Michael Ledford had to wait since 2023 for his second career DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals win on Thursday.
It only took 24 hours for him to return to Victory Lane at Farmer City Raceway on Friday night for his third career triumph with the tour.
Ledford began the night on the pole position and quickly claimed the lead on the opening lap through the bottom lane of Turns 1-2, then drifted to the cushion of Turns 3-4 to gain momentum around the 1/4-mile racetrack.
Ledford’s line helped him grow the lead to four seconds over second-place Ray Bollinger as the Modifieds crossed the halfway flags of the 25-lap Feature.
On that same lap, the final caution of the Feature waved and offered the field of UMP Modifieds a second chance at taking the lead.
Though the Pontiac, IL driver was unable to shake off the challenge of Bollinger on the restart, he was able to maintain a one-second interval over the No. 77 machine as he drove towards a second consecutive win with the Summit Modifieds.
“(The confidence) is really huge,” Ledford said. “Anytime you get to win these big races with the best of the best, it really means a lot. I’ve finished second and third in many of these Summer Nationals races, so it’s finally nice to get one.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals enter the penultimate race of Week 3 at the “World Famous” Highland Speedway on Saturday night, June 28.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race live on DIRTVision.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 09-Michael Ledford[1]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 3. 5-Steven Brooks[3]; 4. 96M-Mike McKinney[4]; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie[6]; 6. 45H-Chase Holland[14]; 7. 2-Brayden Doyle[8]; 8. 11-Zane Oedewaldt[13]; 9. 75-Daniel Adam[9]; 10. 3-Carson Friedman[11]; 11. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt[15]; 12. 18L-Michael Long[7]; 13. 21L-Derek Losh[5]; 14. 10M-Chris Morefield[10]; 15. (DNS) 99-Hunt Gossum; 16. (DNS) 88S-Alan Stipp; 17. (DNS) 7-Tyler Nicely; 18. (DNS) 777-Trevor Neville; 19. (DNS) 45-Kyle Hammer; 20. (DNS) 74-Donnie Boyer
