Dirt on Dirt - English overcomes flat to win $10,000 at Paducah

July 5

Paducah International Raceway,

Paducah, KY

Sanction: DIRTcar Summer Nationals - $10,000

Information provided by: Series and track reports (last updated July 6, 11:04 am)

English overcomes flat to win $10,000 at Paducah

Tanner English
Joe Chalmers
Clay Stuckey
Jason Feger
Dillon McCowan
Daniel Adam
Mark Voigt
Paul Stubber
Tyler Clem
Rodney Melvin
Jeff Herzog
Carson Brown
Christian Hanger
Dylan Thompson
Thomas Hunziker
Ronnie Cooper
David Breazeale
Charlie Cole
Ethan Dotson
Tony Cruse

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Tanner English celebrates at his longtime home track.

What won the race: Overcoming an early-race flat and regaining the lead when deflating tires knocked Jason Feger and then Tyler Clem out of the lead, second-starting Tanner English of nearby Benton, Ky., led the closing laps of Friday's $10,000 DIRTcar Summer Nationals event at Paducah International Raceway. English led 15 laps (1-12, 38-40) en route to earning his second Hell Tour victory of the season and the sixth of his career.

Quotable: "This is awesome, you know. To do it in front of this crowd, you know, means a lot to me and my car owner Brett's here, and just everybody's here. It's awesome," English said. “It’s been a long time coming to win a big race here. Like I won some World 50s, some $10,000-to-wins, but the Summer Nationals, it’s something special. It may not be the biggest win, may not be the most competition here, but it means a lot to me.”

Key notes: English's six career Summer Nationals victories are one more than his father Terry. ... English pitted with a flat tire during the fourth caution following a multicar melee on a lap-13 restart attempt. He resumed control once Clem, who never officially led a lap, also slowed with a flat on a lap-38 restart attempt. Clem attempted to return after changing his tire only to tangle with Jason Feger before calling it a night. ... Feger led laps 13-37 before pulling off under the sixth caution with a deflated right-rear. He rebounded to battle for fifth before spinning with Clem on lap 38, drawing the race's eighth and final stoppage. Feger used the three-lap dash to grab fourth from Dillon McCowan and has assumed the overall points lead. ... Australian Late Model champ Joe Chalmers outdueled Clay Stuckey on the late-race restart, taking the runner-up spot and finishing 1.506 seconds behind English, recording his career-best stateside finish. ... McCowan recovered to finish fifth after pitting under the lap-13 caution along with English. ... Paul Stubber, who owns the Chalmers entry, made a rare start and finished eighth. ... Rodney Melvin, winner of Thursday's $5,000 16th round at Riverside International Speedway, slowed from third with a flat right-rear to bring out the sixth yellow flag on lap 37. ... Dylan Thompson and Thomas Hunziker were the two most heavily involved in the lap-13 restart crash when Thompson spun from fourth and clipped Hunziker, nearly sending him up the frontstretch wall and over. Hunziker called a night while Thompson completed two more laps before pulling off. ... The 40-lapper lasted 40 minutes with six drivers completing the distance. ... Ashton Winger (broken brake line) scratched from the feature along with Wyatt Cox and Jeremy Anderson.

On the move: Clay Stuckey of Shreveport, La., started 20th and finished third.

Winner's sponsors: English’s Brett Coltman-owned Longhorn Chassis carries sponsorship from Coltman Farms Racing, Autism Awareness, Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett, ProFabrication, MPM Marketing, M&M Painting & Construction, C Motors, DirtCarLift.com, Boswell Oil, VP Racing Fuels, SRI Performance, Swift Springs and Bilstein Shocks.

Points chase: Week 4 points after Paducah: 1. Tanner English (225); 2. Rodney Melvin (197); 3. Dillon McCowan (180); 4. Ethan Dotson (177); 5. Joe Chalmers (172). Overall points after Paducah: 1. Jason Feger (1,005); 2. Tyler Erb (975); 3. Dillon McCowan (901); 4. Tanner English (811); 5. Tyler Clem (804).

Current weather: Clear, 81°F

Car count: 23

Fast qualifier: Rodney Melvin

Time: 15.326 seconds

Polesitter: Jeff Herzog

Heat race winners: Rodney Melvin, Jeff Herzog, Tanner English

Next series race: July 6, Clarksville Speedway (Clarksville, TN) $10,000

Editor's note: Results and race details are unofficial.

