DIRTcar Summer Nationals / Summit Modifieds

A two-year winless drought is tough on anyone, but for Ryan Unzicker, it felt like an eternity.

The El Paso, IL native put that to an end Friday night at Crystal Motor Speedway with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, leading all 40 laps to pick up the $10,000 check and his first Series win since Spoon River Speedway in 2024.

“I’m pumped to be back in Victory Lane; it has been way too long,” Unzicker said. “Momentum is huge; you have to have confidence in racing. We had great momentum up until two weeks ago, and then I decided to park the equipment and regroup. I was scared to have the momentum lost, but we picked right back up where we left off, and just having that little bit of a break felt good.”

The main event kicked off with Unzicker launching to the lead from the pole, leaving outside polesitter Devin Shiels to battle with points leader Tanner English for second.

English took second rolling the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 and then tried to put pressure on Unzicker, but the No. 24 machine was stronger around the middle lane in Turns 3 and 4.

Lap traffic became a factor on Lap 8, giving English an opportunity to chip into Unzicker’s 1.3-second advantage. But a caution one lap later for a spun Mitch McGrath helped put Unzicker back in clean air once the race resumed.

The No. 24 built another impressive lead until lap traffic returned on Lap 21, giving English another opportunity to close. However, Unzicker never allowed him the opportunity. He led every lap to the checkered flag, becoming the third different winner in the Series’ three appearances at the Crystal, MI oval.

He is also now tied with Jeep Van Wormer for 13th on the overall wins list.

“Starting on the front row is a big point of it. Last night, I felt like if we started on the front row, we had a good shot for the win,” Unzicker said. “The track was definitely challenging tonight, and just finding a smooth line was difficult. I feel like my car all year long has been accepting to a little bit of choppy and a little bit of rough, and it just feels really good right now when it’s like that.

“I knew we had a good car; I knew we had a chance, and it’s just one of those deals where you hope you make the right decisions. We put on a hard tire, and a lot of them went on with threes (NLMT tire). I don’t know if that hurt them, but mine felt really good after we fired after five laps.”

English maintained second, extending his Week 5 points lead – currently 50 points ahead of Luke Morey – Frank Heckenast Jr. finished third, Shiels finished fourth, and Morey rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals head to Ohio’s Oakshade Raceway for the Birthday Race on Saturday, July 11.

How can you watch the DIRTcar Summer Nationals if you’re not at the track? Every race is live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 96-Tanner English[3]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 4. 51-Devin Shiels[2]; 5. 49-Luke Morey[6]; 6. 4-Travis Stemler[11]; 7. 42-Chad Finley[7]; 8. 16S-Sam Seawright[9]; 9. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[15]; 10. 07-Rylee Knoll[13]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath[8]; 12. 27-Eric Spangler[12]; 13. 21B-Rich Bell[14]; 14. 18-Brenten Deyoung[18]; 15. 18B-Chase Burda[16]; 16. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 17. 06-Jake Rendel[22]; 18. 32-Chad Roush[20]; 19. 57V-Mason VanderVeen[17]; 20. M14-Brandon Thirlby[4]; 21. 21N-Logan Nickerson[10]; 22. 41-Mike Vandermark Jr[21]

Dillon Nusbaum has been on the verge of his first DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals victory all week. On Friday night at Crystal Motor Speedway, he finally scored.

After finishing third, fourth, and second, respectively, in the first three races of Week 5 of the Hell Tour, the Warsaw, IN driver won a 25-lap brawl against his neighbor and current Series points leader Zeke McKenzie to earn his first Series win.

“There’s a lot of prestige that comes with winning a Summer Nationals race, and we’ve been trying for several years now,” Nusbaum said. “We don’t get to travel a whole lot or run a whole lot of the schedule, but we try and hit at least this swing that’s up here by us.”

The beginning stages of the main event saw front-row starters, Nusbaum and McKenzie, exchange the lead multiple times, trading sliders around the 3/8-mile dirt track. Nusbaum led the opening lap before McKenzie led Lap 2 as he drove around an attempted slider by the No. 17N of Nusbaum.

Nusbaum threw another slider in Turn 4, clearing McKenzie’s No. 24 car, giving him the lead back on Lap 3. McKenzie abandoned the top and ran the bottom in an attempt to get around Nusbaum, but it wasn’t enough as Nusbaum led the final 24 laps to become the newest first-time winner with the Series.

“I knew I had to get out in front of him there and kind of set the pace myself,” Nusbaum said. “Honestly, once I got out in front of him, I almost backed the pace down a little but just to kind save equipment. I didn’t want to catch lap cars any quicker than I had too. It was a lot of fun throwing haymakers back and forth with Zeke (McKenzie) there at the beginning. It’s a lot of fun when you can race with somebody that close and that hard, I don’t think we touched a single time.”

McKenzie finished second, John Toppozini finished third, his first career Series podium, Todd Sherman was fourth, and Brennan Sherman was fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Oakshade Speedway in Wauseon, OH for the Birthday Race on Saturday, July 11.

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

RESULTS

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[1]; 2. 24-Zeke McKenzie[2]; 3. T23-John Toppozini[3]; 4. 65-Todd Sherman[4]; 5. 82-Brennan Sherman[10]; 6. 60-Shannon Fisk[14]; 7. 87Z-George Zieman[9]; 8. B5-Matthew Baker[15]; 9. 25L-Josh Lolmaugh[11]; 10. 1A-Andrew Hollister[13]; 11. (DNF) 8C-Corey Bevard[8]; 12. (DNF) 12M-John McClure[12]; 13. (DNF) 14-Dalton Lane[6]; 14. (DNF) 18B-Bradley Inman[17]; 15. (DNF) 7L-Matt Leland[16]; 16. (DNF) 9R-Garrett Rons[7]; 17. (DNS) 17J-Jarrod Klay