Pevely, MO — A second consecutive night of non-stop speed and thrills on Friday at I-55 Raceway kept the momentum rolling in the inaugural UMP DIRTcar Roundup By MyRaceLife.com, with two of eight divisions crowning event champions.
UMP DIRTcar 4-Cylinder driver Jason Crump, of Festus, Mo., earned a Roundup belt buckle and the first 2008 polished steel champions’ plate of the event. Two races later, Danny Ems, of Arnold, Mo., drove to victory in the UMP DIRTcar Factory Stock division to also collect a Roundup belt buckle and champions’ plate.
Randy Korte, the 2006 UMP DIRTcar Racing Late Model champion from Highland, Ill., took the checkered flag in the Dirt Late Model feature to lock himself into Saturday’s main event. Bobby Bittle, of Belleville, Ill., picked up the win in the UMP DIRTcar Modified feature on the high-banked 1/3-mile oval just south of St. Louis, earning a guaranteed spot in Saturday’s main Modified event.
In all, it was a busy night on the track that eventually gave way to the “Party in Pevely” in the pits and campground that lasted well into the evening, especially near Randy LaJoie’s setup on manufacturers’ row:
UMP DIRTcar 4-Cylinders — Jason Crump used the pole position he secured on Thursday to his advantage on Friday as he led from green to checkered flags to become the first UMP DIRTcar Roundup Champion of the inaugural event. Crump turned 10 smooth laps to hold off Gerald and Jacob Buechting, half of the Buechting family in the feature. “I’ve been working on this thing for last two weeks straight trying to get it right,” Crump said. “I’ve struggled for the past month and a half here. It feels good to get it right. I’ve got to thank everybody that helps me, all my sponsors, my wife and kids for supporting me through this. I work on this thing endlessly and race as much as I can. I want to thank UMP DIRTcar Racing for putting on this show and having us out, I appreciate it. We’ll definitely be here next year. I’ll definitely be looking forward to it.”
UMP DIRTcar Factory Stocks — Danny Ems proved that securing the pole position for the feature was pivotal. Ems used the front starting position and clean air to pull away from the field as the green flag flew. Ems, who won his heat race on Thursday night, showed the same dominance in the 15-lap feature event on Friday and became the first Factory Stock UMP DIRTcar Roundup Champion. “This car me and my dad built a long time ago and won a championship with it. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. … I’d like to thank my sponsors, and my family, pit crew, everybody.”
UMP DIRTcar Pro (Limited) Modifieds — In a race to set the stage for Saturday’s 20-lap finale, newcomers to the event Billy Deroy, Bill Nickelson, Kenny Harris and Shannon Burch battled closely to determine starting position in the A-Main. Kenny Francis slowed on the front stretch to bring out the first caution. On the restart, Deroy slowed while leading on the backstretch. Nickelson took advantage of Deroy’s misfortune to take the win over Burch.
UMP DIRTcar Pro Late Models — Eric Gowin took the early lead in the 26K machine with Brandon Moss and Bob Schmidt battling for second. Schmidt took the 2nd spot from Moss after the two waged a side by side battle. This allowed Gowin to extend his lead and capture the checkers for the event with Schmidt and Moss in tow. Pro Late Models take to the track Saturday night for their 20 lap feature event.
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds — The Modified drivers again turned in an epic battle on Friday night with Bobby Brittle, a former I-55 Raceway Modified champion, stealing the top spot on the final restart after leader Scott Weber made contact with the wall in Turn 2. Weber had led from the original green flag as Bittle stalked him throughout the 20-lap feature. “Scott’s a regular here, he’s a great racer,” Bittle said. “He’s fast week in and week out. Before the yellow came out I think we were going to challenge him in another lap or two anyway but, I don’t ever take anything for granted.” Bittle then offered a modest challenge to Steve Arpin, Thursday night’s winner who watched Friday’s action in preparation for Saturday’s big show. “We had a good car tonight,” Bittle said. “I’d love to give the Canadian a run for his money if we could but, that kid’s fast. Thanks to I-55 and UMP DIRTcar Racing for putting this event on, it was a nice event.” Heat race winners included Weber, Matt Goulden and Ken Rumble. NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace was leading the first heat when he and Weber made contact, sending Wallace into the wall in Turn 3.
