The championship battle for the MARS Racing Series between Ryan Unzicker and Jason Feger will come down to the final two races on the schedule this weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway. Those two races are a 30-lap, $5,000 to-win race on Friday night and then a 50-lap, $10,000 finale on Saturday night. 

Both drivers are chasing another series title. Feger is trying to make it four in a row after locking up the crown at Fairbury in each of the last three seasons. Unzicker, the 2022 champion, leads the win column this year 5–4 and holds the Midwest Sheet Metal spoiler as the current points leader. He’s looking to end Feger’s championship run and get his second title.

The two have raced each other hard all year long and in many cases for the win. Unzicker held off a hard-charging Feger over the final laps at Fairbury in May.

On the other end, Feger gapped Unzicker at Farmer City in July to get the win.

It will all come to a head at Lucas Oil Speedway. MARS has not raced at Wheatland since 2008, and neither driver has a lot of laps at the facility.

Feger last competed at the track in 2015 when he attempted to qualify for the Show-Me 100, but he failed to do so. He only has four starts at the track with a best finish of 10th and an average finish of 22nd. However, he did start 6th there for a MLRA race in 2013 and started 9th in the 2013 Show-Me 100.

As for Unzicker, The Third Turn reports he has no recorded start or qualifying attempt at the track. That makes Wheatland practically a clean sheet for both of them and a little bit of a wild card.

Frank Heckenast Jr., Ryan Unzicker, and Kyle Hammer. Photo by Event Horizon Photography.

Under the MARS points structure, a feature win is worth 75 points, second is 70, third is 65, fourth is 60, and fifth is 57, with the drop continuing down to 29 points for 22nd. The largest swing available in a single night is 46 points, the gap between a win and a last-place finish among the cars that start the feature. Over two nights, that theoretical maximum is 92 points. A 36-point deficit is therefore well within reach if the results break Feger’s way.

Feger already showed how quickly the gap can move. He entered the FALS Frenzy at Fairbury trailing by 82 points. On Saturday he won the $10,000 feature when Michael Leach hit the wall on the final lap, while Unzicker, who started fourth, suffered a flat tire, went to the rear, and then was involved in a wreck with Kyle Hammer that ended his night, ultimately finishing 20th. Feger picked up 44 points in one night and left Fairbury only 36 back.

Unzicker has a total of 1239 points with Feger 36 behind with 1203. The math is straightforward with two races remaining. If Feger wins both remaining features, he scores 150 points and finishes at 1,353. Unzicker would need 115 points or more across the two nights to stay ahead (1,239 + 115 = 1,354) and win. A 114-point total would only tie them, and Feger would win that tiebreaker on feature wins after picking up two more victories. Unzicker also cannot finish first in either race under this assumption, so second place, worth 70 points, is his best available result each night.

There are 27 scenarios where he is able to achieve that:

Each pair works in either order.

Anything outside this list falls short. Two fifths are worth 114 and produce a tie that Feger wins on wins. A second and a 10th are worth 113. A fourth and a sixth are worth 114. A single finish outside the top nine, and  the championship goes to Feger if he sweeps. A finish outside the top seven ends it unless the other night is a runner-up.

However, that assumes Feger maximizes points and wins both races. Ultimately, Unzicker controls his own fate and wins the title if he beats Feger both nights or keeps the point swings modest. In contrast, Feger has to create a swing. One, two, or three spots ahead of Unzicker both nights is never enough. Four spots ahead both nights works only if Feger wins both and Unzicker is fifth both times, a 36-point tie that Feger takes on feature wins. Anywhere else, he needs five or more positions both nights, and more than that if neither car is running near the front.

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