DIRTcar Midwest\u2019s 41st season of weekly racing has come to a conclusion. From April to October, nobody ruled the weekly racing scene like the national champions.<\/p>\n
Nine kings of their respective divisions, plus special award winners, are set to be honored for their yearlong efforts at the 2024 DIRTcar Racing Awards Banquet at the Springfield Crowne Plaza in Springfield, IL on Saturday, Jan. 11.<\/p>\n
Late Model and UMP Modified drivers finishing inside the top-70 of national points, plus any driver in the top-25 of all other divisions, including the top-five in Mod Lites, are eligible to receive their points fund check and trophies at the banquet. The top-10 of each division\u2019s region are also eligible for recognition during the ceremony, in addition to the top-10 finishers in the overall DIRTcar Summer Nationals championship standings.<\/p>\n
Tickets for award winners and drivers receiving points fund checks will be available for purchase in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to DIRTcar Racing social media for updates and more information on how and when to purchase.<\/p>\n
Congratulations to each of the 2024 national DIRTcar points champions:<\/em><\/p>\n Late Model \u2014\u00a0Jason Feger (Bloomington, IL)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n It took Jason Feger 14 years to repeat as DIRTcar Late Model national champion, but only one after that to win his third title.<\/p>\n Feger, 46, of Bloomington, IL, is king of DIRTcar\u2019s top division for the second year in-a-row after breaking through for the first time since 2009 last year. This season, Feger compiled 16 Feature wins in a record 61 DIRTcar-sanctioned starts \u2014\u00a0four of which he earned in MARS Late Model Championship<\/a> competition, leading him to a second-straight championship with the Midwest series as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been pretty steady on our motors and chassis program for a few years now, and the crew,\u201d Feger said. \u201cOur notebook keeps getting better and better. I\u2019ve been in a Longhorn enough now, and I\u2019ve been going to these tracks\u2026 I\u2019ve got good notebooks at all the tracks I go to for the most part, so I feel like we\u2019re making better decisions on setup stuff. That\u2019s been a big help.\u201d<\/p>\n He and veteran crew chief Jason Palubicki once again dominated the Illinois Super Late Model circuit, winning Features at 10 different tracks, including Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Missouri.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a lot like brothers \u2014\u00a0we fight a lot, but we always get through it at the end of the day,\u201d Feger said. \u201cHe\u2019s really good mechanically, and I don\u2019t have to worry about anything on the car. He can build a car from the ground up, and I\u2019ve got 100 percent confidence in it. That allows me to try to focus more on other stuff that we have going on \u2014 setup stuff and other things around the shop.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n UMP Modified \u2014\u00a0Michael Long (Fowler, IL)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n For the first time in his career, Michael Long is a DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion.<\/p>\n The 43-year-old from Fowler, IL, won 27 Features in 49 recorded starts in DIRTcar-sanctioned competition to clinch the championship by 50 points over West Virginia-racer KC Burdette. Long was also crowned back-to-back MARS Modified champion with nine Feature wins in 16 races.<\/p>\n \u201cI had another season back in 2016 where I won more Features, but they were a lot of local shows,\u201d Long said. \u201cThis year was definitely better money-wise with bigger-paying races and bigger events that we won. This year would definitely be my biggest year.\u201d<\/p>\n Long had been a regional Modified champion and former track champion at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 but had never ruled the national standings until 2024. Now, he joins the likes of Mike Harrison, Jimmy Owens, Nick Hoffman and several other DIRTcar UMP Modified legends in winning a national championship.<\/p>\n \u201cIn about July, we knew we had to go for it because this was my one good shot at winning it,\u201d Long said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be up there with the rest of them. I\u2019ve been racing Modifieds a long time, and it feels good to finally get the national points title.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pro Late Model \u2014\u00a0Dakota Ewing (Warrensburg, IL)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n After nearly a decade spent competing for the DIRTcar Pro Late Model national championship, the check and trophy finally reside in the shop of Dakota Ewing.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old from Warrensburg, IL, had finished in nearly every position inside the top-10 of the national points standings over the past nine seasons \u2014\u00a0notably coming up one spot short of the title in 2018. But 2024 was Ewing\u2019s year, winning 20 times in 31 DIRTcar-sanctioned races, good enough to give him the edge by 50 points over runner-up Tommy Elston for his first national DIRTcar championship.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got all the pieces to the puzzle; got us a new car and motor and a shop to work out of,\u201d Ewing said. \u201cThat was real nice having that at our disposal every week. We\u2019ve been trying to do it forever, so it just feels nice to finally knock it off the bucket list.\u201d<\/p>\n Among his highlights was a 10-for-11 record at Charleston Speedway, five-for-nine in wins at Farmer City Raceway, and two wins in three starts at Lincoln (IL) Speedway.