WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Hell Tour Heats up in Week 4 With Marquee Stop, Championship Storylines
PONTOON BEACH, IL (July 4, 2023) – Week 4 of the 38th annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals sends the Hell Tour to some of Illinois most exciting tracks – including a marquee event – and a fan-favorite in Indiana.
The first five events of the six-race stretch will keep the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals in Illinois, including the prestigious Herald & Review 100 at Macon Speedway (Thursday, July 6) which will award a $7,500 check for the Late Models – the biggest payday in its 43-year history. Then, Week 4 will wrap up at Tri-State Speedway on Sunday, July 9.
Ashton Winger conquered Week 3, claiming his first weekly title with three wins and five podium finishes. He also took the overall points lead by 37, but Week 2 champion Jason Feger returns full-time in Week 4 with a chance to keep the title fight close through the final week.
The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds will see an all-star list of drivers throughout Week 4 as multiple tracks will see their best weekly competitors contend against the Hell Tour standouts.
Week 4 Schedule
Tuesday, July 4 – Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, IL)
Wednesday, July 5 – Red Hill Raceway (Sumner, IL)
Thursday, July 6 – Macon Speedway (Macon, IL) [Herald & Review 100]
Friday, July 7 – Farmer City Raceway (Farmer City, IL)
Saturday, July 8 – Highland Speedway (Highland, IL)
Sunday, July 9 – Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)
Tickets for each Week 4 event will be sold at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to your favorite tracks, watch all the action live on DIRTVision.
Here are the drivers to watch and the storylines to follow this week:
TOP GUN – Ashton Winger, of Senoia, GA, soared to the Week 3 title and its $10,000 payday after scoring three wins and never finishing outside the top three in the five-race stretch. He became the third different driver in three weeks to earn a Hell Tour weekly title and took control of the overall points battle.
In the nine-race stretch since Winger earned his first win of the season at Davenport Speedway on June 21, he’s produced a 2.5 average finish – having finished outside the podium once with a ninth-place finish at the Brownstown Bullring. It’s a massive turnaround from the first six races of the tour where he had an 11.8 average finish.
While he’s on one of the hottest streaks of his career, Winger has yet to win a national event at any of the tracks on the Week 4 schedule.
IN COMMAND – Posting back-to-back Feature wins in Week 3, Tyler Nicely is now on top of the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals standings by 117 over Kyle Steffens.
The 27-year-old from Owensboro, KY, heads back to Summit Modified competition in Week 4, seeking his fourth win of the season at several of DIRTcar’s core Illinois venues. He’ll be matched up against some of the toughest local UMP Modified racers at Macon, Farmer City and Highland, as each of these tracks host weekly DIRTcar-sanctioned Modified racing.
Nicely will have a slight leg-up on the competition Sunday at Tri-State – he earned his first career Summit Modified Feature win at the 1/4-mile in 2014 and finished a close runner-up to Mark Lamont there last year.
BABB IS BACK – The one-and-only five-time winner of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ most prestigious event – the Herald & Review 100 at Macon Speedway – returns to Hell Tour competition for select events in Week 4.
Shannon Babb, the five-time Summer Nationals champion from Moweaqua, IL, is scheduled to compete in four of the six races on the Week 4 schedule, including Macon, where he’ll go for a record sixth Herald & Review 100 title.
Babb, winner of 101 Summer Nationals Features (most all-time), has multiple wins at each of the tracks he’s scheduled for this week – Tri-City (2004, 2005), Macon (2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014), Farmer City (2002, 2004, 2021), and Highland (2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2019).
GANGREEN GANG – After collecting their third Feature win this summer as part of a pick-and-choose schedule in Week 3, the Jason Feger Racing squad is headed back out for more Hell Tour competition in Week 4.
Feger, the 2010 Summer Nationals champion from Bloomington, IL, was champion of Week 2, posting two Feature wins that week, which propelled him to his current runner-up spot in the overall Late Model standings. He’s scheduled to run most, if not all, of the races in Week 4, which includes stops to tracks he’s had success at before.
In his 20-plus year Late Model career, Feger has beeen to Summer Nationals Victory Lane at Highland (2015, 2020); Farmer City (2016); and is also the defending Herald & Review 100 winner at Macon.
SOUTHERN STORM – Veteran regional racer BJ Robinson is set to make his DIRTcar Summer Nationals debut this week and take on the Illinois-Indiana slate of tracks for the first time in his career.
Robinson, 40, of Bossier City, LA, is a two-time runner-up in the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series points championship and three-time Feature winner. The Arkansas-based tour primarily holds races around Texarkana-region of the map, where Robinson won in May at Batesville Motor Speedway.
He’ll represent the Deep South region against the best in the Midwest throughout the week, with plans to compete in all six races, aiming for the Week 4 points championship.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: CLICK HERE for DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals overall points.