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Earl Pearson Jr. came out on top of a titanic battle for the lead to win Monday night’s UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals ‘Jim Dunn Memorial 50’ at Midway Speedway.
Pearson, 35, of Jacksonville , Fla. , wasn’t headed after passing Corey Conley of Wellsburg , W.Va. , for the top spot on lap eight, but his march to the $10,000 top prize was anything but easy. He repelled the spirited advances of Pinconning , Mich. ’s Jeep VanWormer while negotiating lapped traffic late in the distance, and Rick Aukland of Zanesville , Ohio , was lurking in the shadows as well.
VanWormer, the runner-up in last year’s Summernationals point standings, settled for a close second-place finish, with Aukland right on his tail in third at the checkered flag.
Completing the top five was Summernationals points leader Mike Marlar of Winfield , Tenn. , who qualified through a B-Main, and A.J. Diemel of Navarino , Wis. , a newcomer to the Summernationals trail this season.
Pearson’s victory was the second of his career in UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals competition. His first win came on July 14, 2004, at 34 Raceway in West Burlington , Iowa .
Fifty dirt Late Models entered the first-ever UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals event at the Ohio track.
Steve Shaver of Vienna , W.Va. , recorded the fastest lap in group qualifying, turning the oval in 13.61 seconds.
Heat winners were Pearson, Aukland, Diemel, VanWormer, Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg , Pa. , and Corey Conley. The B-Mains were captured by Bart Hartman of Zanesville , Ohio , Marlar and Don O’Neal of Martinsville , Ind.
UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals A-Main Finish (50 laps):
1. Earl Pearson Jr.
2. Jeep VanWormer
3. Rick Auckland
4. Mike Marlar
5. A.J. Diemel
6. Steve Shaver
7. Bart Hartman
8. Dennis Erb Jr.
9. Corey Conley
10. Wes Steidinger
11. Jeremy Miller
12. Don O'Neal
13. D.J. Cline
14. Mike Balzano
15. Steve Sheppard Jr.
16. Scott Peltz
17. Jason Feger
18. Keith Berner
19. Ronnie Mayle
20. Billy Drake
21. Justin Ratliff
DNQ: Jordan Bland, Jeff Burdett, Ben Adkins, Freddie Carpenter, Sam Lovejoy, Shane McGloughlin, Mark Banal, Rodney Gibson, Greg Oliver, Russ Frohnapfel, Rick Conley, Dave Wolfe, Scott Bull, Dusty Campbell, Kevin Cole, Norm Aronhalt, Josh McGuire, Larry Bond, Skip Watterman, Sean Cosgrove, Rick Armstrong, Dan Shrigley, Doug Winston, Terry Tucker, Brad Neat, Bobby Kitchen, Eddie Kirchoff, Damon Eller, Jason Riggs |
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