{"id":7064,"date":"2023-08-04T18:05:18","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T22:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcarsummernationals.com\/?p=7064"},"modified":"2024-05-20T21:40:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T01:40:59","slug":"more-to-give-ashton-winger-hoping-summer-nationals-title-propels-future-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcarsummernationals.com\/news\/more-to-give-ashton-winger-hoping-summer-nationals-title-propels-future-success\/","title":{"rendered":"MORE TO GIVE: Ashton Winger Hoping Summer Nationals Title Propels Future Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
The past isn\u2019t lost on Ashton Winger.<\/p>\n
He remembers the races lost. He remembers the chances missed. And he remembers his \u201celephant in the room\u201d moment from March that ended with a mug shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hate losing more than you love winning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, while those early year memories aren\u2019t fully deleted, he\u2019s working on replacing them with better ones, including his 2023 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Model championship.<\/p>\n
The Senoia, GA native scored six wins and two weekly titles en route to his first Summer Nationals title. He doesn\u2019t consider it redemption from finishing second in Hell Tour<\/em> points in 2021 and said he knows there were wins he left on the table, but still recognizes the significance of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a cool notch to add to our belt to say we\u2019ve done it,\u201d Winger said.<\/p>\n This year presented a new format for drivers, going back to a five-week format with nearly 30 races in 33 days, and crowning a weekly champion, along with the overall champion. To Winger, it was a success. Not only for him, but for the Series as it attracted a variety of drivers, including those from national tours.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it definitely allowed guys who wouldn\u2019t normally run it to come in and run,\u201d Winger said. \u201cI know it made it easier for the guys on the national tour to come in and run a week or two… I think it is something different. You never know if something is good or bad until you try it. I thought it was cool. We got to race a lot of different cars and meet a lot of cool people. I was excited about that. It\u2019s something I enjoy doing.\u201d<\/p>\n His biggest takeaway from this year\u2019s Summer Nationals was learning what he and his team \u2013 owned by Jeff Mathews \u2013 need to be successful on a national tour. He said, initially, their plan was to join the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model tour this year but wanted to make sure they had all their ducks in a row first. The Hell Tour<\/em> was the best place to find weak spots as he hopes to build a successful program with Mathews.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people I\u2019m surrounded by\u2026 this is the best equipment I\u2019ve had by far,\u201d said Winger, who joined Mathews\u2019 team in 2022. \u201cWe\u2019re still just trying to get our ducks in a row, just a few little things. I really feel like when we do that\u2026 you know, we wanted to run the World of Outlaws this year. Just not worth doing it because you don\u2019t feel like you can do it right. They\u2019re dogs. It\u2019s not easy to do\u2026 That\u2019s one thing the Summer Nationals allowed us to do, to see where we needed to improve.<\/p>\n \u201cA bunch of that isn\u2019t things you can buy. It\u2019s people, you find out things that you need to work on. It\u2019s routine. There\u2019s so much that goes into this that a lot of people don\u2019t realize. It was just cool to get going here and hopefully build on this. This is definitely the most comfortable I\u2019ve ever been with a team. I\u2019m excited for the future and hopefully it all shakes out.\u201d<\/p>\n His next big venture is with the World of Outlaws this weekend for the 36th annual USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway (Aug. 3-5) \u2013 where he already has two wins with the World of Outlaws. And while he enters with the momentum of being the Summer Nationals champion, Winger joked he\u2019s not sure how confident he can be with current World of Outlaws points leader Bobby Pierce and Ricky Thornton Jr. \u2013 who, combined, have won the last three Series races \u2013 in the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like as long as we do what we need to do we\u2019ll be competitive,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s when you rely on things to fall your way. Hopefully they do and hopefully we don\u2019t make any bonehead moves, whether it is me on the racetrack or me off the racetrack with calls. Try to make the best educated guess on everything you do, and hope things go our way.\u201d<\/p>\n The past may not be lost on Winger, but he\u2019s making the best out of the future ahead.<\/p>\n You can watch the USA Nationals, every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model event and the 2023 DIRTcar Summer Nationals live on DIRTVision<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The past isn\u2019t lost on Ashton Winger. He remembers the races lost. He remembers the chances missed. And he remembers his \u201celephant in the room\u201d moment from March that ended with a mug shot. \u201cYou hate losing more than you love winning,\u201d he said. However, while those early year memories aren\u2019t fully deleted, he\u2019s working … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":7066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[176,474,384,21,25,475],"series":[628],"class_list":["post-7064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ashton-winger","tag-cedar-lake-speedway","tag-dirtcar-summer-nationals-late-models","tag-featured","tag-late-models","tag-world-of-outlaws","series-dirtcar-summer-nationals"],"yoast_head":"\n