6.14.22 UMP DIRTcar Late Models Summernationals Results
With lapped traffic in front and two multi-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champions on his tail, Ryan Unzicker had a choice to make. Go now, or risk losing the lead.
“That 14 car – I just caught him at the wrong time,” Unzicker said. “He left the door open and I had to take it. I felt like if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been giving it my all.”
Having led the season-opening Feature for the 37th annual Hell Tour Tuesday night at Kankakee County Speedway since the drop of the green, Unzicker managed to fend-off the pressure from behind him for over half of the race when he came up on a lapped car in front of him, right in his lane.
Knowing Bobby Pierce and Dennis Erb Jr. were right on his tail, Unzicker decided to make a quick decision and shoot a narrow gap that opened as they went through Turns 3-4.
“We gambled, took the shot, made some contact with him, so I’m glad my right-rear held,” he said.
Unzicker didn’t get by without contact, and neither did the next guy coming through. Several laps later, the leaders approached more traffic and more tough decisions to make in getting by. Pierce got into Jeff Roth when making a pass on him just after halfway, enough to allow Erb Jr. to get by for second.
Once Unzicker freed himself from the traffic tangle, it was time to play heavy defense again. Hugging the bottom lane for the entirety of the race, The El Paso Express held strong on the low side and denied both drivers passing attempts over 40 laps to collect $5,000 and his first win on the Summer Nationals trail since June 2018.
“My stick guy was pounding me to the bottom, telling me they were right there,” Unzicker said of feeling Pierce and Erb so close behind him.
To his early-season success, Unzicker attributes much of it to his work earlier in the night, laying down the fastest lap in Group 3 Qualifying and winning his Heat Race. That set him up for a pole redraw, which allowed him to get out front early and eventually lead all 40 laps.
“I’m fortunate to start up front, that’s the biggest thing,” Unzicker said. “Fortunate to have a good car for the first six or seven laps to sustain the lead.”
Defending Summer Nationals champion Bobby Pierce was able to get back to second after Erb slipped up in a pass attempt for the lead later on and finished runner-up. Erb, the current World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series points leader, crossed in third, while young Drake Troutman made it to fourth pulling double-duty. Jason Feger, celebrating 20 years of racing this year, rounded out the top-five.
Summer Nationals rookie Payton Freeman, of Commerce, GA, made a sound debut on the tour with a victory in his Heat Race and a sixth-place run in the Feature. The 19-year-old had limited experience on Midwest ovals prior to Tuesday but his determination and raw talent shined through on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues Illinois-Iowa Week action Wednesday evening at Peoria Speedway in Peoria, IL. If you can’t be at the track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.
Kankakee County Speedway
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 4. 7-Drake Troutman[4]; 5. 25-Jason Feger[7]; 6. F1-Payton Freeman[2]; 7. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[8]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 9. 9R-Curtis Roberts[11]; 10. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[9]; 11. 36-Logan Martin[13]; 12. 89-Mike Spatola[12]; 13. 14G-Joe Godsey[19]; 14. 99-Hunt Gossum[14]; 15. M27-Mike Provenzano[15]; 16. 77-Preston Luckman[18]; 17. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 18. 14R-Jeff Roth[22]; 19. 14-Glen Thompson[21]; 20. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]; 21. B12-Kevin Weaver[16]; 22. 10-Paul Parker[17]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 10-Paul Parker[2]; 2. 77-Preston Luckman[3]; 3. 14G-Joe Godsey[6]; 4. 15-Justin Duty[5]; 5. 14-Glen Thompson[7]; 6. 14R-Jeff Roth[4]; 7. 21A-Nick Allen[10]; 8. 28M-Jake Miller[1]; 9. 4G-Bob Gardner[14]; 10. 26M-Brent McKinnon[11]; 11. 80-Rich Dawson[13]; 12. 31-Paul Stubber[9]; 13. 248-Brandon Lance[8]; 14. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[12]; 15. 30-Mark Voigt[16]; 16. 34-Herb Reich[15]
