Maryville, IL — Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich. (Late Models) and Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. (Modifieds) added to their leads in DIRTcar Racing’s UMP national points standings after nine weeks of weekly competition.
Both young lions won twice over the holiday weekend, helping them pump up their points leads in races completed through May 31. Schlenk, 23, made the most dramatic gains, extending his edge by 124 points to a hefty 566 markers (1,650-1,084) over Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., while Gilpin, 19, increased his edge over Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo., by 14 points to a more modest 25-point margin (1,479-1,454).
Schlenk’s three-race Memorial Day weekend of racing on the DIRTcar-sanctioned American Late Model Series was highlighted by his milestone first career win at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. He captured the track’s annual ‘Johnny Appleseed Classic’ on Sunday night (May 30) for what he called “without doubt the biggest win of my career.”
The triumph at the Big E came after Schlenk finished fifth in the ALMS weekend opener on Friday night (May 28) at Mount Pleasant (Mich.) Speedway and recorded his 61st career win at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio, on Saturday night (May 29). He overtook Matt Miller for the lead on a late restart and never looked back at Oakshade.
Schlenk has won eighth features this season in his 23 overall starts. He currently leads all drivers in the UMP national points standings in the races-completed category. Unzicker, who last weekend finished fifth on May 28 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and sixth on May 29 at Highland (Ill.) Speedway, has 17 starts to his credit, while Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., who sits third in the national standings after holiday-weekend finishes of third on May 28 at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., and fourth on May 29 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., has made 21 starts.
Gilpin, meanwhile, remained on top of the UMP Modified national points standings for the second consecutive week after scoring feature wins on May 28 at Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio, and May 30 at Windy Hollow Speedway in Owensboro, Ky., and finishing second on May 29 at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Ind.
Griffaw nearly kept pace with Gilpin with his performance last weekend, which included a victory on May 28 at Fredericktown (Mo.) Raceway, a second-place finish on May 29 at I-55 Raceway and a third-place outing on May 30 at Shepp’s Speedway in Alexander, Ill.
Veteran Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., who led the UMP Modified standings for several weeks before being overtaken by Gilpin, lost more ground to Gilpin and Griffaw. He registered runner-up finishes on May 29 at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway and May 30 at Windy Hollow, but a 22nd-place run on May 28 at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway was a big blow to his points total, leaving him 126 points behind Gilpin in third place.
There was no change at the top of the national points standings in five of DIRTcar Racing’s six other UMP divisions. Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late Models), Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman), Jeff Lawson of Greenville, Ky. (Limited Modifieds), Scott Mooers of Osteen, Fla. (Factory Stocks) and Michael Rittenberry of Clarksville, Tenn. (Sport Compacts) remained points leaders, while Rick Rush of Brownstown, Ill., overtook Trevor Gamble of DeLeon Springs, Fla., for the lead in the Stock Car national rankings.
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing’s UMP circuit and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of May 31, 2010):
Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Rusty Schlenk 1650 23
2. Ryan Unzicker 1084 17
3. Mike Hammerle 1032 21
4. Jeff Walston 931 15
5. Brian Ruhlman 927 14
6. Jason McBride 926 17
7. Brandon Sheppard 854 16
8. Dillan White 838 15
9. Brian Shirley 823 13
10. Jeep VanWormer 821 11
11. Michael Kloos 806 14
12. Richie Hedrick 797 16
13. Phil Ausra 771 15
14. Dusty Moore 759 14
15. Frankie Martin 752 13
16. Alan Vochaska 730 11
17. Mike Schulte 729 14
18. Dennis Erb Jr. 719 12
19. Eric Smith 701 11
20. Jared Miley 660 10
Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Devin Gilpin 1479 22
2. Rusty Griffaw 1454 22
3. Randle Sweeney 1353 22
4. Stormy Scott 1256 19
5. Clint DeMoss 1136 16
6. Levi Kissinger 1132 21
7. Mike Spatola 1025 18
8. Todd Sherman 1005 15
9. Brett Korves 964 16
10. Dave Wietholder 952 16
11. Zach Fair 931 16
12. Dean Hoffman 922 16
13. Trent Young 914 17
14. Dustin Isom 886 18
15. Jeff Matthews 871 13
16. Will Krup 842 20
17. Jimmy Ray 834 14
18. Tony Anderson 822 15
19. Rob Penny 822 19
20. Denny Schwartz 815 13
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 846 14
2. Credence Mott 776 14
3. Matt Santel 729 14
4. Scott Weber 723 10
5. Bobby Pierce 647 9
6. Bobby Martintoni 620 11
7. Nick Lyons 575 10
8. Casey Montague 548 10
9. Nick Bauman 532 8
10. Bobby Dauderman 529 8
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jimmy Cummins 971 15
2. Chris Hillman 846 14
3. Steve Peeden 798 13
4. Brad Cummings 756 14
5. Randy Petro 751 13
6. Rocky Warner 734 11
7. Aaron Barsness 715 11
8. Dennis Wernle 705 12
9. Shaun Daugharty 690 11
10. Jeff Herzog 628 10
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Scotty Oliver 613 11
2. Jeff Lawson 604 11
3. Ronnie Cotton 509 9
4. Jonathan Smith-1 505 8
5. Shelli O’Bryan 492 10
6. John Paul Talkington 483 9
7. Kevin Dupont 479 9
8. Clay Settles 451 8
9. Josh Tyler 412 8
10. Shane Hebert 407 6
Stock Cars (driver/points/races):
1. Rick Rush 650 14
2. Mike Lynn 630 10
3. Trevor Gamble 593 10
4. Tim Hughes 593 10
5. Larry Russell Jr. 592 10
6. Mike Welch 556 10
7. JR Mason 554 8
8. Andy Fisk 552 9
9. Josh Smith 552 11
10. Josh Frye 538 10
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Scott Mooers 866 13
2. Brad Venhaus 561 8
3. Luke Sadler 549 11
4. Zac Hoffman 542 9
5. Stephen Fohne 464 9
6. Brian Crawford 448 8
7. Richard Calmes Jr. 442 10
8. Mickey Hines 426 8
9. Wally Douglass 421 9
10. Troy Bunfill 420 7
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races):
1. Michael Rittenberry 1030 15
2. Jordan Suhre 901 14
3. Eldon Hemken 862 14
4. Trevor Isaak 832 15
5. Justin Hall 772 15
6. Rob Shaw 757 10
7. Blayne Ellis 724 12
8. Cook Crawford 716 14
9. Bradley McGhee 716 12
10. Jason Schmidt 705 12
