Jeep Van Wormer
Mike Harrison
Ryan Eilers
Bob Zbinden
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UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Race 16: Van Wormer Dominates Highland
Highland, IL — July 1, 2009 – A night after playing runner up, Jeep Van Wormer said no more as he cruised to the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals win at Highland (Ill.) Speedway Wednesday night.
The Pinconning, Mich., driver used his pole position starting spot for the 40-lap race to jump to an early lead over local competitors Mark Faust and Mark Voigt.
“We had a good car even in our heat race,” explained Van Wormer who swept all three parts of the evening’s program in which he was involved. “It was a tough call on tires tonight so we were jumping back and forth; we finally found the right combination.”
The win was Van Wormer’s third on the 2009 “Hell Tour”, all three of which have come on tracks a quarter-mile in size. “The car was perfect, honestly it was just amazing,” Van Wormer said. “It’s really good just to go out there and concentrate on winning races.”
Track regular Mark Faust held off a multiple attempts by the likes of Rodney Melvin and Mark Voigt to capture second place during his only UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals appearance to date.
“We were happy with starting in front because it would have been really tough if we would have had to come from any further back,” Faust said. “There aren’t any slouches in a UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals field that’s for sure.”
Mark Voigt claimed the third spot, his best “Hell Tour” finish of 2009. “Once things started going we were alright because the car was really good, it just took it awhile to get going,” said Voigt. “We’ll take it, I’m not complaining.”
Rodney Melvin of Logan, Ill., was fourth and defending “Hell Tour” champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., finished fifth.
Heat 1:
1. Mark Voigt
2. Rodney Melvin
3. Brandon Sheppard
4. Donny Walden
5. Duane Chamberlain
6. Matt Weidner
7. Rick Salter
8. John Beck
9. Kerry Gaultney
10. Scott Schmitt
Heat 2:
1. Mark Faust
2. Rusty Schlenk
3. Tim Manville
4. Rick Standridge
5. Paul Bailey
6. Mike Hammerle
7. Brent Kreke
8. Mike Jacober
9. Brent Helmkamp
DNS. Randy Korte
Heat 3:
1. Shannon Babb
2. Ryan Unzicker
3. Kevin Weaver
4. Frank Heckenast Jr.
5. Jason Feger
6. Kevin Cole
7. Mike Schulte
8. Brian Beilong
9. Clay Baumann
10. Lenny Garson
Heat 4:
1. Jeep Van Wormer
2. Dennis Erb Jr.
3. Chad Zobrist
4. Steve Leach
5. Randy Bingham
6. Michael Kloos
7. Steve Sheppard Jr.
8. Bryant Dickinson
DNS. Derek Chandler
C Main:
1. Rick Salter
2. Clay Baumann
3. Mike Jacober
4. Scott Schmitt
5. Kerry Gaultney
6. Lenny Garson
7. Brent Helmkamp
8. Randy Korte
B Main:
1. Duane Chamberlain
2. Jason Feger
3. Mike Hammerle
4. Paul Bailey
5. Kevin Cole
6. John Beck
7. Randy Bingham
8. Brent Kreke
9. Clay Baumann
10. Mike Schulte
11. Matt Weidner
12. Rick Salter
13. Scott Schmitt
14. Mike Jacober
15. Bryant Dickinson
Feature:
1. Jeep Van Wormer
2. Mark Faust
3. Mark Voigt
4. Rodney Melvin
5. Dennis Erb Jr.
6. Randy Korte
7. Shannon Babb
8. Ryan Unzicker
9. Kevin Weaver
10. Rusty Schlenk
11. Chad Zobrist
12. Jason Feger
13. Duane Chamberlain
14. Frank Heckenast Jr.
15. Brandon Sheppard
16. Paul Bailey
17. Donny Walden
18. Rick Standridge
19. Michael Kloos
20. Tim Manville
21. Steve Leach
That left twelve cars on the track to restart the feature with Harrison and Steve Ellison on the front row. Ellison took the lead early using the low side while Harrison rim rode around the top. Ellison led the first seven laps before Harrison finally got the advantage on the top side. Harrison kept a smooth line around the top and although Ellison kept it close, he was unable to make the bottom side work to retake the lead. Harrison went on to victory with Ellison taking second. Bobby Bittle would finish in the third spot with Dean Hoffman taking the fourth spot after starting shotgun on the field. Brett Korves completed the top five.
The UMP Sportsman division saw an all Eilers front row as Ryan Eilers started on the pole with Russell Eilers starting on the outside. It was Ryan getting the advantage at the drop of the green flag and he led the entire main event by running the low side. Russell kept his machine up on the high side but couldn’t find the needed traction to make a move for the lead. Ryan Eilers took the win with Russell Eilers finishing second. Jimmy Cummins took the third spot with Adam Haas finishing fourth. Dustin Knerrer made a last lap pass on Tom Seets to take the fifth spot.
Bob Zbinden started on the front row of the Factory Stock main event and paced every lap of the main event to pick up the victory.
