La SALLE, Ill. (July 3) — Brian Birkhofer has found his rhythm.

After making Thursday night’s 40-lap UMP DIRTcar Summernationals feature at La Salle Speedway his second Hell Tour victory in six days, even Birkhofer couldn’t deny the synchronicity he’s experiencing with his Rocket Chassis race car.

“Right now I got a good feel with the car and I’m just confident in what it does,” said Birkhofer, whose $5,000 triumph followed Summernationals finishes of first on June 28 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., and second on June 29 at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway. “Any driver will tell you that they can do a lot with the car when they get that confidence level, and I kind of have that right now. It is racing, though, and it can turn in a heartbeat, so we’ll just keep taking it while it’s coming this way.”

Birkhofer, 42, dominated the pre-holiday action at the quarter-mile oval. He marched forward from the fourth starting spot to overtake race-long pacesetter Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., for the lead on lap 11 and cruised the remainder of the distance.

Aside from a scrape with a lapped car on lap 31 that brought out a caution flag and wiped out his comfortable advantage, Birkhofer had little trouble once in command. He glided away following the restart and beat 32-year-old Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., to the finish line by 1.072 seconds.

Bobby Pierce, 17, of Oakwood, Ill., challenged Unzicker several times in the closing circuits but settled for a third-place finish. Feger fell to fourth at the checkered flag after starting from the pole position and leading laps 1-10 and Curtis Roberts of Coleman, Mich., slipped inside Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfurt, Ill., for fifth place on the lap-31 restart and held the spot to the end of the feature.

Birkhofer did briefly fall to fifth place at the start of the race, but he soon discovered an inside line around the high-banked track that carried him to the front past Heckenast, Pierce, Unzicker and, finally, Feger.

“I kind of found that momentum line,” Birkhofer said. “I always try to find some momentum, so I tried the top a little bit, tried some other spots a little bit, and I got to where I couldn’t really go anywhere because somebody was always there. So I had to run that momentum line (on the bottom) and it worked out that we got to the lead.”

Birkhofer was more than a straightaway ahead of Unzicker on lap 31 when he had his biggest scare of the race. While lapping Tanner English of Benton, Ky., he clipped and spun the young driver in turn four, creating yellow-flag conditions that erased his healthy edge.

“I didn’t mean to get into Tanner,” Birkhofer said. “He was there, I finally got clear of another guy, and he had had such a good run going in there and turning and going that way. I was just gonna kind of barely try to miss his right-rear quarter-panel and make my momentum line, but I got into him.

“I’m sorry about that….I made contact, and he went around. That was totally not intentional. He had a good car running that little line like he was and then I got into him, and I was like, ‘Ah, don’t lose it!’ And he did.

“They said I had a decent-size lead,” he added, “so I really screwed myself actually.”

As strong as Birkhofer appeared, he would have preferred to keep the race rolling under green.

“You just never know with these races,” said Birkhofer, who recorded his 12th career win on the Summernationals series. “Unzicker and Little Bobby, they’re pretty good little shoes. And this is a short track— if this was a big track, I’d have felt a little more confident. But we were able to get the job done.”

Unzicker was unable to stay with Birkhofer, so he was resigned to his fifth runner-up finish of the 2014 Summernationals. The former UMP national champion did regain the Hell Tour points lead from Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who struggled to an 11th-place finish, but he remained winless on the circuit this season.

While disappointed to come so close to victory again, Unzicker used his latest solid performance as much-needed morale booster.

“My last podium (finish) was down there at Clarksville (Tenn.) and I was kind of frustrated that night because I was on the pole and didn’t win it,” said Unzicker, who finished second in that June 25 event. “I got down, and this is gonna bring me back up.

“I’ll tell you, I won’t get down again, because there for four nights I didn’t get on the podium. It made me think that going down the road, we gotta regroup and get back up there to the top three.

