Maryville, IL — Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. (Super Late Models) and Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Ill. (Modifieds) remained atop the UMP DIRTcar Racing national points standings entering the final month of the 2009 points races, but their shrinking advantages signal an exciting stretch run for the titles.
Feger, 31, held a 10-point lead (2,937-2,927) over two-time defending national Super Late Model champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., in races contested through Sept. 8 – a fall from his 27-point edge over Erb from the previous week.
During a Labor Day holiday weekend that saw Feger and Erb go head-to-head in four consecutive events, Feger pushed his career-high 2009 feature-win total to 18 with victories on Sept. 4 in the Farmer City 50 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and Sept. 6 in the Monster Midwest Tour show at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway. He also scored a sixth-place finish in a 50-lap special on Sept. 3 at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway, but a camshaft failure on Sept. 5 left him a non-qualifier for the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway.
Erb, meanwhile, won Peoria’s feature and didn’t finish worse than fourth in his remaining starts (second at Lincoln, third at Fairbury and fourth at Farmer City), allowing him to pad his national points total by replacing some of his worst finishes/points nights.
The UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model points standings are determined using drivers’ best 40 finishes/points nights.
Feger and Erb will likely run against each other in virtually all their remaining 2009 starts, including this weekend’s prestigious $42,000-to-win World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The Super Late Model points seasons ends with the UMP DIRTcar Racing Nationals on Oct. 9-10 at Eldora.
In the Modified ranks, Cook suddenly finds himself with a dwindling points lead over defending national champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., who closed his deficit to Cook from 102 to 64 points (2,393-2,329) one week after vaulting from fourth to second in the standings.
With the Modified standings determined using drivers’ best 30 finishes/points nights and all the contenders already past that mark, Cook gained points last weekend only with his win on Sept. 4 at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway. Leka gained points, meanwhile, with finishes of second on Sept. 4 at Farmer City and third on Sept. 6 at Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill.
Other UMP DIRTcar national points leaders through Sept. 8 included Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky., who holds a slim 12-point edge over Bobby Dauderman of Alhambra, Ill., in the Pro Late Model class; Jimmy Cummins of Waterloo, Ill. (Sportsman); Chad Boone of Owensboro, Ky. (Limited Modifieds); Rick Thomas of Koehler, Ill. (Stock Cars); Bill May of Muskegon, Mich. (Factory Stocks); and Bob Zbinden of Alhambra, Ill. (Sport Compacts).
Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
UMP DIRTcar Racing National Points Standings (as of Sept. 8, 2009):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jason Feger 2937 40
2. Dennis Erb Jr. 2927 40
3. Rusty Schlenk 2746 40
4. Randy Korte 2741 40
5. Steve Sheppard Jr. 2629 40
6. Ryan Unzicker 2628 40
7. Kevin Weaver 2561 40
8. Jon Henry 2468 40
9. Brandon Sheppard 2422 40
10. Eric Smith 2386 40
11. Frankie Heckenast 2370 40
12. Mike Hammerle 2335 40
13. Brian Ruhlman 2306 39
14. Michael Kloos 2235 40
15. Shannon Babb 2160 36
16. Daren Friedman 2117 39
17. Joe Harlan 2117 40
18. Richie Hedrick 2071 40
19. Ed Dixon 2015 36
20. Kyle Logue 2009 40
Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Gary Cook Jr. 2393 30
2. Jeff Leka 2329 30
3. Devin Gilpin 2312 30
4. John McCaul 2276 30
5. Randle Sweeney 2274 30
6. Mike Spatola 2249 30
7. Kent Robinson 2235 30
8. Jeff Babcock 2219 30
9. Tim Hancock 2205 30
10. Todd Sherman 2204 30
11. Lance Dehm 2181 30
12. Nick Allen 2149 30
13. Clayton Miller 2127 30
14. Marc Kurth 2114 30
15. Clint DeMoss 2087 30
16. Vance Wilson 2068 30
17. Marty O’Neal 2058 30
18. Doug Adkins 2049 30
19. Jeremy Nichols 2043 30
20. Dean Hoffman 1976 30
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Tait Davenport 2161 30
2. Bobby Dauderman 2149 30
3. Dustin Griffin. 2064 30
4. Nick Bauman 2062 30
5. Caleb Ashby 2008 30
6. Matt Liner 1853 30
7. Bobby Martintoni 1750 30
8. Rylan Dagg 1742 30
9. Daniel Heck 1739 29
10. Josh Harris 1500 26
Sportsman (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jimmy Cummins 1828 25
2. Clayton Perry 1806 25
3. Russell Eilers 1798 25
4. Greg Kimmons 1653 25
5. Brian Williams 1651 25
6. Alan Magner 1605 25
7. Troy Clark 1587 25
8. Brad Cummings 1495 25
9. Greg Amick 1455 25
10. Christy Georges 1444 25
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Chad Boone 1776 25
2. Jonathan Smith 1679 25
3. Scotty Oliver 1479 25
4. Jeff Brooks 1439 25
5. Jansen Morris 1381 23
6. Shelli O’Bryan 1287 25
7. John Paul Talkington 1273 23
8. Chad Sweeney 1237 23
9. Josh Tyler 1230 24
10. Paddy Rush 1228 21
Stock Cars (driver/points/races counted):
1. Rick Thomas 1932 25
2. David Hurst 1873 25
3. Steve Ewing 1847 25
4. Joel Funk 1810 25
5. Stacy Fritter 1801 25
6. Dave Mannise 1774 25
7. Ron Wadforth 1705 25
8. Larry Russell Jr. 1699 25
9. Ervin Turner 1678 25
10. Chris Fisher 1672 25
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races counted):
1. Bill May 1725 25
2. Justin Schuler 1616 25
3. Paul Tenbrink 1488 25
4. Dan Wilson 1483 24
5. Dean Rake 1405 22
6. Tony Weinrick 1328 25
7. Loren Peterson 1298 23
8. Chuck Smith 1245 25
9. Dennis Ponder 1222 19
10. Jim Scout 1196 18
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races counted):
1. Bob Zbinden 1984 25
2. Joe Reed 1974 25
3. Eric Wisher 1778 25
4. Michael Rittenberry 1768 25
5. C.J. Rector 1650 25
6. Todd Meyer 1610 25
7. Richard Ashby 1608 25
8. Eric Wilson 1581 25
9. Rich Mueller 1579 25
10. Justin Suhre 1550 25
