Story By: BEN SHELTON / ASHTON WINGER RACING – HAMPTON, GA – Ashton Winger picked up his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals win of the season on Tuesday night at Springfield Raceway with his Jeff Mathews Motorsports No. 12 Super K Express / Recreational Vehicle Select / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model.
From the outside-front-row starting position, Winger led all 30 laps for the $5,000 win at the 1/4-mile oval. The victory was his fifth overall of the season.
“Honestly, (the car’s) been really good here in years past. Just got lucky. Got put on the front row there and got the start and was able to control the race at my own pace,” Winger commented in Victory Lane at the Missouri oval. “My dad and Zach have been working their butts off. It’s been a couple of months since we won. We, for some reason, can’t get going until about June or July.”
Starting off a road trip to the Midwest, Ashton Winger joined the DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Springfield (Mo.) Raceway on Tuesday evening for the third week of the Hell Tour.
With 29 Late Models signed in for the week three opener, Winger qualified fourth-quickest in his group before charging from fourth-to-first in his heat race to sit on the front-row of the 30-lap main event.
Taking the lead from the drop of the green flag, Ashton led flag-to-flag to pick up the $5,000 victory.
Wednesday’s event at Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, Ill.) was rained out.
Checked in at Macon (Ill.) Speedway for the Herald and Review 100, Winger started eighth in the 100 lapper and battled inside the Top-3 before getting involved in an accident on lap 75. Rallying from the back, Ashton came up with a third-place finish.
For the first $10,000-to-win event of the weekend on Friday, Winger charged from fourth-to-second in his heat race at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway to start sixth in the main event. Ashton ran inside the Top-5 until spinning on the last lap which relegated him to an 11th-place finish.
Returning to a track he won at last season, Winger checked into Highland (Ill.) Speedway on Saturday afternoon and started the $10,000-to-win feature 11th after finishing fourth in his heat race. Ashton made his way into the Top-10 until mechanical issues forced him to retire.
Wrapping up his first week of the Hell Tour, Ashton joined a 17-car field at Red Hill Raceway (Sumner, Ill.) on Sunday afternoon. Starting third in the $5,000-to-win show, Winger recorded a Top-10 finish after crossing the finish line in seventh.
Winger finished fifth in the weekly points chase.
The team will be idle on Monday before resuming action with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals on Monday at Old No. 1 Speedway (Harrisburg, Ark.).