PEORIA, Ill. — The summer’s hottest tour for daily Late Model and Modified racing across the Midwest is nearly ready for action.
The 39th edition of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and 14th DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals begins in one month with the first event at Peoria Speedway – Wednesday, June 12. Late Models will contest a total of 28 races over a 33-day period, traveling through nine different states before ending with the season finale at Wayne County Speedway in Ohio on July 14.
The Summit Modifieds will race 25 events over the same 33-day schedule and will then continue on to Fairbury Speedway for the final two events – Friday-Saturday, July 26-27 – as part of the 34th annual Prairie Dirt Classic.
Late Model features on Friday and Saturday nights will pay the traditional $10,000 check to the winner, while most other weekday events will award $5,000 to the winner. Lincoln Speedway has posted a Late Model purse for their event on June 23, which includes a $7,500 check for the feature winner.
The Summit Modifieds will award a $1,500 check for 24 of the 27 total events, excluding all events at Fairbury Speedway, which will award $2,000 to the main event winner on June 15, $500 to all four Showdown feature winners on July 26, and $5,000 to the winner of the Modified portion of the Prairie Dirt Classic on July 27. The Modified Nationals points champion will receive a $5,000 check, plus checks for the top-10 drivers in the final points standings.
Introduced for the 2023 season, Late Models will follow a weekly points fund distribution, which awards a $10,000 check to the points champion of each week plus checks for the top-10 drivers in each week’s points final standings. New for 2024 – the overall Summer Nationals champion (combined points for all five weeks) will be awarded an additional $10,000 check, plus checks for the top-10 drivers in the final overall standings.
Last year, 23-year-old Ashton Winger became the first driver from the state of Georgia to win the overall championship and first driver from outside the state of Illinois to win it since Don O’Neal in 2004. Winger accomplished the feat on the back of six feature wins and two weekly points championships.
Tyler Nicely – the 27-year-old UMP Modified racer from Owensboro, Ky. – clinched his first career Summit Modified championship with five feature wins in 17 starts, becoming the first driver from the state of Kentucky to win the points championship.
Three new tracks will welcome both divisions of the Hell Tour for the first time, including Old No. 1 Speedway in Harrisburg, Ark., on July 2, Riverside Int’l Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., on July 4, and Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Mich., on July 12.