Harrison clinches his second championship in three seasons
WAUSEON, Ohio — July 20, 2013 — Jeff Babcock rallied from his ninth-place starting position to pass race-long leader Matt Hamilton on Saturday night en route to claiming his first win in the season finale of the 2013 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals tour at Oakshade Raceway.
For the second time in three years, Mike Harrison, of Highland, Ill., captured the overall season title on the strength of his four victories in the series where a driver’s seven best finishes count toward the championship.
On Saturday night, Babcock, of Wayne, Ohio, was third in his heat race, resulting in a fifth-row starting position. Second-place starting Matt Hamilton pulled out to an early lead, shooting around the outside of pole-sitter Mark Anderson.
Hamilton dominated early and looked to be the car to beat, with Babcock slowly working his way to the front. Babcock stayed glued to the bottom as he made his way around Collin Thirlby, Dona Marcoullier and Steven Brooks before setting his sights on leader Hamilton, who had built a large advantage.
Babcock, using a lapped car as a pick, got to the inside of Hamilton with 8 laps left, but Hamilton held off the challenge to his inside. Hamilton cleared Babcock before lapped traffic would come into play again one lap later, and this time it cost Hamilton the lead and eventually the victory.
Babcock and Hamilton raced side-by-side for the next five laps as they diced through lapped traffic, with Babcock clearing Hamilton with two laps remaining. A caution waved as the leaders came to the white flag, resulting in the leaders being bunched back up and taking lapped traffic out of the equation. On the ensuing restart Babcock pulled away from Hamilton and secured the $1,000 checkered flag.
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Brian Ruhlman, Collin Thirlby and Steven Brooks rounded out the top five.
Heat race winners included Dona Marcoullier, Curt Spalding, Mark Anderson and Matt Hamilton.
2013 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Statistical Report; Oakshade Raceway; Wauseon, Ohio; July 20, 2013
A-Main (30 laps): 1. Jeff Babcock (Wayne, OH), 2. Matt Hamilton (Aurora, IN), 3. Brian Ruhlman (Clarklake, MI), 4. Collin Thirlby (Traverse City, MI), 5. Steven Brooks (New Lenox, IL), 6. Dona Marcoullier (Houguton Lake, MI), 7. Zachary Schroeder (Findlay, OH), 8. Taylor Cook (Stanley, NC), 9. Josh Scott (Weston, OH), 10. Brent Hole (New Knoxville, OH), 11. Hillard Miller (Defiance, OH), 12. Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, OH), 13. Tim Dalman (Portland, MI), 14. Mark Anderson (Lowell, MI), 15. Derrick Noffsinger (Continental, OH), 16. Bill Keeler (Rawson, OH), 17. John Brooks (Wayne, OH), 18. Jason Kinney (Mendon, OH), 19. Dave Sibberson (Swanton, OH), 20. Corey Bevard (Union City, MI), 21. Ryan Ordway (Continental, OH), 22. Curt Spalding (Hartford, MI).
2013 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Results
| Day | Date | Track | Location | Winner |
| Saturday | June 8 | Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, IN | Devin Gilpin (Non-points) |
| Wednesday | June 12 | Brownstown Speedway | Brownstown, IN | Devin Gilpin (2) |
| Friday | June 14 | Kankakee County Speedway | Kankakee, IL | Nick Allen |
| Sunday | June 16 | Wilmot Raceway | Wilmot, WI | Mitch McGrath |
| Wednesday | June 19 | Spoon River Speedway | Canton, IL | Kenny Wallace |
| Thursday | June 20 | Belle-Clair Speedway | Belleville, IL | Brian Beilong |
| Friday | June 21 | Tri-City Speedway | Pontoon Beach, IL | Michael Long |
| Saturday | June 22 | Fairbury Speedway | Fairbury, IL | Lance Dehm |
| Sunday | June 23 | I-96 Speedway | Lake Odessa, MI | Dona Marcoullier |
| Monday | June 24 | Peoria Speedway | Peoria, IL | Cancelled (RAIN) |
| Wednesday | June 26 | Clarksville Speedway | Clarksville, TN | Matt Cooper |
| Thursday | June 27 | Clayhill Motorsports Park | Atwood, TN | Lucas Lee |
| Friday | June 28 | Paducah International Raceway | Paducah, KY | Mike Harrison |
| Saturday | June 29 | Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 | Pevely, MO | Postponed/Rain |
| Sunday | June 30 | Lincoln Speedway | Lincoln, IL | Ray Bollinger |
| Tuesday | July 2 | Quincy Raceways | Quincy, IL | Steven DeLonjay |
| Wednesday | July 3 | Jacksonville Speedway | Jacksonville, IL | David Wietholder |
| Thursday | July 4 | LaSalle Speedway | LaSalle, IL | Donovan Lodge |
| Friday | July 5 | Fayette County Speedway | Brownstown, IL | Brent Mullins |
| Saturday | July 6 | Highland Speedway | Highland, IL | Postponed (RAIN) |
| Sunday | July 7 | Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, IN | Mike Harrison (2) |
| Tuesday | July 9 | Florence Speedway | Union, KY | Ryan Thomas |
| Wednesday | July 10 | Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, IN | Cancelled (RAIN) |
| Thursday | July 11 | Macon Speedway | Macon, IL | Mike Harrison (3) |
| Friday | July 12 | Kankakee County Speedway | Kankakee, IL | Jeff Curl |
| Sunday | July 14 | Vermillion County Speedway | Danville, IL | Ryan Thomas (2) |
| Monday | July 15 | Peoria Speedway | Peoria, IL | Mike Harrison (4) |
| Wednesday | July 17 | Brushcreek Motorsports Park | Peebles, OH | Doug Adkins (Non-points) |
| Thursday | July 18 | Off | ||
| Friday | July 19 | Attica Raceway Park | Attica, OH | Kevin Morehouse |
| Saturday | July 20 | Oakshade Raceway | Wauseon, OH | Jeff Babcock |
The Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals is proudly brought to you by these fine partners : Summit Racing Equipment (Title Sponsor), Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Provider), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Racing Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Fuel), along with these Contingency Parters: MSD Performance, TomCat Performance, Landrum Performance Springs, Dominator Race Products, QuarterMaster, KSE Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Wrisco Aluminum, Beyea Custom Headers, Fast Shafts, Bassett Wheels, QA1, Auto Meter, Schoenfeld Headers, University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH), Racing Electronics, Intercomp, Bell Helmets, Shafer Enterprises’ Cool Shirts, XS Power Racing Batteries, and Chevy Performance.Â