Evansville, IN — TWO MORE: The curtain will officially close on the 2008 UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals this weekend with the running of postponed events on Friday night (Aug. 15) at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill., and Saturday night (Aug. 16) at Macon (Ill.) Speedway.
Both shows are classified as non-point Summer Nationals races, coming one month after Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., clinched his second straight championship in the ‘Hell Tour’ points finale on July 12 at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio.
Morgan County’s Summer Nationals date was originally scheduled for July 2 and Macon’s was set for July 3, but rain washed out both races. Thirty-five cars were signed in for Morgan County’s program and just over half of the field took time-trial laps before the precipitation dive-bombed the evening’s action, while Macon’s Summer Nationals card was postponed early in the afternoon due to heavy rain.
UMP DIRTcar officials were able to reschedule the Morgan County/Macon doubleheader for Aug. 15-16 – albeit without points on the line – to set up an attractive weekend of competition in central Illinois for UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model racers. Most of the Summer Nationals travelers are expected back for the events, including Erb, third-place points finisher Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., and fifth-place points man Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill.
The quarter-mile Morgan County oval will feature a 40-lap A-Main paying $6,000 to win on Friday night. This will be the third Summer Nationals event in the track’s history – all run consecutively since 2006.
Saturday night’s stop at Macon Speedway, a high-banked, one-fifth-mile bullring promoted by Bob Sargent’s Track Enterprises group, will feature the track’s prestigious Herald & Review 100. A $6,000 top prize will be on the line, but if the winner has raced at Macon at least 10 times in 2008 then their first-place take with be pushed to $10,000 by a $4,000 bonus.
This will mark the second consecutive year that Macon’s Herald & Review 100 was made into a non-point Summer Nationals event due to a rain-induced postponement. But it will be the 20th Summer Nationals race in the storied history of Macon Speedway, which has hosted a tour event every season since 1988 except one (1998).
Both events will also be part of the ‘Big Ten Series’ that is being contested this season at Morgan County and Macon. In addition, both races will offer valuable points toward the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model national championship battle, which is currently led by Erb.
For more information on the final UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals events, visit www.morgancountyspeedway.com or www.maconracing.com.
UMP DIRTcar RACING INFO: Log on to www.dirtcar.com for more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing and to view complete points standings for all divisions.
ATTENTION: Any UMP DIRTcar track or race team with news that could be used in the ‘UMP DIRTcar Racing Weekly Update’ release can e-mail the info to Kevin Kovac at kkovac@dirtcar.com.
UMP DIRTcar Racing National Points Standings (as of Aug. 11):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Dennis Erb Jr. 3090 40
2. Wes Steidinger 2860 40
3. Steve Sheppard Jr. 2562 40
4. Jason Feger 2509 40
5. Ryan Unzicker 2324 40
6. Brian Shirley 2247 35
7. Kevin Weaver 2238 40
8. Mike Hammerle 2198 40
9. Michael Kloos 2082 40
10. Scott Bull 1948 40
11. Jeep VanWormer 1864 31
12. Rusty Schlenk 1857 36
13. Daren Friedman 1740 34
14. Jayme Zidar 1737 37
15. Mike Schulte 1735 38
16. Will Vaught 1681 29
17. Eric Smith 1662 27
18. Jason McBride 1653 40
19. Randy Korte 1636 25
20. Brian Ruhlman 1623 28
Open-Wheel Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Leka 2876 35
2. Randle Sweeney 2779 35
3. Kent Robinson 2654 35
4. Gary Cook Jr. 2595 35
5. Tim Hancock 2500 35
6. McKay Wenger 2443 35
7. Mike Spatola 2426 35
8. Denny Schwartz 2402 35
9. John DeMoss 2318 35
10. Anthony Madrid 2304 33
11. Chad Evans 2250 35
12. Bobby Martintoni 2244 35
13. Rob Fuqua 2131 35
14. Matt Bex 2113 33
15. Tommie Seets Jr. 2021 35
16. Doug Adkins 2004 32
17. Jon Henry 1976 32
18. Chad Osterhoff 1967 34
19. Nick Allen 1928 29
20. Jeb Friedman 1910 35
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 1941 28
2. Caleb Ashby 1764 30
3. Josh Harris 1623 27
4. Jason Jones 1517 30
5. Brad Denney 1491 21
6. Levi Ashby 1472 30
7. Matt Liner 1466 25
8. Carnell Parker 1382 20
9. Aaron Heck1 1347 24
10. Kevin Hardin 1324 23
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jeremy Hines 1966 25
2. Joel Funk 1828 25
3. Brad Cummings 1699 25
4. Jeff Herzog 1698 25
5. Jason Unzicker 1610 25
6. Rick Hufford 1599 25
7. Chad Weinrick 1582 25
8. Troy Clark 1575 25
9. Chris Hillman 1559 25
10. Troy Medley 1550 25
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jonathan Clayton 1409 21
2. Alex Ashley 1177 18
3. Erick Adkins 1024 16
4. John Paul Talkington 995 17
5. Zach Dennis 969 16
6. Rob Madrid 939 15
7. Matthew Holmes 925 16
8. Dustin Shoemaker 917 17
9. Dan Bimson 843 13
10. Paddy Rush 824 13
Street Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Jarred Krick 1879 25
2. David Hurst 1800 25
3. Travis Myers 1773 25
4. Dave Mannise 1680 25
5. Terry Miller 1678 25
6. Steve Maisel 1662 25
7. Josh Griffith 1629 25
8. Chris Fisher 1598 25
9. Lee Hall 1585 25
10. Steve Ewing 1536 25
Factory Stocks (driver/points):
1. Bill DeLong 1337
2. William Burton 1260
3. Mickey Hines 1240
4. Jim Scout 1102
5. Chris Henry 1084
6. Clay Ellison 1001
7. Skip Moudy 955
8. Brett Miller 952
9. Craig Dippman 910
10. Kyle Woodard 879
4-Cylinders (driver/points/races):
1. Joe Reed 1891
2. Keaton Downing 1724
3. Jeffrey Bailey 1677
4. Bob Zbinden 1628
5. David Reed 1485
6. Mark Farber 1388
7. Michael Rittenberry 1347
8. Eric Wilson 1316
9. Jason Broughton 1229
10. Mike Martin 1224
