The past two nights of DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model Feature racing have provided a classic Illinois battle from two of the state’s top drivers.
Sunday night at Sycamore Speedway added another chapter to their Hell Tour battles, as Bloomington, IL’s Jason Feger and Chatham, IL’s Brian Shirley battled for the night’s win.
Mike Spatola led the field to the green flag with Shirley to his outside, but the No. 3S Longhorn Chassis kept his pace on the high side to take the lead in the early stages.
Spatola, of Manhattan, IL, maintained second place, while Christian Hanger, Shannon Babb, and Feger tried to determine which lane worked best to drive around.
Feger found footing on the high side of the racetrack as the majority of the top-10 stayed low in the corners.
On Lap 15, lapped traffic became a factor as Spatola got squeezed between Dennis Erb Jr. and the lapped cars in front, evaporating the momentum he needed to keep Feger behind him. In return, the No. 25F Late Model got clear off of Turn 4 and began its second-half charge towards Shirley.
Shirley’s 1.3-second lead dwindled to 0.2 seconds in the following four laps as Feger found his familiar stride at the “High Side Hustler.”
Feger made his move for the lead with 10 laps to go as he got to the right rear quarter panel of “Squirrel” into Turn 1, creeped up nose-to-nose down the backstretch, then got clear of Shirley off the exit of Turn 4 to take the lead at Sycamore.
Jason Feger finishes his pass on Brian Shirley for his second Hell Tour win of 2025 (Tyler Carr Photo)
Shirley then took his car to the cushion of the track, but struggled to make ground on Feger as he led the final laps for his 32nd trip to Hell Tour Victory Lane.
With the win, Feger clinched his fifth career Summer Nationals weekly title, and his first in the opening week for the Late Models.
“I felt like I was as good as Brian,” Feger said. “The car was really good. It was the case of Brian not knowing where I am, and the track ended up being really racey. I think everybody thought it was going to be bottom-dominant, and we was able to get close to the top and drive down into the crumbs. It ended up being a really good track.
“Brian probably didn’t know where I was, and it’s a lot different when you chase versus when you lead. So me and him swapping positions back and forth, he’s a good bud so it’s always a good time. To be able to win two (Features) in the first week and clinch the points for the week is huge for our team.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models visit Wilmot Raceway for the first visit to the Wisconsin track since 2016 on Monday night, June 16.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 25F-Jason Feger[6]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 5. 18B-Shannon Babb[5]; 6. 1-Tyler Erb[10]; 7. 10-Joseph Joiner[11]; 8. 09-Michael Leach[15]; 9. 21B-Rich Bell[8]; 10. 5-Mark Whitener[14]; 11. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[13]; 12. 15-Clay Stuckey[9]; 13. 75-Dillon McCowan[19]; 14. 14JR-Trey Mills[20]; 15. 8-Matthew Larson[16]; 16. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[18]; 17. 29-Christian Hanger[3]; 18. D1-Turk Letizia[12]; 19. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[17]; 20. 3-Dale Markham[21]; 21. (DNF) 40B-Kyle Bronson[22]; 22. (DNF) 22*-Drake Troutman[4]
