Maryville, IL — July 25, 2009 – Two-time defending UMP DIRTcar Racing national Super Late Model champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., made his first appearance at the top of the points standings, moving ahead in the rankings released on Thursday by organization officials.
Just one week after clinching his third consecutive UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals title, Erb, 36, held a 31-point lead (2,581-2,550) over Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., in the national points standings tabulated through July 20.
Erb overcame the 62-point deficit to Feger that he faced in the national rankings released the previous week.
Both Erb and Feger have already reached the magic 40-race threshold. The national Super Late Model standings are determined using drivers’ 40 best finishes/points nights, allowing the drivers to begin replacing their worst outings.
Eight of the top-10 drivers in the national Super Late Model standings had already reached the 40-race mark as of July 20. Only sixth-place Randy Korte of Highland, Ill. (34 races) and 10th-place Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill. (33 races) have not yet begun replacing races.
Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Ill., remained atop the UMP DIRTcar national Modified standings, but his points lead shrunk slightly. He led Randle Sweeney of Clifty, Ky., by 87 points (2,250-2,163) after holding a 131-point edge the previous week.
Other UMP DIRTcar national points leaders through July 20 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 Joe Reed of Decatur, 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 July 20, 2009):
Super Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Dennis Erb Jr. 2581 40
2. Jason Feger 2550 40
3. Kevin Weaver 2373 40
4. Rusty Schlenk 2328 40
5. Steve Sheppard Jr. 2311 40
6. Randy Korte 2239 34
7. Ryan Unzicker 2210 40
8. Mike Hammerle 2179 40
9. Brandon Sheppard 1977 40
10. Shannon Babb 1975 33
11. Frankie Heckenast 1946 39
12. Jon Henry 1773 31
13. Brian Ruhlman 1670 28
14. Eric Smith 1627 28
15. Jason McBride 1591 39
16. Daren Friedman 1584 28
17. Richie Hedrick 1584 37
18. Michael Kloos 1560 33
19 Dusty Moore 1537 29
20. Mark Voigt 1477 30
Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Gary Cook Jr. 2250 30
2. Randle Sweeney 2163 30
3. John McCaul 2125 30
4. Jeff Leka 2071 30
5. Mike Spatola 2060 30
6. Kent Robinson 2052 30
7. Todd Sherman 2013 30
8. Tim Hancock 1926 30
9. Clayton Miller 1848 30
10. Clint DeMoss 1845 28
11. Devin Gilpin 1843 30
12. Vance Wilson 1802 29
13. Jeremy Nichols 1778 30
14. Jeff Babcock 1766 27
15. Troy Marciniak 1765 30
16. Chad Osterhoff 1740 29
17. Lance Dehm 1724 25
18. Bobby Bittle 1654 27
19. Nick Allen 1535 25
20. Stan Dodds 1535 27
Pro Late Models (driver/points/races counted):
1. Tait Davenport 1799 26
2. Caleb Ashby 1748 28
3. Bobby Dauderman 1573 26
4. Rylan Dagg 1482 27
5. Dustin Griffin 1475 26
6. Nick Bauman 1449 22
7. Bobby Martintoni 1395 25
8. Matt Liner 1325 24
9. Josh Harris 1262 21
10. Daniel Heck 1196 20
Sportsman (driver/points/races counted):
1. Jimmy Cummins 1692 25
2. Clayton Perry 1660 25
3. Troy Clark 1506 25
4. Greg Kimmons 1355 22
5. Brad Cummings 1310 23
6. Greg Amick 1263 22
7. Russell Eilers 1228 17
8. Alan Magner 1218 20
9. Brian Williams 1155 18
10. Chad Weinrick 1138 21
Limited Modifieds (driver/points/races counted):
1. Chad Boone 1592 24
2. Jeff Brooks 1286 23
3. Scotty Oliver 973 17
4. Jonathan Smith 942 15
5. Josh Tyler 929 18
6. John Paul Talkington 923 17
7. Chris Buhler 891 15
8. Derrick Brooks 853 15
9. Shelli O’Bryan 852 17
10. Justin Riley 829 16
Stock Cars (driver/points/races counted):
1. Rick Thomas 1598 23
2. David Hurst 1591 24
3. Ervin Turner 1578 25
4. Dave Mannise 1563 25
5. Chris Fisher 1549 25
6. Larry Russell Jr. 1530 25
7. Steve Ewing 1512 23
8. Joel Funk 1452 22
9. Mike Welch 1393 23
10. Brandon Roundtree 1371 25
Factory Stocks (driver/points/races counted):
1. Bill May 1606 25
2. Justin Schuler 1206 21
3. Tony Weinrick 967 20
4. Nate Tarte 935 22
5. Paul Tenbrink 905 15
6. Loren Peterson 858 15
7. Robbie Sternberg 837 16
8. Dennis Ponder 810 12
9. Chuck Smith 800 17
10. Jim Scout 796 11
Sport Compacts (driver/points/races counted):
1. Joe Reed 1759 25
2. Bob Zbinden 1730 24
3. Eric Wisher 1635 25
4. C.J. Rector 1427 24
5. Michael Rittenberry 1341 22
6. Richard Ashby 1276 22
7. Cook Crawford 1254 22
8. Mark Farber 1239 23
9. Eric Wilson 1225 20
10. Justin Suhre 1214 21