From staff reports

PADUCAH, Ky. (July 5) — Updates and results from Friday’s 17th round of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Paducah International Raceway, an event highlighted by a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win feature for Super Late Models (results unofficial):

Feature

Overcoming an early-race flat and regaining the lead when deflating tires knocked Jason Feger and then Tyler Clem out of the lead, second-starting Tanner English of nearby Benton, Ky., led the closing laps of Friday's $10,000 DIRTcar Summer Nationals event at Paducah International Raceway. English led 15 laps (1-12, 38-40) en route to earning his second Hell Tour victory of the season and the sixth of his career. English pitted with a flat tire during the fourth caution following a multicar melee on a lap-13 restart attempt. He resumed control once Clem, who never officially led a lap after previous leader Jason Feger pitted with a flat tire, also slowed with an apparently deflating tire on a lap-38 restart attempt.

Feature lineup

(40 laps)

Row 1: Jeff Herzog, Tanner English
Row 2: Rodney Melvin, Dylan Thompson
Row 3: Ethan Dotson, Jason Feger
Row 4: Christian Hanger, Daniel Adam
Row 5: Dillon McCowan, Carson Brown
Row 6: Thomas Hunziker, David Breazeale
Row 7: Joe Chalmers, Paul Stubber
Row 8: Mark Voigt, Tyler Clem
Row 9: Ronnie Cooper, Wyatt Cox
Row 10: Ashton Winger, Clay Stuckey
Row 11: Tony Cruse, Charlie Cole
Row 12: Jeremy Anderson

Heat race results

(Eight laps; all transfer)

First heat: Rodney Melvin, Dylan Thompson, Christian Hanger, Carson Brown, Joe Chalmers, Tyler Clem, Ashton Winger. Scratched: Charlie Cole

Second heat: Jeff Herzog, Ethan Dotson, Daniel Adam, Thomas Hunziker, Paul Stubber, Ronnie Cooper, Clay Stuckey. Scratched: Jeremy Anderson

Third heat: Tanner English, Jason Feger, Dillon McCowan, David Breazeale, Mark Voigt, Wyatt Cox, Tony Cruse.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Rodney Melvin (27m), Benton, Ill., 15.326
2. Dylan Thompson (99), Paducah, Ky., 15.347
3. Ashton Winger (12), Hampton, Ga., 15.361
4. Christian Hanger (29), Winchester, Tenn., 15.532
5. Carson Brown (28B), New London, N.C., 15.616
6. Tyler Clem (58), St. Petersburg, Fla., 15.660
7. Joe Chalmers (31aus), South Yunderup, W. Australia, 16.045
8. Charlie Cole (2), Wynne, Ark., no time
Group B
1. Jeff Herzog (11H), Festus, Mo., 15.537
2. Ethan Dotson (174), Bakersfield, Calif., 15.587
3. Clay Stuckey (15), Shreveport, La., 15.608
4. Daniel Adam (75), Wade, N.C., 15.609
5. Thomas Hunziker (38), Bend, Ore., 15.952
6. Paul Stubber (31s), Bunbury, W. Australia, 16.282
7. Ronnie Cooper (10), McKenzie, Tenn., 16.358
8. Jeremy Anderson (89), Princeton, Ky., 16.614
Group C
1. Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., 15.432
2. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., 15.492
3. Jason Feger (25F), Bloomington, Ill., 15.798
4. David Breazeale (54), Four Corners, Miss., 15.805
5. Mark Voigt (30), Marine, Ill., 16.323
6. Tony Cruse (7), Paducah, Ky., 17.938
7. Wyatt Cox (23c), Gibson, Tenn., 18.416

Friday’s schedule

(All times local)
4 p.m. - Pits open
6:30 p.m. - Grandstands open
7 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
7:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Modified hot lap qualifying (3 laps)
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Street stock hot laps
- Factory stock hot laps
Opening ceremonies
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Street stock heats (8 laps)
- Factory stock heats (8 laps)
- Modified consolation (8 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Late Model feature (40 laps)
- Modified feature (25 laps)
- Street stock feature (20 laps)
- Factory stock feature (15 laps)