ 13th visit to Farmer City.

“What made the pass a lot easier was when the yellow came out and Ray (Bollinger) picked up the bottom,” Long said. “I was in third, so then I had to go to the top and it just kind of left me a free lane. Once I got to the lead, [my car was] so much better.”

Bollinger finished second, Trevor Neville finished third, McKenzie hung on to fourth, and Landen Miller finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals returns to action on Saturday, June 20 at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely, MO.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 laps): 1. 18L-Michael Long[4]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger[1]; 3. 777-Trevor Neville[6]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie[2]; 5. 110-Landen Miller[7]; 6. 99-Hunt Gossum[8]; 7. 389-Carson Friedman[5]; 8. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[9]; 9. 14-Brian Lynn[14]; 10. 21B-Hunter Breland[13]; 11. B5-Matthew Baker[16]; 12. 95S-Rick Salter[15]; 13. 22W-Wade Wenthe[17]; 14. 01-Jeremy Nichols[12]; 15. 74S-Chris Sieweke[19]; 16. 10M-Chris Morefield[22]; 17. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[18]; 18. 29C-Joey Cotterman[20]; 19. 6-Justin Tharp[21]; 20. 66-Cole Falloway[10]; 21. 89-Austin Friedman[3]; 22. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt[11]

 

Rain Cancels Summer Nationals at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway

 

DUBUQUE, IA (June 18, 2026) — Heavy rainfall over Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway prior to Hot Laps Thursday has left the track surface and facility in unsuitable conditions for a safe and efficient race program, leading DIRTcar and track officials to cancel tonight’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals event.

 

The track has issued ticket refunds at the main gate.

 

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary season continues in the next event at Farmer City Raceway in Farmer City, IL, on Friday, June 19, alongside the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

 

If you can’t be at the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

 

Thunderstorms Cancel DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Davenport Speedway

 

DAVENPORT, IA (June 17, 2026) — Due to severe thunderstorms present in the area throughout the morning and future weather models showing more precipitation through this afternoon, DIRTcar Racing and track officials have made the decision to cancel Wednesday’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals program at Davenport Speedway.

 

The Late Models will pick the action back up on Thursday, June 18 at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque, IA. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

 

If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

 

 


 

chris Simpson Dominates Hell Tour’s Return to West Liberty

WEST LIBERTY, IA (June 16, 2026) — Winning is always big, but winning in your home state means even more.

That’s exactly what Chris Simpson accomplished Tuesday night at West Liberty Raceway, leading all 30 laps of the main event in DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ return to the historic 1/2-mile oval after more than 30 years away.

“To come to Iowa and set fast time, win your heat, and I don’t think I had to pass a car all night — can’t beat that,” he said. “This is the place we grew up at. So, it’s cool to come here and show the guys that run the series what we got here.”

The first Hell Tour Feature since 1995 at West Liberty began with Chris Simpson sideways on the front stretch after contact with outside polesitter Dallon Murty. However, Chris Simpson was able to save it and went on to lead Lap 1.

Murty then dived low into Turn 1 on the second lap, pulling ahead of Oxford, IA-driver’s No. 32, but Chris Simpson found the momentum on the top side to regain the lead down the backstretch.

A Lap 6 restart saw older brother Chad Simpson running second and making a bid for the lead as the field entered turn one. But his sibling was strong on the top side, driving around Chad Simpson’s attempted slidejob to once again maintain control of the lead.

Chris Simpson wasn’t done playing defense, however. When Murty made the pass on Chad Simpson on Lap 20, he rapidly began reeling-in the leader. Within one lap, Murty was right on Chris Simpson’s rear bumper and took a look to the inside of the No. 32 off Turn 2, but Chris Simpson held onto the lead with a solid drive down the backstretch.

“[Murty] kept blocking what I wanted to do off of two. I’ve watched Brian Birkhofer race here for years and he would run in on that top and then cut down and run off the bottom, just to make your straightaways as long as possible,” Chris Simpson said. “[Murty] kept shooting in on me and then I would kind of have to walk the car off of two. So, when I finally got clear of him and could go up there and turn and cut down, I feel that’s what got me the big lead.”

The caution flag flew one final time on Lap 22 for a slowing Mark Voigt, putting Murty on Chris Simpson’s tail for the restart. The green flag dropped, and Chris Simpson pulled away, leading the field back around to the checkered flag unchallenged to collect the fifth DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win of his career.

Murty was able to hold on for second, Chad Simpson was third, Cade Dillard fourth, and Dylan Thornton rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals 40th anniversary celebration continues with a visit to Davenport Speedway in Davenport, IA, on Wednesday, June 17. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 13-Dallon Murty[2]; 3. 25S-Chad Simpson[3]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[9]; 5. 38T-Dylan Thornton[4]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[6]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[11]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart[7]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[14]; 10. 96-Tanner English[21]; 11. 50K-Kayden Clatt[15]; 12. 09-Michael Leach[5]; 13. 74-Mitch McGrath[19]; 14. 15-Clay Stuckey[18]; 15. 75-Daniel Adam[8]; 16. 87-Jake Rainey[13]; 17. 15C-Curt Schroeder[23]; 18. 05-Tyler Leach[20]; 19. 33-Nick Marolf[12]; 20. 17SR-Brody Smith[10]; 21. 30-Mark Voigt[22]; 22. 8-Matthew Larson[24]; 23. 22B-Jonathan Brauns[16]; 24. 31M-Tyler Millwood[17]

 

Jason Feger Dominates Wilmot for 37th Career Summer Nationals Win

WILMOT, WI (June 15, 2026) — Twice has Jason Feger come to race at Wilmot Raceway and finished one spot short. But on Monday night, he was not going to be denied a third time.

