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BROWNSTOWN, IL (June 23, 2023) – Jason Feger knew his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win of the season had to be right on the horizon. If three-straight podium finishes in his last three races was any clue, then he was due any day. Friday night at the Brownstown Bullring, he finally broke through to Victory Lane.
In dominant fashion, Feger – the 2010 Hell Tour champion from Bloomington, IL – led all 50 circuits around the 1/4-mile, formerly known as Fayette County Speedway, and bagged the $10,000 grand prize.
“It feels really good, especially being a $10,000-to-win,” Feger said. “That’s kinda like winning two.”
Feger started on the outside front row, won the mad dash into the first corner and began pacing the field around. The laps clicked off as fellow Summer Nationals champions Billy Moyer Sr. and Shannon Babb followed close behind.
Only one caution slowed the action and restacked the field right before the halfway point, but little changed out front as Feger continued to show the way.
As the final laps closed in, so did Moyer and Babb to the rear of Feger. Soon, the lapped traffic in front of Feger became undeniable, but he chose to stay put instead of making the risky move with the other leaders right on his tail.
“It’s nice knowing you’ve got guys back there that probably aren’t going to make bonehead moves and race you clean,” Feger said. “They know when it might not be their night, and they’re just going to get their money and keep everything in one piece. That was definitely peace of mind.”
Feger elected to chase the lapped cars back to the finish line, scoring his 24th career Summer Nationals Feature win. He came into the night leading both the Week 2 and overall points standings and has since expanded that gap with the victory.
Two races remain on the docket in Week 2, but Feger likes his chance to be there with a shot at the $10,000 weekly champion’s check come Sunday night. Though, he does acknowledge the pitfalls that beset so many teams on the road.
“We’ve just gotta stay focused,” Feger said. “You’re one flat tire away, or broken motor, or big wreck – anything can happen. We’ve just gotta keep digging away and take it one night at a time.
“Obviously, everything’s rolling good. But you never know when the bad luck’s gonna come get you.”
UP NEXT
Week 2 on the Summer Nationals Late Model trail heads to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO, on Saturday, June 24, joined by the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 5. 21J-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[11]; 7. 14M-Morgan Bagley[3]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]; 9. 12-Ashton Winger[24]; 10. 33-Mike Harrison[16]; 11. 36-Logan Martin[5]; 12. 24-Ryan Unzicker[19]; 13. 94-Austin Rettig[9]; 14. 26H-Kyle Hammer[12]; 15. 31AUS-Kye Blight[20]; 16. 38-Thomas Hunziker[13]; 17. 4G-Bob Gardner[21]; 18. (DNF) 42-Chad Finley[18]; 19. (DNF) 35-Claude Walker[23]; 20. (DNF) 11D-Brian Diveley[17]; 21. (DNF) 54-Dane Dacus[14]; 22. (DNF) 21N-Logan Nickerson[8]; 23. (DNF) 16-Rusty Griffaw[22]; 24. (DNF) 6K-Michael Kloos[15]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 31AUS-Kye Blight[2]; 3. 58-Tyler Clem[4]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 5. 2-Tyler Stevens[14]; 6. 38J-Jake Little[13]; 7. 5-Austin Vincent[7]; 8. 19X-Cody Bauer[16]; 9. 7-Steven Reinacher[8]; 10. 15-Clayton Stuckey[15]; 11. 35-Claude Walker[11]; 12. 18M-Jimmy Miller[9]; 13. 4G-Bob Gardner[10]; 14. (DNS) 12-Ashton Winger; 15. (DNS) 10-Daryn Klein; 16. (DNS) 27M-Rodney Melvin
Consolation Race 1 (10 Laps): 1. 38J-Jake Little[2]; 2. 15-Clayton Stuckey[1]; 3. 1H-Josh Heuiser[7]; 4. 25T-Tucker Finch[5]; 5. 23NZ-Mick Quin[8]; 6. 14-Paul Kuper[4]; 7. (DNS) 20B-Todd Brennan; 8. (DNS) T4-Adam Tischauser; 9. (DNS) T56-Tim Welch II
Consolation Race 2 (10 Laps): 1. 2-Tyler Stevens[2]; 2. 19X-Cody Bauer[5]; 3. 16-Rusty Griffaw[3]; 4. 30-Mark Voigt[8]; 5. 4D-Doug Tye[6]; 6. T8-Tim Gauntt[4]; 7. (DNS) 14G-Trevor Gundaker; 8. (DNS) 10J-Jordan Bauer; 9. (DNS) B17-Timothy Welch II
