{"id":42370,"date":"2023-06-09T21:27:53","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T01:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/?p=42370"},"modified":"2023-08-08T15:46:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T19:46:49","slug":"racers-quickly-turn-focus-from-dirt-late-model-dream-to-summer-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/divisions\/late-models\/racers-quickly-turn-focus-from-dirt-late-model-dream-to-summer-nationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Racers Quickly Turn Focus from Dirt Late Model Dream to Summer Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"
Former champions detail how Eldora Speedway\u2019s crown jewel prepares drivers to kick off next week\u2019s 28-race Summer Nationals tour<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n For 29 years, drivers have rolled into Eldora Speedway in early June trying to live out a dream \u2014 DIRTcar Racing\u2019s Dirt Late Model Dream with a $129,000 payday. Then, when the Dream ends, The Hell Tour<\/em> begins.<\/p>\n As tradition has it, many will head off to battle in the DIRTcar Summer Nationals<\/a> \u2014 a 28-race journey from June 14 through July 16 broadcast live on DIRTVision<\/a> and affectionately known as The Hell Tour<\/em> by those who have both conquered and succumbed to it. Peoria Speedway will be the first to welcome Late Model contenders on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Seven former Summer Nationals champions are chasing the massive payout this weekend at Eldora: Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Jason Feger, Billy Moyer, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley, and Brandon Sheppard. Plus, five-time DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals champion and current World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Rookie of the Year contender Nick Hoffman is also chasing his biggest Dirt Late Model victory this weekend.<\/p>\n Each found their own path to Summer Nationals glory, but they all agreed momentum from the Dream weekend can carry over into the rest of the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis week is a huge telltale of what\u2019s coming for you, it\u2019s probably one of the toughest weeks of the year, but if you can run good that\u2019s huge,\u201d said Hoffman, who earned his first World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series victory last month. \u201cThe Dream definitely kicks off the summer. This is our first crown jewel for Late Model racing, and I\u2019ve been lucky enough to make this race a couple of times. At first you come here with a goal to just make the show, now I come here with a goal to run in the top 10. The biggest thing is this could set up your whole summer. If you run good here it carries you a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n But three-time Summer Nationals champion Erb warned drivers to be prepared before even heading to Eldora in the first place.<\/p>\n \u201cYou got to look at this separate,\u201d Erb said. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to go out and run the whole Summer Nationals, before you come to Eldora for the Dream you better be prepared for that. I think you have to look at it totally different. If you come here and things don\u2019t go well, you have to forget about it because you have to focus on what you need to do. If you have a good run here, or anywhere, you can get going and get on a roll.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I won the Dream we came back and won some Summer Nationals races, but it was just like another race again. The focus is different. This place here, you have to leave everything here. Things can go well, or things can go bad, but you can\u2019t let that get you down when you\u2019ve got five weeks of racing ahead of you.\u201d<\/p>\n Four-time champion Brian Shirley is a believer in momentum, but he also said a bad night at Eldora doesn\u2019t signify a bad road ahead on the Summer Nationals tour.<\/p>\n \u201cAny time you have momentum, if you come here and you run really well and you\u2019re moving on to 28 days of racing, that momentum is going to be a high that keeps the team motivated to get going and could carry on to that deal where it\u2019s night in and night out,\u201d said Shirley, who was riding a wave of momentum into this weekend at Eldora as the most recent World of Outlaws CASE Late Model winner. \u201cRunning good here is going to pick you up and keep you wanting to go race three days after the Dream and then continue racing for 28 days. Any time momentum is on your side things are easier, but this place here is such a different animal. We haven\u2019t won a crown jewel race here at Eldora, but we\u2019ve been so successful on the Summer Nationals so it shows that it doesn\u2019t matter how you finish here.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, when we were successful on the Summer Nationals, it was one day at a time, get through one night at a time and don\u2019t overload yourself about racing for 28 nights in five weeks. It\u2019s just not getting overwhelmed. It\u2019s a grind. You have to take it one day, one week at a time and hope you\u2019re more on the easy side of it. We\u2019ve done the deal where it can wear you out in a week and we\u2019ve done it where it seemed like the month went by really fast. When everything\u2019s going good it\u2019s pretty easy, but when you have those tough nights and the odds are against you it forces you to decide whether or not to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding further proof to his point, Shirley noted how in 2021 Ashton Winger struggled out of the gate on the tour but kept fighting and wound up second in the championship standings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe got off to an awful start, that first week I think they destroyed everything they had, but he stuck it out and stuck it out and probably had two of the best weeks of his career finishing it out,\u201d Shirley said. \u201cThere is a reward at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Winger posted a top-five run Thursday night in his opening round of Dream competition, a boost heading into Friday at a track where he\u2019s still looking for success. While Winger has his sights set on the $129,000 prize Saturday night, he knows he\u2019s stocked and loaded to roll into Peoria Speedway on Wednesday for the 2023 Summer Nationals opener. No matter how he finishes Saturday night, he\u2019ll put it out of his mind quick.