CONCORD, NC – Sept. 9, 2011 – Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., extended his lead in the DIRTcar UMP Late Model national points standings after Week 32 of the circuit’s season, but he now has a new face sitting as his closest pursuer.
One week after overtaking longtime points leader Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., for the top spot in the national standings, Schlenk holds a 29-point edge (2,435-2,406) over Jon Henry of Ada, Ohio. That’s a 20-point increase in his advantage from a week ago.
Schlenk, 25, added to his points total with a victory on Sept. 2 at Kankakee (Ill.) County Speedway – his 17th UMP-sanctioned checkered flag of the 2011 season. He also finished 19th on Sept. 19 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park but earned no points for the outing because the Late Model standings are determined using drivers’ best 35 finishes/points nights.
Henry, meanwhile, finished second on Sept. 2 at Hartford (Mich.) Motor Speedway, gaining him enough points to pass Unzicker for second in the national standings. It is the highest ranking of the season for Henry, whose sixth-place finish on Sept. 3 at Attica snapped his streak of six consecutive first- or second-place runs.
Unzicker experienced a rough Labor Day weekend, failing to accumulate any points in his two races that were reported for the week. He finished 16 th on Sept. 2 at Kankakee and 18th on Sept. 4 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, dropping him to third in the national standings and expanding his deficit to Schlenk from nine to 37 points.
Mike Harrison of Highland, Ill., remained atop the UMP Modified national standings, but his edge over Michael Long of Quincy, Ill., shrunk slightly, falling from 22 to 17 points (1,913-1,896).
Harrison enjoyed a strong Labor Day weekend, winning his 22nd feature of 2011 on Sept. 2 at Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway and recording finishes of second on Sept. 3 at Farmer City and third on Sept. 1 at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway. Only his Peoria run did not add points to his total in the UMP Modified standings, which are determined using drivers’ 25 best finishes/points nights.
Long won twice Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. – on Sept. 2 and 4 – to gain points. His third-place finish on Sept. 2 at Fairbury was his only run that did not add to his points total.
Just 74 points separate first from fifth in the UMP Modified standings. Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind., is third (51 points behind Harrison), Nick Allen of Wheatfield, Ind. (-64) and followed by Ray Bollinger of Kewanee, Ill. (-74).
Other divisional national points leaders through Week 32 are Dustin Griffin of Camp Point, Ill. (Pro Late Models); Troy Clark of North Vernon, Ind. (Sportsman); Mark Anderson of Canton, Ill. (Limited Modifieds); Nate Zimmer of Mattoon, Ill. (Stock Cars); Dennis Bringedahl of Twin Lake, Mich. (Factory Stocks); and Kenny Butterfield of Glassford, Ill. (Sport Compacts).
Weekly DIRTcar UMP points end following the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 2, but the Late Model and UMP Modified points races culminate with the running of the DIRTcar UMP Nationals on Oct. 8-9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Log on to www.DirtCar.com for more information on DIRTcar Racing’s UMP circuit and to view complete points standings for all divisions, including the current State points rankings.
New for 2011, the weekly DIRTcar UMP points update is powered by www.MotorStats.com. DIRTcar’s affiliation with the Durham, N.C.-based Web site is providing fans and competitors a more timely and detailed look at the points standings. National and State points standings for all divisions are typically updated by Thursday each week, and new features allow visitors to click on each driver’s name to see a complete race-by-race review of their finishes to date.
DIRTcar Racing UMP National Points Standings (as of Sept. 4, 2011):
Late Models (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Rusty Schlenk 35 2435
2. Jon Henry 35 2406
3. Ryan Unzicker 35 2398
4. Brandon Sheppard 35 2274
5. Shannon Babb 34 2258
6. Brandon Thirlby 35 2251
7. Jason Feger 35 2205
8. Randy Korte 35 2107
9. Bobby Pierce 35 2095
10. Eric Spangler 34 2080
11. Mike Spatola III 35 2058
12. Mike Provenzano 35 2011
13. Eric Smith 34 2000
14. Mark Voigt 35 1947
15. Dennis Erb Jr. 35 1916
16. Scott Schmitt 35 1909
17. Brian Ruhlman 35 1887
18. Dillan White 35 1822
19. Mike Hammerle 35 1821
20. Jack Sullivan 35 1815
UMP Modifieds (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Mike Harrison 25 1913
2. Michael Long 25 1896
3. Todd Sherman 25 1862
4. Nick Allen 25 1849
5. Ray Bollinger 25 1839
6. Jacob Poel 25 1813
7. Jamie Lomax 25 1803
8. Danny Crane 25 1800
9. Clayton Miller 25 1799
10. Scott Weber 25 1797
11. Tim Hancock 25 1776
11. Doug Adkins 25 1776
13. Jeff Leka 25 1746
14. Mark Anderson 25 1740
15. Brian Lynn 25 1739
16. Dean Hoffman 25 1731
17. Randle Sweeney 25 1727
18. John DeMoss 25 1724
19. Trent Young 25 1687
20. Clint Demoss 25 1682
Pro Late Models (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Dustin Griffin 20 1500
2. Nick Bauman 20 1465
3. Mark Oller 20 1405
4. Credence Mott 20 1393
5. Clayton Miller 20 1380
6. Jerry Lierly 20 1375
7. Evan Fink 20 1305
8. Brad Denney 20 1300
9. Bobby Martintoni 20 1292
10. Randy Myers 20 1280
Sportsman (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Troy Clark 20 1450
2. Jeremy Hines 20 1443
3. Dan Flessner 20 1424
4. Dave Crawley Jr. 20 1358
5. Joey Ladouceur 20 1315
6. Chris Hillman 20 1282
7. Nick Macklin 19 1270
8. Jocelyn Roy 19 1267
9. Stephane Lemire 20 1264
10. Jeff Herzog 19 1262
Limited Modifieds (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Mark Anderson 20 1362
2. Todd Bates 20 1358
3. Haley Westerfield 20 1156
4. Jeff Lawson 20 1131
5. Christopher Geary 20 1065
6. John Wyble 19 1048
7. Clay Settles 20 1012
8. Johnny Holden 19 983
9. Josh Smith 17 917
10. Billy Hawes 19 916
Stock Cars (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Nate Zimmer 20 1486
2. John Farris 20 1470
3. Mike Hodges 20 1465
4. Chuck Barnes Jr. 20 1450
5. Derek Poland 20 1398
6. Dan Dykman 20 1391
7. Andrew Funk 20 1390
8. Joel Funk 20 1369
9. Darrel Dick 20 1356
10. Joeseph Hamm 20 1348
Factory Stocks (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Dennis Bringedahl 20 1396
2. Rob Sternberg 20 1351
3. Jake Hewitt 20 1340
4. Mark Farber 20 1286
5. Dan Wilson 20 1242
6. Jeff Buss 20 1164
7. Spike Grega 20 1156
8. Ben Welch 20 1128
9. Tom Hughes 18 1119
10. TJ Eilers 20 1071
Sport Compacts (rank/driver/races/points):
1. Kenny Butterfield 20 1506
2. Matt Maier 20 1481
3. Rob Shaw 20 1479
4. Paul Namey 20 1444
5. Jeremy Callahan 20 1435
6. Trevor Isaak 20 1426
7. Jacob Rexing 20 1425
8. Earl Pryor 20 1421
9. Blayne Ellis 20 1354
10. Bradley McGhee 20 1349