“I just hope that the win’s coming in one of these races,” he continued. “If I just keep qualifying and putting the car up front…the car’s good enough to win. I just gotta make some small adjustments for the feature, which we did tonight and I was pretty pleased with it. It’s just hard to keep that 15b (Birkhofer) back behind you. He’s damn good anywhere he goes.”

Before the lap-31 caution for English’s spin, the race’s only other slowdown came on the opening circuit when a yellow flag was thrown for Babb’s twirl between turns three and four. Babb was permitted to return to his 14th starting spot for the restart, however, because a lap had not been completed.

The UMP DIRTcar Summernationals continues on Fri., July 4, with Round 16, a $7,500-to-win event at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, Ill.

Preliminary results:

Pre-feature notes

Carrying momentum following his Wednesday-night victory at Jacksonville, Jason Feger continued to build more by picking the pole position for the 40-lap feature. He’ll share the front row with Ryan Unzicker, who is second in the Summernationals points standings but hasn’t yet reached victory lane. … Chris Simpson cruised to the checkered flag in the B-Main, giving him the 17th starting spot in the feature. Kevin Weaver finished second in the last-chance event and will start 18th in the headliner. … Provisional starting spots were given to Jim Moon and Tanner English (Summernationals), Steve Thorsten (UMP national points) and Jason Jaggers and Mark Larson (track). … At 9:50 p.m., the track was shooting off its pre-holiday fireworks show. The Late Model feature will hit the track first immediately after the fireworks are done.

B-Main finish (top two transfer to feature): Chris Simpson, Kevin Weaver, Ray Guss Jr., McKay Wenger, Steve Thorsten, Pete Parker, Torin Mettille, Mike Provenzano, Bob Gardner, Jason Jaggers, Steve Lance Jr., Jason Zobrist, Richard Frost, Tanner English, Jim Moon.

C-Main finish (top three transfer to B-Main): Jason Jaggers, Jim Moon, Jason Zobrist, Russ Adams, Greg Wagner, Trace Westling, Mark Larson, Lake Knutti, Mark Rose, Dale Markham, Alan Westling, Lyle Zanke, Billy Hough, Jeff Riddell.

B-Main lineup

(12 laps; top two transfer to feature)
Row 1: Kevin Weaver, Chris Simpson
Row 2: McKay Wenger, Bob Gardner
Row 3: Ray Guss Jr., Tanner English
Row 4: Pete Parker, Steve Lance Jr.
Row 5: Mike Provenzano, Steve Thorsten
Row 6: Torin Mettille, Richard Frost

C-Main lineup

(10 laps; top three transfer to B-Main)
Row 1: Jason Jaggers, Jim Moon
Row 2: Jason Zobrist, Russ Adams
Row 3: Greg Wagner, Lake Knutti
Row 4: Trace Westling, Dale Markham
Row 5: Billy Hough, Lyle Zanke
Row 6: Mark Larson, Jeff Riddell
Row 7: Mark Rose, Alan Westling

Fourth heat

Ryan Unzicker became the fourth straight flag-to-flag heat-race winner, rolling to the checkered flag by 0.716 of a second over Scott Schmitt. Scott Bull and Mike Spatola finished third and fourth, respectively, to move on to the feature. A caution flag flew on lap five for Richard Frost’s spin in turn four.

Finish (top four transfer): Ryan Unzicker, Scott Schmitt, Scott Bull, Mike Spatola, Bob Gardner, Steve Lance Jr., Richards Frost, Russ Adams, Dale Markham, Jeff Riddell.

Third heat

Jason Feger ran away from the field, leading the non-stop event from start-to-finish and beating Curtis Roberts to the finish line by a commanding margin of 3.445 seconds. Rich Bell and Jason Riggs scrambled to grab the remaining transfer spots.

Finish (top four transfer): Jason Feger, Curtis Roberts, Rich Bell, Jason Riggs, McKay Wenger, Pete Parker, Torin Mettille, Jason Zobrist, Trace Westling, Mark Larson, Alan Westling.

