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Kellen Burns
PONTOON BEACH, Ill. (July 4) - Records are meant to be broken.
But when it comes to Billy Moyer, he doesn't just break records, he shatters them.
Moyer smashed the one-lap Super Late Model standard for the three-eighths-mile Tri-City Speedway in qualifying on Friday night, then backed it up by pulling off an memorable outside pass to win the 40-lap UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals A-Main.
The Batesville, Ark., legend's lap of 14.144 seconds during the 51-car group time-trial session reduced the existing track record of 14.526 seconds that had been held by Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill.
Things certainly didn't go all Moyer's way throughout the night, though. While he dominated the first heat from start-to-finish to emerge victorious, his Victory Circle M1 Chassis suffered a broken rearend as he crossed the finish line.
But that didn't phase the six-time UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion or his trustworthy crew.
"We were prepared to fix whatever happened to the car," said Moyer. "These guys, they knew what to do."
Moyer, 50, and crew made the necessary repairs and he lined up fifth in the A-Main. He then set out to prove he was the class of the field.
After the fifth of the race's seven caution flags flew on lap 13, Moyer dared to try the high side of the track and moved around Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and leader Steidinger to take command. Another caution flag for a spin by Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., negated the move, however, relegating Moyer back to third.
Moyer slid by Erb for second on the ensuing restart and went to work on Steidinger. With his No. 21 perched on the cushion, Moyer drove by Steidinger and a lapped car on lap 21 to assume command for good.
"The track has some slick spots and some rough spots there in the beginning," said Moyer, who earned $10,000 for his second Summer Nationals RacingJunk.com Victory Lane visit of 2008 and his alltime tour-best 64th career win. "I just let the car work where it needed to. I just kind of waited for the right time to make the move."
Erb, the defending Summer Nationals champion and current points leader, settled for a runner-up finish.
"We went a little hard on tires and it took awhile for me to get going," said Erb. "Once we had a good long green run we were running good."
Erb took some positives from the night as he padded his Summer Nationals points lead over Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who finished eighth, heading into the final week of tour competition. He doesn't want to leave anything to chance, though.
"It's so hard the way the points are," said Erb. "The biggest thing is just to keep finishing good and running up in the front. Hopefully it will work out."
Steidinger finished third after leading early in the main event. Like Erb, he felt as if tires were the biggest factor in the outcome of the race.
"I had soft tires on and I'm pretty sure (Moyer and Erb) were on harder tires," said Steidinger. "I tried to save my tires there on the bottom, but it got to a point where I was struggling too bad down there in three and four so I tried to move up and change my line to get better."
The optimistic young hotshoe, whose hometrack, Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway, is the next stop on tour, kept climbing the proverbial ladder with another strong finish.
"We'll take third," said Steidinger. "That's not too bad with the kind of guys who showed up tonight."
Wendell Wallace of Batesville, Ark., finished fourth from the ninth starting spot and Darren Miller of Milledgeville, Ill., placed fifth.
The 51-car field for the event was the largest of the 2008 Summer Nationals.
Heat winners were Moyer, Erb, Steidinger, Shirley and Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich. Kyle Steffens of St. Charles, Mo., and Billy Faust of Lebanon, Ill., captured the C-Mains, and Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., topped the B-Main.
The Summer Nationals continues on Saturday night (July 5) with a $10,000-to-win event at Fairbury American Legion Speedway.
For more info on the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals, visit www.dirtcar.com.
UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature Finish (40 laps):
1. Billy Moyer
2. Dennis Erb Jr.
3. Wes Steidinger
4. Wendell Wallace
5. Darren Miller
6. Jeep VanWormer
7. Kevin Weaver
8. Brian Shirley
9. Ryan Unzicker
10. Randy Korte
11. Steve Sheppard Jr.
12. Jesse Stovall
13. Rodney Melvin
14. Billy Laycock
15. Jason McBride
16. Will Vaught
17. Jason Feger
18. Jordan Bland
19. Brent Kreke
20. Mark Voigt
21. Brian Birkhofer
22. Don O'Neal
23. Billy Faust
First C-Main Finish: Kyle Steffens, Tim Lance, Brian Wolfmeier, Steve Unterbrink, Dick Taylor, Bruce Unterbrink, Matt Weidner, Mike Schulte, Steve Sheppard Jr.
