Tri-City Frostbuster 50

YIKES!!! Last Friday, April 17 did not go well at Tri-City Speedway's "Frostbuster 50" in Granite City, Illinois near St. Louis. Weather was great, 45 or 48 late models at the track, stands were full. Miss Sheppard, Dixie (my dog) and I were in the Feger-Shep souvenir trailer most of the night. Miss and I were taking turns watching the heats. When Steve and Brandon raced, she watched the heats. When Jason was out, I watched. Jason finished fifth in his heat, which meant he'd have to go through the semi. Darn it :(

Dixie was not happy at all, but for a complete different reason. My poor dog wanted nothing to do with the dirt that was slingin' up and hitting her as we sat on the bottom row of the stands.

Jason won the semi by a pretty good margin. He looked very good, like he'd be able to move forward in the feature. YEAH!!!!

Feature time, my plan was to cover up Dixie with a blanket on the bottom of the stands so if the dirt hit, she wouldn't mind as much. Typically she will sit still through a very long race. A shout of thanks is needed to the guy in the stands who helped me cover Dixie up before the feature.

Feger started 16th, with Birky and Vaught on the pole. Behind the front row were Don Oneal, Scott James and several other very good drivers. Jason started picking off drivers in the rear one by one. He looked good, potentially a top five car.

Lap 12 -- Jason was up to eigth, battling Brad Neat for seventh. WHAM, Dixie gets hit by a big dirt clod, so we had to move, she wasn't about to stay put for the entire feature. We move to the aisle between the stands all the while watching the feature. KABOOM, within two laps Jason SLAMS into the front stretch wall, nose first exactly where we were sitting. Fence poles tumble down, the garbage can went flying and Dixie and I went running to see if Jason was ok. Poor Night Train didn't so look good. Jason was trying to back up, he had NO idea that the right rear axle was broken. I was just glad he was ok.

The guy who helped me cover up Dixie was saying that dog acts like she know him. So, I'm like, heck yes she does! That's her car and her boy! Dixie pulls me over to the fence, smelling in the air. I don't know if she could hear Jason talking to the officials or what.

So, back to the race. Tri-City threw the red flag. Poor Night Train and Jason were hooked up by the wrecker and dragged off to the pits looking very pathetic. The back hoe came out, officials had to replace three fence posts with new ones. Nearly 30 minutes everything was ready to go racing and Dixie and I went back to the souvenir trailer.

Birky won, so congrats to the Birkhoffer-Mars teams.

Budha, Dixie and I left the track around midnight to make the trek home. The guys came home a couple of hours later, maybe around 4:30 - 5:00 in the morning. Saturday was supposed to be Kamp. Unfortunately, all the guys were in the shop working on the car all day and most of the evening.

Sunday was supposed to be Quad Cities for the UMP/WDRL challenge, but the weather won that race.

Next on the schedule: "The Opening Extravaganza" at Kankakee on Friday, Kamp Motor Speedway on Saturday and Lincoln Speedway on Sunday. A triple header, all events part of the Monster Midwest Series.

See ya there!

Motor is BACK and IN THE CAR!!!

WOO HOO!!! I hear the car running!! How sweet is that!!
We'll be racing all week-end. Thanks to Mulvain Motorsports.

Motor Problems

UGH!!! Darn it!!! The motor needs some work done to it. It only had like 7 nights on it!!

I'm not sure exactly what is wrong, I think it has something to do with the cam. Might sound crazy -- but typically I never really ask, sort of hoping for the no news is good news thing to happen. Plus, when it comes to motors if it is bad, it is quite depressing and everyone that comes and goes at this house gets in a major racing funk.

So, hopefully the guys will be able to get the motor back from Mike Mullvain on Thursday or early Friday morning to get it back in the car before Tri-City so we can have a full week-end of racing.

If not, I'm not 100% sure what will happen, perhaps they will borrow Bob's motor.

So, keep your fingers crossed :) that Mullvain was able to get the parts and get that motor together.

I'll try to update when I know more.

KAMP Northern All Stars

55 late models were on hand for opening night at Kamp Motorspeedway in Boswell, IN. Lots of fans were in the stands too, braving an extremely cold night. When we left the track, the tempature according to my car was 34 degrees.

Qualifing: FEGER FAST TIME in his group and overall.

Heat: Feger won his heat.

Feature: The drivers who won the heats drew numbers to determine feature starting positions. Jason was starting third behind Darrin Friedman and Dennis Erb on the outside.

