BANNER, Ill. (July 12) — Ryan Unzicker found Spoon River Speedway’s sweet spot faster than anyone else, and it gave him a victory that was oh so sweet.

Blasting to the front as the inside lane picked up speed, Unzicker overtook Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., with 13 laps remaining at the 3/8-mile oval and raced to his first career UMP DIRTcar Summernationals victory worth $5,000. | Complete Summernationals coverage

“I knew we were going to get it sooner or later, I just didn’t know when,” said the 28-year-old El Paso, Ill., driver. “We actually struggled all night tonight until the feature. We just kept tuning on it. Actually it wasn’t even very good at the beginning of the feature. I just adjusted on the brakes a little bit, found the right line that worked for the car. Once I found it, it took off.”

The seventh-starting Unzicker burst upon a Jason Feger-Jack Sullivan battle for the lead early in the second half of the race, gaining ground on the hub while Feger worked the high side and Sullivan the middle groove in a lead-swapping battle.

Unzicker took second from Feger on the 26th lap, hit the start-finish line at a near dead heat with Sullivan on lap 27, then roared away on lap 29 when Sullivan slipped over the banking exiting turn two after the frontrunners made contact.

Unzicker had a full-straightaway lead by the 33rd lap and cruised the rest of the way while Tim Lance of Brimfield, Ill., who ran second early, raced back to the runner-up spot. Feger, the series points leader from Bloomington, Ill., was third, followed by polesitter Jeep Van Wormer of Pinconning, who slipped back to eighth early in the feature before rallying. Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., was fifth and Sullivan ended up sixth.

Feger started outside the front row and built a half-straightaway lead in the first five laps with Lance and Babb in pursuit. Babb and Sullivan dropped Lance to third by the eighth lap and Sullivan was up to the second spot four laps later.

Sullivan began to reel in Feger before the race’s lone caution appeared for Billy Moyer Jr. on the 18th lap, just after a fifth-running Unzicker got briefly sideways on the frontstretch while battling Babb and the lapped car of Brad Denney.

Feger led the field back to green and Sullivan quickly moved up to challenge, running the middle of the track and edging ahead to lead the 23rd lap. Sullivan slid in front of Feger in turn two on consecutive laps with Feger diving back underneath Sullivan in turn three. When Sullivan had to check up as Feger awkwardly slid back in front the second time in turn four, Unzicker was suddenly right in the mix.

Feger’s high line was giving up, leaving the mid-running Sullivan and low-running Unzicker to battle it out up front. After a few side-by-side laps, Unzicker edged ahead on lap 28 but the frontrunners made contact in turn one and Sullivan briefly lost control, sliding over the banking exiting turn two. Unzicker zipped away while Sullivan fell back to sixth before getting back in the racing groove.

“I don’t think he meant to, but I ain’t happy about it. It is what it is,” Sullivan said. “It knocked the steering wheel out of my hands, and by the time I gathered it up, I was sixth.”

“I definitely got into Jack just a hair, but he had a little bit tighter race car than I did,” Unzicker said. "I knew when Jason and Jack were battling side by side, I had a better car than they did. I tried to be as patient as I could. I saw Jack push a little bit, got up underneath of him. I probably should’ve given him another lap or two, but I saw that opportunity, and I ended up taking it.”

Unzicker stretched his lead to a full straightaway by the 33rd lap and cruised the final seven laps.

Feger extended his points lead to 55 over three-time and reigning series champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., who finished 10th. Feger’s unofficial points total is 1,583 followed by Erb (1,528), Babb (1,523) and Van Wormer (1,517). Twenty-four series races at complete and four events remain, starting with Tuesday's $5,000-to-win race at nearby Peoria (Ill.) Speedway.

Notes: Unzicker’s MasterSbilt Race Car has a Rhyne Competition Engine and sponsorship from Pro Tire and Automotive, RJR Transportation and Schumacher’s Tyre Service. ... Unzicker’s previous best finish on the 2010 series was second at Farmer City on June 25. ... Tim Lance’s runner-up performance was his best-ever Summernationals finish. ... Nineteen of 24 starters were running at the finish. ... Bobby Pierce won the night’s UMP Crate Late Model feature.