{"id":932,"date":"2010-10-09T11:10:56","date_gmt":"2010-10-09T16:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/100.24.212.105\/?p=932"},"modified":"2011-06-12T11:23:38","modified_gmt":"2011-06-12T16:23:38","slug":"victories-by-harrison-feger-highlight-opening-night-of-dirtcar-ump-national-championships-at-eldora-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/divisions\/late-models\/victories-by-harrison-feger-highlight-opening-night-of-dirtcar-ump-national-championships-at-eldora-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Victories By Harrison & Feger Highlight Opening Night Of DIRTcar UMP National Championships At Eldora Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"
ROSSBURG, OH – Oct. 8, 2010 – Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill., certainly got his weekend started off right on Friday night at Eldora Speedway, winning a UMP Modified heat race to position him well in his pursuit of the division’s 2010 national crown during the annual DIRTcar UMP National Championships.<\/p>\n
Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., meanwhile, was the evening’s big DIRTcar Late Model victor, capturing the Race of Champions event that featured 2010 full-fender titlists from across the circuit.<\/p>\n
Harrison, 36, was one of eight drivers to earn a UMP Modified heat-race triumph on a night that saw 118 ultra-competitive cars sign in for the points-season-ending program. Other heat winners were NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader of Fenton, Mo., Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich., David McWilliams of Verona, Ky., former DIRTcar UMP Nationals winner Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., Curtis Coulter of Leamington, Ont., and former UMP Modified national champion Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, Ill.<\/p>\n
Harrison can clinch his second career UMP Modified national title by finishing first or second in Saturday night’s DIRTcar UMP National Championship A-Main. He can also secure the championship if Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind., fails to win the feature.<\/p>\n
While Allen is actually third in the UMP Modified national points standings entering this weekend’s action, he is the only driver who still has a mathematical chance to overtake Harrison for the title. Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., trails Harrison by 11 points but can only gain a maximum of 10 points at Eldora because the worst points night he is replacing is a 75 (Eldora’s winner will earn 85 points). Allen is replacing a 70-point night, giving him an opportunity to pick up 15 points with a win and grab his first career national title if Harrison does not finish second.<\/p>\n
Allen was the runner-up in Friday’s second heat race, sending him into Saturday’s headliner with a shot at creating some national championship drama.<\/p>\n
Feger, the 2010 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion, closed the night’s program with a triumphant run in the Late Model Race of Champions. He held off a furious late-race onslaught from three-time DIRTcar Late Model national champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., to earn a $1,000 winner’s check.<\/p>\n
Erb settled for a close second ahead of a furious three-way battle for third. Double-duty driver Brian Ruhlman took the show position, followed by Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., who enters the weekend having already clinched the 2010 DIRTcar UMP Late Model national title, and Frank Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill.<\/p>\n
Saturday night’s action includes heat races, B-Mains and a feature for the DIRTcar Late Models and B-Mains and the A-Main for the UMP Modifieds. Race time is 6 p.m.<\/p>\n