David Stremme has accomplished a lot in his motorsports career. But never had he won with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, until now.
Since the days of his career in the top divisions of NASCAR, Stremme has made the commitment to Dirt Modified racing as both a driver and co-owner/founder of popular UMP Modified brand, Lethal Chassis. From Volusia Speedway Park to the high banks of a dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway, Stremme has tasted victory on some of the sport’s biggest stages.
Wednesday night at I-96 Speedway, the native of Mifflintown, PA, punched through to win for the first time in his career with UMP Modified racing’s most prestigious touring series.
“It just feels good to run good,” Stremme said. “We’ve had a good car; we just had engine problems last night and didn’t get to run. We still got some work to do, but it is cool to win a Summit Modified race, finally. We’ve had some get away from us, so it’s neat.”
Stremme and Curt Spalding led the 22-car field to green from the front row. Spalding took the lead on Lap 1 and continued to work the top, but Stremme was consistent and fast on the low side of the speedway. On Lap 10, the leaders hit lap traffic, giving Stremme the opportunity he needed as he worked the low side underneath Spalding.
The lead duo went side-by-side around the 3/8-mile oval, and it was Stremme who led by a nose at the line on Lap 11. Spalding refused to go away quietly as the No. 5CS machine worked the middle lane, finding speed and traction to maintain the battle for the lead.
A slip-up off Turn 4 cost Spalding and allowed Stremme to sneak away and build a half-second lead on the field. However, Spalding was persistent in the middle lane and caught Stremme in lap traffic, but the caution flag waved on Lap 22, extinguishing the momentum Spalding had built.
“I just ran my own race and Curt (Spalding) is really good,” Stremme said. “But we’ve been really good in our own stuff, so I just needed to run my own race, my own pace, and I knew I’d be fine.”
The green flag dropped once more and Stremme pulled away from the field, leading the rest of the way to seal the win over Curt Spalding, Tyler Spalding, Dillon Nusbaum in fourth and Mike McKinney rounding out the top five.
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, MI, on Thursday, July 9.
How can you watch the Summit Modifieds if you’re not at the track? Every race is live on DIRTVision.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[1]; 2. 5CS-Curt Spalding[2]; 3. 1TS-Tyler Spalding[9]; 4. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[3]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney[4]; 6. 3W-Dylan Woodling[8]; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman[6]; 8. 24-Zeke McKenzie[14]; 9. T23-John Toppozini[13]; 10. 60-Shannon Fisk[11]; 11. B5-Matthew Baker[7]; 12. 9R-Garrett Rons[17]; 13. 43-Mark Anderson[5]; 14. 84-Brandon Beeching[15]; 15. 1A-Andrew Hollister[20]; 16. 14T-Mario Toniolo[22]; 17. 87Z-George Zieman[19]; 18. 17J-Jarrod Klay[12]; 19. 12M-John McClure[18]; 20. 14-Dalton Lane[10]; 21. 74M-Manix Furqueron[16]; 22. (DNS) 32H-Dan Hubbell