Second C-Main Finish: Billy Faust, Bryan Collins, Kevin Weaver, Jeff Beyers, John Seets, Craig Smith, Mike Hammerle, Don Cisco III, Brandon Sheppard, Dan Jacober, Rick Rhodes
B-Main Finish: Ryan Unzicker, Billy Laycock, Jason Feger, Mark Voigt, Tim Lance, Mark Oller, Kevin Weaver, Mark Burgtorf, Claude Walker, Cory Daugherty, Michael Kloos, Billy Faust, Kyle Steffens (DNS) Randy Korte
Unofficial UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Points Standings (after 15 events)
1. Dennis Erb Jr. 1,176
2. Brian Shirley 1,149
3. Wes Steidinger 1,031
4. Jeep Van Wormer 995
5. Will Vaught 947
6. Randy Korte 916
7. Steve Sheppard Jr. 861
8. Jason Feger 669
9. Darren Miller 655
10. Kevin Weaver 628
2008 UMP DIRTcar Racing Summer Nationals Schedule (Date/Day/Track/Location/To Win/Winner - Car Count):
June 12 - Thurs. - Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway/Calvert City, KY - $7,500 (Brad Neat - 40)
June 13 - Fri. - Brownstown (IN) Speedway - $10,000 (Rain - postponed to July 11)
June 14 - Sat. - Kamp Motor Speedway/Boswell, IN - $10,000 (Wes Steidinger - 36)
June 15 - Sun. - Tri-State Speedway/Haubstadt, IN - $6,000 (Dennis Erb Jr. - 39)
June 16 - Mon - OFF
June 17 - Tues. - Highland Speedway/Highland, IL - $6,000 (Terry English - 47)
June 18 - Wed. - Belle Clair Speedway/Belleville, IL - $6,000 (Will Vaught - 41)
June 19 - Thurs. - I-57/I-64 Raceway/Mt. Vernon, IL - $6,000 (Darren Miller - 37)
June 20 - Fri. - Farmer City Raceway/Farmer City, IL - $10,000 (Darren Miller - 50)
June 21 - Sat. - I-55 Raceway/Pevely, MO - $10,000 (CANCELED - flooding)
June 22 - Sun. - Vermilion Co. Speedway/Danville, IL - $6,000 (Jeep VanWormer - 43)
June 23 - Mon. - OFF
June 24 - Tue. - Sedalia State Fair Speedway/Sedalia, MO - $6,000 (Brian Shirley - 27)
June 25 - Wed. - Lake Ozark Speedway/Eldon, MO - $6,000 (Billy Moyer - 31)
June 26 - Thurs. - Paducah Int'l Raceway/Paducah, KY - $6,000 (Kevin Claycomb - 35)
June 27 - Fri. - Lawrenceburg Speedway/Lawrenceburg, IN - $10,000 (Dennis Erb Jr. - 36)
June 28 - Sat. - Clarksville Speedway/Clarksville, TN - $10,000 (Rain - postponed to July 19)
June 29 - Sun. - Lincoln Speedway/Lincoln, IL - $6,000 (Brian Shirley - 46)
June 30 - Mon. - OFF
July 1 - Tue. - Peoria Speedway/Peoria, IL - $6,000 (Jeep VanWormer - 40)
July 2 - Wed. - Morgan Co. Speedway/Jacksonville, IL - $6,000 (Rain - postponed to Aug. 15)
July 3 - Thurs. - Macon Speedway/Macon, IL - $6,000 (Rain - postponed to Aug. 16)
July 4 - Fri. - Tri-City Speedway/Pontoon Beach, IL - $10,000 (Billy Moyer - 51)
July 5 - Sat. - Fairbury American Legion Speedway/Fairbury, IL -$10,000
July 6 - Sun. - Quad City Raceway/East Moline, IL - $6,000
July 7 - Mon. - OFF
July 8 - Tue. - Quincy (IL) Speedway - $6,000
July 9 - Wed. - Spoon River Speedway/Canton, IL - $6,000
July 10 - Thurs. - La Salle Speedway/La Salle, IL - $6,000
July 11 - Fri. - Brownstown (IN) Speedway - $10,000 (Rescheduled date)
July 12 - Sat. - Oakshade Raceway/Wauseon, OH - $10,000
July 19 - Sat. - Clarksville Speedway/Clarksville, TN - $10,000 (Rescheduled date)
Aug. 15 - Fri. - Morgan Co. Speedway/Jacksonville, IL - $6,000 (Rescheduled date)
Aug. 16 - Sat. - Macon Speedway/Macon, IL - $6,000 (Rescheduled date)
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