PEORIA, Ill. — After a series of second and third-place finishes to start his first season with Team 22 Inc., Drake Troutman was itching to win his first feature for the team in 2025.
That moment came on Thursday night as the Hyndman, Pa., driver earned his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals win at Peoria Speedway with a mixture of defense and luck on his side.
Troutman began the night strong with a win in his heat race, then rolled off in fourth for the 30-lap feature.
Polesitter Brian Shirley brought the field to the green flag, with Dillon McCowan and Bob Gardner in tow as Troutman fought against three-time Hell Tour champion Dennis Erb Jr. for fourth.
Once he got Erb off his tail, he got creative with passing Gardner on Lap 5 by swinging high into Turn 3, then immediately ducked low to get under the No. 4g and pass him through Turns 1-2.
Troutman caught his first lucky break on Lap 13 when McCowan got into the back of a lapped car that sent him spinning from second place and took him out of contention.
While Troutman attempted the opposite lines of Shirley when the green flag waved for the second time, he did not wait long to get his opportunity for the lead as Shirley’s No. 3s suffered a flat tire with 10 laps to go that ended his night at Peoria.
Troutman’s No. 22* endured a new challenge to tackle in the final laps, as Ryan Unzicker and Erb joined the podium positions.
Troutman had to block each line while not losing momentum in the lead, and it paid off with a $5,000 check and the honor of being a Summer Nationals winner.
“I hate to get one this way,” Troutman said. “(Shirley) was pretty good, I felt like we’ve been every bit as good as him, but I’ve led races before, and I guess it’s part of racing. But, I gotta thank (G.R. Smith) for giving us this opportunity. Man, I don’t know, they reached their necks out and gave me a shot when nobody else did, they’ve been believing in us from day one.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[7]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[10]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[3]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb[20]; 7. 1-Tyler Erb[13]; 8. 31-Tyler Millwood[11]; 9. 388-Jackson Hise[12]; 10. 14JR-Trey Mills[17]; 11. 15-Clay Stuckey[8]; 12. 25F-Jason Feger[19]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson[14]; 14. 75-Dillon McCowan[2]; 15. 09-Michael Leach[9]; 16. 10J-Joseph Joiner[18]; 17. 29-Christian Hanger[6]; 18. 32M-Cody Maguire[21]; 19. (DNF) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[22]; 20. (DNF) 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 21. (DNF) 38G-Camden Gardner[15]; 22. (DNF) 38J-Jake Little[16]
