NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (June 13) — Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., gained the dose of redemption he craved on Saturday night at Cedar Lake Speedway.

Just 24 hours after absorbing a bitter defeat in the opening leg of the Masters weekend, Feger rebounded to score a $10,000 victory in the 50-lap UMP DIRTcar Summernationals feature that closed out the 3/8-mile track’s doubleheader.

Feger, 36, inherited the lead on lap six when Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., slowed with a flat right-rear tire and never looked back. He repelled repeated challenges from A.J. Diemel of Elk Mound, Wis., before pulling away in the event’s late stages to register his long-awaited first-ever triumph at Cedar Lake and the 12th of his career on the grueling Hell Tour.

“For sure, we definitely missed an opportunity to win one last night,” said Feger, who led the first 37 circuits of Friday night’s $5,000-to-win 40-lap A-Main before being overtaken by eventual victor Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., and settling for second place. “The car was good enough, but the driver wasn’t. That’s probably more frustrating than anything, knowing that you probably could’ve just changed how you were driving and won.

“But if you’re gonna one of the two, this was the one to win.”

Feger took the checkered flag 1.495 seconds ahead of the 33-year-old Diemel, who fell just short of notching his first career Summernationals victory. Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., marched forward from the ninth starting spot to finish third, with 12th-starter Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., regaining the Summernationals points lead with a cushion-pounding fourth-place finish and reigning series champion Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., placed fifth after slipping backward from the third starting spot.

“It all worked out,” said Feger, whose last Summernationals win came on July 2, 2014, at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway. “I don’t know if we would’ve had anything for Moyer, but I guess he got a flat tire and we were there to take advantage of it.”

Feger certainly didn’t waltz to victory lane after assuming command. He faced plenty of pressure from Diemel, a talented understudy of the accomplished Mars who has enjoyed success in spec-motor action at Cedar Lake but continues to seek his first major Super Late Model victory at his home-state track.

Diemel began testing the inside lane under Feger on lap nine, pulling alongside the leader through turns three and four. Feger refused to fold, however, and after the halfway mark steadily inched away from Diemel and Moyer Jr., who spent the race’s final 14 laps racing close behind Diemel.

“He showed his nose a couple times and I figured I’d better keep working lower,” Feger said of Diemel. “It took me a few laps to get going to where I felt comfortable down there.”

Feger made his biggest gains on Diemel once lapped traffic came into play with less than 20 laps remaining. Both Diemel and Moyer Jr. were within striking distance of Feger at that point, but Feger negotiating the slower cars with aplomb to put distance on his rivals.

“I was hoping that I’d pick them guys on the outside and scare them to the bottom because I figured (Diemel) was gonna stay down there,” Feger said. “Last night traffic probably hurt me, but tonight it probably helped. It goes both ways — that’s just racing.”

After reaching victory lane on a day that began with heavy rain drenching the track during the morning hours, Feger praised the track-prep crew for whipping up a smooth, racy surface on which his Hustler Race Car excelled.

“They got a lot of rain, but man, the track was in great shape,” Feger said. “I actually can’t believe how smooth and slick it really was for the amount of rain they had. They did a great job.”

Diemel, meanwhile, believed his chance at sneaking past Feger for the lead effectively evaporated when the race’s third and final caution flag flew on lap 15 for Frank Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill., who slowed with nosepiece damage from a scrape moments earlier.

“It was pretty good there right away at the start,” said Diemel, who started fourth and moved to second place when the elder Moyer headed pitside on lap six. “When we had a few cautions there Jason’s guys were kind of telling him where I was (on the boatom), and I think it kind of won him the race. He started taking my line away, which is what he’s supposed to do.

“I’m just real happy,” he added. “We’ve been working hard on this (MB Customs) car to get everything going good, and I think we finally got a good direction to go to here. It’s a good run for us with that caliber of cars.”

The 27-year-old Moyer Jr. appeared to be a serious threat to overtake both Diemel and Feger after he reached third place with a lap-16 pass of both Babb and Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., and then began to run down the leaders. His advance in the inside groove was stalled, however, by lapped traffic.

