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Kellen Burns
ROSSBURG, Ohio (October 10) - Dennis Erb Jr. is becoming quite fond of Eldora Speedway.
The three-time and reigning UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion blistered the high-banked half-mile oval on his way to his second consecutive Pak-A-Sak UMP DIRTcar Nationals Super Late Model victory on Saturday night.
Erb, 36, of Carpentersville, Ill. started outside row two in the 40-lap A-Main but quickly garnered the second spot behind early leader Scott James of Bright, Ind. Erb inherited the lead on lap seven when James was forced pitside for a mechanical issue and then never looked back.
"We were rolling around there pretty good," said Erb, who turns 37 on Oct. 12. "I was trying to just float over those bumps out there."
Erb proceeded to drive his car out to over a half-straightaway lead as he made quick work of lapped traffic en route to the $5,000-to-win triumph.
"It feels good to come here and win this two years in a row," said Erb. "The car just worked awesome. I have to thank everyone that has helped me and everyone for sticking this one out."
Erb was followed to the line by Frank Heckenast of Orland Park, Ill., who scored a career-best finish in the event. Chad Ruhlman of Benus Point, N.Y., was third, followed by Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., and Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio.
Newly-crowned UMP DIRTcar Late Model national Super Late Model champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., had a strong run going through the early part of the feature but saw a flat right-rear tire take him out of competition while running third. He finished 20th.
Feger, 31, posted a career year in the UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model ranks, winning 22 features, earning a third-place points finish in the month long UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals tour (his best to date) and also registering his first career World of Outlaws Late Model Series win at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wis. He clinched the UMP DIRTcar national crown before even arriving for the points-season-ending event at Eldora.
Ohio native Jeff Babcock used a second-place starting spot to quickly take command of the UMP DIRTcar Modified feature and continued on to cop the 25-lap Nationals event.
Babcock never relinquished the lead throughout the A-Main. He outdistanced hard-charging Bryan Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich., who advanced from his 11th-place starting spot to second within the first five laps of the headliner.
"It feels really good to win this," Babcock said. "I was really just trying to keep it off the wall because I thought there was probably someone all over me."
Brian Ruhlman settled for second place, followed by Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., and Scott Orr of Columbia City, Ind.
Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Ill., who officially claimed his first-ever UMP DIRTcar national Modified points championship on Saturday, through the field to a top-10 running spot until mechanical woes on lap 11 sent him to the sidelines.
Despite the misfortune, Cook was excited to end his run to the championship.
"It was fun to be here and not have to worry about gaining any points," he said. "It does feel good to be a national champion, but I'm also glad it's over.
"I've had to dedicate my entire season to this," he said of his title pursuit. "I've had to pass up bigger money to run for points, but next year we're going to hit the big shows and have some fun."
Just over 170 of UMP DIRTcar Racing's best rolled through the pit gates at the famed Eldora Speedway.
Fifth-six UMP DIRTcar Late Models were signed in for time trials, which saw Feger back up his new title with a quick lap of 15.250 seconds - just thirty-five one-hundredths of a second off the Late Model track record.
Brian Ruhlman was the best of the 115-car UMP DIRTcar Modified field with a fast lap of 17.377 seconds - just over one-tenth of a second off the division's track record. He also collected an extra $1,000 from Larry Shaw Race Cars for his effort.
The UMP DIRTcar Nationals were scheduled as a two-day show, but rain on Friday forced officials to run the entire program on Saturday.