UMP DIRTcar Late Models — One night after an accident knocked him out of the feature, Randy Korte rebounded on Friday and led flag-to-flag, fending off Tim Manville, Jason Feger and Thursday winner Will Vaught to take the checkered flag. “I’m feeling pretty good about this car so I think we’ll be in the hunt Saturday night,” Korte said. “We’ve had a bad last month and a half. Just to finish a race and run up front, I’m happy about that. My guys worked their butts off last night and this morning. They got the car ready to go I want to thank all of them and my sponsors. If it wouldn’t be for them I couldn’t do this.” … Heat race winners included the Racing Lawyer Denny Woodworth, Manville, Michael Kloos and Korte. Darrell Moser won the B-main.
UMP DIRTcar Roundup By MyRaceLife.com Statistical Summary; Oct. 17, 2008; I-55 Raceway; Pevely, Mo.
UMP DIRTcar 4-Cylinder
A-main (10 laps)
1. 86-Jason Crump
2. 16-Gerald Buechting
3. 66- Jacob Buechting
4. 3-Rusty Griffaw
5. 65-Gary Range
6. 83-Pat Brewer
7. 19-Jessica Buechting
8. 61-Steve Richards
9. 8-Dennis Hornbuster
10. 667-Jackie Buechting
11. K2-Brooke Hassler
12. 51JR-Jared Dewrock
13. 95M-Josh Campbell
14. 15-Mark Pryor
UMP DIRTcar Factory Stocks
A-main (15 laps)
1. 36-Danny Ems
2. 87-Jason Zobrist
3. 7-Dennis Ponder
4. 29-Stephen Fohne
5. 39-Bobby Hooker
6. 88-Mike Reagan
7. 37-Dave Monterusso
8. 68-Terry McCann
9. 21-James Rowney
10. 8-Jordan Bauer
UMP DIRTcar Pro Late Models
B-main (15 laps)
1. 26K-Eric Gowin
2. 26X-Brandon Moss
3. 36-Bob Schmidt
UMP DIRTcar Limited Modifieds
B-main (10 laps)
1. 21-Bill Nickelson
2. 8-Shannon Burch
3. 23D-Billy Deroy
4. 69-Kenny Harris
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds
Heat 1 (10 laps)
1. 4J-Ken Rumble
2. 7W-Tommie Seets Jr.
3. 7Z- Matt Zimmerly
4. 72-Brian Lynn
5. 10x-Jim Black
6. 21-Randy Dickman
7. 36-Kenny Wallace
8. 22C-Brandon Lennox
9. 19-Chris Simmerman
10. 8X-James Reed
Heat 2 (10 laps)
1. 41G-Matt Goulden
2. 1W-Ray Walsh
3. 31-Rick Horton
4. 36X-Conrad Miner
5. 1D-Dean Hoffman
6. 29-Chris Spalding
7. C4-Chris Soutiea
8. 22M-Darrell Moser
9. 22-Chucky Milam
10. 12-Dan Bimson
Heat 3 (10 laps)
1. 67-Ken Rumble
2. 89-Bobby Bittle
3. 24-Paul Bauman
4. 7-Mark Miner
5. 14-Rick Conoyer
6. 17V-Michael VanderRiet Jr.
7. 88-Joe Puricelli
8. 0-Tim Hancock
9. 4UW-Bobby Regot
10. 59-Rich Whaley
A-Main (20 Laps, Top 8 Finishers Locked into Redraw for Saturday’s finale.)
1. 89-Bobby Bittle
2. 1W-Ray Walsh
3. 7W-Tommie Seets Jr.
4. 1D-Dean Hoffman
5. 72-Brian Lynn
6. 36X-Conrad Miner
7. 67-Ken Rumble
8. 31-Rick Horton
9. 14-Rick Conoyer
10. 7Z-Matt Zimmerly
11. 22-Chuck Milam
12. 7-Mark Miner
13. 24-Paul Bauman
14. 88-Joe Puricelli
15. 29-Chris Spalding
16. 36-Kenny Wallace
17. 17V-Michael VanderRiet Jr.
