Surprise Eldora entrant

Cody Sommer has become well known across the Dirt Late Model world as the promoter of the Gateway Dirt Nationals and his stint as a partner in the late Scott Bloomquist’s race team and Team Zero Race Cars business.

During Sunday’s Baltes Classic at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, Sommer will add two mores lines to his resume. He announced Saturday that Eldora’s event will mark the debut of his Dirt Racing Technologies (DRT) chassis project — and Sommer himself will be the driver sitting behind the wheel.

The press release revealing Sommer’s plans noted that his “passion for Dirt Late Model racing runs deep and he has long dreamt of the opportunity to showcase his full potential as a chassis builder and mad scientist in the Dirt Late Model industry.” In fact, he began thinking of designing a chassis as far back as 2017 but the work was “put on the back burner as other businesses and responsibilities took precedent over the passion project.”

Now the motorsports entrepreneur and promoter is putting his long-held plans into motion with a chassis that he proclaims to be “more than a copy” of Dirt Late Models that already exist.

“This started as a pile of metal and a lot of trial and error,” Sommer said. “I have a lot of different experience so your past is always going to influence your ideas and vision, but at the end of the day this car is unlike anything I have ever worked on in the industry and I am proud of that. I have never understood how someone can be proud of something they copied or jigged and then just slap a different name on it. I designed the jig and the car on a computer and it took a long time for it to all come together because I didn’t have anything to compare to.”

Sommer, 37, decided he wanted to debut the car at Eldora with himself in the driver’s seat. He’s putting his racing helmet back on for the first time in 18 years.

“I have wanted to do this for a long time and just other responsibilities have always got in the way,” Sommer said. “At the same time I have always said I am not getting any younger and before my days are done I want to race at Eldora.”

Sommer is not sure what the next steps will be with DRT Racing, but he does know that this week at Eldora could play a factor in how that unfolds.

“As of right now we are starting with #01 (chassis) but we have all the pieces in place to build more if we want to,” Sommer said. “Obviously, if things go well it will determine future steps. If they don’t go well, it will also determine the next steps.”

Sommer said Sunday’s Baltes Classic results will determine if he also enters Wednesday’s Castrol FloRacing Night in America event and the three nights of World 100 action that will follow.

“I will have a big challenge with not only a new car but also a driver that has limited experience,” he said, referring, of course, to himself. “At the end of the day, this week, the main priority is to have fun and to fulfill those lifelong dreams that I’ve had.” — Staff reports

Third-to-first victory

Tony Jackson Jr. saved his best for last in Saturday's 10th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. The veteran Late Model driver from Lebanon, Mo., found speed on the high side and rocketed to the lead with two laps to go, then held off Dillon McCowan and Gordy Gundaker for the $12,000 Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association victory. The prize included a $2,000 bonus from Mary Jenkins Holt, in memory of Ron Jenkins, original builder of Wheatland Raceway.

Jackson never led — but also was never out of the top three — until the exciting finish when the 2021 MLRA champ went from third to first seemingly in an instant.

"What a racetrack," an excited Jackson said in victory lane. "Ten thousand is a great pay day and they add an extra two thousand. Great people and a great family. We can't thank them enough. We're blessed to win it."

The race appeared to be McCowan's most of the way. The 20-year-old from nearby Urbana led 35 of the 40 laps, but was unable to finish it off after a lap 32-caution wiped out his tenuous lead and allowed Jackson and Gundaker to close in.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words," McCowan said. "It was a great race. It's not how we wanted to end it. Congrats to them."

McCowan and Gundaker were running 1-2 late when Jackson steered to the high groove and whipped around both of them coming off turn two on lap 38.

"I was too tight to roll around the bottom," Jackson said. "I seen Dillon's stick guy telling him to get down and block Gordy and that's all I needed."

Jackson took it to the checkers from there for his 16th career MLRA victory, denying McCowan his first MLRA victory by 1.043 seconds.

Jackson, who is assisted remotely by Vinny Guliani of VG Performance, installed a new motor into his Longhorn Chassis before Friday's weekend opener and, despite a poor qualifying time, rallied from deep in the field to finish third in the main event.

"We were absolutely terrible when we unloaded yesterday," Jackson said. "We qualified dead last. I wore Vinny’s phone out today, he is the man. I want to thank my wife and my little girl, Rob, Casey, Jayko, the Willards." — Lyndal Scranton

Fairbury thriller

The final laps of Saturday's MARS Championship Series feature at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway was a showdown between two drivers looking for their first victories of season. Two distinctly different drivers in accomplishments.

Restarting up front with four laps remaining after Jason Feger's flat right-front tire cost him the lead and forced him to the pits was Blaze Burwell of Mount Vernon, Ill., a 30-year-old driver looking for his first touring victory after just a single top-five finish in 21 MARS starts over the last two seasons.

Restarting in second was sure-to-be Hall of Fame driver Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., one of the winningest Illinois racers over the last 25 years and a four-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champ.

It was upstart vs. superstar, and the superstar came out on top with a last-lap pass for a $5,000 victory at the quarter-mile oval. The high-running Babb got around the low-running Burwell in winning the race to the checkers.

"It feels really good. Man, it's been hard to break the ice this year," said the 50-year-old Babb, who notched his first victory since an April 29, 2023, MARS score at Fairbury. "More than anything, I think the world of Blaze right there. He had the best car and he had my line.

"I thought, 'Man, he's gonna send me to the cushion tonight.' So he damn near got it. I really enjoyed that race right there. I always thought the world of him, and his family and grandpa has been doing race car business forever. It's just really good to race with a bunch of good guys."