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pro Modified \u2014\u00a0Deece Schwartz (Ashmore, IL)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Deece Schwartz \u2014\u00a0the grandson of 2006 DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion Denny Schwartz \u2014\u00a0won his first DIRTcar Pro Modified national championship at 19 years old in 2022. Two seasons later, he\u2019s won it for a third time.<\/p>\n A winner of 17 Features in 33 DIRTcar-sanctioned starts in 2024, Schwartz, now 21, of Ashmore, IL, has spawned a new generation of success for the famed Midwest dirt track racing family with his third-straight national championship.<\/p>\n He piloted a new Mark Bush Racing chassis to a fourth track championship at Kankakee County Speedway, and with that is now DIRTcar\u2019s first-ever Pro Modified driver to win three-straight national championships.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything that we\u2019ve got going on, being able to work with Mark (Bush) and learn a whole lot, pick up a whole lot on the Modifieds, and to be able to run with my little brother for national points \u2014\u00a0he and I traveled around all summer \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s great,\u201d Schwartz said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve always wanted to do. Winning that first one, there\u2019s still not going to be anything like it, but being able to win three in-a-row, it definitely says something about our team and everything that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n UMP Sportsman \u2014\u00a0Tucker Chastain (Bedford, IN)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Indiana racer Tucker Chastain claimed his first DIRTcar UMP Sportsman national points championship this year and is now the seventh different champion of the division in the last seven years.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old had been a regular around the weekly Indiana dirt venues for several seasons but received an opportunity to drive for a good friend this year and made the most of his chance to go for a national championship.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a goal for me and my car owner Brad Cummings,\u201d Chastain said. \u201cHe\u2019s been at it a long time, and the best he ever finished was second back in 2008 to Jeremy Hines. So, he always had a goal and a dream of winning it. He just had some personal things going on in his life, and he asked me to drive his car, and some sponsors like TexaCon Cut Stone came on board with us and helped us out a lot, and we got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n In all of his success, Chastain finished with a second-best 10 wins in 37 starts and clinched a track championship at Brownstown Speedway (Brownstown, IN).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stock Car \u2014\u00a0Braiden Keller (West Lebanon, IN)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n At 18 years old, Braiden Keller is a first-time DIRTcar Stock Car national champion.<\/p>\n This year is special to the entire Keller family, as Braiden\u2019s father, Ian, had competed in the division for several years but was unable to defeat his weekly foes in the quest for a national title. But 2024 was different, as Braiden broke through for the Keller family and executed one of the most dominant seasons in division history.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means the world to me,\u201d he said. \u201cMy dad\u2019s been trying to win a national championship ever since he started racing. To finally pull one off is pretty cool.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved the look on his face when we finally got it done. He was in tears; it was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n The Indiana-native won a total of 21 Features in 31 recorded DIRTcar-sanctioned starts, defeating 2023 champion Jerrad Krick by nearly 200 points, and securing his first track championships at Fairbury Speedway and Kankakee County Speedway.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad,\u00a0he knows his way around a race car, and I\u2019m just fortunate enough to be able to get behind the wheel and do the thing,\u201d Keller said. \u201cHe\u2019s put everything he knows and his heart and soul into this thing for me to be as successful as I am, and it just worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Factory Stock \u2014 Trevor Isaak (Highland, IL)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Trevor Isaak\u2019s reign over the DIRTcar Factory Stock division continued in 2024 as the Western Illinois racer cliched his fifth-straight national championship.<\/p>\n Isaak, 34, of Highland, IL, garnered the sixth national points title of his career with the support from 10 Feature wins in 30 starts, making him the only driver to reach double-digit wins this season in the division.<\/p>\n \u201cThe competition\u2019s getting stronger every day, makes us go back to the drawing board and try new things,\u201d Isaak said. \u201cWe did some experimenting this year; some stuff worked, and some stuff didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n At season\u2019s end, he also clinched his seventh-straight track championship at Highland Speedway, adding to his Illinois family racing legacy that goes back several decades.<\/p>\n \u201cMy family members and dad used to run, just racking the championships up, got a couple here and there,\u201d Isaak said. \u201cNext thing you know, I\u2019ve had a long run of coming out on top, and it just goes to show how good our program is and that we\u2019re ready to go any time the car hits the track.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n