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I leave it here,\u201d Winger said. \u201cThere\u2019s just so much that goes into putting yourself in position to be at the front, and having a fast race car isn\u2019t everything here. It\u2019s good to come here and run good but if you run bad it kind of makes you want to quit racing for a minute. If you run good it feels like you\u2019re on top of the world. It\u2019s one of those things you got to leave here. It\u2019s kind of its own animal in a sense.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Summer Nationals has been our goal the whole time. I\u2019m loaded down with bodies, front suspension parts, rear suspension parts and we\u2019re going to pick up another motor on Monday. I\u2019m really excited about this year because this is the first year I feel like I\u2019m going to do it right. I have the stuff and I\u2019m prepared to do it. In 2021, I just threw a bunch of stuff in the truck and went and did it.\u201d<\/p>\n A new championship points setup that pays drivers each week rather than at the end of the tour is expected to benefit drivers who may struggle once or twice without costing them a chance at the overall title. Jason Feger, who won the 2010 Summer Nationals title, noted that as a positive for Winger.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the new points championship, I feel like it\u2019s going to suit a guy like Ashton a lot better,\u201d Feger said. \u201cHe\u2019s a pretty aggressive driver and when you points race for a whole month, one bad night can win you the championship or cost you the championship. Now if you have one bad night, it still resets the next week. It\u2019s definitely going to help some guys, but it\u2019s still a lot of work if you\u2019re tearing up equipment. I guess I always have the mentality you have to know when it\u2019s your night and when it\u2019s not your night. You have to know when it\u2019s not your night to just take the best you can and know you\u2019re going to fight tomorrow, but if you think it\u2019s your night and you have a good car then go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bobby Pierce, now a World of Outlaws regular, has won five Summer Nationals championships since 2015, including the past two. He noted that while the Dream can be demanding, there\u2019s nothing at Eldora that can prepare a young driver for what they might encounter on \u2014 or even off \u2014 the track during Summer Nationals competition.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get used to racing on those types of tracks,\u201d Pierce said. \u201cYou get used to the heat \u2026 well, not really. For a first timer, you just have to keep plugging away. Every night is a new night. There\u2019s always going to be something unexpected. I can guarantee you that at some point during the Hell Tour something\u2019s going to throw you for a loop.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo years ago, first week of Summer Nationals we hit a deer heading to the next track and it killed the front of the truck. You\u2019ll be faced with stuff like that more than the typical maintenance on the car. You just have to be as prepared as you can but know that it\u2019s going to be hard. If you can get off a win here or there, or even a good solid run it makes it worthwhile. That\u2019s kind of the big reason to do the Hell Tour, to continue getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dream at Eldora concludes on Saturday with the $129,000-to-win main event.<\/p>\n The DIRTcar Summer Nationals begins next week with races Wednesday (June 14) at Peoria Speedway, Thursday at Kankakee County Speedway, Friday at Tri-City Speedway, Saturday at Fairbury Speedway, and Sunday at Sycamore Speedway. Follow the entire five-week tour by watching all the action on DIRTVision<\/a>. For more info, visit DIRTcarSummerNationals.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former champions detail how Eldora Speedway\u2019s crown jewel prepares drivers to kick off next week\u2019s 28-race Summer Nationals tour For 29 years, drivers have rolled into Eldora Speedway in early June trying to live out a dream \u2014 DIRTcar Racing\u2019s Dirt Late Model Dream with a $129,000 payday. Then, when the Dream ends, The Hell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":42371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,4],"tags":[498,621,493,600,499,463,495,562,79,210,343,602,92,615],"division":[],"series":[],"regions":[],"class_list":["post-42370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-nationals","category-late-models","tag-billy-moyer","tag-bobby-pierce","tag-brandon-sheppard","tag-brian-shirley","tag-dennis-erb-jr","tag-dirt-late-model-dream","tag-dirtcar-summer-nationals","tag-dirtvision","tag-eldora-speedway","tag-featured","tag-jason-feger","tag-nick-hoffman","tag-peoria-speedway","tag-shannon-babb"],"yoast_head":"\n