Evansville, IN — MAJOR FOR MODS: A race that has become one of the biggest in the country for open-wheel Modifieds will hit the track this weekend under the UMP DIRTcar Racing banner.
The American Heritage 101 at Brushcreek Motorsports Complex in Peebles, Ohio – a unique event that offers its winner the option of accepting a brand-new American Heritage Harley Davidson motorcycle or $10,000 in cash – being co-sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar Racing for the first time.
“It’s an honor for UMP DIRTcar to be involved with such a big race for the Modified division,” said UMP DIRTcar Racing director Sam Driggers . “We want to help bring even more attention to what is already a huge event for Modifieds.”
Set for this Friday and Saturday (Aug. 1-2), the American Heritage 101 Weekend will include two complete programs for the Modified division.
Friday’s ‘Night Before the Heritage’ features a 43-lap A- Main paying $1,000 to win. Adding extra importance to the race, a provisional starting spot in Saturday night’s ‘Heritage’ headliner will go to the non-qualifier who finished highest in Friday’s feature.
The Saturday-night card will include a full qualifying program leading up to the 58-lap ‘Heritage’ feature, which boasts a purse of nearly $20,000 just for positions 2-26. The headline event was run over the 101-lap distance for its first three years of its existence, but it was shortened to 58 laps in 2004 in memory of the late Jake McCane, a partner at Brushcreek Motorsports Complex and a major force behind the ‘American Heritage 101.’ McCane was 58 when he unexpectedly passed away on May 9, 2004.
The event’s traditional ‘101’ distance will still be reflected in the total number of feature laps run over the two nights of Modified competition.
This weekend marks the eighth running of the ‘American Heritage 101’ at the three-eighths-mile Brushcreek oval, but just the second with Modifieds as the featured attraction. Super Late Models served as the headliner for the first six years of the event before Bruschcreek owner Tom Partin installed the Modifieds as the race’s marquee class last season. Canadian Modified star Steve Arpin made the long tow to Ohio and won the 2007 edition of the event.
A huge field of Modifieds is expected for this year’s ‘Heritage’ classic, including many UMP DIRTcar standouts who will have a chance to chase national UMP DIRTcar points – as well as the new Harley Davidson motorcycle.
An interesting twist to the ‘American Heritage 101’ weekend provides anyone who purchases a ticket to the event a chance to win a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle.
For more information, visit www.brushcreekmotorsports.com or call 937-544-3344.
POINTS BATTLES: Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville , Ill. , leads the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model points standings by 149 points over Wes Steidinger of Fairbury , Ill. , following a strong performance on last week’s five-race ‘Monster Midwest Tour.’ Erb registered one win, three top-five and five top-10 finishes in Monster Midwest Tour action. His victory came in the opener on July 22 at Peoria ( Ill. ) Speedway .
Jeff Leka of Buffalo , Ill. , has moved to the top of the UMP DIRTcar Modified national points standings, unseating Randle Sweeney of Clifty , Ky. Sweeney leads Leka in the feature-win department, 26-19, but Leka has accumulated more points than Sweeney (2,832-2,741) through July 28 in search of his first-ever UMP DIRTcar national crown.
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 July 28):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Dennis Erb Jr. 2991 40
2. Wes Steidinger 2842 40
3. Steve Sheppard Jr. 2468 40
4. Jason Feger 2297 40
5. Brian Shirley 2247 35
6. Ryan Unzicker 2194 40
7. Kevin Weaver 2124 40
8. Mike Hammerle 2083 40
9. Michael Kloos 1906 39
10. Jeep VanWormer 1864 31
11. Scott Bull 1738 36
12. Will Vaughtm1681 29
13. Rusty Schlenk 1662 33
14. Jayme Zidar 1633 35
15. Jason McBride 1529 40
16. Mike Schulte 1515 34
17. Randy Korte 1493 23
18. Billy Moyer 1489 19
19. Derek Chandler 1444 32
20. Eric Smith 1442 24
Open-Wheel Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jeff Leka 2832 35
2. Randle Sweeney 2741 35
3. Kent Robinson 2588 35
4. Tim Hancock 2495 35
5. Gary Cook Jr. 2463 35
6, Mike Spatola 2312 35
7. McKay Wenger 2270 35
8. Denny Schwartz 2215 35
9. Chad Evans 2189 35
10. Anthony Madrid 2151 31
11. John DeMoss 2109 35
12. Bobby Martintoni 2060 32
13. Rob Fuqua 2010 35
14. Tommie Seets Jr. 1864 33
15. Matt Bex 1856 29
16. Jon Henry 1790 29
17. Jason Noll 1782 30
18. Jeff Curl 1765 35
19. Jeb Friedman 1764 34
20. Matt Boknecht 1743 26
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races):
1. Tait Davenport 1577 23
2. Caleb Ashby 1433 26
3. Jason Jones 1385 29
4. Josh Harris 1379 23
5. Kevin Hardin 1324 23
6. Levi Ashby 1299 26
7. Brad Denney 1270 17
8. Matt Liner 1196 21
9. Carnell Parker 1172 17
10. Aaron Heck 1118 20
Sportsman (driver/points/races):
1. Jeremy Hines 1795 25
2. Joel Funk 1788 25
3. Brad Cummings 1557 25
4. Troy Clark 1514 25
5. Jason Unzicker 1504 25
6. Jeff Herzog 1486 25
7. Chris Hillman 1476 25
8. Jimmy Cummins 1430 25
9. Chad Weinrick 1426 24
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races):
1. Jonathan Clayton 1305 19
2. Alex Ashley 1042 16
3. Eric Adkins 906 14
4. Zach Dennis 834 14
5. Matthew Holmes 837 14
6. Rob Madrid 829 13
7. John Paul Talkington 822 14
8. Brandon Buhler 808 12
9. Dustin Shoemaker 777 15
10. Dan Bimson 745 11
Street Stocks (driver/points/races):
1. Jerrad Krick 1835 25
2. Travis Myers 1713 25
3. David Hurst 1699 25
4. Dave Mannise 1590 24
5. Lee Hall 1553 25
6. Chris Fisher 1543 25
7. Josh Griffith 1434 25
8. Jesse Simmons 1428 25
9. Terry Miller 1405 24
10. Steve Ewing 1404 25
Factory Stocks (driver/points):
1. Mickey Hines 1190
2. William Burton 1185
3. Billy DeLong 1045
4. Jim Scout 968
5. Clay Ellison 959
6. Chris Henry 909
7. Craig Dippman 802
8. Brett Miller 793
9. Josh Phelps 780
10. Skid Moudy 770
4-Cylinders (driver/points):
1. Joe Reed 1864
2. Keaton Downing 1684
3. Jeffrey Bailey 1573
4. Bob Zbinden 1456
5. David Reed 1255
6. Michael Rittenberry 1207
7. Mark Farber 1195
8. Mike Martin 1112
9. Eric Wilson 1102
10. Michael Perrigo 1092