Second heat

Brian Birkhofer dominated the action, leading from flag-to-flag to take the checkered flag 3.048 seconds ahead of Randy Korte. Billy Moyer Jr. and Shannon Babb settled into the third and fourth spots, respectively, and cruised to finishes there in the caution-free event.

Finish (top four transfer): Brian Birkhofer, Randy Korte, Billy Moyer Jr., Shannon Babb, Chris Simpson, Tanner English, Steve Thorsten, Jim Moon, Lake Knutti, Lyle Zanke.

First heat

In an extremely competitive four-car battle, Frank Heckenast Jr. held on to score the win. Bobby Pierce challenged repeatedly but fell 0.289 of a second short at the finish, with Brandon Sheppard and Brian Shirley finishing a close third and fourth, respectively. Mark Rose was the race’s lone casualty, causing a caution flag on lap one when he spun into the infield on the homestretch with a crunched nosepiece.

Finish (top four transfer): Frank Heckenast Jr., Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Kevin Weaver, Ray Guss Jr., Mike Provenzano, Jason Jaggers, Greg Wagner, Billy Hough, Mark Rose.

Qualifying

Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfurt, Ill., turned the overall fastest lap in the split qualifying session, clicking off a circuit of 12.552 seconds in Group 1. He will start from the pole position in the first heat.

Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., was quickest in the Group 2 with a lap of 12.683 seconds, giving him the pole in the third heat.

Other heat polesitters will be Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, and Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill.

Jason Riggs of Harrisburg, Ill., spun during his first qualifying lap and nearly contacted the outside wall in turn one, but he rallied to turn the fifth-fastest lap in his group.

Torrin Mettille of Cullom, Ill., also experienced problems during time trials, blowing a left-rear tire near the end of Group 2. He didn’t log a qualifying lap and will start from the rear of the third heat.

Pre-race notes

It’s an absolutely gorgeous day for racing at La Salle, with sunny skies and temperatures sitting comfortably in the 70s. Even rain appears to be completely out of the picture — a rare occurrence on this year’s Summernationals. … A 42-car field is signed in for action (McKay Wenger of Fairbury, Ill., was a late addition), which means qualifying will be split into two groups. Drivers in Group 1 will time for starting spots in heats 1-2 and those in Group 2 will battle to align heats 3-4. ... UMP DIRTcar Summernationals race director Erik Grigsby is serving as tonight's chief starter for all events. He's no newbie to the flagstand, however; he spent several years waving the flags at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway. ... Summernationals chief score Brad Hockaday also has an increased workload tonight. He'll not only score the Late Model and UMP Modified action but also the track's street stock and hornet events. ... Among the notable drivers popping in to compete Thursday night are Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, and Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa, who finished one-two in last year’s Spring Thaw event at La Salle. … Tanner English of Benton, Ky., remains on the Hell Tour trail and enters La Salle’s action with his confidence rising after a fifth-place finish Wednesday night at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway. It wasn’t his best run of the ’14 Summernationals — he was fourth on June 25 at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway — but he “felt better (at Jacksonville) than at Clarksville,” he said. “Clarksville is sort of one of my hometracks, so having a run like we did last night makes me pretty proud.” … Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., said he had a good time racing for second place with Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., on Wednesday night at Jacksonville. “He texted me as I was changing out of my uniform and asked me if I could come down and clean the tire mark off his car (door),” quipped Moyer, noting the paint he and Babb traded on a couple occasions before Babb secured the runner-up spot late in the feature distance. “That was no big deal — it was fun racing with him like that. You’re gonna get hit racing on the Summernationals. You just get mad when you get hit every single night.”

Pre-race setup

The UMP DIRTcar Summernationals remains in the Land of Lincoln on Thursday night but moves north to La Salle Speedway, a quarter-mile oval that hosts the Hell Tour for the 19th time since 1989. A 40-lap, $5,000-to-win feature tops the evening’s agenda.

Current Summernationals points leader Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., is the only multiple-time Hell Tour feature at La Salle who will be in Thursday night’s. He claimed the track’s series event for the first time in 2003 and repeated in ’06 and ’11.