Consolation Race (10 Laps): 1. 80-Rich Dawson[2]; 2. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 3. 34-Herb Reich[1]; 4. 30-Mark Voigt[8]; 5. 4D-Doug Tye[5]; 6. T8-Tim Gauntt[3]; 7. 8-Dan Richardson[4]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin[7]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 3. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[4]; 4. 36-Logan Martin[3]; 5. 28M-Jake Miller[5]; 6. 15-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 31-Paul Stubber[6]; 8. 34-Herb Reich[9]; 9. 4D-Doug Tye[8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. F1-Payton Freeman[2]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[7]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum[6]; 5. 10-Paul Parker[8]; 6. 14G-Joe Godsey[3]; 7. 21A-Nick Allen[4]; 8. 80-Rich Dawson[9]; 9. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 3. 9R-Curtis Roberts[2]; 4. M27-Mike Provenzano[5]; 5. 77-Preston Luckman[4]; 6. 14-Glen Thompson[7]; 7. 26M-Brent McKinnon[6]; 8. T8-Tim Gauntt[8]; 9. 23NZ-Mick Quin[9]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 7-Drake Troutman[2]; 2. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 3. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 4. B12-Kevin Weaver[3]; 5. 14R-Jeff Roth[5]; 6. 248-Brandon Lance[8]; 7. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[7]; 8. 8-Dan Richardson[9]; 9. 30-Mark Voigt[6]
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[7]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[2]; 4. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 5. 28M-Jake Miller[9]; 6. 31-Paul Stubber[1]; 7. 15-Justin Duty[5]; 8. 4D-Doug Tye[4]; 9. 34-Herb Reich[8]
Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:15.638[5]; 2. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:15.856[3]; 3. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:15.987[9]; 4. 21A-Nick Allen, 00:16.183[4]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:16.190[1]; 6. 99-Hunt Gossum, 00:16.192[7]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:16.226[2]; 8. 10-Paul Parker, 00:16.291[6]; 9. 80-Rich Dawson, 00:16.463[8]
Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:15.858[6]; 2. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 00:16.217[8]; 3. 25-Jason Feger, 00:16.250[4]; 4. 77-Preston Luckman, 00:16.367[2]; 5. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:16.444[5]; 6. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:16.649[9]; 7. 14-Glen Thompson, 00:16.980[1]; 8. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:17.722[3]; 9. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:17.722[7]
Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:15.934[1]; 2. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:16.121[7]; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:16.347[6]; 4. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:16.435[4]; 5. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:16.648[2]; 6. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:16.761[8]; 7. 0-Deshawn Gingerich, 00:17.462[3]; 8. 248-Brandon Lance, 00:17.706[9]; 9. 8-Dan Richardson, 00:18.464[5]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:17.109[3]; 2. 31-Paul Stubber, 00:17.157[1]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:17.488[7]; 4. 36-Logan Martin, 00:17.521[2]; 5. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:17.778[6]; 6. 28M-Jake Miller, 00:17.910[9]; 7. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:18.339[4]; 8. 15-Justin Duty, 00:18.403[5]; 9. 34-Herb Reich, 00:18.556[8]
Hot Laps 2: 1. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:15.634[3]; 2. 21A-Nick Allen, 00:15.706[4]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:15.722[2]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:15.762[5]; 5. 80-Rich Dawson, 00:15.806[8]; 6. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:15.883[9]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:16.141[1]; 8. 99-Hunt Gossum, 00:16.391[7]; 9. 10-Paul Parker, 00:16.795[6]
Hot Laps 3: 1. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 00:15.010[8]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:15.552[6]; 3. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:15.673[9]; 4. 25-Jason Feger, 00:16.019[4]; 5. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:16.305[5]; 6. 14-Glen Thompson, 00:16.490[1]; 7. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:16.775[7]; 8. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:20.049[3]; 9. 77-Preston Luckman, 00:20.049[2]
Hot Laps 4: 1. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:14.922[1]; 2. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:15.488[4]; 3. 0-Deshawn Gingerich, 00:15.568[3]; 4. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:15.808[8]; 5. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:15.840[6]; 6. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:16.346[2]; 7. 8-Dan Richardson, 00:17.339[5]; 8. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:17.339[7]; 9. 248-Brandon Lance, 00:17.339[9]