DIRTcar Summer Nationals / Summit Modifieds

Tyler Carpenter added to his growing resume Sunday night at Wayne County Speedway with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, but Tanner English claimed the biggest prize of the summer as Hell Tour champion.

English, of Benton, KY, officially clinched the 2026 Summer Nationals championship after a dominant run of consistency that netted him four wins, 17 podium finishes, 19 top-fives and 21 top-10s in 23 starts. Among all the accolades he collected, English also broke through and made Summer Nationals history as the first driver from the state of Kentucky to win the season-long points title.

“It’s pretty cool just to be that consistent, and that says a lot about our equipment and everything we’ve got going on — our maintenance, everything, it’s just amazing to be able to accomplish that,” English said. “And at all these different racetracks, too. That’s what a lot of people don’t realize — no two of these tracks are the same. Some of them you don’t want to race at, some of them you do. It’s just pretty cool to be that consistent.”

In the final main event of the summer, Carpenter, of Parkersburg, WV, took his No. 28 machine to the front and scored his first career Summer Nationals win after nearly six years of trying, leading the final 21 laps around the 3/8-mile oval to secure the big check.

“This win definitely ranks toward the top, and the biggest thing is it’s just for the fact that it’s such an established deal,” Carpenter said. “The Hell Tour is well known and there are a lot of eyes on it. It’s just so cool for my team and I to come out here. We’ve been trying to come win this race for two or three years and we’ve always had speed, but it just never panned out.”

The finale of the Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary season kicked off with Ohio natives Eric Wilson and Lincoln Smith leading the field to green. The No. 217 of Wilson rocketed around Smith in Turns 1 and 2 and led the opening lap.

A Lap 7 caution for a slowing Todd Brennan bunched the field up and allowed for a showcase of speed and precision to commence around the Ohio oval.

The restart saw Ryan Montgomery throw a slide job on Wilson for the lead in Turn 2, but the No. 217 machine crossed back underneath to retain the top spot. Behind the two leaders was Carpenter, waiting for an opportunity. That opportunity soon presented itself, as he went for a slider in Turns 3 and 4, clearing both Wilson and Montgomery.

The lead trio went three wide exiting Turn 4 with race-long leader Wilson taking the point at the stripe once again. The three-car show continued as Montgomery led Lap 9 but Carpenter rolled to the inside of both again, clearing and taking the lead at the exit of Turn 2, but a caution for Montgomery slowing negated the pass.

Carpenter took the lead for good on the Lap 9 restart and led the final 21 laps unchallenged to bank his first career Summer Nationals victory.

“This kind of style of racetrack I was raised on,” Carpenter said. “I was trying to focus hard on where I needed to be or where would be the best spot before we ever took the initial green. Once I took the lead, I felt I was really confident then because I could just try and enter above the rough in Turns 1 and 2. There really wasn’t room so you had to enter straight, get your right front on the guardrail and then you could just lay the hammer down all the way across.”

Wilson finished second, J.R. Gentry rebounded from flipping in Qualifying to finish third, Montgomery was fourth, and Kyle Moore rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT

While the DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ 40th anniversary campaign has concluded, the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals wrap up their season at Fairbury Speedway during the Prairie Dirt Classic alongside the World of Outlaws Late Models presented by DIRTVision — Friday-Saturday, July 24-25.

Tickets for the event are on sale now at WorldofOutlaws.com. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 28-Tyler Carpenter[4]; 2. 217-Eric Wilson[1]; 3. 14-JR Gentry[16]; 4. 12-Ryan Montgomery[3]; 5. 1*-Kyle Moore[10]; 6. 79-Doug Drown[7]; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[8]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]; 9. 21B-Rich Bell[9]; 10. 7-Nick Cox[18]; 11. 17-Tyler Evans[15]; 12. (DNF) 20B-Todd Brennan[6]; 13. (DNF) 31-Lincoln Smith[2]; 14. (DNF) 14C-Corey Conley[11]; 15. (DNF) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 16. (DNF) B52-Delbert Crum Jr[12]; 17. (DNF) 59-Tanner McLoughlin[17]; 18. (DNF) 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 19. (DNF) 96-Tanner English[19]; 20. (DNF) 32-Chad Roush[22]; 21. (DNS) 1Z-Logan Zarin; 22. (DNS) 57-Caiden Black

He’s waited nearly three years, but Dalton Lane is back in Victory Lane with the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals.

Lane scored the win with the Summit Modifieds Sunday night at Wayne County Speedway for the second time in his career and the first since breaking through at Oakshade Raceway in 2023.

The Feature began with Matthew Baker taking the early lead over Kyle Moore. A caution for a slowing Jason King restacked the field for a restart on Lap 2.

The restart was where Baker began to take fire from Moore as the local favorite went for a slide job maneuver in Turns 3–4 that ended with both drivers scrubbing the outside wall. While both drivers were able to straighten out, Baker came away with damage to the nose of his No. B5 car and began to fall back. This opened the door for Lane to move into second and set his sights on Moore, still leading the race.

A Lap 7 caution for Ryan Markham slowing created another opportunity for a restart. Moore pulled away while Lane found himself in a battle for second as Nathan Loney made a bid for that position to his inside.

The race then turned on its head as Moore’s No. 21D slowed on the backstretch on Lap 13, turning what was the battle for second between Lane and Loney into the battle for the win. Over the next 10 laps, the two ran neck-and-neck for the top spot — Lane ripping the top side around the track and Loney riding the bottom.

Their battle reached a boiling point on Lap 22, crossing the stripe in a dead-heat tie. But with momentum from a great run off the top side in Turn 2, Lane charged ahead of Loney and led the field back around to the checkers.

“We put together a great night, we started off a little slow in Qualifying and we made that up all night,” Lane said. “A place like this, right around the wall like that where you can just get after it, really fits my driving style. So, it just came to us tonight. There really was nothing left on the bottom so all I had left was just to get up there and pound the cushion for 25 laps.”

Loney finished second, Dusty Swecker was third, Andre Layfield finished fourth, and Jimmy Lennex Jr finished in fifth.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals heads to Fairbury Speedway to crown a champion at the Prairie Dirt Classic on July 24-25.

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

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14-Dalton Lane[3]; 2. 10-Nathan Loney[6]; 3. 21-Dusty Swecker[22]; 4. 11L-Andre Layfield[8]; 5. 21CZ-Jimmy Lennex Jr[9]; 6. B5-Matthew Baker[1]; 7. 89-Jason King[16]; 8. 22G-Jesse Griffitts[12]; 9. (DNF) 01-Denny Benjamin[21]; 10. (DNF) 21D-Kyle Moore[2]; 11. (DNF) 5-Ryan Markham[7]; 12. (DNF) 42JR-Chaz Dawson Jr[11]; 13. (DNF) 68-Andrew Hammond[13]; 14. (DNF) 185-Ron Miller[17]; 15. (DNF) T23-John Toppozini[10]; 16. (DNF) 16-Caden Alexander[19]; 17. (DNF) 60-Jimmy Humphrey[4]; 18. (DNF) 16H-Ron Hamlin[20]; 19. (DNF) 75-Tristen Bickford[18]; 20. (DNF) 18-Michael Amick[15]; 21. (DNS) 11-Jason Brennan; 22. (DNS) S25-Pete Caplinger; 23. (DNS) 41-Brad Goff; 24. (DNS) 76JD-Darrick Hubbard Jr.