Burwell, a Kryptonite Race Cars dealer, narrowly missed what would've been the biggest victory of his career. After Mike Spatola led the opening lap, Burwell paced laps 2-18 before Feger took command. Burwell stuck with his inside groove and, when Feger began faltering late, he regained the point just before a caution for debris that allowed Feger to duck into the pits for a new right-front tire, ending his hopes of a fifth straight MARS victory at Fairbury.

Burwell led laps 37-39, but Babb got him at the finish, continuing Burwell's dry spell since his June 17, 2023, Super Late Model victory at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo.

"We had a really good car," said Burwell, who finished fifth in MARS points last season but hadn't finished better than 17th in three 2024 series starts. "I made I guess the only (different tire choice) than the whole field and I think it paid off. The cautions helped me a little bit and cooled the tire back and we got to rolling."

Burwell is often the lone MARS entry in a Kryptonite car, the chassis brand developed by Freddie Carpenter in Parkersburg, W.Va., and the car performed well at Fairbury.

"We try to be different than the field and sometimes it pays off," he said. — Series reports

Correction: Fixes date of Burwell's last victory.

Yankee preview

After Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., led the final 11 laps of Friday's XR Super Series feature at 300 Raceway in Farley, Iowa, runner-up Ryan Gustin realized he wasn't in the fastest lane in the second half of the 40-lap Yankee Dirt Track Classic preliminary.

"I mean, I guess I should have been at the top," the Marshalltown, Iowa, driver said. "I felt good down there and I just was in the wrong lane, I guess. It happens."

Pierce acknowledged that "Gustin was really good. He got (a position) back on that restart, and if he would've just moved up there he would have got us, I think. I don't know. That's the way it goes."

For most of the race, Gustin and Pierce were chasing Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, who started outside the front row and wasn't challenged during the feature's first half. But Erb's car got too high exiting turn four as he completed the 25th lap and he slid into the fence just before the flagstand. Gustin couldn't avoid Erb's car and made heavy contact, ending Erb's race and leaving Gustin's car with significant right-side damage.

"It certainly didn't help us, for sure, as aero-dependent these things are these days," said Gustin, who led laps 26-29.

Pierce was impressed with the racing surface after watching a lengthy prep session by the track crew.

"It's awesome to get the win tonight. We didn't have a great start. Our qualifying was a little off and the heat race, we were way off. I think it took the track prep for it to come around. It really made it racy with the top and the bottom. So hats off to those guys (on) the track prep crew," Pierce said. "I thought it was gonna be hammer down and we got out there and it was slick already. So I tried to run the bottom for a while to really save my tires."

Pierce notched his nation-leading 31st Super Late Model victory of the season and will chase a $50,000 payday in Saturday's finale.

"An awesome racetrack it turned out to be the feature," he said. "So I'm excited for tomorrow and we'll to see if we can tweak this car and make it a little better." — Series reports

Satisfying triumph

Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa, was quite clear about the significance of his victory in Friday night’s 30-lap opener of the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Association-sanctioned Ron Jenkins Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.

“We haven’t had a stellar year,” the 40-year-old driver said in his post-race interview. “We’ve had a pretty decent year but nothing to be bragging about, so to get a win here …”

Simpson’s voice trailed off for the slightest moment, but he really didn’t have to say anything more. The $7,000 triumph was utter relief for Simpson, who had been winless since April 28, 2023, when he last reached victory lane in MLRA action at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Mo.

Sixteen months between checkered flags is a long time for any driver, especially one like Simpson who has been claiming a handful of wins each year for more than a decade. He’s struggled to find the winning formula, topping out this season with a pair of third-place finishes (he also finished second in a semifeature on July 26 at Illinois’s Fairbury Speedway) while registering six top-five and 14 top-10 runs in his 26 starts before Friday.

Simpson was fully on the mark Friday. Starting ninth proved little problem for the Hawkeye State veteran, who blasted forward to grab the lead from race-long pacesetter Jeff Herzog on lap 11 and never looked back en route to defeating Hall of Famer Billy Moyer — driving a new Longhorn Chassis from the Double L Motorsports stable of Lance Landers — by 1.342 seconds.

The strength Simpson flashed with his Longhorn machine actually surprised him a bit.

“I didn’t know how the track was,” Simpson said. “They got a lot of rain right before the races started, and that bottom was so greasy in our heat races so we couldn’t even touch it. We had to run the middle there, and I asked (MLRA director) Ernie (Leftwich) if we could run after the mods (feature in hopes of drying out the surface more). I probably gotta apologize to him now.”

Indeed, the 3/8-mile oval was perfect for Simpson, who finally broke through for his first-ever win at the track. He’s flirted with glory at Wheatland in the past — including Show-Me 100 finishes of second (2013) and third (2015) and a fourth-place result in a Show-Me preliminary feature earlier this year — but never could finish the job.

With a victory now secured at Wheatland and on the 2024 MLRA tour, the next item on Simpson’s hit list — beyond Saturday’s $12,000-to-win weekend finale — is the MRLA championship. He sits second in the standings after gaining 30 points on his older brother Chad Simpson, who finished fourth, to pull within 15 points with nine races remaining on the schedule.

While Chad Simpson has won four MLRA titles, including the last two, Chris’s lone top-five points result on the regional circuit is his runner-up placing to his sibling last year. He’s ready to battle Chad to the wire.

“This points chase is pretty tight,” Chris said, “so me and my brother are probably gonna put on a helluva show to end it.” — Series reports