Feger got off to a really horrible start, shuffled back to fifth.

Erb got out to an early lead and Loomis was right on his tail. Ted was able to get pass Erb on the low side while Jason battled his way back to third. After a yellow, Dennis nudged Ted to get him out of position and take back the lead.

Feger passed Loomis on the highside and was reeling in Dennis when another yellow came out. Jason put a very slick move on Dennis down low and took out the lead, only to relinquish it back for a yellow that came out for Unzicker.

Feger and Erb continued to battle. Jason nearly had Erb when another yellow came out. The two were pretty far out in front and DARN IT!!!!! Feger pulled into the infield. Grandma swears Jason would have had Dennis, but I'm not 100%. Erb was pretty darn fast, so we would have had second for sure.

Ted finished second, but was light on the scales. Sometimes, he just can't get a break. So that put Friedman in second who ran a very good race. Weaver also had a good race, coming from the rear of the field to the top ten, only to have to pull out after an altercation with another car. Richie looked strong early but faded. He had a fast run earlier in the night and won his heat.

So -- what happened. To quote the Brettman -- they had a twenty-five lap battery in a thirty lap race. The darn battery quit. The race sure seemed like 50 or 60 laps with the yellows, but what can you do.

Next week -- the car will be in full charge :)

Thanks to Kamps and track for a fun night of racing, sure they had to work hard to get it in after all the rain last week.

Rising star Feger battles WoO stars at home track

This is an article that was on www.Dirtondirt.com before the Illini.
Michael Rigsby and others do a great job on Dirtondirt.com -- it is well worth the subscription to get to see videos and results from other tracks so quickly.

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.”

Illini 100

We were at Farmer City last Friday and Sat for the second Illini 100. Track was FAST during qualifing. Jason went out late, unfortunately Jesse sent him out while Ryan U. was still out on the track. Jason spun on what he thought was his first lap, but it wasn't really cause Ryan was still timing. So Jason only took one more lap. Confused, we sort of was too. Anyway, Jason qualified 20th out of 55 cars, not great, but not horrible.

Heat recap from Dirtondirt.com: Outside front-row starter Brian Brian Birkhofer fought off a late charger from polesitter Steve Francis to win the 10-lapper. Birkhofer was slowed by lapped traffic heading for the white flag when Francis grabbed the lead. But Birkhofer answered the move, going back ahead before the frontrunners entered turn two. Fourth-starting Jason Feger got the third and final transfer spot in the caution-free prelim. Finish: Brian Birkhofer, Steve Francis, Jason Feger, Brandon Sheppard, Russ King, Kevin Weaver, Ted Loomis, Adam Mefford, Cory Daugherty.

Main Event:
Feature Clanton won, only two yellows. Feger started 14th and moved up to 8th. Track was fast up high, but hard to pass on.

The Souvenir Trailer Arrives

Life has become even more chaotic. Shep got a souvenir trailer -- so it's at our house. Worked on a wrap nearly three weeks ago and Aaron's been busy, so it hasn't been output. If you see Aaron, give him some grief for me.

John at Showtime is also outputting some more graphics for Night Train, so eventually the poor car will have roof numbers.

Getting more cool merchandise for the trailer. Also completed new shirt designs, have those in stock now. Images are on the website. We also have beer steins, lighters, coffee cups and more stuff. Gotta work on getting some hats and skullie caps.

Hmmmmmm -- what else is coming?? New postcards, has a kool photo Greg took at Btown with Jason slinging dirt. He took the photo from the stands and it is tight. Also, getting some new tats for the kids. These will have a skull and Feger25.

Looks like I'll be the one in the souvenir trailer most the time -- so stop by and say hi.

As an fyi -- it will be closed for ALL FEATURE events -- cause I'm watching the races :)
Like always, we are soooo very grateful for all the support from people in the stands. I'm so very serious in saying, every cent Jason gets goes back into racing. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Catching up on Result Posts

OK -- I've been slacking posting -- but that's cause I've been pretty darn busy working on tee designs. So, this is my attempt to catch up on posts.

What's Been Going On
The Icebreaker Brownstown
It was FREEEEZING, I swear it took two hours for me to get warm on the way home. But, back to racing. Man, is Brownstown a flat track compared to what I'm used too. A guy infront of me was telling me they added banking.

