Mason Zeigler – Jim Denhamer photo
By Jordan Morris
PEEBLES, Ohio. July 17, 2014 Mason Zeigler became the twelfth different winner in 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals action after capturing the $5,000 checkered flag on Thursday night at Brushcreek Motorsports Complex for his first career DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory.
Zeigler, a 17-year-old from Chalk Hill, Pa., started the 40-lap feature event on the outside of pole-sitter Ryan Unzicker. Zeigler quickly shot around Unzicker for the top spot on the opening lap, as Unzicker fell back through the field, eventually settling for a eighth place finish.
Zeigler was never seriously challenged, as third-place starter R.J Conley worked his way to second but could never catch Zeigler to capture the lead. R.J Conley ran second for much of the race but fell to fourth after allowing his dad, Rod Conley, and championship-leader Shannon Babb to slip by him.
Rod Conley had a chance to overtake Zeigler following a late-race restart, but fell just short as the leader rocketed away from the field after a couple of laps. Rod Conley eventually finished a distant 3.298 seconds behind Zeigler, who became just the second Pennsylvania native driver to win in DIRTcar Summer Nationals action, joining Rick Eckert on that exclusive list.
Zeigler, who runs a family-owned Longhorn Chassis car, led from the drop of the green-flag to the checkers, easily capturing his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory in his first career start at Brushcreek Motorsports Complex.
Weve been trying so hard and working so hard at the shop just to get everything dialed in, said Zeigler, whose win will likely allow him to continue in DIRTcar Summer Nationals action on Friday night at Attica Raceway Park. We got this new Longhorn earlier this year and we struggled a little bit, but weve been really good overall with it. I think were finally getting to the point where we can really dial it in and get it how we like it.
The 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals championship standings took another substantial turn Thursday night. After closing to within 26-points of championship-leader Shannon Babb, Ryan Unzicker started from the pole-position and looked to carry over the momentum. He was joined at the front of the field by Brian Shirley, who started fourth and sat third in the points just 45-markers behind Babb.
Unfortunately for both Unzicker and Shirley, their cars were never in contention. Babb, on the other-hand, marched from his seventh starting position to pass both drivers, who finished eighth and seventh respectively, en route to a third place finish. Babb increased his points-lead back to 45-points over Unzicker with just two races to go.
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Rod Conley, Shannon Babb and R.J Conley rounded out the top five.
Heat race winners were Shirley, Unzicker, R.J Conley and Zeigler.
With only two races remaining in the 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals season, the tour joins the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals on Friday night at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio.
DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; Brushcreek Motorsports Complex; Peebles, Ohio; July 17, 2014; A-Main (40-laps): 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler ($5,000), 2. 71R-Rod Conley, 3. 18-Shannon Babb, 4. 71C-RJ Conley, 5. 20-Doug Drown, 6. 20C-Duane Chamberlain, 7. 81-Brian Shirley, 8. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 9. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 10. 99M-Devin Moran, 11. 31-Nick Latham, 12. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 13. 1B-Jeff Babcock, 14. 21M-Jason Montgomery, 15. 96-Tanner English, 16. 32J-Jason Jaggers, 17. 51-Jamie Oldfield, 18. 25L-Steve Lance Jr, 19. 5M-Ryan Markham, 20. 81JR-Jason Riggs, 21. 71-Delmas Conley, 22. 77K-Steve Kester.
2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Schedule
| Date | Day | Track | Location | Win |
| June 11 | Wed | Brownstown Speedway | Brownstown, Ind. | RAIN |
| June 12 | Thur | Kankakee Co. Speedway | Kankakee, Ill. | Billy Moyer |
| June 13 | Fri | Cedar Lake Speedway | Somerset, Wis. | Rick Eckert |
| June 14 | Sat | Cedar Lake Speedway | Somerset, Wis. | RAIN |
| June 15 | Sun | Wilmot Raceway | Wilmot, Wis. | Rick Eckert(2) |
| June 16 | Mon | Off | ||
| June 17 | Tue | Farley Speedway | Farley, Iowa | Shannon Babb |
| June 18 | Wed | Spoon River Speedway | Canton, Ill. | Jason Feger |
| June 19 | Thur | Quincy Raceways | Quincy, Ill. | RAIN |
| June 20 | Fri | Tri-City Speedway | Pontoon Beach, Ill. | Billy Moyer(2) |
| June 21 | Sat | Fairbury Speedway | Fairbury, Ill. | RAIN |
| June 22 | Sun | I-96 Speedway | Ionia, Mich. | Brian Shirley |
| June 23 | Mon | Peoria Speedway | Peoria, Ill. | Brandon Sheppard |
| June 24 | Tue | Off | ||
| June 25 | Wed | Clarksville Speedway | Clarksville, Tenn. | Shannon Babb(2) |
| June 26 | Thur | Clayhill Motorsports | Atwood, Tenn. | Brian Shirley (2) |
| June 27 | Fri | Paducah Int. Raceway | Paducah, Ky. | RAIN |
| June 28 | Sat | Federated Auto Parts Raceway | Pevely, Mo. | Brian Birkhofer |
| June 29 | Sun | Lincoln Speedway | Lincoln, Ill. | Brady Smith |
| June 30 | Mon | Off | ||
| July 1 | Tue | Belle Clair Speedway | Belleville, Ill. | Bobby Pierce |
| July 2 | Wed | Jacksonville Speedway | Jacksonville, Ill. | Jason Feger(2) |
| July 3 | Thur | LaSalle Speedway | LaSalle, Ill. | Brian Birkhofer(2) |
| July 4 | Fri | Fayette Co. Speedway | Brownstown, Ill. | Brandon Sheppard(2) |
| July 5 | Sat | Highland Speedway | Highland, Ill. | Tyler Reddick |
| July 6 | Sun | Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, Ind. | Billy Moyer(3) |
| July 7 | Mon | Off | ||
| July 8 | Tue | Florence Speedway | Union, Ky. | Jason Jameson |
| July 9 | Wed | Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, Ind. | Billy Moyer(4) |
| July 10 | Thur | Macon Speedway | Macon, Ill. | Shannon Babb(3) |
| July 11 | Fri | Farmer City Raceway | Farmer City, Ill. | Billy Moyer(5) |
| July 12 | Sat | 34 Raceway | Burlington, Iowa | Billy Moyer (6) |
| July 13 | Sun | Vermilion Co. Speedway | Danville, Ill. | Shannon Babb(4) |
| July 14 | Mon | Off | ||
| July 15 | Tue | TBA | ||
| July 16 | Wed | Atomic Speedway | Chillicothe, Ohio | Brian Shirley (3) |
| July 17 | Thur | Brushcreek Motorsports Complex | Peebles, Ohio | Mason Zeigler |
| July 18 | Fri | Attica Raceway Park | Attica, Ohio | $5,000 |
| July 19 | Sat | Oakshade Raceway | Wauseon, Ohio | $10,000 |
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour is brought to fans across the country by many important partners including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Racing Electronics (Official Communication), Velocita (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to these fine Contingency Partners: Beyea Headers, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Mobil 1, MSD, Quartermaster, Superflow Dynos, Summit Racing Equipment and Wrisco Aluminum; Promotional Partners include: Chevy Performance Parts, Indiana Decal, Intercomp and Petroff Towing.