Other past Summernationals winners at La Salle who will also be in action are Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill. (2013), Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa (’12), Randy Korte of Highland, Ill. (’09) and Kevin Weaver of Gibson City, Ill. (’00).

Thursday’s program, which includes UMP Modifieds, street stocks and hornets, is scheduled to kick off with hot laps at 6:15 p.m. CT. Racing is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. and a fireworks display will close out the program.

Heat lineups

(10 laps; top four transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Frank Heckenast Jr., Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Brian Shirley, Bobby Pierce
Row 3: Kevin Weaver, Ray Guss Jr.
Row 4: Jason Jaggers, Mike Provenzano
Row 5: Greg Wagner, Mark Rose
Row 6: Billy Hough
Second heat
Row 1: Brian Birkhofer, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 2: Chris Simpson, Randy Korte
Row 3: Shannon Babb, Steve Thorsten
Row 4: Tanner English, Jim Moon
Row 5: Lake Knutti, Lyle Zanke
Third heat
Row 1: Jason Feger, Curtis Roberts
Row 2: Jason Riggs, Rich Bell
Row 3: McKay Wenger, Mark Larson
Row 4: Jason Zobrist, Pete Parker
Row 5: Trace Westling, Alan Westling
Row 6: Torin Mettille
Fourth heat
Row 1: Ryan Unzicker, Mike Spatola
Row 2: Scott Schmitt, Scott Bull
Row 3: Bob Gardner, Dale Markham
Row 4: Richard Frost, Steve Lance Jr.
Row 5: Russ Adams, Jeff Riddell

Time trials results

First group
Frank Heckenast Jr. (99Jr), Frankfort, Ill., 12.552
Brian Birkhofer (15b), Muscatine, Iowa, 12.576
Brandon Sheppard (b5), New Berlin, Ill., 12.581
Billy Moyer Jr. (21Jr), Batesville, Ark., 12.594
Brian Shirley (81), Chatham, Ill., 12.615
Chris Simpson (32), Oxford, Iowa, 12.681
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 12.715
Randy Korte (00), Highland, Ill., 12.757
Kevin Weaver (b12), Gibson City, Ill., 12.807
Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 12.818
Ray Guss Jr. (58R), Milan, Ill., 12.905
Steve Thorsten (7T), Milford, Ill., 12.937
Jason Jaggers (32J), Wyanet, Ill., 12.948
Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., 12.956
Mike Provenzano (27M), Grand Ridge, Ind., 13.15
Jim Moon (1M), New Florence, Mo., 13.183
Greg Wagner (79W), Polo, Ill., 13.352
Lake Knutti (07), Lanark, Ill., 13.509
Mark Rose (28R), Dorchester, Wis., 13.708
Lyle Zanke (9), Rockford, Ill., 13.757
Billy Hough (33H), Thomasboro, Ill., 14.036
Second group
Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 12.683
Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., 12.715
Curtis Roberts (9R), Coleman, Mich., 12.84
Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., 12.932
Jasn Riggs (81Jr), Harrisburg, Ill., 13.045
Scott Schmitt (10S), Tonica, Ill., 13.046
Rich Bell (21B), Sheffield, Ill., 13.182
Scott Bull (83), Fairbury, Ill., 13.241
McKay Wenger (42), Fairbury, Ill., 13.261
Bob Gardner (4G), Germantown Hills, Ill., 13.277
Mark Larson (782), Ottawa, Ill., 13.343
Dale Markham (3), Maple Park, Ill., 13.412
Jason Zobrist (87), Highland, Ill., 13.49
Richard Frost (15), Clarksville, Ill., 13.516
Pete Parker (10P), Kakauna, Wis., 13.58
Steve Lance Jr. (25L), Cuba, Ill., 13.657
Trace Westling (71), Fulton, Mo., 13.83
Russ Adams (74), Princeville, Ill., 13.9
Alan Westling (20), Fulton, Mo., 14.073
Jeff Riddell (09), Steward, Ill., 14.103
Torin Mettille (116), Cullom, Ill., no time