The people in the stands were really cool that I talked to. Typically, I love qualifing, but that track was SLOW and qualifing was PAINFUL. It was like you wanted to push the cars around the track. Since it was my first trip, I don't know if that's usually what goes on.

The racing -- in the feature for part of it the front runners tight, excellent racing with Clanton, Owens and Bloomer all duking it out for the lead during the first 15 - 20 laps.

Jason had qualified 5th in his group of 30 cars. Finished third in his heat, started 17th and finished 13th. He was right on the rear of Jeep and Bill. Most of the racing was down on the bottom.

During the night, got to warm up and have a beer in Tami and Phil Bossingham's new motorhome. They had the big Feger banner in the front window. So that was fun.

Article from Kentucky Lake Site

Jason Feger and Chad Kinder Take Second Night of March Madness at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway

BY JAMES ESSEX


CALVERT CITY, KY (March 7, 2009) – Jason Feger of Bloomington, IL scored the biggest win of his racing career on Saturday Night at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway as he captured the 40 lap-$7,500 to win Late Model Feature. Chad Kinder of Newton, IL took the lead with less than five laps to go to win the $2,000 Open Wheel Modified A-Main. The second night of March Madness again produced excellent track conditions as a large crowd of spectators was on hand under unseasonably warm and windy weather conditions.

Billy Moyer and Shannon Babb would make up the front row of the Late Model Feature as Moyer would get the jump on Babb grabbing the point heading into turn number one on the opening circuit. With one complete lap in the record books Steve Francis would bring out the first caution as he got sideways in turn two as he spun to a stop on the race track. Unfortunately for Francis his night was over as he exited his race car to check out the right front as his night would end on the back of a wrecker.

With the restart Moyer would be the leader on the Delaware double-file alignment with Babb, Feger, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Ray Cook the top five drivers after one lap. The top three would start to distance themselves from Heckenast and Cook who were having quite a race for fourth but most of the attention was up front where Moyer, Babb and Feger were putting on a show in the race for the lead.

Feger would pull even with Babb with eight laps scored and he would complete the pass a circuit later as the driver known as the “Highside Hustler” was living up to his nickname as he ran right along the wall that surrounds the race track. Feger then would set his sights on Moyer as lapped traffic was starting to play a role in the battle for the lead.

Moyer had to pass his son Billy Jr. putting him a lap down as Feger would go around the younger Moyer as well as he would now have plenty of race track to pass the elder Moyer. Feger would drive hard into turn number four and take the lead from Moyer, who came into the race with 702 career feature victories. While Moyer fell to second he now would have Babb hot on his heels as the top three were still keeping the fans on the edge of their seats in an ultra-exciting duel for the top spot.

With Feger’s pass of Moyer on lap 15 to take over the lead the question would be now could Feger hang on the remaining distance with his pedal to the medal driving style? With 16 laps scored a caution for Jeff Larsson who got into the backstretch wall right in front of the leaders would momentarily halt the rapid fire action up front.

On the restart Feger would hold the lead with Moyer and Babb line dup side-by-side behind him. Moyer would get a good restart and clear Babb down the back shute but another caution would negate Moyer’s pass. The next restart would see Babb maintain second in the running order and they would stay that way until the final caution would appear for Jason Riggs one lap shy of the halfway mark at lap 19.

With the green flag in place one more time Feger would see the crossed flags a lap later with Babb holding second followed by Moyer, Cook and Heckenast. The race for the lead would turn into a two-car tussle between Feger and Babb as Moyer was loosing ground the leaders over the last ten laps of the race.

Babb would try the inside several times on Feger, but Feger kept his line up against the wall even bumping the concrete a few times as he was maintaining his lead over Babb which was down to just one car length. As Moyer continued to fade he would slow dramatically on lap 35 pulling into the infield as his night came to an end.

Feger and Babb would race hard all the way to the checkers with Feger repelling Babb’s effort keeping Babb at bay in what turned out to be a barn-burner of a race. Feger would hit his marks on the final lap and take his Bob Pierce Race Cars #25 entry to the finish line as the crowd rose to its feet at the finish as Feger would record the biggest win of his racing career. Babb finished a close second followed by Cook, Heckenast and Jeep VanWormer, Friday Night’s winner.

