Maryville, IL — Jason Feger is the hottest driver on the UMP DIRTcar Racing Super Late Model circuit.
And as a result, the 31-year-old from Bloomington, Ill., is expanding his lead in the organization’s national points standings.
Feger won twice in three UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned starts last weekend, pushing his points lead to 29 markers (2,843-2,814) over two-time defending national champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., in races run through Aug. 24. It’s now been three consecutive weeks that Feger has been atop the national points battle, which is determined using drivers’ best 40 finishes/points nights.
After entering last weekend’s action with a precarious 12-point edge over Erb, Feger went out and won features on Aug. 21 at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway and Aug. 22 at Highland (Ill.) Speedway (his fifth Monster Midwest Tour victory of 2009). He also finished second in a Monster Midwest event on Aug. 23 at Quincy (Ill.) Raceway, giving him a near-perfect weekend.
Feger, who is seeking his first-ever UMP DIRTcar national title, has won six of his last eight starts since Aug. 7. He has 15 UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned wins overall, tying him with Dona Marcoullier of Houghton Lake, Mich., for the circuit lead.
Erb had a solid weekend as well, sandwiching a win in the Northern All-Stars Late Model Series event on Aug. 22 at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway with third-place finishes on Aug. 21 at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and Aug. 23 at Quincy.
Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Ill., meanwhile, continued to pace the UMP DIRTcar Racing national Modified points standings, adding another 14 points to his advantage from the previous week. He enters the weekend leading Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., by 102 points (2,371-2,269).
With the Modified standings determined by drivers’ best 30 finishes/points nights, Cook had two strong outings last weekend that gained him points. He finished second on Aug. 22 at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill., and won on Aug. 23 at Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill.
But while Cook has a triple-digit cushion on his nearest pursuer, the battle behind him is razor-close. Just 102 points separates second place Sweeney from 10th-place Lance Dehm of Pontiac, Ill.
Other UMP DIRTcar national points leaders through Aug. 23 included Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. (Pro Late Models), 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. 24, 2009):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jason Feger 2843 40
2. Dennis Erb Jr. 2814 40
3. Rusty Schlenk 2691 40
4. Randy Korte 2671 40
5. Ryan Unzicker 2551 40
6. Steve Sheppard Jr. 2527 40
7. Kevin Weaver 2503 40
8. Jon Henry 2393 40
9. Frankie Heckenast 2381 40
10. Mike Hammerle 2319 40
11. Brandon Sheppard 2313 40
12. Eric Smith 2256 38
13. Michael Kloos 2177 40
14. Brian Ruhlman 2168 36
15. Daren Friedman 2018 36
16. Joe Harlan 2003 37
17. Richie Hedrick 1988 40
18. Shannon Babb 1975 33
19. Ed Dixon 1913 34
20. Dusty Moore 1874 36
Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Gary Cook Jr. 2371 30
2. Randle Sweeney 2269 30
3. John McCaul 2261 30
4. Jeff Leka 2231 30
5. Devin Gilpin 2215 30
6. Kent Robinson 2186 30
7. Mike Spatola 2184 30
8. Todd Sherman 2182 30
9. Jeff Babcock 2170 30
10. Lance Dehm 2167 30
11. Tim Hancock 2135 30
12. Nick Allen 2076 30
13. Clint DeMoss 2067 30
14. Clayton Miller 2063 30
15. Mary O’Neal 2026 30
16. Vance Wilson 2005 30
17. Marc Kurth 1990 30
18. Doug Adkins 1984 30
19. Jeremy Nichols 1958 30
20. Bobby Bittle 1915 30
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Tait Davenport 2128 30
2. Bobby Dauderman 2091 30
3. Nick Bauman 2003 30
4. Caleb Ashby 1981 30
5. Dustin Griffin 1946 30
6. Matt Liner 1805 30
7. Rylan Dagg 1726 30
8. Bobby Martintoni 1684 30
9. Daniel Heck 1578 26
10. Josh Harris 1430 24
Sportsman (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jimmy Cummins 1828 25
2. Russell Eilers 1770 25
3. Clayton Perry 1768 25
4. Brian Williams 1626 25
5. Greg Kimmons 1584 25
6. Troy Clark 1561 25
7. Alan Magner 1552 25
8. Brad Cummings 1493 25
9. Greg Amick 1446 25
10. Chad Weinrick 1433 25
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Chad Boone 1756 25
2. Jonathan Smith 1567 24
3. Scotty Oliver 1441 25
4. Jeff Brooks 1424 25
5. Jansen Morris 1339 22
6. Shelli O’Bryan 1234 24
7. John Paul Talkington 1204 22
8. Chad Sweeney 1192 22
9. Josh Tyler 1160 23
10. Chris Buhler 1113 19
Stock Cars (driver/points/races counted):
1. Rick Thomas 1900 25
2. David Hurst 1802 25
3. Stacy Tretter 1779 25
4. Joel Funk 1749 25
5. Dave Mannise 1724 25
6. Steve Ewing 1713 25
7. Larry Russell Jr. 1678 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. Chuck Smith 1156 24
9. Dennis Ponder 1146 18
10. Robbie Sternberg 1106 21
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races counted):
1. Bob Zbinden 1975 25
2. Joe Reed 1953 25
3. Eric Wisher 1742 25
4. Michael Rittenberry 1728 25
5. C.J. Rector 1624 25
6. Richard Ashby 1578 25
7. Todd Meyer 1576 25
8. Eric Wilson 1556 25
9. Justin Suhre 1521 25
10. Mark Farber 1518 25