Feger, the two-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion from Bloomington, IL, finished runner-up in the Hell Tour’s last two races at the Wisconsin oval in 2016 and 2025. This time around, he was on top for all 30 laps of the main event, leading flag-to-flag for his second Feature win in four nights and 37th of his Summer Nationals career.

The first race of Week 2 of the Hell Tour’s 40th anniversary season kicked off with Feger in the lead on Lap 1 and Frank Heckenast Jr. and Tanner English behind him.

The top three broke away from the field and quickly entered lapped traffic. Feger worked the low side of the speedway and slid up at the exit of each corner, allowing himself to maintain a comfortable lead.

“I caught a couple of them there, two at a time, so it’s not like I could slide up because there’s not a whole lot to slide into,” Feger said. “It definitely was nerve wracking. I feel like towards the end there the bottom was starting to come in a little bit or just clean off and you could keep speed.”

Behind him, English was charging as he passed Heckenast for the second position. Try as he may, however, English was unable to get close enough to make a bid for the lead as Feger drove away from the field and on to a big win to start Week 2 off strong.  

“If you look at what we did last week, we’re going to have to try and keep doing that,” Feger said. “It takes a lot of luck for sure to run podium every night. But you’ve got to be really good. I feel like we haven’t raced a lot this summer, so we’re definitely not up to speed like we normally are. We have a new shock package and stuff this year, so it’s been a big learning group and we’re starting to find our footing a little bit better.”

English continued his consistent runs with a second-place efforts, Heckenast Jr. in third, Cade Dillard finished fourth, and Mitch McGrath was fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals heads to Iowa with a stop at West Liberty Speedway in West Liberty, IA, on Tuesday, June 16.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 96-Tanner English[3]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath[7]; 6. 15-Clay Stuckey[10]; 7. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 8. 8-Matthew Larson[8]; 9. 09-Michael Leach[13]; 10. 87-Jake Rainey[9]; 11. 17SR-Brody Smith[12]; 12. 89M-Brad Mueller[16]; 13. 31M-Tyler Millwood[15]; 14. 30-Mark Voigt[17]; 15. 05-Tyler Leach[14]; 16. M27-Mike Provenzano[22]; 17. 15C-Curt Schroeder[19]; 18. 4D-Doug Tye[18]; 19. (DNF) 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 20. (DNF) 10P-Paul Parker[20]; 21. (DNF) D1-Turk Letizia[21]; 22. (DNF) 1M-Mike Mataragas[11]

 

Brian Shirley Dominates at Sycamore for 44th Career Summer Nationals Win

MAPLE PARK, IL (June 14, 2026) — The road hasn’t been easy for Brian Shirley this week, but he was finally able to punch through to DIRTcar Summer Nationals Victory Lane Sunday night at Sycamore Speedway.

Shirley, the four-time Hell Tour champion from Chatham, IL, started his Week 1 campaign on tour with back-to-back DNFs in his first two starts — Friday at Coles County Speedway and again Saturday at Fairbury Speedway.

But Sunday at Sycamore was his night for a rebound, driving the Bob Cullen Racing No. 3s to lead all 30 laps of the Feature for his 44th career Summer Nationals Feature win and fourth in the series’ last six visits to the picturesque dirt track in Maple Park, IL.

“It’s been a tough week at some places we should be able to win at,” Shirley said. “I was really nervous coming into today, knowing that we weren’t going to run next week. So, it’s really awesome to be able to get one and it’s just nice to end the week, as bad as it started, on a good day.”

The Feature began with Shirley immediately charging to the lead from the pole position. Jason Feger fell into second and Clay Stuckey rode in the third position.

Shirley ran the bottom and consistently turned laps that kept Feger behind him. He continued to find traction and momentum down low as Feger blasted the top every corner trying to make a bid for the lead.

“There’s just a lot of grip down there, so you just had to be patient and get the car pointed in the right direction to come off the corner with good speed and not overcharge the corner,” Shirley said.

A caution flag in the final laps restacked the field and put Feger on the leader’s tail, but Shirley was not going to be denied. He held strong on the green-white-checkered finish to bag the win with Feger crossing second, Tanner English third, Stuckey in fourth, and Daniel Adam rounding out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals makes its only trip to Wisconsin with a stop at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, WI, on Monday, June 15. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals in 2026? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 3. 96-Tanner English[6]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[2]; 5. 75-Daniel Adam[5]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[9]; 7. 09-Michael Leach[10]; 8. 10J-Jordan Bauer[7]; 9. 4G-Bob Gardner[4]; 10. 8-Matthew Larson[11]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola[16]; 12. 87-Jake Rainey[18]; 13. 31M-Tyler Millwood[8]; 14. 3-Dale Markham[15]; 15. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 16. 17SR-Brody Smith[19]; 17. 05-Tyler Leach[13]; 18. 4D-Doug Tye[17]; 19. 74-Mitch McGrath[12]; 20. 55X-Mike Lofgren[21]; 21. 22M-Sean Mattingly[22]; 22. 42-Chad Finley[14]

 

McKenzie Outduels Harrison at Fairbury for Biggest Career Summit Modified Victory

 

FAIRBURY, IL (June 13, 2026) — History continues to follow Shannon Babb. Fairbury Speedway was the scene of the latest chapter in his history-making campaign Saturday night with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals.

