LINCOLN, Ill. — Weekly rivalries reignited, young talent trumping veterans, first-time event winners and a last-lap pass… opening night of the 26th annual DIRTcar Fall Nationals had a little bit of everything.
Lincoln Speedway was the place to be Friday night to see four of DIRTcar’s finest weekly racing warriors in-action. Twenty-four Pro Late Models, 32 Pro Modifieds, 24 UMP Modifieds and 18 Stock Cars packed the pit area.
Wherever there’s a marquee Pro Late Model race happening in the state of Illinois, Aaron Heck, Jose Parga and Dakota Ewing can all usually be found right in the thick of it, battling it out for the win. Friday night at Lincoln was no exception, and Heck had the upper hand when all was said and done.
While Parga and Ewing have been longstanding teammates, Heck remains one of their biggest competitors. The next chapter of their rivalry was written Friday night, in an exciting 25-lap chase for the checkered.
Heck started third and chased polesitter Devin McLean around in the opening laps before making the pass on a great run he got from a restart on lap five. He drove to McLean’s outside in turns one and two and used the top-side momentum to complete the pass down the backstretch.
“I was biding my time the first four or five laps there,” Heck said. “[Bill] Knippenberg got around me in the middle, and I knew it was there the whole race, but I just didn’t want to get out there too early.”
Indeed, Knippenberg did challenge Heck on the middle-outside groove in the opening laps but was unable to secure the spot. Heck was good on the bottom early and stellar on the top when he switched to the lane after the restart.
Meanwhile, Ewing and Parga were both lurking inside the top five. Ewing got to the leader’s rear bumper on lap eight. Parga, the 2021 national champion, was unable to get into the podium, but put pressure on the leaders throughout. Ewing spent a few laps behind Heck, but was ultimately passed by McLean after the final restart.
Back out front, Heck went virtually unchallenged the rest of the distance to capture his first career DIRTcar Fall Nationals crown.
McLean, Ewing, Parga and Billy Knippenberg rounded out the top five.
Just when it looked as though Nick Macklin was going to win a 12th Stock Car feature this season, Terry Reed Jr. jumped in and stole the spotlight.
Reed, who started third in the 15-lap affair, trailed Macklin almost the entire race, until a caution flag was displayed with three laps remaining. Reed closed in on the rear bumper of Macklin for the restart and pondered the line he would take to get it done.
He chose to throw it way up top – so far outside that he smacked the retaining wall after he took the white flag. With an abundance of outside momentum, Reed got a big run on Macklin down the backstretch and slammed the door down low on him entering turn three. He played defense through Turn 4 and down to the stripe and beat Macklin to the line by .177 seconds to secure the victory.
“This year, I’ve had about 15 second-place finishes, and I wasn’t getting another one,” Reed said. “So, was either make it work or fall back.”
Hunt Gossum came into DIRTcar Fall Nationals weekend with eight Feature wins on the season. To get his ninth, the 16-year-old sensation had to go through the six-time national DIRTcar champion Mike Harrison. Which, in the end, he did, making the pass in the closing laps to seal the victory.
Similar to his previous victories this year, Gossum stayed glued to the very bottom of the quarter-mile and ran down Harrison in traffic. Harrison used the very top side, like he does at most venues, but the line appeared to have gone away just slightly past the halfway mark, which opened the door for Gossum down low on lap 14.
“I knew Mike was gonna be fast tonight,” Gossum said. “I didn’t think there would be a cushion, but he made it work there for a little bit. It took rubber down here in Turns 1-2 through the middle, and I just felt like I was getting a better run coming off the corner than him.”
Gossum took full advantage of the line he ran down low and drove it to a $1,000 paycheck, holding off Harrison to the stripe to collect his first career Fall Nationals victory.
Another first-time DIRTcar Fall Nationals victor was found in Pro Modified young gun Jake Montgomery, when he found some speed in the high line and used it to lead all but the first of 15 feature laps Friday night at Lincoln.
Montgomery wheeled his No. 21.5 Pro Modified around the top side of the quarter-mile oval and made the pass for the lead on polesitter Ryan Hamilton on lap two. He never relinquished the lead once from that point, surviving a single restart en route to the checkers.