Jeep Wins at Tri-State

Contact: Kellen Burns
DIRTcar Public Relations
704-707-0218 / kburns@dirtcar.com

UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Race 7: Van Wormer Wins Thriller at Tri-State

June 21, 2009 - Dirt track fans certainly got their money's worth on Sunday night at Tri-State Speedway.

In a high speed rodeo that saw a plethora of lead changes Jeep Van Wormer ended the night as the preverbial "last man standing". The Pinconning, (Mich.) wheelman used his fourth starting spot and a very fast track to quickly garner third and then squeeze by leader Shannon Babb and Rodney Melvin as they were waging war for what was the top spot.

Van Wormer and Babb then traded a barrage of slide jobs out front. "That's fun when you can go out there and have a car that's competitive like that and you can race like that with somebody," said Van Wormer.

A lap 23 mishap caused Babb to slow on the front stretch. Van Wormer received damage from the incident but was able to remain at the point. "It was unfortunate because we had a pretty good battle going, swapping back and forth," said Van Wormer of Babb's troubles.

Van Wormer later held off charges from both Rodney Melvin and Randy Korte to claim his second win of the 2009 UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals.

"The car started to pick up a vibration late so I was just trying to do the best I could and stay in that line that had been working for me," he said. "I saw (Rodney) the lap prior to the white flag and I thought I've got to win this because we need it, so I held my line and it worked out for me."

Melvin settled for a close second, bouncing back from a DNF the night prior. Melvin and fellow Illinois native Randy Korte also swapped the runner up position throughout the feature. "About the last four or five laps the car kept getting better and better," remarked Melvin. "We just ran out of laps because I think I had a good enough car to get by Jeep."

Korte rounded out the weekend with another strong effort finishing third after a second place finish the night prior at Clarksville, (Tenn.) Speedway.

43 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Models set out to do battle Sunday night at Tri-State Speedway. The field was separated into five groups for qualifying time trails where Justin Ratliff, Derek Chandler, Rodney Melvin, Randy Korte, and overall quick time Donny Walden all claimed top honors in their individual groups.

Heat race action saw the best of UMP DIRTcar Late Model drivers get well acquainted with each other. Jeep Van Wormer nosed out defending "Hell Tour" champion Dennis Erb Jr. in heat race one while Shannon Babb outdistanced Jason Feger and Tim Lance to take a heat race two victory. Heat race three saw Rodney Melvin hold off Kevin Cole as well as current Summer Nationals point leader Kevin Weaver to claim the win.

Polesitter Randy Korte held off Terry Casey and Chad Zobrist in heat race four action while, heat race five featured the nights closest racing as Kevin Claycomb edged both Ryan Unzicker and Scott James at the line as the trio battled three wide out of turn four receiving the checkered flag.

A-Main Finish - 40 Laps

55 - Jeep Van Wormer
27 - Rodney Melvin
00 - Randy Korte
83 - Scott James
25 - Jason Feger
28 - Dennis Erb
B12 - Kevin Weaver
16k - Kevin Claycomb
3s - Brian Shirley
16c - Justin Ratliff
1w - Donny Walden
5s - Steve Sheppard Jr.
78 - Chad Zobrist
24 - Ryan Unzicker
18 - Shannon Babb
42 - Terry Casey
B5 - Brandon Sheppard
81 - Kevin Cole
48 - Tim Lance
1c - Duane Chamberlain
35 - Derek Chandler
6K - Michael Kloos

For more information on the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Tour fans can visit http://www.thehelltour.com