PEVELY, Mo. — They say good things come to those who wait, and Cade Dillard has certainly waited a long time for this one.
Dillard, of Robeline, La., has collected many wins across multiple different series in his career, as well as a host of victories in the Modified ranks before joining the national late model circuit in 2019. But coming into I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park Saturday night, he was determined to check another series off his to-win list.
For 40 laps, the 35-year-old paced the DIRTcar Summer Nationals field around the third-mile high-banks, leading the main event flag-to-flag to score his first victory on the Hell Tour.
Since his first appearance with the series in 2019, he’d come close to a win multiple times. But Saturday night was finally his time to shine in the summer heat.
“About four years ago at Spoon River (Speedway), we were leading one of these Hell Tour races, and I think with two laps-to-go, we had a pretty good lead. We broke a drive shaft, so that kind of stung ever since,” Dillard said. “I always thought it would be cool to win one of these, so I’m glad to get my name up there with so many good drivers on the wins list.”
The 40-lap feature went green, and it was Dillard who got the jump on the opening lap, powering around the outside of polesitter Daryn Klein.
As the bottom became the preferred groove around I-55 toward the halfway point, the top six were nose-to-tail, waiting for a mistake from anyone ahead of them.
Klein stepped out and tried the top side on Lap 23 in an effort to try and make the pass, but Dillard held more speed on the bottom. Fourth-starting Shannon Babb later took a peek to Dillard’s inside on Lap 30, but again, Dillard held strong out front.
No one was able to make a serious bid for the lead the rest of the way as Dillard crossed the line and pocketed the $10,000 check.
“Anytime you get a win, it just helps the team morale and boost my confidence. I am pretty hard on myself, so a lot of times, I doubt myself,” Dillard said. “So just to get our confidence back up and get going onto the next race.”
Shannon Babb finished second, Tanner English finished third, Michael Leach in fourth, and Jason Feger rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 3. 96-Tanner English[12]; 4. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 5. 25-Jason Feger[6]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[15]; 7. 10-Daryn Klein[1]; 8. 57M-Camaron Marlar[9]; 9. 49-Luke Morey[16]; 10. 17SR-Brody Smith[14]; 11. 75-Daniel Adam[17]; 12. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 13. 33F-Rickey Frankel[8]; 14. 15-Clay Stuckey[11]; 15. 16W-Tony Wolf[5]; 16. 74-Mitch McGrath[7]; 17. 10J-Jordan Bauer[18]; 18. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[20]; 19. 31M-Tyler Millwood[13]; 20. 16-Rusty Griffaw[21]; 21. 4D-Doug Tye[22]; 22. T4-Adam Tischhauser[23]; 23. 6K-Michael Kloos[10]
