Jason Feger not only took home the win at Sycamore Speedway to close out Week 1 of the 2025 DIRTCar Summer Nationals Hell Tour, but he also took home the Week 1 Championship besting Dennis Erb Jr., Shannon Babb, Billy Moyer Sr., and Brian Shirley.
Feger started the night strong with a third place qualifying run in Group B. That set him up up for a second place starting spot in a stacked Heat 3 that included Shirley, Tyler Erb, Mark Whitener, and Billy Moyer Sr. He finished where he started, but advanced to the feature. In the feature he started sixth, but quickly began working to the front. By Lap 4, he had already moved up to fourth passing Drake Troutman, who broke and drew a caution, as well as Christian Hanger.
After the restart, Feger began going to work on Shannon Babb and eventually got around him working the bottom on Lap 9. Feger then set his sights on Mike Spatola and eventually got around him hustling on the outside on lap 15. While Feger was working his way through the top five, Brian Shirley had extended his lead to nearly 1.4 seconds.
With no one in between him and Shirley, Feger began shaving down the lead lap by lap until he was on his bumper on lap 20. He made his move on lap 21 by jetting around the outside of turns 1 and 2 while Shirley rolled through the middle. After getting around Shirley, Feger did not look back and began putting space and lap cars between himself and Shirley. His lead was up to .8 seconds on lap 23. A lap later and Feger put Billy Moyer Sr., who was just 7 points behind him in the Week 1 Championship heading into the race, a lap down.
Shirley attempted to recreate the magic from last night that saw him chase down Feger by ripping the lip. However, it was not meant to be. Feger continued to extend advantage each and every lap eventually winning by around 1.3 seconds.
In victory lane, Feger said, “We had a loaded heat tonight. I mean that put Moyer and some other good cars in the B-Main. So that heat was stacked. I felt like I was as good as Brian [Shirley], but, you know, it’s a heat race. I knew I’d be starting sixth if we run second. I was okay with that. The car was really good.
“As is the case, Brian’s out leading, doesn’t know where I am,” he continued. “The track ended up being really racy. Everybody thought it was [going to be] bottom dominant, but we was able to get-. I don’t know the top, but you could drive down and move around in the crumbs. It was a really good track. Brian probably didn’t really know. It’s a lot different when you chase or when you lead. It’s a hard thing. Me and him have been swapping back and forth. And he’s been really fast. We’re good buds so it was always good time to race with him and his crew.”
“To be able to win two the first week and to clinch the points for the week, that’s huge for our team,” he declared. “When you can get the track in the right condition like this with a little moisturing on the bottom and just not a ton of grip, we’ve been really good. Hopefully, we can not mess it up and keep it going. I’ve loved coming here since the first time we came here. The first time we came here we ended up in a big pile up. This place has some awesome fans and to see them pack in here on a Sunday like this, on Father’s Day. That’s awesome!”
Official Finishing Order
- Jason Feger
- Brian Shirley
- Dennis Erb Jr.
- Mike Spatola
- Shannon Babb
- Tyler Erb
- Joseph Joiner
- Michael Leach
- Rich Bell
- Mark Whitener
- Tayler Scheffler
- Clay Stuckey
- Dillon McCowan
- Trey Mills
- Matthew Larson
- Frank Heckenast Jr.
- Christian Hanger
- Turk Letizia
- Billy Moyer Sr.
- Dale Markham
- Kyle Bronson
- Drake Troutman
Feger took home the Week 1 Championship and the $10,000 payday.
Feger currently has a 35 point advantage over Dennis Erb Jr. in the overall standings. Shannon Babb sits in third 48 points behind while Billy Moyer Sr. has faded to fourth 50 points behind. Brian Shirley currently sits in 5th, 57 points out.
The Hell Tour is at Wilmot Raceway tonight. It heads to Davenport Speedway tomorrow night. It continues at Quincy Raceways on Wednesday and Lee County Speedway on Thursday. On Friday and Saturday it combines with the World of Outlaws for the two-night St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely, Missouri. It closes out Week 2 at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Illinois on Sunday, June 22nd.