FARMINGTON, Mo. — Two weeks ago, Damian Kiefer was ecstatic to just get one DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals win. Now, he has two and his name associated with a historic milestone.
Kiefer picked up the win at Farmington Empire Speedway after a battle with Mike Savage in the Summit Modified Nationals’ 400th series race.
Savage bolted from third to the lead in the opening lap after polesitter Ray Bollinger washed up high in Turn 4. However, they had to reset with the start being called back.
On the next attempt, Bollinger led the opening lap. But Savage made another quick march to the front, using the bottom line to race his way back to the lead on Lap 2.
Behind Savage, who checked out, Kiefer was charging from the ninth position. He was sixth on Lap 2, fifth on Lap 4, and second on Lap 9.
The long green-flag run allowed lapped traffic to become a factor, and that proved to be what Kiefer needed to catch Savage. Building a run on Lap 10, he was able to pass the No. 13 for the lead down the backstretch on Lap 11.
Kiefer led the final 14 laps to grab his second Summit Modified win in the series’ debut at Farmington.
“It’s an honor to even be on this stage,” Kiefer said. “We got a great piece of equipment under us here, and I can thank each and every person that gets me up and down the road. I just had to stay calm and hit my marks. It felt like I made a few mistakes, but all in all, we got the job done.”
Savage finished second and points leader Bollinger was third.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 0-Damian Kiefer[9]; 2. 13S-Mike Savage[3]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[1]; 4. 23-Dylan Sharp[7]; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 6. 27G-Jason Garver[5]; 7. J82-Treb Jacoby[8]; 8. 18-Brent Thompson[10]; 9. 74-James Hileman[16]; 10. 21-Chasten Boen[13]; 11. 7-Tim Nash[20]; 12. 1-Shane Blair[12]; 13. T23-John Toppozini[15]; 14. 98-Joshua Hawkins[11]; 15. 13K-Kodi Savage[14]; 16. 94-Mark Clary[2]; 17. 52-Bradley Stanfill[19]; 18. 14-Dalton Lane[22]; 19. (DNF) 4G-Paul Schrempf Jr[17]; 20. (DNF) 27J-Johnny Crump[18]; 21. (DNF) 23W-Tyler Worley[6]; 22. (DNF) 22-Jordan Borgmann[21]
