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James Essex
CALVERT CITY, Ky. (March 7) - Jason Feger of Bloomington, IL scored the biggest win of his racing career on Saturday Night at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway as he captured the 40 lap-$7,500 to win Late Model Feature. Chad Kinder of Newton, IL took the lead with less than five laps to go to win the $2,000 Open Wheel Modified A-Main. The second night of March Madness again produced excellent track conditions as a large crowd of spectators was on hand under unseasonably warm and windy weather conditions.
Bill Moyer and Shannon Babb would make up the front row f the Late Model Feature as Moyer would get the jump on Babb grabbing the point heading into turn number one on the opening circuit. With one complete lap in the record books Steve Francis would bring out the first caution as he got sideways in turn two as he spun to a stop on the race track. Unfortunately for Francis his night was over as he exited his race car to check out the right front as his night would end on the back of a wrecker.
With the restart Moyer would be the leader on the Delaware double-file alignment with Babb, Feger, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Ray Cook the top five drivers after one lap. The top three would start to distance themselves from Heckenast and Cook who were having quite a race for fourth but most of the attention was up front where Moyer, Babb and Feger were putting on a show in the race for the lead.
Feger would pull even with Babb with eight laps scored and he would complete the pass a circuit later as the driver known as the "Highside Hustler" was living up to his nickname as he ran right along the wall that surrounds the race track. Feger then would set his sights on Moyer as lapped traffic was starting to play a role in the battle for the lead.
Moyer had to pass his son Billy Jr. putting him a lap down as Feger would go around the younger Moyer as well as he would now have plenty of race track to pass the elder Moyer. Feger would drive hard into turn number four and take the lead from Moyer, who came into the race with 702 career feature victories. While Moyer fell to second he now would have Babb hot on his heels as the top three were still keeping the fans on the edge of their seats in an ultra-exciting duel for the top spot.
With Feger's pass of Moyer on lap 15 to take over the lead the question would be now could Feger hang on the remaining distance with his pedal to the medal driving style? With 16 laps scored a caution for Jeff Larsson who got into the backstretch wall right in front of the leaders would momentarily halt the rapid fire action up front.
On the restart Feger would hold the lead with Moyer and Babb line dup side-by-side behind him. Moyer would get a good restart and clear Babb down the back shute but another caution would negate Moyer's pass. The next restart would see Babb maintain second in the running order and they would stay that way until the final caution would appear for Jason Riggs one lap shy of the halfway mark at lap 19.
With the green flag in place one more time Feger would see the crossed flags a lap later with Babb holding second followed by Moyer, Cook and Heckenast. The race for the lead would turn into a two-car tussle between Feger and Babb as Moyer was loosing ground the leaders over the last ten laps of the race.
Babb would try the inside several times on Feger, but Feger kept his line up against the wall even bumping the concrete a few times as he was maintaining his lead over Babb which was down to just one car length. As Moyer continued to fade he would slow dramatically on lap 35 pulling into the infield as his night came to an end.
Feger and Babb would race hard all the way to the checkers with Feger repelling Babb's effort keeping Babb at bay in what turned out to be a barn-burner of a race. Feger would hit his marks on the final lap and take his Bob Pierce Race Cars #25 entry to the finish line as the crowd rose to its feet at the finish as Feger would record the biggest win of his racing career. Babb finished a close second followed by Cook, Heckenast and Jeep VanWormer, Friday Night's winner.
Afterwards Feger was joined in victory lane by his crew and a throng of supporters including his car builder the Hall of Famer, Bob Pierce. "Man to win this race, I can't describe it, it feels so good, Shannon Babb is probably my all-time favorite driver and Billy Moyer, I grew up watching him race and to pass both of them and win this race, it is just an unbelievable feeling, I always felt I just needed some breaks go our way in some of these races and we were going to win some, but tonight the car was super fast from the start and I just wanted to keep it out of the wall, I think I hit it a few times, but it didn't hurt it any," said the 30-year-old driver who previous career watershed win was a $6,000 win at Macon, IL.
The win by Feger in his Pierce car also marked the biggest Late Model win for the Oakwood, IL based driver turned chassis builder. "Jason did a great job out there, we're working on a new shock deal with Advanced Racing Suspensions out of Indianapolis and man the car took off right from the get go, hopefully they'll be many more wins like this," said Pierce, who success in the open wheel modified ranks is well documented.
Feger's Mullvain Motorsports powered car is sponsored by LaBamba's, Campbell Construction, Mulligan's, Advance Building Systems, BSB Manufacturing, VP Racing Fuels, Absolute Apparel, Showtimesigns.net and Griffin Design Custom Helmets.
Babb back in his own equipment for 2009 had his best finish this year in his Petroff Towing/Dargie Race Engines/Rocket Monte Carlo SS with Cook continuing his solid early-season success by placing third in the D&R Motorsports/Hicks & Ingle Company General Contracting/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo SS. Heckenast, who was last year's WDRL Rookie of the Year ran a consistent race taking fourth in his Speedway Auto Parts and Wreckers/Pro Power Engines/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo SS and VanWormer concluded the weekend as the only driver to take two top five finishes as he crossed the line in fifth on Saturday Night to go with his Friday Night victory in his Bayline Fire Protection/Cornett Racing Engines/Rocket Ford Fusion.
Completing the top ten were Don O'Neal, Steve Casebolt, Justin Rattliff, Craig Smith and Jordan Bland. A total of 51 Late Models were on hand for the race
Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway-Calvert City, KY
Race Results
Saturday Night, March 7, 2009
1 25 Jason Feger Bloomington, IN $7,500
2 18 Shannon Babb Moweaqua, IL
3 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC
4 99 Frank Heckenast Jr Orland Park, IL
5 55 Jeep Van Wormer Pinconning, MI
6 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
7 c9 Steve Casebolt Richmond, IN
8 16 Justin Rattliff Campbellsville, KY
9 81 Craig Smith Godfrey, IL
10 12 Jordan Bland Campbellsville, KY
11 41 Brad Neat Dunnville, KY
12 02 Tommy Weder Woodward, OK
13 19J Greg Johnson Bedford, IN
14 21JR Billy Moyer Jr Batesville, AR
15 77 Jason McBride Carbondale, IL
16 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
17 81J Jason Riggs Harrisburg, IL
18 13 Brent Kreke O'Fallon, IL
19 1 Jon Henry Ada, OH
20 92B Billy Faust Highland, IL
21 B1 Jeff Larson Freeport, IL
22 28 Dennis Erb Jr Carpentersville, IL
23 32 Chris Simpson Oxford, IA
24 11 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
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