Maryville, IL — Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. (Super Late Models) and Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Ill. (Modifieds) remained atop their respective UMP DIRTcar Racing national points races for another week in standings released Friday by organization officials.
Counting UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned events run through Aug. 31, Feger’s lead sat at 27 points (2,876-2,849) over two-time defending Super Late Model national champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and Cook’s edge was 102 points over defending Modified national titlist Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill.
Feger, 31, failed to reach Victory Lane last weekend – a rare occurrence during August for a driver who had entered the weekend having won six of his last eight starts. But he ran in just one feature, finishing 14th in the MARS DIRTcar Series/UMP DIRTcar co-sanctioned event on Aug. 29 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., after using a provisional to get in the field. He also competed in a MARS/UMP show on Aug. 28 at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, but the ‘World 50’ was postponed by rain to Sept. 18 after Feger had won a heat race.
With Erb finishing third at I-55 Raceway, he was able to shave two points off Feger’s points lead from the previous week. Erb also raced against Feger the previous night at Paducah, finishing third in a heat race.
Randy Korte of Highland, Ill., moved to third in the Super Late Model national standings, keeping his hopes alive for a third career UMP DIRTcar title. He cut 37 points off his previous week’s deficit to Feger, leaving him 135 points behind.
Feger, Erb and Korte are among the Midwestern standouts who are gearing up for the most prestigious dirt Late Model event of the season: the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned World 100 on Sept. 11-12 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The coveted race pays a whopping $42,000 to win.
Cook, meanwhile, enters this weekend’s action with his Modified points lead at the same number it was one week ago – 102 points. But he’s now leading Leka, who vaulted from fourth to second in the standings after winning features on Aug. 28 at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill., and Aug. 29 at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill.
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 Aug. 28 at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway. He is now replacing 75-point nights, which means he can add points to his overall total only by finishing no worse than second in events that have at least 26 entered cars.
Other UMP DIRTcar national points leaders through Aug. 23 included Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky., who holds a slight 14-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 Aug. 31, 2009):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jason Feger 2876 40
2. Dennis Erb Jr. 2849 40
3. Randy Korte 2741 40
4. Rusty Schlenk 2710 40
5. Steve Sheppard Jr. 2617 40
6. Ryan Unzicker 2576 40
7. Kevin Weaver 2530 40
8. Jon Henry 2393 40
9. Brandon Sheppard 2383 40
10. Frankie Heckenast 2369 40
11. Mike Hammerle 2335 40
12. Eric Smith 2303 39
13. Michael Kloos 2235 40
14. Brian Ruhlman 2226 37
15. Joe Harlan 2026 38
16. Richie Hedrick 2017 40
17. Ed Dixon 2015 36
18. Daren Friedman 2012 36
19. Shannon Babb 1975 33
20. Chris Dick 1972 40
Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Gary Cook Jr. 2381 30
2. Jeff Leka 2279 30
3. Devin Gilpin 2275 30
4. Randle Sweeney 2269 30
5. John McCaul 2261 30
6. Mike Spatola 2204 30
7. Kent Robinson 2193 30
8. Jeff Babcock 2189 30
9. Todd Sherman 2182 30
10. Lance Dehm 2167 30
11. Tim Hancock 2150 30
12. Nick Allen 2125 30
13. Clayton Miller 2090 30
14. Clint DeMoss 2067 30
15. Marc Kurth 2043 30
16. Marty O’Neal 2042 30
17. Vance Wilson 2031 30
18. Jeremy Nichols 2015 30
19. Doug Adkins 1991 30
20. Dean Hoffman 1945 30
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Tait Davenport 2145 30
2. Bobby Dauderman 2131 30
3. Nick Bauman 2043 30
4. Dustin Griffin 2016 30
5. Caleb Ashby 2008 30
6. Matt Liner 1827 30
7. Rylan Dagg 1741 30
8. Bobby Martintoni 1739 30
9. Daniel Heck 1693 28
10. Casey Montague 1453 28
Sportsman (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jimmy Cummins 1828 25
2. Russell Eilers 1798 25
3. Clayton Perry 1789 25
4. Greg Kimmons 1653 25
5. Brian Williams 1626 25
6. Troy Clark 1561 25
7. Alan Magner 1552 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’Bryanm 1287 25
7. John Paul Talkington 1273 23
8. Chad Sweeney 1237 23
9. Josh Tyler 1230 24
10. Chris Buhler 1192 20
Stock Cars (driver/points/races counted):
1. Rick Thomas 1916 25
2. David Hurst 1838 25
3. Steve Ewing 1803 25
4. Stacy Fritter 1791 25
5. Joel Funk 1768 25
6. Dave Mannise 1754 25
7. Larry Russell Jr. 1699 25
8. Chris Fisher 1672 25
9. Ervin Turner 1658 25
10. Mike Welch 1642 25
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races counted):
1. Bill May 1705 25
2. Justin Schuler 1590 25
3. Paul Tenbrink 1458 25
4. Dan Wilson 1368 22
5. Dean Rake 1303 20
6. Tony Weinrick 1268 25
7. Loren Peterson 1243 22
8. Dennis Ponder 1222 19
9. Chuck Smith 1156 24
10. Jim Scout 1147 17
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races counted):
1. Bob Zbinden 1984 25
2. Joe Reed 1966 25
3. Eric Wisher 1753 25
4. Michael Rittenberry 1753 25
5. C.J. Rector 1624 25
6. Todd Meyer 1610 25
7. Richard Ashby 1608 25
8. Eric Wilson 1556 25
9. Rich Mueller 1552 25
10. Justin Suhre 1550 25