For more information on UMP DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
DIRTcar Late Models Feature Finish: (40 Laps)
Position/Driver/Started
1. Dennis Erb Jr. [4]
2. Frank Heckenast [5]
3. Chad Ruhlman [3]
4. Rusty Schlenk [1]
5. Matt Miller [12]
6. Brian Ruhlman [13]
7. Randy Korte [24]
8. Jared Landers [8]
9. Jeep Van Wormer [16]
10. Donnie Moran [9]
11. Jerry Bowersock [14]
12. Rick DeLong [7]
13. John Mason [15]
14. Jason McBride [22]
15. Austin Dillon [18]
16. Kevin Cole [17]
17. Casey Noonan [27]
18. Dona Marcoullier [20]
19. Ryan VanderVeen [26]
20. Jason Feger [6]
21. Andrew Reaume [11]
22. Jon Henry [25]
23. Wayne Chinn [10]
24. Scott James [2]
25. Dusty Moore [19]
26. Mike Mataragas [23]
27. Chris Ross [28]
28. Terry English [21]
Heat 1 Finish:
1. Jason Feger[4] 2. Rick DeLong[1] 3. Brian Ruhlman[3] 4. Dusty Moore[5] 5. Andrew Sprague[10] 6. Corey Bevard[7] 7. Don Gordon[9] 8. Cody Huston[8] 9. Brandon Thirlby[6] 10. Jerry Rice[-]
Heat 2 Finish:
1. Chad Ruhlman[1] 2. Jared Landers[4] 3. Jerry Bowersock[2] 4. Jason McBride[6] 5. Casey Noonan[5] 6. Jason Riggs[7] 7. Scott Baker[8] 8. Terry Sroufe[9] 9. Jordan Bland[3] 10. Bill Lewis[-]
Heat 3 Finish:
1. Rusty Schlenk[2] 2. Donnie Moran[4] 3. John Mason[3] 4. Dona Marcoullier[1] 5. Adam Thrush[5] 6. Jayme Zidar[7] 7. Tom Treon[6] 8. Richard Neiser[-] 9. Brad Eitniear[-]
Heat 4 Finish:
1. Dennis Erb Jr.[3] 2. Wayne Chinn[2] 3. Jeep Van Wormer[4] 4. Mike Mataragas[5] 5. Shawn Negangard[6] 6. Greg Haskell[9] 7. Ben Adkins[1] 8. Ted Loomis Jr.[8] 9. Dave Hilliker[7]
Heat 5 Finish:
1. Frank Heckenast[2] 2. Andrew Reaume[1] 3. Kevin Cole[3] 4. Terry English[5] 5. Jon Henry[9] 6. Ken Hahn[6] 7. Brent Colby[7] 8. Gregory Cooper[8] 9. Randy Korte[4]
Heat 6 Finish:
1. Scott James[2] 2. Matt Miller[1] 3. Austin Dillon[4] 4. Chris Ross[3] 5. Ryan VanderVeen[7] 6. Tanner English[6] 7. Donnie Marcoullier[8] 8. Dale Sheehy[9] 9. Lee Thomason[5]
B Main 1 Finish:
1. Dusty Moore[1] 2. Jason McBride[2] 3. Casey Noonan[4] 4. Andrew Sprague[3] 5. Terry Sroufe[12] 6. Scott Baker[8] 7. Cody Huston[9] 8. Don Gordon[7] 9. Jason Riggs[6] 10. Corey Bevard[5] 11. Jordan Bland[-] 12. Brandon Thirlby[-] 13. Jerry Rice[-] 14. Bill Lewis[-]
B Main 2 Finish:
1. Dona Marcoullier[1] 2. Mike Mataragas[2] 3. Adam Thrush[3] 4. Shawn Negangard[4] 5. Jayme Zidar[5] 6. Tom Treon[7] 7. Greg Haskell[6] 8. Ben Adkins[-] 9. Richard Neiser[-] 10. Ted Loomis Jr.[-] 11. Brad Eitniear[-] 12. Dave Hilliker[-]
B Main 3 Finish:
1. Terry English[12] 2. Randy Korte[11] 3. Jon Henry[3] 4. Ryan VanderVeen[4] 5. Tanner English[6] 6. Chris Ross[2] 7. Ken Hahn[5] 8. Donnie Marcoullier[8] 9. Lee Thomason[12] 10. Dale Sheehy[10] 11. Brent Colby[7] 12. Gregory Cooper[9]
Race of Champions Finish:
1. Dennis Erb Jr.[2] 2. Jason Feger[1] 3. Randy Korte[3] 4. Frank Heckenast[4] 5. Rusty Schlenk[5] 6. Jon Henry[7] 7. Ryan VanderVeen[6]
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