Drake Troutman has put his Team 22 Inc. Longhorn Chassis in contention for the win ahead of the start to every 2025 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature race.
While he scored his first career win at Peoria Speedway in Week 1, Troutman had seen hard times in the following two races. A broken suspension ended his night while running fourth at Fairbury, and Sycamore Speedway saw him break a tie rod in his right front while racing in third place.
On Monday at Wilmot Raceway, Troutman found his momentum return with a trip to Victory Lane after the night’s 30-lap Feature.
Week 1 champion Jason Feger led the field to green from the pole, but could not hold the lead as Joseph Joiner took the top spot on the edge of the cushion through Turns 3-4.
While the Milton, FL driver took command in the early portion, Feger continued to run in second place while Troutman looked for the right lane to drive, being followed by 2023 Hell Tour champion Ashton Winger.
On Lap 9, Winger jumped the cushion of Turn 1 and barrel rolled multiple times on the top of the track as the rest of the field drove by him. Winger was able to climb out of the car uninjured from the tumble.
On the ensuing restart, Joiner maintained the lead and held a steady one-second gap over Feger and Troutman until the final caution on Lap 18 gave the frontrunners a 12-lap dash towards the finish.
The Hunt The Front No. 10 and the Feger Racing No. 25F were ambushed on the restart as Troutman passed Feger on the top, then ducked to the bottom of the backstretch and completed the crossover move around Joiner in Turns 3-4 to take the top spot.
While Feger got by Joiner and separated himself and Troutman from the pack, he was powerless to close the distance on Troutman as the No. 22* GR Smith-owned machine took its second win of 2025.
“This track gets pretty narrow in certain spots,” Troutman said. “I knew if I didn’t get it done down the backstretch, or beside him going into Turn 3, that I’d probably be running second or third here. I just gotta thank all the fans, hopefully we put on a good show there.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models visit the Hawkeye State for the first time in 2025 at Davenport Speedway for the Iowa Governor’s Cup on Tuesday, June 17.
If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race live on DIRTVision.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[3]; 2. 25F-Jason Feger[1]; 3. 10-Joseph Joiner[2]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[7]; 7. 1-Tyler Erb[13]; 8. 5-Mark Whitener[8]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 10. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[19]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]; 12. 31M-Tyler Millwood[12]; 13. 14JR-Trey Mills[20]; 14. 17SS-Brenden Smith[16]; 15. 388-Jackson Hise[23]; 16. (DNF) 89-Mike Spatola[15]; 17. (DNF) 15-Clay Stuckey[10]; 18. (DNF) 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 19. (DNF) 10P-Paul Parker[21]; 20. (DNF) 17A-Austin Howes[18]; 21. (DNF) 75-Dillon McCowan[9]; 22. (DNF) 29-Christian Hanger[22]; 23. (DNF) 21-Billy Moyer Sr[11]