“When we caught traffic, the traffic was down there and that was my lane — and to pass, you’re not gonna drive around the outside of somebody, especially Feger,” said Moyer Jr., who finished seventh in Friday’s feature. “We needed a caution about lap 30 or something because I think we had a little diamond there and maybe could have got underneath them.”

Prior to the caution flags on lap six for Moyer and lap 15 for Heckenast, the race’s other slowdown came on lap three when Mars and Adam Hensel of Baldwin, Wis., spun in tandem in turn two while battling for sixth place. Mars retired three circuits later while Hensel lasted until lap 14.

Preliminary notes and results

Feature

The USMTS modified feature — won for the second straight night by Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas, who starts 14th in the Summernationals A-Main — ended at 9:42 p.m. CT.

With the track crew nearing completing of its reworking of the racing surface at 9:55 p.m., it is expected that the field for the Dirt Late Model feature will be on the track shortly after 10 p.m.

Pre-feature notes

Polesitter Billy Moyer will shoot for his third career UMP DIRTcar Summernationals victory at Cedar Lake; his most recent came in 2010, and he also won in 1994. The 57-year-old veteran, of course, is a five-time champion of Cedar Lake’s USA Nationals. … After contending for victory in Friday night’s feature, Frank Heckenast Jr. was forced to use a provisional to start 19th in tonight’s feature. His night was put behind when his car failed to fire for qualifying, leaving him without a time-trial lap. … Joining Heckenast as provisional starters are J.R. Hotovy (UMP DIRTcar national points), David Fieber (track) and John Hahler (Summernationals). …

Consolation

Ryan Unzicker rolled to victory in the 10-lap last-chance event, beating Mike Nutzman and Jason Rauen to the finish line.

Finish (top 3 transfer): Ryan Unzicker, Mike Nutzmann, Jason Rauen, Frank Heckenast Jr., David Fieber, J.R. Hotovy, Trevor Wilson, Mark Rose, John Hahler, Caley Emerson.

Consolation lineup

(10 laps; top 3 transfer)
Row 1: David Fieber, Ryan Unzicker
Row 2: Jason Rauen, Mike Nutzmann
Row 3: J.R. Hotovy, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 4: Caley Emerson, Trevor Wilson
Row 5: Mark Rose, John Hahler

Third heat

Shannon Babb repelled an early challenge from Jimmy Mars and then controlled the remainder of the distance to triumph by 0.879 of a second over Friday night's feature winner. Billy Moyer Jr. finished a solid third, followed by Bobby Pierce and Dan Schlieper.

Finish (top 5 transfer): Shannon Babb, JImmy Mars, Billy Moyer Jr., Bobby Pierce, Dan Schlieper, Jason Rauen, Frank Heckenast Jr., Mark Rose.

Second heat

Billy Moyer slid by Mike Spatola off turn four on the eighth lap and marched on to capture the prelim. Adam Hensel, who started on the outside pole but slipped high in turns one and two on the opening lap and fell to third, finished in the spot. Timothy Culp and Rodney Sanders completed the transfers. A caution flag flew on lap four for Trevor Wilson, who spun between turns one and two.

Finish (top 5 transfer): Billy Moyer, Mike Spatola, Adam Hensel, Timothy Culp, Rodney Sanders, Ryan Unzicker, Trevor Wilson, j.R. Hotovy.

First heat

Jason Feger turned several challenges from A.J. Diemel to emerge victorious. Darrell Nelson was a distant third at the finish after wrestling the position from Charlie McKenna and Jim Moon placed fifth.

Finish (top 5 transfer): Jason Feger, A.J. Diemel, Darrell Nelson, Charlie McKenna, Jim Moon, David Fieber, Mike Nutamann, Caley Emerson, John Hahler.

Qualifying

Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., quickly found the fast groove around Cedar Lake Speedway in his first action of the weekend, ripping off the overall fastest lap of time trials at 14.117 seconds. He will start from the pole position in the second heat.

Other group fast-timers earning pole starts were Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.

Frank Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill., who finished third in Friday night's feature, did not come out to take a qualifying lap.