Steve Schmitt Modified – Heat 1
Finish Car No Driver
1 24 Mike Harrison
2 1 Tommie Seets, Jr
3 3E Robbie Eilers
4 0 Tim Hancock
5 89X Mike Spatola
6 42 Steve Lach
7 75 Eric Faust
Steve Schmitt Modified – Heat 2
Finish Car No Driver
1 44 Jim Werner, Jr
2 64 Gary Cook, Jr
3 28 Mike Haas
4 89B Bobby Bittle
5 C12 Jeff Curl
6 25 Brett Korves
7 1D Dean Hoffman
Steve Schmitt Modified – Heat 3
Finish Car No Driver
1 155 Chris Smith
2 0 0 Steve Ellison
3 71 Tyler Deibert
4 X13 Paul Becker
5 76 Eric Goetter
6 13 Aaron Kleine
Steve Schmitt Modified – Feature
Finish Car No Driver
1 24 Mike Harrison
2 0 0 Steve Ellison
3 89B Bobby Bittle
4 1D Dean Hoffman
5 25 Brett Korves
6 42 Steve Lach
7 89X Mike Spatola
8 13 Aaron Kleine
9 75 Eric Faust
10 X13 Paul Becker
11 76 Eric Goetter
12 44 Jim Werner, Jr
13 155 Chris Smith
14 1 Tommie Seets, Jr
15 4 Gary Cook, Jr
16 3E Robbie Eilers
17 28 Mike Haas
18 71 Tyler Deibert
19 0 Tim Hancock
20 C12 Jeff Curl
UMP Sportsman – Heat 1
Finish Car No Driver
1 3 Ryan Eilers
2 28 Allan Geiseking
3 92J Rick Johnson
4 15H Tom Seets, Sr
5 14 Stu Springer
6 84 Corey Ford
UMP Sportsman – Heat 2
Finish Car No Driver
1 8E Russell Eilers
2 20 Jimmy Miller
3 19 Jimmy Cummins
4 99K Dustin Knerrer
5 28J Bert Jacoby
6 88 Rob Lee
UMP Sportsman – Heat 3
Finish Car No Driver
1 27 Adam Haas
2 56B Jim Lafferty
3 23B Mark Bohnenstiehl
4 27E Tory Ernst
5 87 Gary Haynes
6 57 Brandon Hogenson
7 441 Aaron Melton
UMP Sportsman – Feature
Finish Car No Driver
1 3 Ryan Eilers
2 8E Russell Eilers
3 19 Jimmy Cummins
4 27 Adam Haas
5 99K Dustin Knerrer
6 15H Tom Seets, Sr
7 23B Mark Bohnenstiehl
8 56B Jim Lafferty
9 87 Gary Haynes
10 441 Aaron Melton
11 88 Rob Lee
12 14 Stu Springer
13 27E Tory Ernst
14 57 Brandon Hogenson
15 20 Jimmy Miller
16 28J Bert Jacoby
17 28 Allan Geiseking
18 92J Rick Johnson
19 84 Corey Ford
UMP Factory Stock – Heat 1
Finish Car No Driver
1 26 Jordan Suhre
2 2X Aaron Wood
3 WH02 Eldon Hemken
4 11 Joe Swip
5 13 Matt hamblin
6 9X Trevor Isaak
7 11K Kyle Swip
8 71 Jimmy Bone, Jr
9 40T Tom Eilers
10 0 0 Ryan Emig BF
UMP Factory Stock – Heat 2
Finish Car No Driver
1 99 Bob Zbinden
2 77 Chad Burgess
3 50 Josh James
4 6 Austin Isaak
5 52 Nick Knebel
6 12 Sean Denison
7 22 Eddie Sterns
8 15 Jeremy Izard
9 81 Scott Egbert
UMP Factory Stock – Heat 3
Finish Car No Driver
1 24 Jason Suhre
2 18R Rob Shaw
3 77D Charlie Durbin
4 0 7 Jason Schmidt
5 7B Dale Bohnenstiehl
6 20 Tracy VonRohr
7 18J Justin Shaw
8 9T Travis Horner
9 39 Bobby Funderburk
UMP Factory Stock – Consi
Finish Car No Driver
1 12 Sean Denison
2 18J Justin Shaw
3 9X Trevor Isaak
4 20 Tracy VonRohr
5 22 Eddie Sterns
6 15 Jeremy Izard
7 39 Bobby Funderburk
8 9T Travis Horner
9 0 0 Ryan Emig
10 40T Tom Eilers
11 71 Jimmy Bone, Jr
12 11K Kyle Swip
13 81 Scott Egbert
UMP Factory Stock – Feature
Finish Car No Driver
1 99 Bob Zbinden
2 24 Jason Suhre
3 26 Jordan Suhre
4 2X Aaron Wood
5 18R Rob Shaw
6 13 Matt Hamblin
7 77 Chad Burgess
8 WH02 Eldon Hemken
9 50 Josh James
10 77D Charlie Durbin
11 18J Justin Shaw
12 11 Joe Swip
13 12 Sean Denison
14 0 7 Jason Schmidt
15 52 Nick Knebel
16 6 Austin Isaak
17 7B Dale Bohnenstiehl
18 20 Tracy VonRohr
19 22 Eddie Sterns
20 9X Trevor Issak