The DIRTcar Summer Nationals celebrated the 39th season of racing in 2025 with a schedule that boasted 28 races in 34 days.
The renowned Hell Tour toured 27 racetracks in eight states, covered over 5,000 miles of midwestern roads, and experienced five off days that turned into nonstop working days.
In the end, two past champions of the Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals were crowned, new records were established, and the most grueling summer challenge in motorsports delivered again.
It all sets the stage for the Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary in 2026, but before then, here are some of the key moments that defined the 2025 season.
HUSTLER’S SECOND REIGN
Jason Feger, of Bloomington, IL, claimed his first Summer Nationals title in 2010, completed his childhood dream for the first time.
Fifteen years later, he put himself in the hunt to do so again as a way to honor everyone who has helped him throughout his career. The “High Side Hustler” opened the 2025 Hell Tour title and kept that momentum going week after week, even with having to contend with reigning Summer Nationals champion Tyler Erb.
Their month-long battle turned in favor of Feger during the final week after Erb wrecked at Montpelier Motor Speedway and collided with Feger during the penultimate race of the season.
With five wins, 14 top-five finishes, and 22 top-10 finishes in 28 starts, Feger piloted his No. 25 Longhorn Chassis to his second Summer Nationals title.
He became the 10th driver to secure multiple Summer Nationals titles, joining John Gill (1986, 1989), Bob Pierce (1992, 1995), and Rick Aukland (1997-98) as the only two-time champions.
Read More: Jason Feger Dedicates Second Summer Nationals Title to Family, Crew Around Him in 2025
Tyler Nicely (left) and Jason Feger(right) pose with their championship trophies (Tyler Carr Photo)
NICELY’S SURPRISE PARTY
Arriving on the Summit Modified Nationals scene for the first time for the tour’s 10th race of 2025 at Farmer City Raceway, Tyler Nicely only intended to shake down his Modified program to see where he fared against the competition.
Tyler Nicely’s Hell Tour plans for this year were to simply shake down his Modified program after a few months away from it. But then he won. And won again. And won again. And again. And a championship hunt was on, even after missing the first nine races of the season.
After winning back-to-back at Highland Speedway and Clarksville Speedway, Nicely and his crew changed their focus to winning their second Summit Modified Nationals title in three seasons.
Since the Owensboro, KY driver faced no outside pressures and joined the tour fresh off the arrival of his second child, Nicely tore through the UMP Modified competition with top fives in every Feature start, and eight wins that handed the No. 25 Elite Chassis the title by 67 points over Trevor Neville.
Nicely’s season boosted his standing in the Tour’s record book, with 19 career Feature wins moving him up to fourth behind 2024 title-holder Mike McKinney (26), six-time champion Mike Harrison (62), and five-time champ Nick Hoffman (69). Nicely also joins Harrison and Hoffman as the only multi-time champions of the tour.
FIRST TASTES
Amongst the veterans of the Summer Nationals chasing the season’s title, several dirt Late Model drivers waved goodbye to their familiar stables for a Midwestern trip through multiple unknown expectations.
Four of the year’s new winners are regulars of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Models presented by DIRTVision, with Drake Troutman, Ryan Gustin, Cody Overton, and Nick Hoffman appearing for the first time at the top of the stage.
The Hell Tour also helped those who went the full distance to expand their skill sets across various tracks, while welcoming seven new drivers to the Victory Lane stage. The first of those to score a win came on the tour’s biggest stage as 17-year-old Trey Mills edged out 2013 champion Brandon Sheppard by 0.118 seconds for his maiden win in the 45th Herald & Review 100 at Macon Speedway.
The Jacksonville, FL teenager’s crown jewel Summer Nationals win began the snowball effect for more Southeastern drivers to take claim, as Kingston, GA’s Tyler Millwood won in the tour’s return to LaSalle Speedway.
In Week 5, Middleburg, FL driver Mark Whitener claimed his long-awaited first win at Butler Motor Speedway, while Zack Mitchell became the first South Carolinian to win on the tour with three wins for Coltman Farms Racing at Shadyhill, Crystal, and Oakshade.
Among the new tour winners came first-time weekly title champions, with Gustin scoring the Week 2 championship, Sheppard taking the Week 3 title with a walk-off win in the final race at Clarksville, and Mitchell’s three wins in Week 5 propelling him to the top of the final weekly points hunt.
OLD IS NEW AGAIN
The 2025 edition of the Summer Nationals provided race fans a hint of nostalgia from the past 30 years of Late Model racing with the re-emergence of two legendary faces in the tour’s history.
Six-time Summer Nationals champion Billy Moyer kicked off the 2025 Tour by winning his first Hell Tour Feature since 2018 at the Brownstown Bullring – his 101st Tour win.
Inside the Brownstown podium behind “Mr. Smooth” in third was Shannon Babb, who was gunning to keep the all-time wins record safe in his possession. Fortunately for Babb, the record was clear in his hands when he took Summer Nationals win No. 102 at the track where the “Moweaqua Missile” won his first career tour race: Haubstadt, IN’s Tri-State Speedway.
Shannon Babb (black No. 18) and Billy Moyer (white No. 21) race for position (Tyler Carr Photo)
HISTORIC FOURTH
The Hell Tour was extended a month this year after Mother Nature put the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals finale on hold until Labor Day weekend.
Feger had been crowned the Late Model champion. Nicely had been crowned the Modified champion, but one more title needed to be handed out – the Prairie Dirt Classic Modified champion.
The opening night of “The Crown Jewel of Illinois” was able to commence in July with Cole Falloway, Austin Friedman, Blake Brown, and Charlie Mefford winning the Showdown Features.
Then, when the 40-lap, $5,000-to-win, Feature was finally able to be run in August, Mike Harrison outdueled the stout field to win a historic fourth PDC Modified title – his 63rd DIRTcar Summit Modified triumph.
TOP SUMMER NATIONALS RACES OF 2025
Brownstown Bullring (June 10)
Peoria Speedway (June 12)
Macon Speedway (June 26)
Benton Speedway (July 1)
Tri-State (Haubstadt) Speedway (July 5)
TOP SUMMIT MODIFIED NATIONALS RACES OF 2025
Peoria Speedway (June 12)
Lincoln Speedway (June 22)
Benton Speedway (July 1)
LaSalle Speedway (July 3)
Duck River Raceway Park (July 6)
Be sure to stay connected with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals through Facebook, X, Instagram, or at DIRTcarSummerNationals.com for all the latest updates as the tour prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary in the 2026 edition.