Afterwards Feger was joined in victory lane by his crew and a throng of supporters including his car builder the Hall of Famer, Bob Pierce. “Man to win this race, I can’t describe it, it feels so good, Shannon Babb is probably my all-time favorite driver and Billy Moyer, I grew up watching him race and to pass both of them and win this race, it is just an unbelievable feeling, I always felt I just needed some breaks go our way in some of these races and we were going to win some, but tonight the car was super fast from the start and I just wanted to keep it out of the wall, I think I hit it a few times, but it didn’t hurt it any,” said the 30-year-old driver who previous career watershed win was a $6,000 win at Macon, IL.

The win by Feger in his Pierce car also marked the biggest Late Model win for the Oakwood, IL based driver turned chassis builder. “Jason did a great job out there, we’re working on a new shock deal with Advanced Racing Suspensions out of Indianapolis and man the car took off right from the get go, hopefully they’ll be many more wins like this,” said Pierce, who success in the open wheel modified ranks is well documented.

Feger’s Mullvain Motorsports powered car is sponsored by LaBamba’s, Campbell Construction, Mulligan’s, Advance Building Systems, BSB Manufacturing, VP Racing Fuels, Absolute Apparel, Showtimesigns.net and Griffin Design Custom Helmets.

Completing the top ten were Don O’Neal, Steve Casebolt, Justin Rattliff, Craig Smith and Jordan Bland. A total of 51 Late Models were on hand for the race.

VIDEO: Kentucky Lake March Madness Late Model Feature

This video was published by Jimmy Dearing.
Please visit http://www.stlracing.com/ to get your dose of dirt updates!
Thanks to Jimmy Dearing. Be sure to check out his photos -- they are awesome.

Photo in Victory Lane

Kentucky Lake Motor
March Madness 3/7/09
left to right:
Mike Posio,
Austin Feger,
Jason Feger,
Bobbie Pierce, Bob Pierce, Josh & Vanessa


JDearing photo from www.stlracing.com

KLMS on Friday and Saturday Night

The feature March 7 at Kentucky Lake Speedway in Calvert City, KY was possibly the best race I've ever seen Jason run. It was amazing.

The post prior to this one was originally on www.dirtondirt.com, hopefully Eric Grigsby won't mind that I posted it on the blog.

The five plus hour trek to KLMS was well worth it. Katie and Chris went headed South with me. Grandma and Holly were in charge of the dogs in Bloomington.

We had racing fever - the night before, I didn't get anything done at home. I was waiting all night for results, looking through all the bulleting boards trying to find info. Friday night Jason's heat was stacked, the competitors included Jeep, Babb, Francis, and more. Jason finished second to Jeep in the heat and sixth in the feature. Jeep won the feature!! Congrats to Jeep, Angie and their entire family.

Jimmy Dearing from www.stlracing.com posted this cool photo from Friday of Jason shooting sparks at KLMS. http://www.stlracingphotos.com/gallery/7528365_NFwhK#486531250_hTRLt

Read the post below about Sat's Feature! CONGRATS TO AUSTIN, JASON, THE CREW, VANESSA, PIERCE RACE CARS AND ALL OF US.

Thanks so much to all of the people who support Feger Racing!

Feger's highside hustling leads to richest victory

Date: March 7, 2009
By Todd Turner DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Visit www.dirtondirt.com to get more racing updates

Jason Feger lived up to his nickname in a big way at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway's March Madness finale.The Highside Hustler jumped into the tricky top groove from the outset, blazed past Shannon Babb and then Billy Moyer, and survived a few scrapes with the wall and a few jumps over the cushion for a 40-lap victory paying a career-high $7,500 at the 3/8-mile oval in western Kentucky.

"I just thought the top was going to be (good)," said the 30-year-old Bloomington, Ill., driver, who overtook Moyer on the 15th lap and led the rest of the way. "The guys would have to slow down more getting through the middle, especially with a few holes down in turn three getting in, and I thought I'd be able to get around the top that much faster, and carry much more speed. It worked."
Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., challenged Feger a few times in the race's late stages before settling for second while Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., was third in the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned event. Frank Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill., was fourth and Jeep Van Wormer of Pinconning, Mich., Friday's $5,000 winner, rounded out the top five. Moyer started on the pole and led the first 14 laps, but he broke an engine while running third on the 34th lap.

Feger's throttle-stomping impressed everyone, including chassis builder and former Hall of Fame driver Bob Pierce, who was among many supporters congratulating Feger in victory lane. When someone said Feger looked like the Tall Cool One of old, citing Pierce's nickname, the former racer brushed off the compliment. "I could never run that high," he said with a big smile.
Feger's foes, too, were impressed that he made the high groove into the winning groove with his fifth-to-first run in the first 15 laps.