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 2. 21J-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 3. 38-Thomas Hunziker[3]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker[5]; 5. 5-Austin Vincent[7]; 6. 15-Clayton Stuckey[6]; 7. 14-Paul Kuper[4]; 8. 1H-Josh Heuiser[8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[1]; 2. 94-Austin Rettig[5]; 3. 6K-Michael Kloos[3]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 5. 18M-Jimmy Miller[8]; 6. 38J-Jake Little[6]; 7. 25T-Tucker Finch[2]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin[7]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 14M-Morgan Bagley[2]; 2. 7T-Drake Troutman[3]; 3. 11D-Brian Diveley[5]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[4]; 5. 35-Claude Walker[6]; 6. 20B-Todd Brennan[7]; 7. T4-Adam Tischauser[1]; 8. (DNS) T56-Tim Welch II
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 2. 21N-Logan Nickerson[3]; 3. 54-Dane Dacus[2]; 4. 31AUS-Kye Blight[4]; 5. 7-Steven Reinacher[7]; 6. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 7. T8-Tim Gauntt[8]; 8. 10J-Jordan Bauer[5]
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 3. 33-Mike Harrison[4]; 4. 58-Tyler Clem[5]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[3]; 6. 2-Tyler Stevens[8]; 7. 19X-Cody Bauer[7]; 8. 30-Mark Voigt[6]
Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. 36-Logan Martin[2]; 2. 26H-Kyle Hammer[3]; 3. 42-Chad Finley[5]; 4. 10-Daryn Klein[4]; 5. 27M-Rodney Melvin[1]; 6. 16-Rusty Griffaw[6]; 7. 4D-Doug Tye[7]; 8. (DNS) B17-Timothy Welch II
Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 21J-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:13.243[1]; 2. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:13.372[5]; 3. T4-Adam Tischauser, 00:13.456[2]; 4. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:13.586[9]; 5. 25T-Tucker Finch, 00:13.620[12]; 6. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 00:13.691[8]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:13.752[4]; 8. 6K-Michael Kloos, 00:13.758[24]; 9. 7T-Drake Troutman, 00:13.765[6]; 10. 14-Paul Kuper, 00:13.894[3]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:13.944[10]; 12. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:13.993[20]; 13. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:14.048[14]; 14. 94-Austin Rettig, 00:14.148[13]; 15. 11D-Brian Diveley, 00:14.178[11]; 16. 15-Clayton Stuckey, 00:14.181[17]; 17. 38J-Jake Little, 00:14.222[21]; 18. 35-Claude Walker, 00:14.224[16]; 19. 5-Austin Vincent, 00:14.614[15]; 20. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:14.667[7]; 21. 20B-Todd Brennan, 00:14.699[19]; 22. 1H-Josh Heuiser, 00:14.702[22]; 23. 18M-Jimmy Miller, 00:14.766[23]; 24. (DNS) T56-Tim Welch II, 00:14.766
Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger, 00:13.663[8]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:13.782[13]; 3. 27M-Rodney Melvin, 00:13.794[1]; 4. 54-Dane Dacus, 00:13.804[5]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:13.812[4]; 6. 36-Logan Martin, 00:13.897[9]; 7. 21N-Logan Nickerson, 00:13.909[23]; 8. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:13.949[17]; 9. 26H-Kyle Hammer, 00:14.009[3]; 10. 31AUS-Kye Blight, 00:14.027[20]; 11. 33-Mike Harrison, 00:14.093[21]; 12. 10-Daryn Klein, 00:14.149[6]; 13. 10J-Jordan Bauer, 00:14.197[10]; 14. 58-Tyler Clem, 00:14.208[22]; 15. 42-Chad Finley, 00:14.266[24]; 16. 14G-Trevor Gundaker, 00:14.276[2]; 17. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:14.299[12]; 18. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 00:14.477[18]; 19. 7-Steven Reinacher, 00:14.511[11]; 20. 19X-Cody Bauer, 00:14.591[19]; 21. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:14.647[7]; 22. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:15.245[16]; 23. (DNS) 2-Tyler Stevens, 00:15.245; 24. (DNS) B17-Timothy Welch II, 00:15.245