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Other places for results and info:
www.4m.net
www.midwestdirtrackfacts.com brought to you by the one and only Racenut :)
So -- back to the article:
Rising star Feger battles WoO stars at home track.
written by Kevin Kovac from the World of Outlaw Series:
What would a victory in this weekend's second annual Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway mean to rising central Illinois star Jason Feger? Well, the first thing that popped into the Bloomington, Ill., driver's mind when asked that question was purely financial. The blockbuster World of Outlaws Late Model Series event, after all, pays $20,000 to win from a total purse of $100,000.
“It means I'd be able to buy a new motor,” quipped Feger, who has carved out a growing regional reputation campaigning family-owned Dirt Late Model equipment without big-money backing.
Dig a little deeper with the personable Feger, however, and out bursts the true significance of a triumph in his home state's richest Dirt Late Model event, which kicks off with time trials and qualifying heats on Friday, April 3, and concludes with consolation races, a non-qualifiers' race and the Illini 100 on Saturday, April 4.
“It would be just crazy to win it,” Feger said. “There's gonna be so many great cars and drivers there, and I'm going to have a lot of family and friends there watching. Feger shirts should be everywhere, so winning the biggest race of my career in front of everybody I know would be an unbelievable feeling.”
An outgoing 30-year-old known for his cool race car graphics (his schemes feature tumbling dice), cutting-edge hipness (Feger and younger brother Austin wore colorful Mohawk hairdos to UMP DIRTcar Summernationals events last year) and hard-charging driving style (he's called the Highside Hustler), Feger would be the center of a huge postrace celebration if he could pull off a win.
“There probably wouldn't be enough beer in Farmer City for the party we'd have,” Feger said with a laugh. “I think we might just stay in the pits for a few days.”
Feger's familiarity with the quarter-mile Farmer City oval is certainly his ace in the hole, but it's not the only reason plenty of observers are looking at him as a serious contender for glory in the Illini 100. He enters the weekend riding plenty of momentum, thanks to the strong finish he had to his career year in 2008 and a career-high $7,500 victory last month in a UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned event at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in Calvert City, Ky.
The 2008 season ended with Feger's ledger showing 13 feature wins at seven different tracks, including two victories at Farmer City. He finished third in the UMP weekly points, placed second in the Northern Allstars Late Model Series points race and registered a WoO career-high finish of fourth in September at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. — a body of work that made him an easy choice for the 2008 UMP Most Improved Driver Award.
“Things started clicking real good last year,” said Feger, who launched his Dirt Late Model career in 2001 after spending four years in the Sportsman division. “I've changed chassis brands quite a few times in the past few years, but last year we really got settled into Pierce cars and found a nice baseline setup that's worked for us.”
Feger knows that he'll have to be on top of his game this weekend if he expects to turn back a cross-section of the country's dirt racers.
“I always feel like I have something to prove being a low-budget guy,” said Feger, who works at his family's Absolute Apparel business but hopes to someday go racing full-time and chase the WoO. “I know I can run with (the sport's national stars), but I have to have the same focus as those guys. These (WoO) guys run every lap like it's their last — they're always searching for new lines around the track and changing how they drive if their car starts to not feel right.
“And all these guys know how to be patient in a 100-lap race. That's one of the things I'm still learning.”
Last year Feger didn't even get a chance to strut his stuff in the inaugural Illini 100. He failed to qualify after a flat tire knocked him out of a transfer spot in his heat and he came up two positions short in a consolation race, though he did win the 25-lap non-qualifiers' race following last year's Illini 100.
“It was really depressing to miss last year's (Illini 100),” said Feger. “We were running right behind (2007 WoO champion Steve) Francis when we got the flat in the heat, and Francis went out and finished third in the feature. And our lap times in the non-qualifiers' race were about the same as (Billy) Moyer and (Shannon) Babb (the winner and runner-up, respectively, in the dramatic race).
“I know our car was fast enough last year, but whether I could've done it for 100 laps, I don't know. Hopefully this year we'll be there at the end.”
