CONCORD, NC – July 23, 2011 – Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill. (Late Models) and Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill. (UMP Modifieds) maintained their leads in the DIRTcar UMP national points standings after Week 25 of the circuit’s 2011 season.
Unzicker, 28, closed out the ’11 DIRTcar Summer Nationals with a solid week of action, scoring a top-10 finish in each of the five ‘Hell Tour’ A-Mains contested between July 11-17. His best run was a third on July 15 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park, but he also registered sixth-place finishes on July 12 at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway and July 13 at LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway; an eighth on July 16 at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio; and a ninth on July 14 at Spoon River Speedway in Banner, Ill.
Unzicker, who finished fourth in the Summer Nationals points standings, extended his edge in the national Late Model rankings to 237 points (2,169-1,932) over Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., who did not record a UMP-sanctioned start in Week 25. Feger dropped off the Summer Nationals trail last week in an effort to regroup his struggling team.
Eighteen-year-old Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., closed to within one point of Feger in the national standings during a week that saw him max out with a third-place finish in Spoon River’s Summer Nationals event. Defending national champion Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., remained fourth in the standings after his two Summer Nationals starts in Week 25 produced finishes of 12th at Brownstown and seventh at Oakshade.
Summer Nationals champion Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., ended Week 25 sitting sixth in the national standings. He has made only 27 UMP-sanctioned starts this season, however; the Late Model national standings are determined using drivers’ best 35 finishes/points nights – a benchmark that Unzicker, Feger and Sheppard have already reached.
Harrison, the defending UMP Modified national champion, saw his edge in the open-wheel division’s standings slip from 89 to 83 points (1,821-1,738) over Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind.
Harrison booked just one start in Week 25 – a victory in the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals event on July 13 at LaSalle. Allen, meanwhile, made four starts, topped by a second-place finish on July 16 at Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville, Ind., and a third-place outing on July 12 at Brownstown.
Other national points leaders after Week 25 in UMP-sanctioned divisions included Dustin Griffin of Quincy, Ill., who moved to the top of the Pro Late Model standings; Troy Clark of North Vernon, Ind. (Sportsman); Kentucky’s Jeff Lawson (Limited Modifieds); Chuck Barnes Jr. of East Peoria, Ill. (Stock Cars); Jake Hewitt of Troy, Ill. (Factory Stocks); and Kenny Butterfield of Glassford, Ill. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.DirtCar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing’s UMP circuit and to view complete points standings for all divisions, including the current State points rankings.
New for 2011, the weekly DIRTcar UMP points update is powered by www.MotorStats.com. DIRTcar’s affiliation with the Durham, N.C.-based Web site is providing fans and competitors a more timely and detailed look at the points standings. National and State points standings for all divisions are typically updated by Thursday each week, and new features allow visitors to click on each driver’s name to see a complete race-by-race review of their finishes to date.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of July 17, 2011):
Late Models (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Ryan Unzicker 35 2169
2. Jason Feger 35 1932
3. Brandon Sheppard 35 1931
4. Rusty Schlenk 32 1876
5. Mike Spatola III 34 1815
6. Shannon Babb 27 1800
7. Brandon Thirlby 33 1767
7. Bobby Pierce 35 1767
9. Scott Schmitt 35 1667
10. Jon Henry 26 1613
11. Dillan White 35 1607
12. Dennis Erb Jr. 31 1601
13. Michael Kloos 31 1587
14. Dewayne Kiefer 35 1579
15. Mike Hammerle 32 1522
16. Jeep Van Wormer 27 1517
17. Donny Walden 34 1478
18. Mark Voigt 26 1476
19. Kevin Weaver 34 1430
20. Jack Sullivan 29 1422
UMP Modifieds (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Mike Harrison 25 1821
2. Nick Allen 25 1738
3. Ray Bollinger 25 1697
4. Tim Hancock 25 1673
5. Brian Lynn 25 1647
6. Jamie Lomax 25 1646
7. Todd Sherman 25 1618
8. Scott Weber 25 1617
9. Randle Sweeney 25 1611
10. Clayton Miller 25 1586
11. Jeff Leka 25 1581
12. John DeMoss 25 1574
13. Danny Crane 25 1562
14. Clint Demoss 25 1558
15. Dean Hoffman 25 1549
16. Jay Ledford 25 1548
17. Steve Lach 25 1540
18. Brian Bielong 25 1502
19. Allen Weisser 25 1501
20. Mckay Wenger 25 1491
Pro Late Models (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Dustin Griffin 20 1372
2. Nick Bauman 20 1348
3. Clayton Miller 20 1298
4. Evan Fink 20 1255
5. Credence Mott 20 1246
5. Mark Oller 20 1246
7. Randy Myers 20 1243
8. Bobby Martintoni 20 1231
9. Jerry Lierly 19 1200
10. Daniel Heck 20 1016
Sportsman (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Troy Clark 20 1355
2. Dan Flessner 20 1244
3. Jeremy Hines 19 1226
4. Nick Macklin 18 1200
5. Dave Crawley Jr. 18 1185
6. Dustin Mounce 20 1024
7. Chris Hillman 18 1021
8. Jeff Herzog 15 967
9. Dave Bissonnette 18 925
10. Rod Rusher 19 868
Limited Modifieds (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Jeff Lawson 20 1079
2. Haley Westerfield 20 1015
3. Christopher Geary 20 988
4. Todd Bates 16 971
5. Clay Settles 18 892
6. Mark Anderson 14 883
7. John Wyble 15 834
8. Johnny Holden 15 809
9. Billy Hawes 14 680
10. Josh Tyler 13 635
Stock Cars (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Chuck Barnes Jr. 20 1415
2. Nate Zimmer 20 1412
3. Mike Hodges 20 1407
4. John Farris 20 1368
5. Dan Dykman 20 1253
6. Darrel Dick 20 1246
7. Andrew Funk 20 1234
8. Derek Poland 19 1214
9. Joel Funk 20 1192
10. Joeseph Hamm 20 1187
Factory Stocks (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Jake Hewitt 20 1226
2. Rob Sternberg 19 1210
3. Dennis Bringedahl 19 1111
4. Mark Farber 20 1010
5. Mike Epplett 17 912
6. Bobby McQueen 16 889
7. Jeff Buss 16 885
7. Tom Hughes 14 885
9. Jarid Bisson 18 882
10. Drue Bouwman 16 820
Sport Compacts (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Kenny Butterfield 20 1459
2. Matt Maier 20 1394
3. Jacob Rexing 20 1391
4. Trevor Isaak 20 1360
5. Bradley McGhee 20 1290
6. Jordan Suhre 20 1279
7. Jeremy Reed 20 1229
8. Blayne Ellis 20 1169
9. Logan Brown 19 1158
10. Michael Rittenberry 20 1136