18. 10X-Jim Black
19. C4-Chris Soutiea
20. 22C-Brandon Lennox
21. 21-Randy Dickman
22. 4J-Scott Weber
23. 41G-Matt Goulden
24. 0-Tim Hancock
25. 22M-Darrell Moser
26. 12-Dan Bimson
27. 19-Chris Simmerman
28. 4UW-Bobby Regot
Drivers locked into Saturday’s main event include Steve Arpin, Tim Hancock, Mark Miner, Scott Weber, Ken Rumble, Bobby Brittle, Ray Walsh, Tommie Seets Jr., Dean Hoffman and Brian Lynn, all of whom will draw for their starting positions. Rick Horton, Michael VanderRiet Jr., Conrad Miner, Rick Conover and Matt Zimmerly are also locked into the feature on Saturday.
UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models
Heat 1 (10 laps)
1. 45-Denny Woodworth
2. 28B-John Beck
3. 95-Jeff Johns
4. 1S-Rick Salter
5. 81-Craig Smith
6. 27X-Jeff Beyers
7. 22-Darrell Moser
8. 31-Brent Helmkamp
9. 5-Dan Jacober
Heat 2 (10 laps)
1. 33-Tim Manville
2. 1V-Will Vaught
3. 25-Jason Feger
4. 0-Tim Hancock
5. 49-Jeremy Hines
6. 1HR-Ron McQuerry
7. 27-Mike Schulte.
8. 16H-Mike Hammerle
Heat 3 (10 laps)
1. 6K-Michael Kloos
2. 78-Chad Zobrist
3. 30-Mark Voigt
4. 7B-Mark Burtorf
5. 16-Rusty Griffaw
6. 47-Danny Haynes
7. 2J-Dave Jumper
8. 28-Dallas Bennett
Heat 4 (10 laps)
1. 00-Randy Korte
2. 8-Kyle Steffens
3. 59-Frankie Martin
4. 11-Bryan Collins
5. 76-Jim Durbin
6. 1-Dustin Brown
7. 12-Rick Standridge
8. 13-Dewayne Kiefer
B-main (12 laps)
1. 22-Darrell Moser
2. 27-Mike Schulte
3. 2J-Dave Jumper
4. 12-Rick Standridge
5. 31-Brent Helmkamp
6. 16H-Mike Hammerle
7. 28-Dallas Bennett
8. 5-Dan Jacober
9. 13-Dewayne Kiefer
A-Main (20 Laps, Top 8 Finishers Locked into Redraw for Saturday’s finale.)
1. 00-Randy Korte
2. 33-Tim Manville
3. 25-Jason Feger
4. 1V-Will Vaught
5. 8-Kyle Steffens
6. 45-Denny Woodworth
7. 95-Jeff Johns
8. 1S-Rick Salter
9. 7B-Mark Burgtorf
10. 11-Bryan Collins
11. 28B-John Beck
12. 78-Chad Zobrist
13. 30-Mark Voigt
14. 59-Frankie Martin
15. 16-Rusty Griffaw
16. 27X-Jeff Beyers
17. 81-Craig Smith
18. 49-Jeremy Hines
19. 1HR-Ron McQueery
20. 27-Mike Schulte
21. 22-Darrell Moser
22. 12-Rick Standridge
23. 2J-Dave Jumper
24. 6K-Michael Kloos
25. 0-Tim Hancock
26. 47-Danny Hayes
27. 1-Dustin Brown
28. 76-Jim Durbin
Drivers locked into Saturday’s main event include Will Vaught, Jason Feger, Billy Faust, Danny Haynes, Brian Shirley, Randy Korte, Tim Manville, Kyle Steffens, Denny Woodworth and Jeff Johns, all of whom will draw for their starting positions. Jeff Beyers, Bryan Collins, Craig Smith, Rick Salter, Mark Burgtorf and John Beck are locked into the feature.