Babb fended off Tanner English in a thrilling battle to secure win No. 104 of his illustrious career with the Hell Tour, leading all but three laps of the main event to score the $10,000 check and his second win in the first three series events.

The battle for the lead started right away, as Babb and English battled side-by-side for nearly all of the first six laps. English led the first three laps before Babb was able to clear the No. 96 on Lap 4.

Babb held strong out front through the first half of the 50-lap grind. But then came a restart on Lap 26 where Babb bobbled on the cushion in turn two, allowing English to get to his inside. Despite the slip, Babb continued to rip the cushion and was able to recover with a deep dive into Turns 3 and 4 to maintain the top spot.

A caution on Lap 30 brought English right back in contention for the lead as he took advantage of another Babb bobble on the cushion to pull even. However, Babb still retained the lead with his top side momentum.

Cautions on Lap 35 and Lap 42 gave English more opportunities to pounce but the Benton, KY-racer was unable to find enough momentum around the inside of the track to clear Babb, who was relentless on the top.

Babb continued to pound the cushion around Fairbury and led the field back to the checkered flag ahead of English, Chris Simpson in third, Ryan Unzicker up 18 spots to finish fourth and Jason Feger completing the top five.

“Some days it goes your ways and other days it doesn’t, but we’re really blessed to be having things go our way,” Babb said of his hot start to Week 1 on tour. “I feel like we’ve always been capable of doing it if we could ever hit on the right setup and we’ve had some really good friends help us point us in the right direction and we’ve got some really good sponsors behind it.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals heads north to Sycamore Speedway in Sycamore, IL on Sunday, June 14. Tickets for the event will be available at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 2. 96-Tanner English[1]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[9]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker[22]; 5. 25-Jason Feger[6]; 6. 75A-Daniel Adam[21]; 7. 42W-Mckay Wenger[2]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]; 9. 15-Clay Stuckey[12]; 10. 09-Michael Leach[15]; 11. 10J-Jordan Bauer[18]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner[7]; 13. 21B-Rich Bell[24]; 14. 8-Matthew Larson[14]; 15. 22M-Sean Mattingly[19]; 16. Z61-Alex Wilson[23]; 17. 31M-Tyler Millwood[5]; 18. 74-Mitch McGrath[13]; 19. 1W-Donny Walden[8]; 20. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 21. 33-Mike Harrison[16]; 22. B12-Kevin Weaver[17]; 23. 89-Mike Spatola[11]; 24. T2-Brayton Wallace[20]

 

McKenzie Outduels Harrison at Fairbury for Biggest Career Summit Modified Victory

A big win on a big stage in Illinois has been a long time coming for Zeke McKenzie. Saturday night at Fairbury Speedway, he finally got it.

The Claypool, IN-native returned to Victory Lane with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals for the first time since 2020, besting six-time series champion Mike Harrison in a thrilling back-and-forth battle in the closing laps.

That first win, coming nearly six years ago at Kokomo Speedway, was special. But this one, driving his self-built Vanquish Race Cars brand, meant that much more on the big stage of America’s Dirt Track.

“We’ve really been working on our program and our stuff’s been better and I feel like I’ve been driving better,” McKenzie said. “A win like this gives you a chip on your shoulder a little bit and it definitely makes you know our stuff’s good and gives you a little momentum in the next one.”

The opening circuit of the 30-lap Feature was led by McKenzie’s No. 24 machine. But outside polesitter Ray Bollinger used the cushion in turns three and four to find the momentum needed to take the lead from McKenzie on Lap 3.

Both drivers swapped the lead multiple times with McKenzie using the low lane around Fairbury and Bollinger continuing to pound the top.

Four lead changes in seven laps ensued with McKenzie taking the lead back and building a small advantage before a Lap 13 caution backed him up to Bollinger on the restart.

The restart saw a three-wide battle for the lead with Harrison utilizing the late race restart and coming out on top on Lap 24.

McKenzie did what he did all night and trusted the bottom lane that got him into that spot and retook the lead on Lap 26.

“I was committed to the bottom because it was the smoother route and I knew if I could keep my car from bouncing, I usually have a lot of traction. I probably outran the two best cushion bangers on the bottom.”  McKenzie said.

