6/29/2023
Ashton Winger
Winger double dips with DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Adams County and Benton
Ashton Winger doubled down last week in DIRTcar Summer Nationals Victory Lane aboard his Jeff Mathews Motorsports No. 12 Johnny Doan Plumbing / Recreational Vehicle Select / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
He collected $5,000 wins at Adams County Speedway (Quincy, Ill.) and Benton (Mo.) Speedway to go with his $5,000 triumph one week earlier at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway.
“Man, with the exception of some struggles in the first few races of this deal, I feel like we’ve been in contention just about every night so far on this Summer Nationals trail. These races aren’t easy to win so we’re thrilled to have two victories last week and one the week before. I definitely feel like one slipped away on Friday night at Paducah (International Raceway), when we got a flat tire with a few laps left. We had a huge lead and that was a tough one to swallow, but it’s all part of the game I guess,” Winger said. “With rain messing with some stuff, we enjoyed a few days off before getting back to business tonight (July 3) at Lake Cumberland (Speedway). Thanks as always to my team and everyone who supports us for always giving 110% effort and making all this possible.”
For the "Southern Week" of the Hell Tour, Ashton Winger pulled into Springfield Raceway (Springfield, Mo.) on Tuesday afternoon to kick the third week of DIRTcar Summer Nationals action.
With 27 Late Models to start the week, Ashton stopped the clock fourth-quickest in his group and ran runner-up in his heat race. For the first $5,000-to-win feature of the week, Winger ran inside the Top-5 for all 40-laps and snuck onto the podium in third.
Moving on to Adams County Speedway (Quincy, Ill.) on Wednesday, Winger recorded a second-place outing in his heat which placed him on the third-row of the $5,000-to-win feature. Moving into the top spot on lap 19 of 40, Winger led the final 21 circuits and held off Jason Feger in the closing laps to secure his second Hell Tour victory of 2023. Morgan Bagley, Shannon Babb, and Drake Troutman completed the Top-5.
The following evening at Benton Speedway (Benton, Mo.), Ashton qualified fourth-quickest in his group before finishing third in his heat race.
Rolling off from the eighth-position in the $5,000-to-win showdown, Winger used the high side to his advantage and exchanged sliders with race-long leader Drake Troutman before taking the lead for good on lap 35. He paced the field to the checkers and topped Troutman, Billy Moyer Jr., Rodney Melvin, and Jason Feger who rounded out the Top-5.
On Friday night the team invaded Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, where Ashton qualified second fastest in his group before winning his heat race to earn the pole for the feature. Ashton was decimating the field with a seven-second lead, when bad luck bit in the form a flat tire on lay 27 with just a few laps remaining. He ducked into the pits and rejoined the tail before bouncing back to a second-place finish behind Jason Feger.
Saturday and Sunday’s events at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway Lake Cumberland Speedway (Burnside, Ky.) fell victim to Mother Nature with the $7,500-to-win Lake Cumberland Speedway event reset for Monday, July 3.
Full results and the latest points from the events available at www.DIRTcarSummerNationals.com.
Article Credit: Josh James Artwork image
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