DIRTcar Summer Nationals/Summit Modifieds

Some drivers grind it out just for a shot to win once on the Hell Tour. Jason Feger notched a meaningful 39th career DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win Tuesday night at Old No. 1 Speedway and reached a historic mark in the record books.

Feger, the two-time Hell Tour champion from Bloomington, IL, led all 30 laps of the main event around the Arkansas oval to capture his fourth win of the summer and 39th of his career on tour, tying him with 2004 series champion Don O’Neal for fifth on the all-time Feature wins list.

“It’s crazy, just growing up watching all your childhood heroes and a lot of them guys, I saw them win most of them races,” Feger said. “I raced against them for a lot them too. I never thought I’d win one of them, let alone that many.”

The Feature began with Feger lined up on the pole alongside Monday night’s Feature winner, Sam Seawright.

The battle for the lead heated up on Lap 6 between series points leader Tanner English – who had just worked his way into second – and Feger, who had led since the drop of the green.

English pulled even as they exited Turn 2 and Feger was challenged for the first time early in the race. Feger continued to get strong runs off the cushion in Turn 2, maintaining his advantage over English’s No. 96. Later in lapped traffic, English was able to make the pass for the lead briefly using the bottom lane through Turns 1-2, but again, Feger’s explosive drive down the backstretch powered him right back into the top spot as the pair entered Turn 3.

From there, Feger navigated lap traffic well, keeping English behind him, and survived a restart on Lap 19 to secure the victory in the series’ second-ever visit to Old No. 1. With the win, Feger continues to stay within striking distance of both the Week 4 and overall points titles.

“My goal is to run top three and be in one piece, and then after that, obviously I want to win,” Feger said. “You make more money winning races. So, ultimately, I feel like if you do that, the points take care of themselves. But it’s going to be tough to beat Tanner (English), he’s a model of consistency.”

English showed that consistency and finished second, Seawright finished third, Clay Stuckey was fourth, and Luke Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models return to the “Show-Me State” with a stop at Farmington Empire Speedway in Farmington, MO on Wednesday, July 1. Tickets for the event will be sold at the track on race day.

How can you watch every DIRTcar Summer Nationals race? Every race is broadcasted live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English[5]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[2]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 6. 91S-Rusty Schlenk[9]; 7. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[8]; 9. 17SR-Brody Smith[10]; 10. 86-Kyle Beard[13]; 11. 15S-Shane Stephens[20]; 12. 09-Michael Leach[11]; 13. 7W-JC Waller[15]; 14. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[12]; 15. 31M-Tyler Millwood[3]; 16. 12C-Scott Crigler[14]; 17. 51-Dean Carpenter[17]; 18. 2-Charlie Cole[21]; 19. 30-Mark Voigt[16]; 20. 99-Kyle Hardy[19]; 21. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[22]; 22. (DNS) 30B-Nathan Brown

Jason Garver made the 750-mile trip north from his Florida home to compete with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals in search of his first touring Modified series win. Inside the lines of The Natural State, he finally got it.

Garver, 49, of Starke, FL, picked up his first career Summit Modified triumph Tuesday night at Old No. 1 Speedway, leading all 25 laps of the main event around the Arkansas oval to score the win over Hunter Breland and Dalton Lane.

At the drop of the green, Garver used his pole starting spot to dart away with the lead over Breland, a Mississippi native.

Lap traffic became a factor on Lap 16 as Garver continued to work the inside lane, but Breland was working the top lane around the 1/4-mile oval and was able to close the gap.

With four laps-to-go, Breland pulled alongside Garver with a strong run off the bottom of Turn 2. But Garver stayed strong and won the drag race into Turn 3, maintaining his lead off Turn 4.

Garver continued to work through lap traffic in the closing circuits and opened up a gap on the rest of the field, one that he carried across the finish line with him to score the $1,500 prize.

“This history of the Hell Tour is why we came and did it,” Garver said. “We wanted to be a part of history. The way we ran the first two races, I really didn’t think we were going to be capable of winning. We worked on the car today and got some help from David Stremme and it all came together.”

Breland finished second, Lane was third, Zeke McKenzie finished fourth, and Landon Meilke finished fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals return to action at Farmington Empire Speedway in Farmington, MO on Wednesday, July 1.

How can you watch every Summit Modifieds race? Every race is streamed live on DIRTVision.

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 27G-Jason Garver[1]; 2. 21B-Hunter Breland[2]; 3. 14-Dalton Lane[5]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie[7]; 5. 14M-Landon Meilke[6]; 6. 7-Grayson Moore[4]; 7. 97-Chad Williams[9]; 8. 57-Tyler Cox[8]; 9. 60-Blake Bass[14]; 10. 7A-Travis Agee[10]; 11. 789-Henry Gustavus[12]; 12. 56-Hunter Alls[13]; 13. (DNF) 29-Colby Richardson[11]; 14. (DNS) 99-Justin Haley