McKenzie rolled the bottom all the way to Victory Lane, ending a six-year drought with the Summit Modifieds over Harrison, Curt Spalding from eighth, Bollinger and Lyndon Whitfill.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals takes the next five days off before returning to action on Friday, June 19th at Farmer City Raceway in Farmer City, IL. Tickets for the event will be on sale at the track on race day.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summit Modifieds? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Zeke McKenzie[1]; 2. 24H-Mike Harrison[5]; 3. 5CS-Curt Spalding[8]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 5. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[6]; 6. 96M-Mike McKinney[9]; 7. 110-Landen Miller[7]; 8. 389-Carson Friedman[14]; 9. 18L-Michael Long[11]; 10. 10Y-Trent Young[12]; 11. 99-Justin Haley[22]; 12. 7-Brad DeYoung[13]; 13. 15H-Jeff Hamby[21]; 14. (DNF) B5-Matthew Baker[24]; 15. (DNF) 05-Dave Wietholder[15]; 16. (DNF) 777-Trevor Neville[10]; 17. (DNF) 88S-Alan Stipp[16]; 18. (DNF) 0-Damian Kiefer[3]; 19. (DNF) 27B-Kyle Barker[20]; 20. (DNF) 5-Steven Brooks[19]; 21. (DNF) 89-Austin Friedman[18]; 22. (DNF) 21A-Nick Allen[17]; 23. (DNF) 12-Jeff Curl[23]; 24. (DNF) 1TS-Tyler Spalding[4]

 

Jason Feger Wins 36th Career Summer Nationals Race in Series Debut at Coles County

MATTOON, IL (June 12, 2026) — Winning never gets old, but winning the DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ debut at an Illinois bullring makes it so much sweeter.

Third time was the charm for Jason Feger Friday night at Coles County Speedway as the Hell Tour invaded the 1/8-mile oval for the first time ever. The two-time series champion had two past starts at Coles County, both netting him top-10 finishes, and Friday was his night to punch through to Victory Lane after winning a thrilling battle for the lead with fellow Illinois DIRTcar hero, Ryan Unzicker.

The green flag dropped with Ryan Unzicker pacing the field early in the No. 24. The tight confines of the Mattoon, IL, bullring meant lap traffic was in play by Lap 6, allowing second place Mitch McGrath and third place Brody Smith to quickly close in.

Unzicker maneuvered through lap traffic well until Clay Stuckey drew the caution flag on Lap 14. The restart is where things went sideways for third place Smith, as contact sent the Dade City, FL-driver into the wall causing a chain-reaction pileup in turns one and two.

After a second Lap 14 restart, a three-car race ensued for the lead between Unzicker, Billy Moyer, who took second on the restart, and third place McGrath. Moyer took multiple peeks under the Unzicker machine, pulling even multiple times as Moyer worked the inside berm all around Coles County.

Unzicker continued to rail the cushion and fended off multiple challenges by Moyer’s No. 21 before a Lap 18 caution derailed Moyer’s run. Sheet metal rubbing against the tire forced him to head to the pit area, relinquishing second to Tanner English.

The Lap 18 restart is where things got very entertaining as another three-car race for the lead began between Unzicker, Feger and English.

Feger quickly disposed of English and set his set his sights on race-long leader Unzicker. Feger worked the inside lap-after-lap as the lead duo went side-by-side multiple times in the closing 15 laps.

Unzicker played defense the best he could as Feger was relentless in pursuit of the win. Feger threw a slide job that cleared the Unzicker No. 24 in turn four to lead Lap 35 — the first lap he had led all race.

Unzicker battled back to the inside, but Feger was not to be denied as the Bloomington, IL-native sped away with the lead and picked up his first career win at Coles County Speedway.

“I love bullring racing, we know this is our third time getting to come here — the track’s been getting better and better,” Feger said. “I just got a really good jump on the restarts and then I was just able to get the pressure on Ryan (Unzicker). I just don’t think he knew where to go. It’s hard to be in that position, it’s easier being in second, the hole opened up and I took it. I knew we were getting close to him, so I just powered it in there and took it.”

Unzicker held onto second, English charged from eighth to finish third, Bob Gardner finished fourth and Daniel Adam rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The 40th anniversary season for the DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues at Fairbury Speedway in Fairbury, Illinois on Saturday, June 13th.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[7]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 3. 96-Tanner English[8]; 4. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 5. 75A-Daniel Adam[13]; 6. 89-Mike Spatola[10]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[11]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[2]; 9. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 10. 122-Timmy Dick[9]; 11. 7S-Morgan Staggs[15]; 12. 21B-Rich Bell[17]; 13. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[3]; 14. 87-Jake Rainey[18]; 15. 10J-Jordan Bauer[22]; 16. 17SR-Brody Smith[4]; 17. 09-Michael Leach[5]; 18. 3S-Brian Shirley[16]; 19. BK3-Billy Knippenberg III[12]; 20. 05-Tyler Leach[21]; 21. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[14]; 22. 18-Shannon Babb[19]

 

Mike Harrison Wins 63rd Career Summit Modified Nationals Event in Coles County Debut

Mike Harrison has shifted more of his focus to Late Models over the past few years. But Friday night at Coles County Speedway, the six-time DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion proved why he’s still one of the most dominant forces in Modified racing.

Harrison, of Highland, IL, reigned supreme over the field, fending off all challengers and leading all 25 laps enroute to his 63rd career Summit Modified Feature win in his debut at the 1/8-mile Micro Sprint course.

Sixty-three Summit Modified wins now puts him only six behind Nick Hoffman — the five-time series champion — who owns 69 Feature wins on the tour.

The Feature began with Harrison taking control early on, NASCAR Truck Series regular Justin Haley second, and Jeremy Nichols running third after the first lap.

Zeke McKenzie disposed of Nichols to take third on Lap 4 as lap traffic was quickly nearing on the tight bullring.

Traffic forced the leaders to begin experimenting with different lines, allowing Haley to close in on the No. 24H of Harrison but a caution would halt the progress for a car spun in turns one and two.