"He definitely found that top before everybody did. He definitely drove by us on the top there. It was good for him," said Babb, who started outside the front row and kept an eye on some of Feger's near-disastrous laps the second half of the feature. "When you do drive like that — I've done that 100 times — you can't run every lap that good, but you can always make a good roll, but you never know when you're going to mess up. He didn't ever mess up. ... He had her cooking really good. I was happy for him."

The third-starting Cook thought the high groove had potential, but he was leery of running up there early in the race after his car became airborne when he hit a high-groove hole exiting turn four. "But he was the only one who took the chance on going up there early, and it paid off for him," Cook said.

The 20-year-old Heckenast, who started fourth, found his car running better down low and couldn't keep up with the winner. "I saw him when he went by me. He was putting a show on," Heckenast said. "I was underneath Ray Cook and (Feger) split both of us like we weren't there. He was doing a helluva job."

Feger, who battled last June for a UMP DIRTcar Summernationals victory before high-side miscues contributed to his demise, was glad it all worked out this time around as he brought a new car to KLMS, grabbing a victory and a sixth-place finish in Friday's opener.

"I knew my car was good there at the beginning, but I didn't know how good," Feger said. "I was able to hook that cushion a couple of times and they put me on the outside for that first restart, and it just stuck and I knew it was good. I was just trying to be patient and bide my time and take what I could get, but still take the holes when I could get 'em. Everything just worked out real good.

"I was getting a little nervous, a little shaky. My timing was getting a little off. This was my second night in the car and ... my timing's still not down. I'm a little twitchy. I'm not the smoothest guy anyway, but my timing's just not there yet like it needs to be. I was just getting a little rust shook off. But I can't complain at all, that's a new race car and I'm stoked. It's awesome. Just trying to keep my head and focus and choose my lines and worry about everything else too, it just worked out tonight, it just worked out good."
The race was slowed by four cautions, none for serious incidents. Steve Francis spun on the second lap and was towed off the track. Jeff Larson got into the backstretch wall on lap 17. Brent Kreke spun in turn four on the 19th lap and on the restart, Jason Riggs spun between turns three and four for the final yellow.

For Feger, it was a thrill to take the lead from a Hall of Famer in Moyer, and to outduel Babb, one of his racing heroes, in front of Pierce, another hero.

"Just to be able to run door-to-door with them guys and beat 'em here, and have a little bit of luck go my way here," Feger said. "I'm so glad Bob was here to see it. It just means a lot to me, and all my guys who've worked so hard."

Feger's Pierce Race Car is sponsored by Advanced Racing Suspensions, Absolute Apparel, Mulligans, Campbell Construction, ABS, La Bamba and Crutcher Mfg. ... The victory was the richest by a Pierce car. ... An off-grounds power outage and the resulting repairs dimmed the track's lights, delaying action for about a half-hour before time trials. ... In the first consolation, Michael Kloos spun in turn three while battling for a transfer spot and triggered a melee that caught up several drivers, including Friday's third-place finisher Will Vaught. ... In the first heat, Jeep Van Wormer and Jason Feger did some fending-banging on back-to-back laps while swapping slide jobs. ... Terry English, driving the Bob Harris-owned Warrior No. B1, had a rare miscue in qualifying, spinning in turn four. ... Newcoming drivers for Saturday were Jeff Beyers of Pana, Ill., Josh Throgmorton of Providence, Ky., and Billy Faust of Lebanon, Ill. ... Drivers on hand Friday who didn't return Saturday were Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., and Jeff Walston of Paducah, Ky.

(1) Jason Feger, (2) Shannon Babb, (3) Ray Cook, (4) Frank Heckenast, (5) Jeep Van Wormer, (6) Don O'Neal, (7) Steve Casebolt, (8) Justin Rattliff, (9) Craig Smith, (10) Jordan Bland, (11) Brad Neat, (12) Tommy Weder Jr., (13) Greg Johnson, (14) Billy Moyer Jr., (15) Jason McBride, (16) Billy Moyer, (17) Jason Riggs, (18) Brent Kreke, (19) Jon Henry, (20) Billy Faust, (21) Jeff Larson, (22) Dennis Erb Jr., (23) Chris Simpson, (24) Steve Francis.
Fast qualifier (among 51 cars): Van Wormer, 14.686 seconds.
Heat race winners: Moyer, Babb, Cook, Heckenast.

