Dirt on Dirt - Heckenast rides cushion to $5,000 at Montpelier

July 7

Montpelier Speedway,

Montpelier, IN

Sanction: DIRTcar Summer Nationals - $5,000

Information provided by: Bryan Ault, series and track reports (last updated July 8, 7:50 am)

Heckenast rides cushion to $5,000 at Montpelier

Frank Heckenast Jr.
Kyle Moore
Tristan Chamberlain
Rich Bell
Mitch McGrath
Colin Shipley
Todd Brennan
Jerry Bowersock
Chase Burda
Luke Morey
Brayden Shiels
Jason Feger
Wayne Chinn
Devin Shiels
Rylee Knoll
Tyler Neal
Sam Seawright
Rusty Schlenk
Mark Voigt
Chad Finley
Carter Schlenk
Tanner English

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Jim DenHamer

Frank Heckenast Jr. earned a $5,000 victory Tuesday at Montpelier

What won the race: Riding Montpelier Speedway's treacherous cushion and ripping around early leader Sam Seawright on the third lap, second-starting Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., ran away with Tuesday's 30-lap DIRTcar Summer Nationals main event. Heckenast negotiated Montpelier's tricky surface and beat Kyle Moore by a distant 5.920 seconds for his second Summer Nationals victory of the season and seventh of his career.

Quotable: "Halfway through the race, I seen what I thought was ‘they’re close’ (signal from his crew) so I just did what I could there not to spin the tires, keep the tires under me and had no idea where anyone was at on the track," Heckenast said. "I was just trying to build speed, momentum, kinda the Nick Hoffman line. I was just no good when I went to the bottom, I just didn’t feel good. Maybe I was fast, but didn’t feel good. Just tried to momentum around there and it felt like it went pretty quick, actually.”

Key notes: Because of Montpelier's rugged track conditions, series officials awarded 50 showup points equallly to every entrant on a night when some drivers, including series points leader Tanner English, elected to retire early. ... Frank Heckenast Jr. scored his second series win following July 3's triumph at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Ill. ... Polesitter Sam Seawright led two laps before Heckenast powered around him out of turn four at the completion of the third lap. Seawright slipped to third on a lap-three restart then retired on the sixth lap. ... Eighth-starting Kyle Moore slipped by Chamberlain for second on the 15th lap, but could never cut into Heckenast's 2.198-second advantage, as Heckenast stretched his lead in the race's second half. Chamberlain, the WoO regular, settled for third. ... Jason Feger retired from seventh on lap 26. ... Rusty Schlenk, who changed an engine after his heat race, slowed from fourth to bring out the lone stoppage on lap five; Schlenk said he wanted to "play it safe" as his reason for pulling off. ... The 30-lapper lasted 11 minutes with six starters completing the distance and nine running at the checkers. ... Steve Peeden, Carter Schlenk and Jake Rendel tangled in the fourth heat with the younger Schlenk spinning and Peeden taking a soft tumble at the entrance of turn one before landing on his roof; no injuries were reported.

On the move: Colin Shipley of McClure, Ohio, started 18th and finished sixth.

Winner's sponsors: Heckenast’s Vic Hill-powered Longhorn Chassis is sponsored by Indy U-Pull-It, Storage Squares, JR Hauling, Dirt Oval at Route 66, Fastenal, Garrett Slager Trucking, Jay Morris Construction, Bodies by Dan, Jim Weber Motorsports, Bilstein Shocks, VG Performance, Keyser Manufacturing, Buzze Racing, STAKT Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Midwest Sheet Metal and Capital Sign Company.

Points chase: Week 5 after Montpelier: T1. Frank Heckenast Jr. (50); T1. Kyle Moore (50); T1. Tristan Chamberlain (50); T1. Rich Bell (50); T1. Mitch McGrath (50). Overall after Montpelier: 1. Tanner English (1,239); 2. Jason Feger (1,116); 3. Clay Stuckey (837); 4. Mitch McGrath (783); 5. Brody Smith (701).

Current weather: Clear, 73°F

Car count: 34

Fast qualifier: Frank Heckenast Jr.

Time: 14.443 seconds

Polesitter: Sam Seawright

Heat race winners: Sam Seawright, Tristan Chamberlain, Frank Heckenast Jr., Rusty Schlenk

Consolation race winners: Luke Morey

Provisional starters: Mark Voigt, Brayden Shiels, Wayne Chinn, Carter Schlenk

Next series race: July 8, I-96 Speedway (Lake Odessa, MI) $5,000

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

From staff reports

MONTPELIER, Ind. — Updates from Tuesday’s 18th round of the 40th annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Montpelier Speedway, an event highlighted by a 30-lap, $5,000-to-win feature for DIRTcar Super Late Models (results unofficial):

Feature

Riding Montpelier Speedway's treacherous cushion and ripping around early leader Sam Seawright on the third lap, second-starting Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., ran away with Tuesday's 30-lap DIRTcar Summer Nationals main event. Heckenast negotiated Montpelier's tricky surface and beat Kyle Moore by a distant 5.920 seconds for his second Summer Nationals victory of the season and seventh of his career.