The Lap 10 restart proved to be catastrophic for Haley as he spun entering turn one which caused a chain reaction pileup blocking all of turn one, ending Haley’s hopes for a Summit Modified victory.

On the proceeding restarts, Harrison built up a big enough lead that he was not challenged the rest of the way enroute to the checkered flag.

“The cautions definitely got old after a while, especially sitting there on the reds,” Harrison said. “I wanted to come knock this one off the bucket list and it was fun. But tonight’s over now, that’s what sucks about it all, you gotta start focusing on tomorrow.”

Damian Kiefer climbed from eighth on the starting grid to finish second, Ray Bollinger came from sixth to finish third, while McKenzie and Nichols rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals returns to action at Fairbury Speedway on Saturday, June 13th.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 0-Damian Kiefer[8]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[6]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 5. 01-Jeremy Nichols[2]; 6. 01K-Billy Knippenberg[7]; 7. 19C-Carter Sinkhorn[13]; 8. 05-Dave Wietholder[12]; 9. 2-Brayden Doyle[5]; 10. B5-Matthew Baker[18]; 11. 69-Noah Sugg[14]; 12. 4K-Taylor Kerz[17]; 13. 15H-Jeff Hamby[16]; 14. 21JR-Drew Schwartz[22]; 15. 74S-Chris Sieweke[20]; 16. 14-Carter Standerfer[21]; 17. 21D-John Dimmitt[10]; 18. 99-Justin Haley[3]; 19. 10Y-Trent Young[15]; 20. 88L-Christian Lee[19]; 21. 118-Dustin Atchison[24]; 22. 28B-Lucas Pace[23]; 23. B4U-Brad Eitniear[11]; 24. (DNS) 87-Collin Shain

 

Rain Postpones Summer Nationals at Kankakee County, Peoria

Peoria replaces Poplar Bluff on June 22, Kankakee takes July 6 spot

 

KANKAKEE, IL (June 10, 2026) — Due to heavy rain already received throughout the week and weather models showing additional rainfall, the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals events at Kankakee County Speedway (June 10) and Peoria Speedway (June 11) have been postponed.

 

The decision was made keeping the best interests of drivers and fans in mind, with thunderstorms projected around race time at Kankakee tonight, and the Peoria pit area already flooded and needing time to dry.

 

Poplar Bluff Motorsports Park, originally scheduled to host both tours on Monday, June 22, will not have the track ready in time for their race date and has decided to cancel their program. Peoria has agreed to take the June 22 date, and Kankakee will fill the open date on Monday, July 6. Both Peoria and Kankakee will host the Late Models and Summit Modifieds.

 

Those who purchased tickets in advance to the event at Peoria can use those tickets for the new June 22 date.

 

Now with back-to-back off days in Week 1, the Late Models and Summit Modifieds will resume competition at Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, IL, on Friday, June 12. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track.

 

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Modifieds? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

 

 

Shannon Babb Gets Summer Nationals Career Win No. 103 in Season Opener at Brownstown

BROWNSTOWN, IL (June 9, 2026) — Some people are happy with their legacy. Others strive to add to it.

That’s exactly what Shannon Babb did Tuesday night in the DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary season opener at Brownstown Bullring.

Babb, the four-time Summer Nationals champion from Moweaqua, IL, wired the cushion and led all 30 laps to pick up career Feature win No. 103 in his illustrious Hell Tour career, extending his margin as the series’ all-time winningest driver.

“It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? We’ve been racing for a long time, and I guess that’s how we racked up so many,” Babb said. “Hell, we’ve lost twice as many, you know. I’m glad we can say we’ve learned a few things along the way. These little tracks like this, I just always loved them. It’s kind of like a Saturday night race.”

The green flag flew on the kickoff for the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, and early on, it was Babb who found the cushion first and used the outside lane to propel him to the lead before a Lap 1 caution for a pileup in turn two stopped the field.

On the restart, Babb found his groove on the top line as Frank Heckenast Jr. and Tanner English battled for second behind him.

As Babb entered lap traffic, a Lap 13 caution for a slowing Adam Tischauser stacked the field together.

The restart gave English an opportunity to pounce, as he found speed on the cushion and tracked down Babb over the next several laps. The Benton, KY-driver pulled even with Babb’s No. 18 with a deep dive down low through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 23, but Babb wasn’t going to be denied, using the high-side momentum to his advantage off Turn 4 to maintain the top spot.

Babb then did what he had done all race long, working the cushion enroute to his third career DIRTcar Summer Nationals win at Brownstown.

“Tonight we were good enough to be on the front row of the heat, to get that job done, and luckily I drew the front row outside, and that makes my job easier,” Babb said. “It wasn’t rough; the first guy to the cushion wins. Luckily, tonight, I was there.”