Pre-race notes

Despite the heavy morning rain, the Cedar Lake Speedway track-prep crew had the racing surface ready for practice to start on schedule at 6:30 p.m. CT. … The 25-car field includes five newcomers: Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., Darrell Nelson of Duluth, Minn., Charlie McKenna of Clear Lake, Iowa, Trevor Wilson of Superior, Wis., and Mark Rose of Dorchester, Wis. … The only Friday-night entrant not in action tonight is Jason Krohn of Slayton, Minn., whose crew member had to visit a local dentist earlier today to have a problematic tooth extracted. … Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., discovered this morning that the battery-cable problem that forced him out of Friday night’s feature without completing a lap was the least of his worries. With engine issues found in his predominantly red car, the 18-year-old will switch to his black-and-red machine for tonight’s action. … Adam Hensel of Baldwin, Wis., has changed the carburetor on his car for tonight’s program after experiencing carb woes throughout Friday night’s action. His car owner, J.R. Haley, said fuel was “dumping out of the carburetor” during Hensel’s heat race — causing his motor to sputter — and the problem ultimately forced him to pull into the infield without completing a lap of the feature. … Mike Nutzmann of New Richmond, Wis., is back in competition after experiencing a scary mechanical malfunction during the pace laps of Friday night’s feature. As the 51-year-old driver shifted gears, the yoke on the back of the birdcage split in half and exploded up through his cockpit wall. A hole was punched in the inner bodywork and Nutzmann suffered a small cut on his right pinkie finger, but after he “put some Super Glue on it and wrapped it up” he’s ready to go racing again. … Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., said his choice of a hard tire for Friday night’s feature doomed his evening. He slipped from his pole position start to a seventh-place finish.

Pre-race setup

The UMP DIRTcar Summernationals remains at Cedar Lake Speedway for the second half of the Masters weekend — the only time on the 2015 Hell Tour that one track hosts back-to-back races.

Several hours of heavy rain swept over the track Saturday morning, drenching the speedway, pit area and grounds. But the precipitation ended shortly after noon and no more rain appears to be threatening the area, and track crews began working on the surface at 4:30 p.m. in hopes of having it ready for the scheduled 6:30 p.m. CT green flag for hot laps.

CLS officials also spent the afternoon repairing the turn-one bank of lights that went down before the Dirt Late Model feature on Friday night because one of the lights blew out, caught fire and shorted out the remaining lights. All the lights should be operational for tonight’s program.

The card will once again consist of three qualifying groups to set the lineups for a trio of 10-lap heat races. With the field increasing to 25 cars, a consolation event will also be contested to fill out the feature field.

Qualifying order

(Results from time trials set lineups for heats)
First group
Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 14.21
A.J. Diemel (58), Elk Mound, Minn., 14.466
Charlie McKenna (22), Clear Lake, Iowa, 14.473
Darrell Nelson (44), Duluth, Minn., 14.62
Jim Moon (1M), New Florence, Mo., 14.758
Mike Nutzmann (2), New Richmond, Wis., 15.179
Caley Emerson (15E), Grand Rapids, Minn., 15.249
David Fieber (1F), Chippewa Falls, Wis.,15.552
John Hahler (116), New Florence, Mo., 16.242
Second group
Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., 14.117
Adam Hensel (33), Baldwin, Wis., 14.16
Billy Moyer (21), Bateville, Ark., 14.26
Rodney Sanders (20), Happy, Texas, 14.422
Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., 14.493
Timothy Culp (8c), Prattsville, Ark., 14.504
J.R. Hotovy (13), Hartford, Mich., 14.507
Trevor Wilson (87), Superior, Wis., 15.723
Third group
Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 14.164
Jimmy Mars (28), Menomonie, Wis., 14.165
Billy Moyer Jr. (21Jr), Batesville, Ark., 14.401
Jason Rauen (98), Farley, Iowa, 14.484
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 14.541
Dan Schlieper (8), Oak Creek, Wis., 14.75
Mark Rose (28R), Dorchester, Wis., 15.36
Frank Heckenast Jr. (99Jr), Orland Park, Ill., N/T