Feature lineup

(30 laps)

Row 1: Sam Seawright, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 2: Rusty Schlenk, Tristan Chamberlain
Row 3: Rich Bell, Tanner English
Row 4: Mitch McGrath, Kyle Moore
Row 5: Chase Burda, Devin Shiels
Row 6: Rylee Knoll, Jason Feger
Row 7: Chad Finley, Tyler Neal
Row 8: Jerry Bowersock, Todd Brennan
Row 9: Luke Morey, Colin Shipley
Row 10: Mark Voigt, Brayden Shiels
Row 11: Wayne Chinn, Carter Schlenk

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top two transfer)

Results: Luke Morey, Colin Shipley, Jake Rendel, Wayne Chinn, Blake Creech, John Miller, Jacob Kolwcyk, Jamie Grochowski, Jason Ferguson, Brayden Shiels, Keith Morris, Carter Schlenk, Travis Stemler, Chad Roush, Mark Voigt. Scratched: Jack Franklin, Josh Corkwell, Steve Peeden.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Sam Seawright, Rich Bell, Chase Burda, Chad Finley, Colin Shipley, John Miller, Brayden Shiels, Jamie Grochowski, Jason Ferguson.

Second heat: Tristan Chamberlain, Mitch McGrath, Rylee Knoll, Jerry Bowersock, Chad Roush, Mark Voigt, Jacob Kolwyck, Josh Corkwell.

Third heat: Frank Heckenast Jr., Tanner English, Devin Shiels, Tyler Neal, Luke Morey, Wayne Chinn, Blake Creech, Jack Franklin, Keith Morris.

Fourth heat: Rusty Schlenk, Kyle Moore, Jason Feger, Todd Brennan, Travis Stemler, Jake Rendel, Carter Schlenk, Steve Peeden.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Sam Seawright (16s), Rainsville, Ala., 14.662
2. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 14.688
3. Chad Finley (42), St. Johns, Mich., 14.744
4. Mitch McGrath (74), Waukesha, Wis., 14.776
5. Colin Shipley (46), McClure, Ohio, 14.907
6. Rylee Knoll (07), Lake, Mich., 15.001
7. Chase Burda (18B), Lapeer, Mich., 15.005
8. Chad Roush (32), Reedsville, Ohio, 15.134
9. Rich Bell (21B), Sheffield, Ill., 15.216
10. Jerry Bowersock (95J), Wapakoneta, Ohio, 15.239
11. Jason Ferguson (79), Fairmount, Ind., 15.358
12. Jacob Kolwcyk (21k), Griffith, Ind., 15.522
13. John Miller (153), Defiance, Ohio, 15.715
14. Mark Voigt (30), Marine, Ill., 15.848
15. Jamie Grochowski (45G), Toledo, Ohio, 16.223
16. Josh Corkwell (58c), Stryker, Ohio, 16.290
17. Brayden Shiels (51B), Britton, Mich., 16.681
Group B
1. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 14.443
2. Rusty Schlenk (91), Jackson, Mich., 14.497
3. Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., 14.649
4. Kyle Moore (1*), Mansfield, Ohio, 14.670
5. Devin Shiels (51), Britton, Mich., 14.789
6. Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 14.885
7. Luke Morey (49), Zeeland, Mich., 14.906
8. Carter Schlenk (lil91), Jackson, Mich., 14.946
9. Tyler Neal (20), Paragon, Ind., 15.014
10. Todd Brennan (20B), Zanesville, Ohio, 15.016
11. Jack Franklin (12), Murfreesboro, Tenn., 15.321
12. Steve Peeden (P3), Martinsville, Ind., 15.118
13. Wayne Chinn (1), Tipp City, Ohio, 15.337
14. Travis Stemler (4), Ionia, Mich., 15.434
15. Blake Creech (317), Richmond, Ind., 15.493
16. Jake Rendel (06), Adrian, Mich., 16.191
17. Keith Morris (97), Wapakoneta, Ohio, 19.645

Tuesday’s schedule

(All times local)
3 p.m. - Pits open
3:30 p.m. - Tech and registration open
4 p.m. - Grandstands open
5 p.m. - Tech and registration close
5:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Modified group qualifying
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Super stock group qualifying
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Super stock heats (8 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Modified consolation (8 laps)
- Late Model consolation (10 laps)
Feature events
- Late Models (30 laps)
- Modifieds (25 laps)
- Super stocks (20 laps)