English held strong behind Babb to bag a runner-up finish, and Heckenast crossed the line in third. Sun River, MT-native Michael Leach drove from sixth to a fourth-place finish while Daryn Klein completed the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models take on Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, IL, on Wednesday, June 10. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 2. 96-Tanner English[4]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 4. 09-Michael Leach[6]; 5. 10K-Daryn Klein[7]; 6. 25F-Jason Feger[19]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[15]; 8. 388-Jackson Hise[8]; 9. 38J-Jake Little[17]; 10. 10J-Jordan Bauer[12]; 11. 17SR-Brody Smith[22]; 12. 20B-Todd Brennan[16]; 13. 21B-Rich Bell[20]; 14. 75A-Daniel Adam[9]; 15. 15-Clay Stuckey[11]; 16. 74-Mitch McGrath[18]; 17. T4-Adam Tischhauser[14]; 18. 32M-Cody Maguire[21]; 19. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[5]; 20. 50K-Kayden Clatt[13]; 21. 05-Tyler Leach[3]; 22. 33-Mike Harrison[10]

 

Jacob Steinkoenig Wins First Career Summit Modified Feature at Brownstown

A dream came true for an Illinois native Tuesday night at Brownstown Bullring.

Jacob Steinkoenig became the 89th different driver to win a DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature in an exciting battle to open the 2026 season.

The 25-lap Feature went green with Treb Jacoby and Brayden Doyle leading the field to green. Jacoby led the opening lap with Doyle and third place Kenny Wallace directly behind them.

The lead trio went three wide in turn two with Doyle emerging ahead. It didn’t last long, however, as Doyle hit the cushion and got a head of steam down the front stretch to clear Jacoby on Lap 5.

A caution on Lap 6 bunched the field up and allowed fifth-running Steinkoenig to enter the picture.

Steinkoenig got the best of a three-wide battle for third between he, Wallace and Ray Bollinger, and then set his sights on the lead duo of Doyle and Jacoby.

Another caution on Lap 7 again bunched up the field. The ensuing restart saw contact between Bollinger and Jacoby which sent Jacoby spinning down the front stretch, ending his hopes of a Summit Modified triumph.

Steinkoenig seized the opportunity on the restart, diving under Doyle in Turn 1 and clearing him after a slight bobble on the cushion in Turn 2. From there, the battle for the lead was on between the top three cars of Steinkoenig, Doyle and Bollinger.

Bollinger was able to get underneath Steinkoenig and cleared the Highland, IL-driver on Lap 15 before Steinkoenig battled back on the cushion to retake the lead on Lap 16.

Steinkoenig then entered lap traffic and pulled away, leading the final eight laps to win his first career DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature.

“It’s been one of the most prestigious races in the area for years," Steinkoenig said. “Everyone dreams to win a Summer Nationals Hell Tour race, and I am extremely grateful to have finally accomplished that. Just had to keep chomping at the bit, and I wasn’t getting up there and beating my car up in the cushion. I was just up there, with a lot of momentum around this place.”

Ray Bollinger finished second, Kenny Wallace fended off multiple challengers and finished third, Rick Conoyer fourth, and Zeke McKenzie advanced five positions to finish fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals heads to Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, IL, on Wednesday, June 10th alongside the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24S-Jacob Steinkoenig[5]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger[7]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace[3]; 4. 14C-Rick Conoyer[6]; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie[10]; 6. 2-Brayden Doyle[2]; 7. 1H-Ben Harmon[11]; 8. 01-Jeremy Nichols[8]; 9. 74-James Hileman[14]; 10. 15H-Jeff Hamby[15]; 11. 150-Collin Alexander[17]; 12. 22W-Wade Wenthe[16]; 13. 11-Jason Brennan[18]; 14. J82-Treb Jacoby[1]; 15. 15-Chris Smith[12]; 16. 88L-Christian Lee[19]; 17. 96C-Marshall Call[21]; 18. 88-Chris Bolyard[22]; 19. 14-Dalton Lane[4]; 20. 4G-Paul Schrempf Jr[20]; 21. 99-Justin Haley[13]; 22. 29J-Jordan Wever[9]

Photo Credit: Tim Hunt

 
 

 


WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Hell Tour Set to Celebrate 40 Years with Big Names, New Tracks

BROWNSTOWN, IL (June 8, 2026) — Summertime is a season of relaxation and calm for some. But for an elite group, it’s hell. And it’s time for them to jump back into the fire.

Saluting four decades of being the toughest grind in motorsports, the 40th anniversary year of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models begins Tuesday, June 9 at Brownstown Bullring and will set drivers on a more than 5,000-mile Hell Tour across 10 states during 33 nights of competition in 34 days.

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, entering their 16th consecutive season, will join the Late Models for 27 nights before wrapping up their championship season in the 36th running of the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway, July 24–25.

A massive points fund total of over $150,000 will be distributed to the Late Model competitors by the week as teams contest for the weekly points championship throughout the summer. An additional $10,000 will be awarded to the overall points champion at the end of the tour at Wayne County Speedway in Ohio on July 12.

The Summit Modified Nationals counts each driver’s best 12 finishes toward the overall points championship, worth $5,000 to the driver with the most points at the completion of the Prairie Dirt Classic.

If you can’t be at your favorite track this summer, how can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow during Week 1 of the Hell Tour:

NEW VENUES – If 33 races in 34 days weren’t enough, a trio of tracks will debut during the 40th anniversary season for the DIRTcar Summer Nationals.

The first will be Coles County Speedway on Friday, June 12. Dubbed “The Oldest Micro Sprint Track in the United States,” the 1/8-mile Mattoon, IL facility will be the smallest track the tour has ever competed on. Coles County has hosted two Late Model events already, including a MARS Late Model Championship event in May, won by former Hell Tour champion Brandon Sheppard. The Summit Modifieds will also join the program.

Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque, IA will make its Hell Tour debut on Thursday, June 18, part of Week 2 of the series. The facility is no stranger to big Late Model races, having hosted the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision multiple times – last in 2018, a race also won by Sheppard.

Camden Speedway in Camden, TN will host both the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and Summit Modifieds on Monday, June 29, for the series’ only trip to Tennessee in 2026.

HELLUVA TIME – In a schedule more reminiscent of the early days of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, the off days are no more.

Drivers, teams, and their cars will be pushed beyond limits they’ve experienced before. Once the tour kicks off at the Brownstown Bullring on Tuesday, June 9, there is not a currently scheduled break until Monday, July 6.

The lone break follows one of the biggest events of the tour, the prestigious Herald & Review 100 at Macon Speedway in Macon, IL on Sunday, July 5.

Then, the final six-race stretch during Week 5 — ending at Wayne County Speedway on Sunday, July 12 — will determine who will come out on top as the 2026 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model champion. And this year, the champion will be bestowed with a trophy like no other.

A candy apple red metal pitchfork, representing the hell drivers endure, will be awarded to the champion, truly showing they are the king of the Hell Tour. The trophy will become a new tradition, with a pitchfork trophy awarded to the Late Model champion every year.

Fans and drivers can see trophy on display at each event at the Summer Nationals souvenir trailer, sitting on a large base that lists every DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model champion.

FIRST-TIMER – NASCAR Cup Series winner and current NASCAR Truck Series competitor Justin Haley will debut with the Summit Modifieds during Week 1.

Haley will pilot the No. 99 Modified at Brownstown Bullring and compete the entire opening week Modified schedule, which includes Kankakee Speedway, Peoria Speedway, Coles County Speedway, and Fairbury Speedway.

Haley is a four-time Feature winner during Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in DIRTcar UMP Modified competition.

REIGNING KING – Jason Feger is back to race for weekly championships in 2026.

Feger, a two-time Hell Tour champion, will contend on a week-to-week basis kicking off his campaign during week one at Brownstown.

Feger sits sixth on the all-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature wins list with 35 career victories. His last triumph came at Red Hill Raceway on July 4, 2025.

RETURNING FACES – Benton, KY-driver Tanner English is scheduled to compete in over half of the races on the Hell Tour slate, vying for weekly points titles along the way.

English is a six-time winner with the series and will look to kick off his campaign as the series opens for only the second time in history in Brownstown, IL.

Michael Ledford will focus on a pick-and-choose schedule in his Late Model during this year’s Summer Nationals slate and will run his Modified at the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury.

Mike McKinney will be a frequent entry with the Summit Modifieds, running a majority of the 2026 schedule.

Daniel Adam will pilot the Adams Family Motorsports No. 75 machine on the Summer Nationals with plans to run through the end of Week 4 at Macon.


Feger Reflects on Importance of Summer Nationals With 40th Anniversary Season Ahead

 

CONCORD, NC (June 5, 2026) — Few dirt Late Model drivers of the modern era know the DIRTcar Summer Nationals like Jason Feger, both on and off the track.

 

 

 

As celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, starting with the kickoff at Brownstown Bullring on June 9, the two-time and reigning champion recalls much of its history. First as a youngster in the grandstands at the local Saturday-night speedways of Illinois, and later as a crewmember and driver — now a two-time Series champion and winner of 35 Features on the tour dating back to his first in 2009.The Hell Tour

 

 

 

“It’s always been special to me because, as a kid, back then, that’s basically all there was around the Illinois area,” Feger, of Bloomington, IL, said. “The was like a $10,000-to-win race, a smaller deal, and there was no Illini 100 or Lucas or Outlaws stuff like that. The Hell Tour races, the ones that came through Illinois, that was your big events for the year. That was it — that handful of events through the Midwest.Prairie Dirt Classic

 

 

 

“We looked so forward to that time of the summer every year, especially when we had that one really good week, which was like LaSalle, Spoon River, Macon, Farmer City, Fairbury and Danville. It stayed the same for so long, and it was just an amazing week that was. A lot of good memories.”

 

 

 

Starting up his own driving career in the Sportsman ranks in 1996, Feger didn’t turn his first laps in a Late Model until 2002. But he had experienced a bit of the grind of the before, having worked as a crewmember for fellow Bloomington native and 11-time Summer Nationals Feature winner, Billy Drake. During that time, Feger built the framework of his mechanical abilities and witnessed Summer Nationals greats like Bob Pierce, Billy Moyer, and Rick Auckland put their talents on display, night after night.Hell Tour

 

 

 

Since then, Feger has become a household name in the Illinois dirt Late Model scene, just trying to do it like those that came before him.

 

 

 

“I think I’m getting old because I’ve probably raced in most of or half of them,” Feger said with a chuckle. “And I was with Billy Drake at a lot of them before that. It’s hard to believe.

 

 

 

“I was a little kid when (Summer Nationals) first came out, and watching those guys, a lot of my heroes do it, is hard to believe it’s been that long. But it’s sustained and still does what it does.”

 

 

 

In making at least one Summer Nationals start in nearly every year of his Late Model career, Feger’s notebook has grown exponentially. But what’s been the biggest thing the has taught him?Hell Tour

 

 

 

“To me, it teaches you how to take care of your equipment,” Feger said. “I’ve tried to preach this to all the other guys — you know when it’s your night and when it’s not your night, and you figure out really quick that it’s really easy to dig yourself a bigger hole.

