A by-the-numbers review of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals from the June 14 opener at Brownstown (IN) Speedway to the July 15 finale at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, OH. (complete Summer Nationals coverage)
0: Finishes outside of the top 10 for third-time series champion Bobby Pierce.
1: Australian (Paul Stubber) to follow the tour on a full-time basis, the first in series history.
1: Co-sanctioned event with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series, a first for the tour. (Two such events were rained out in 2016, and one of 2017’s planned co-sanctioned events fell to rain, too).
2: First-time series tracks, Sycamore Speedway in Maple Park, IL, and Plymouth (IN) Speedway. Thunderbird Raceway in Muskegon, MI, was doomed by rain in its bid for its first series race.
2: First-time series winners, Tyler Erb and Kent Robinson. Erb also became the first Texan to win on the tour.
2: Michigan victories for Billy Moyer Jr., coming in a state where his series-leading father has never recorded a victory.
3: Series championships for Bobby Pierce, who clinched the title with three races remaining.
3: States in which Brandon Sheppard won a feature, the most of any driver. (His first three triumphs each came in different states).
4: Victories for Billy Moyer Jr., third most behind five-time winners Bobby Pierce and Brandon Sheppard.
4: Event rainouts on the tour originally set for 29 races.
5: Consecutive victories for Brandon Sheppard, the longest winning streak since Shannon Babb’s record streak of seven straight in 2011.
5: Fast qualifying awards to Bobby Pierce, most of any driver.
5: States that scored at least a single feature victory (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas).
5: Top-five finishes in as many series appearances for Dennis Erb Jr., a two-time winner.
7: Drivers to compete in all 25 series events: Bobby Pierce, Billy Moyer Jr., Gordy Gundaker, Bob Gardner, Brent Larson, Dustin Nobbe and Paul Stubber.
7: Victories for the father-son duo of Billy Moyer and Billy Moyer Jr., with the younger Moyer earning one more than his father.
7:40: Time of day when the Late Model feature rolled onto the track at Plymouth (IN) Speedway.
8: Consecutive top-five points finishes for Ryan Unzicker, the longest active streak.
8: Times Billy Moyer has won the opening Summernationals event, including in 2017 at Brownstown (IN) Speedway.
9: Heat race victories for Billy Moyer, more than any other driver.
10: Drivers to win features, two more than last season.
11: Consecutive years that Billy Moyer has won at least one Summer Nationals event, the longest active streak.
12: Illinois drivers among the top 25 in series points.
12: Steak ‘n Shake visits for Billy Moyer Jr., according to a tweet by the driver.
13: Consecutive years that an Illinois driver has won the tour championship.
15: Feature victories by drivers from the state of Illinois.
16: Drivers who scored at least a single runner-up finish.
16: Features won by drivers under the age of 30.
19: Features won among five current or former Summer Nationals champions.
19: Top-five finishes for Bobby Pierce, most of any driver.
20: Age of Bobby Pierce, the tour’s youngest winner.
20: Completed circuits of the 60-lap feature distance at Peoria (IL) Speedway when rain struck on June 17.
22: The smallest car count for series events at Plymouth Speedway and Kickapoo Speedway.
25: Series events completed with four races rained out.
27: Seasons in which Billy Moyer has won a Hell Tour race.
29: Originally scheduled events before rain doomed four of them.
31: Race series winless drought snapped by Shannon Babb with a Daugherty Speedway victory on June 18.
31: Years between Sycamore Speedway visits for Billy Moyer, the tour’s June 16 winner.
31.5: Median car count, up one car from last year.
32: Unofficial seasons of Summer Nationals competition.
33.8: Average car count, 4.7 more per event than last year.
40: Final lap on which Dennis Erb Jr. overtook Tony Jackson Jr. at Tri-City Speedway on June 23.
47: Consecutive points events without requiring a series provisional for Bobby Pierce, stretching from July 5, 2015, until July 11, 2017.
59: The highest series car count for the first of two events at Oakshade Raceway and the highest car count on the tour in at least 10 seasons.
64.33: Points-per-race average over 24 full points races (one additional race rewarded show-up points only) for series champion Bobby Pierce.
76.45: Points-per-race average over seven series appearances for Brandon Sheppard.
96: All-time victory total for Billy Moyer, four shy of becoming the first driver with 100 victories.
265: Drivers who entered series events, 11 more than last year.
500: Starting purse dollars for each event.
851: Miles from his hometown of New Waverly, Texas, when Tyler Erb won at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN.
1,040: Total number of feature laps completed by Bobby Pierce, the only driver to run every possible circuit.
1,554: Total points for champion Bobby Pierce, 242 more than runner-up Billy Moyer Jr.
3,653: Days between series victories for Mike Marlar, snapped at Farmer City (IL) Raceway on July 7 — exactly 10 years to the date from his last series triumph.
4,900: Dollars in lap money paid to Brandon Sheppard in addition to his $10,000 purse earnings at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL.
5,000: Dollars in weekly points fund checks doled out by Petroff Towing, FK Rod Ends, U-Pic-A-Part, DirtonDirt.com and DIRTcar Racing.
5,097: Days between Summer Nationals events at which both Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer were entered, ended with both drivers appearing at Plymouth (IN) Speedway on June 29.
10,000: Dollars collected by Kent Robinson for his victory in the July 15 Oakshade Raceway finale, the richest winner’s check of his career.
25,000: Championship dollars earned by Bobby Pierce for his third title.
30,000: Total dollars earned by champion Bobby Pierce for his five wins.
135,000: Total winner’s purse dollars handed out over 25 events.
