SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The midway point of the 38th annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour has arrived as week three kicks off with six races in four different states.
Jason Feger ruled over week two, posting top-five finishes in all five races and scoring two Feature wins. Though he leads the standings, Feger is expected to compete in only select events in week three, opening the door for lars Ashton Winger, Billy Moyer Jr. and Drake Troutman to capture the weekly points title.
The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds will take Tuesday off while the Late Models race Springfield Raceway and pick the action back up Wednesday at Adams County Speedway in Illinois. They’ll then travel with the Late Models through the end of the week, headlined by division standouts Tyler Nicely, Lucas Lee and Trent Young.
Week three concludes with events at Benton (Mo.) Speedway (June 29), Paducah (Ky.) Int’l Raceway (June 30), Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway (July 1) and Lake Cumberland Speedway in Kentucky (July 2).
• A string of five straight top-10 finishes in week two brings Billy Moyer Jr. back on the Hell Tour trail for week three.
Moyer, of Batesville, Ark., looks to expand on the momentum he built in week two, highlighted by his 11th career Summer Nationals victory Tuesday night at Moberly Motorsports Park. Coupled with a victory in the final week of competition last year in Michigan at Butler Motor Speedway, Moyer has been competitive in each of the last two seasons – when he competes on tour – and could translate his recent stretch of success into more wins in week three.
• After a successful second week on the trail of the Hell Tour, week two points champion Jason Feger is headed back to the shop to prepare for select events in week three.
Feger, the 2010 Summer Nationals champion posted top-five finishes in all five races contested in week two, including two wins, earning him the $10,000 points fund check for topping the weekly standings.
Currently, Feger and the team only have plans to compete Wednesday at Adams County (Ill.) Speedway and Friday at Paducah Int’l Raceway but are projected to rejoin regular competition during week four.
Despite earning four consecutive victories in Paducah’s USA World 50 (2012-’15), Feger has yet to win a Summer Nationals Feature at the Kentucky three-eighths-mile oval. He’s also winless in Summer Nationals action at Adams County but was runner-up to Ryan Unzicker there in MARS Late Model competition in May.
• It was a week full of ups and downs for Drake Troutman in his first full week on the Summer Nationals this season.
Troutman, 18, of Hyndman, Pa., was running inside the top-three on three occasions over the five-race stretch of week two but only managed one podium finish after blowing two right-rear tires on back-to-back nights. He was able to rebound on Saturday at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, crossing the line third after an intense battle in the closing laps with winner Stormy Scott and runner-up Ashton Winger.
More bad luck hit him on Sunday at Lincoln, when he was involved in a hard wreck in his heat race with Kye Blight, significantly damaging his car and forcing him to take a provisional to get into the Feature and keep himself afloat in the points standings.
• Ashton Winger also ran into some misfortune early in week two when an oil pump failure ruined his top-three run going in the opening laps Tuesday night at Moberly Motorsports Park.
Winger, 23, rebounded quickly, however, going out the next night at Davenport and driving around Chris Simpson with four laps left to score his first feature win on tour this season. He posted three-straight top-10 finishes to conclude the week – two of which were on the podium – and ended up third in week two points.
Now headed south, Winger could potentially be at his most competitive this week as he visits a few tracks he’s had success at before – specifically Clarksville, where he won the Summer Nationals race in 2021.