 

 

 

“When you’re really young and dumb, and you want to work really hard, you can dig a hole and keep getting out of it. But the older you get, the more you don’t like doing that.”

 

 

 

From his three national DIRTcar Late Model points championships, multiple national Late Model series Feature wins, regional Late Model series titles, and two points titles, there’s no question of Feger’s mastery of the Midwest.Hell Tour

 

 

 

Now at 48 years old, he’s had a chance to take a look back on all of those accomplishments. And with his age has come a great deal of invaluable knowledge and experience that keeps him competitive as he celebrates 30 years of his racing career in 2026.

 

 

 

“I feel like we’re older and wiser,” Feger said. “As far as my racecraft, I’m as smart as I’ve ever been. Technically, on the race car, I’m as good as I’ve ever been. I’ve got a really good crew.

 

 

 

“I think we’ve just gotten smarter over the years. I don’t necessarily have to just drive the top anymore; we’ve gotten really good at being able to run the bottom and through the slick and stuff like that. I’m probably not as good on the cushion or in the rough as I once was, but we’re better in a lot of areas.”

 

 

 

Feger will join the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model field in the opening race of the at Brownstown Bullring in Brownstown, IL on Tuesday, June 9. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.Hell Tour

 

 

 

If you can’t be at the track, stream every lap live on .DIRTVision

 

 

 

ARTICLE: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/news/feger-reflects-on-importance-of-summer-nationals-with-40th-anniversary-season-ahead/

 


Coles County Speedway Replaces Tri-City Speedway on Summer Nationals Slate June 12

MATTOON, IL (June 2, 2026) — For the first time in track history, Coles County Speedway will host the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals in a one-night-only showdown on Friday, June 12.

 

 

 

This event replaces the originally scheduled event at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL.

 

 

 

With Tri-City Speedway not set to be ready in time, the Gundaker family has kept the best interest of drivers, teams and fans in mind in reaching an agreement with Coles County Speedway to shift all operations of the event to the neighbor facility.

 

 

 

Coles County will award the first $10,000 check of the season to the winner of the 40-lap Late Model Feature, while the 25-lap Modified Feature winner will pocket $1,500.

 

 

 

Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on .DIRTVision

 

 

 

ARTICLE: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/news/coles-county-speedway-replaces-tri-city-speedway-on-summer-nationals-slate-june-12/

 

EVENT INFO: TRACK INFO: https://dirtcarsummernationals.com/schedule/event-info/?event=4549556
https://www.colescountyspeedway.com/

 

Week #1
Tuesday, June 9 | Brownstown Bullring | Brownstown, IL
Wednesday, June 10 | Kankakee County Speedway | Kankakee, IL
Thursday, June 11 | Peoria Speedway | Peoria, IL
Friday, June 12 | Tri-City Speedway | Granite City, IL
Saturday, June 13 | Fairbury Speedway | Fairbury, IL
Sunday, June 14 | Sycamore Speedway | Maple Park, IL (Late Models only)

Week #2
Monday, June 15 | Wilmot Raceway | Wilmot, WI (Late Models only)
Tuesday, June 16 | West Liberty Raceway | West Liberty, IA (Late Models only)
Wednesday, June 17 | Davenport Speedway | Davenport, IA (Late Models only)
Thursday, June 18 | Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway | Dubuque, IA (Late Models only)
Friday, June 19 | Farmer City Raceway | Farmer City, IL
Saturday, June 20 | I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park | Pevely, MO
Sunday, June 21 | Lincoln Speedway | Lincoln, IL

Week #3
Monday, June 22 | Poplar Bluff Motorsports Park | Poplar Bluff, MO
Tuesday, June 23 | Benton Speedway | Benton, MO
Wednesday, June 24 | Quincy Raceways | Quincy, IL
Thursday, June 25 | Springfield Raceway | Springfield, MO (Late Models only)
Friday, June 26 | Paducah International Raceway | Paducah, KY
Saturday, June 27 | Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, IN
Sunday, June 28 | Windy Hollow Speedway | Owensboro, KY

Week #4
Monday, June 29 | Camden Speedway | Camden, TN
Tuesday, June 30 | TBA
Wednesday, July 1 | TBA
Thursday, July 2 | LaSalle Speedway | LaSalle, IL
Friday, July 3 | Red Hill Raceway | Sumner, IL
Saturday, July 4 | Highland Speedway | Highland, IL
Sunday, July 5 | Macon Speedway | Macon, IL

Week #5
Monday, July 6 | TBA
Tuesday, July 7 | Montpelier Speedway | Montpelier, IN
Wednesday, July 8 | I-96 Speedway | Lake Odessa, MI
Thursday, July 9 | Butler Motor Speedway | Quincy, MI
Friday, July 10 | Crystal Motor Speedway | Crystal, MI
Saturday, July 11 | Oakshade Raceway | Wauseon, OH
Sunday, July 12 | Wayne County Speedway | Orrville, OH (Late Model Championship Finale)

36th Annual Prairie Dirt Classic (Modified Championship Finale)
Friday-Saturday, July 24-25 | Fairbury Speedway | Fairbury, IL

 

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