Miller Wins Finale, Babb Champ

 

 

Miller Captures DIRTcar Summer Nationals Finale at Oakshade Raceway

Babb scores fourth series title

 

By Jordan Morris

 

WAUSEON, Ohio. July 19, 2014 — On the night of champions, local star Matt Miller charged his way from the third position to capture the lead on lap 17 en route to claiming the $10,000 checkered flag at his hometown track of Oakshade Raceway for the second year in-a-row, and third time in his career.

 

Shannon Babb, who only needed a 19th place finish to secure his fourth DIRTcar Summer Nationals title, finished in the third position and easily scored the $25,000 series title for the first time since 2011.

 

Miller, of Whitehouse, Ohio, started the 40-lap feature from the third position as Mason Zeigler and Jeep Van Wormer started on the front row. Zeigler, after winning Thursday and Friday nights, looked as if he would accomplish the three-night sweep after jumping out to an early lead.

 

Saturday night had the look of the previous two nights as Zeigler managed to dominate the opening 16-laps of the feature. Unlike his previous two victories, the leader was reeled in by Miller who passed Van Wormer for second on lap five, and tracked down the leader by lap 16.

 

Miller, the 1991 Oakshade Raceway track champion, powered around Zeigler’s outside on lap 17, completing the pass and securing the lead. Miller stretched his lead by the halfway point as Zeigler came under fire from championship hopeful Ryan Unzicker for second.

 

Unzicker, who started the night 45-markers behind Shannon Babb for the title, worked his way around Zeigler for second just before Zeigler lost control of his car, causing the race’s only caution on lap 38. Unzicker pressured Miller for the top spot but fell short of claiming the victory yet again as he finished second for the seventh time of the 2014 season.

 

Miller led 24 laps and defeated Unzicker by .759 of a second en route to claiming the checkered flag for the second year in-a-row at his hometown track of Oakshade Raceway.

 

“This one is fun,” Miller said in victory lane. “There’s always going to be a race in September (the World 100 at nearby Eldora Speedway) that’s at the top of my list, but this is definitely a good one. We’re close to home and we’ve got tons of fans and people I know up there in the stands, so there’s no doubt I get pumped up for this race.”

 

Shannon Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., started the feature in the seventh position, just behind championship rivals Ryan Unzicker and Brian Shirley. Babb chased Unzicker through the field, eventually finding their way to the front, as Shirley was a non-factor and finished in the sixth position.

 

Babb did what he needed to do in order to recapture the championship trophy. Babb glued himself to Unzicker’s back-bumper, and even challenged him for the second position in the final stages of the race.

 

Babb settled for a third place finish – which was his series leading 17th top-five finish to go with four victories – as he captured his fourth career DIRTcar Summer Nationals title by 38-points over Ryan Unzicker.

 

“It’s really hard to get these,” said Babb, who admitted to getting nervous before the race started. “Thirty nights of racing is a lot. You have a lot of ups and downs, but we got it done.”

sn champ

 

 

Brandon Sheppard and Jeep Van Wormer rounded out the top five.

 

Heat race winners were Zeigler, Miller, Sheppard and Van Wormer.

 

DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; Oakshade Raceway; Wauseon, Ohio; July 19, 2014;

A-Main (40-laps): 1. 3-Matt Miller ($10,000), 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 3. 18-Shannon Babb, 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 5. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 6. 81-Brian Shirley, 7. 32J-Jason Jaggers, 8. 21D-Dan Stone, 9. 20C-Duane Chamberlain, 10. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen, 11. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 12. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 13. 91-Rusty Schlenk, 14. 77K-Steve Kester, 15. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 16. 1N-Casey Noonan, 17. 99M-Devin Moran, 18. 81JR-Jason Riggs, 19. 25L-Steve Lance Jr, 20. 0-Chris Keller, 21. 6M-Dona Marcoullier, 22. 20-Doug Drown.

 

2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Schedule

Date

Day

Track

Location

Win

June 11

Wed

Brownstown Speedway

Brownstown, Ind.

RAIN

June 12

Thur

Kankakee Co. Speedway

Kankakee, Ill.

Billy Moyer

June 13

Fri

Cedar Lake Speedway

Somerset, Wis.

Rick Eckert

June 14

Sat

Cedar Lake Speedway

Somerset, Wis.

RAIN

June 15

Sun

Wilmot Raceway

Wilmot, Wis.

Rick Eckert(2)

June 16

Mon

Off

   

June 17

Tue

Farley Speedway

Farley, Iowa

Shannon Babb

June 18

Wed

Spoon River Speedway

Canton, Ill.

Jason Feger

June 19

Thur

Quincy Raceways

Quincy, Ill.

RAIN

June 20

Fri

Tri-City Speedway

Pontoon Beach, Ill.

Billy Moyer(2)

June 21

Sat

Fairbury Speedway

Fairbury, Ill.

RAIN

June 22

Sun

I-96 Speedway

Ionia, Mich.

Brian Shirley

June 23

Mon

Peoria Speedway

Peoria, Ill.

Brandon Sheppard

June 24

Tue

Off

   

June 25

Wed

Clarksville Speedway

Clarksville, Tenn.

Shannon Babb(2)

June 26

Thur

Clayhill Motorsports

Atwood, Tenn.

Brian Shirley (2)

June 27

Fri

Paducah Int. Raceway

Paducah, Ky.

RAIN

June 28

Sat

Federated Auto Parts Raceway

Pevely, Mo.

Brian Birkhofer

June 29

Sun

Lincoln Speedway

Lincoln, Ill.

Brady Smith

June 30

Mon

Off

   

July 1

Tue

Belle Clair Speedway

Belleville, Ill.

Bobby Pierce

July 2

Wed

Jacksonville Speedway

Jacksonville, Ill.

Jason Feger(2)

July 3

Thur

LaSalle Speedway

LaSalle, Ill.

Brian Birkhofer(2)

July 4

Fri

Fayette Co. Speedway

Brownstown, Ill.

Brandon Sheppard(2)

July 5

Sat

Highland Speedway

Highland, Ill.

Tyler Reddick

July 6

Sun

Tri-State Speedway

Haubstadt, Ind.

Billy Moyer(3)

July 7

Mon

Off

   

July 8

Tue

Florence Speedway

Union, Ky.

Jason Jameson

July 9

Wed

Terre Haute Action Track

Terre Haute, Ind.

Billy Moyer(4)

July 10

Thur

Macon Speedway

Macon, Ill.

Shannon Babb(3)

July 11

Fri

Farmer City Raceway

Farmer City, Ill.

Billy Moyer(5)

July 12

Sat

34 Raceway

Burlington, Iowa

Billy Moyer (6)

July 13

Sun

Vermilion Co. Speedway

Danville, Ill.

Shannon Babb(4)

July 14

Mon

Off

   

July 15

Tue

TBA

   

July 16

Wed

Atomic Speedway

Chillicothe, Ohio

Brian Shirley (3)

July 17

Thur

Brushcreek Motorsports Complex

Peebles, Ohio

Mason Zeigler

July 18

Fri

Attica Raceway Park

Attica, Ohio

Mason Zeigler (2)

July 19

Sat

Oakshade Raceway

Wauseon, Ohio

Matt Miller

 

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” is brought to fans across the country by many important partners including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Racing Electronics (Official Communication), Velocita (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to these fine Contingency Partners: Beyea Headers, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Mobil 1, MSD, Quartermaster, Superflow Dynos, Summit Racing Equipment and Wrisco Aluminum; Promotional Partners include: Chevy Performance Parts, Indiana Decal, Intercomp and Petroff Towing.