PEORIA, Ill. — There’s a reason Mike McKinney is the No. 1-ranked DIRTcar UMP Modified driver in the nation, and he showed exactly why Wednesday night at Peoria Speedway.
McKinney, 31, kicked off competition in the 14th annual DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals with a win, taking command on lap seven of the 25-lap feature and leading the rest of the way unchallenged for his 19th victory with the series.
“I’ve won a lot of these now, fortunately, and this is my first Peoria one, so it feels good to finally check that one off,” McKinney said. “I feel like I’ve been close a couple times, and it’s cool to add this one to the list, for sure. I’ve always enjoyed coming here.”
It was McKinney’s fourth feature win of the year in his 20th DIRTcar-sanctioned start. He currently leads the nation in points accumulated – a vital part of his chase for his first UMP Modified national points championship.
“That’s my ultimate goal, for sure,” McKinney said. “I’ve ran second three times now, and I’d love to get one now. Not even just for me, I want to get this one for my dad.”
At the drop of the green, third-starting McKinney was forced to contend for the lead with 16-year-old polesitter Manix Furqueron, who led through the first six laps. While Furqueron survived several restarts in that span, he was unable to hold McKinney off on the race’s final restart on lap seven as McKinney slid under him in turn four in a bid for the lead.
“I could see he was kinda missing the corner entry a little bit,” McKinney said. “I just needed the race to play-out; we’d go half a lap and then get a yellow. I was as patient as I could be, and I knew the longer we went, eventually he’d make a mistake. He eventually washed-up and allowed me to get under him there and drive away.”
He raced Furqueron down the frontstretch and completed the pass in turn one and never looked back, stretching his lead out over runner-up Charles Hess to over six seconds by the checkered flag.
Trevor Neville crossed the finish line third, Hunt Gossum in fourth while Furqueron faded back to fifth.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[3]; 2. 97-Charles Hess[7]; 3. 777-Trevor Neville[8]; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum[9]; 5. 74M-Manix Furqueron[1]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee[10]; 7. 54-Zachary Hawk[15]; 8. 27-Michael Turner[17]; 9. 135-Austin Simpson[21]; 10. 25-Greg Belyea[16]; 11. 73-Mark Rhoades[18]; 12. (DNF) 14-Dalton Lane[20]; 13. (DNF) 05-Dave Wietholder[4]; 14. (DNF) 150-Collin Alexander[5]; 15. (DNF) 18L-Michael Long[6]; 16. (DNF) 24-Zeke McKenzie[13]; 17. (DNF) 17D-Degan Dozard[12]; 18. (DNF) 1-Nash Hilmes[14]; 19. (DNF) 5P-Nicholas Porter[19]; 20. (DNF) 242-Evan Fink[11]; 21. (DNF) 37L-Michael Ledford[2]