Hawkeye Racing News Features Feger

My Dad, Ron Griffin loved the Hawkeye Racing News, he read it all of the time. Jason and Austin's Grandpa Griffin would have loved getting to read about his grandsons in the Hawkeye. Thanks much to the Hawkeye and writer, Kyle Ealy.

January 23, 2009 edition of the Hawkeye Racing News.
Kyle Ealy's Headline was:
The season that 'could've been' has Jason Feger looking forward to 2009 campaign.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.
2008 was a season of ups and downs for Jason Feger.Feger started the season on a high note, with feature wins and top-10’s in April and May. In June and parts of July, Jason hit a wall with motor issues during the Summer Nationals in what you could say was hell on the “Hell Tour”. In late July, things started coming around again for Feger and he seemed to be back to his winning ways. In August and early September more disappointing finishes. As the season came to a close, Feger got back on track and finished strong with several big wins against some of the best Late Model competition around.

“We ended up third in the UMP National points and second in the Northern All Stars, so we were pretty satisfied,” Jason remarked. “If it hadn’t been for some flat tires, while we were leading some races and the motor problems we experienced at mid-season during the Summer Nationals, who knows. But this was our best season by far, so all in all, I’m pretty happy with it.”“The year before (2007) we were really fast towards the end, so heading into this season we were really positive and looking forward to the season beginning,” Feger said looking back. We started off this season really hot, things were going good and we won a few big races.”

A couple of feature wins at Jason’s hometown track, Kamp Motor Speedway, including a Northern All Stars victory seemed to give Feger momentum heading into the Summer Nationals. When the Summer Nationals arrived, though, Feger and his team hit a brick wall.“At the first race at Kentucky Lake we won our heat race and pretty much led the whole feature until the last four laps when we had a tire go down.” For Feger and his team, that spelled the beginning of the end for his Summer Nationals. “I don’t know what happened after that. We got a little off track and never could regroup. We would run real well in heat races but come feature time, we always seemed to struggle. With the Summer Nationals you’re gone everyday and you don’t have the opportunity to take the car home, pull the car into the garage and do some brain storming. During Summer Nationals you’re either going really good or really bad. Unfortunately for us, it was the latter.”

Feger decided it was best to go home and regroup. He caught up with the tour at Oakshade on June 21. “We found a few things and corrected them,” he remarked. “We had a real good run there, got into a scuffle with another guy, broke a left front shock and still finished eighth after running third.” More problems arose for Feger a couple of nights later when he blew a motor at Sedalia on June 24. From there it was back to Bloomington once again.The next few nights were nothing but frustration as Jason struggled with his motor time and time again and made repeated trips back home. “I ended up borrowing a motor from Bob Pierce and we headed to Peoria to finish out the tour. “It took me a little while to get adjusted to the new motor but after that, everything just took off for us,” Feger explained.

With a healthy motor and car troubles seemingly behind him, Feger steamrolled the competition in a couple of Monster Midwest Series events taking $2,000-to-win feature victories at Spoon River on July 23 and again on the following night at LaSalle Speedway on July 24. A couple of Summer National make-up dates at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville and Macon (Ill.) Speedway (the Herald & Review 100) proved that Jason seemed to be back on track with a couple of strong third-place finishes.Starting out the fall schedule, Jason headed to the “World 100” in Eldora, where he had to qualify through a talented B main field to make the A main. Jason finished fourth in the B to make the starting field. Starting 27th in the big show, Feger finished the grueling 100 lapper ending up in 18th place.In mid-September Feger scored an impressive win at Paducah Int’l. Raceway in the “Wayne Coakley Memorial” in what proved to be a thrilling finish with Feger passing Brad Neat on the last lap to score the $5,000 victory.

Luck was finally on our side for that race. That car may have been the worse car I’ve had there, but as they say better to be lucky than good! Looking back, we probably should’ve won two or three other races we competed in at Paducah last season,” Feger mentioned. “We were leading the race one night and got a flat and still finished second to (Ken) Schrader driving on the rim. In the MARS race we were leading that and had another tire go down. I love that track, it really fits my driving style well.”

As the momentum kept going, Feger accomplished a life-long dream by winning the “Kamp 50” at his hometown track of Kamp (Ind.) Motor Speedway to round out the month of September. “It seems like at your home track you usually struggle a lot. I don’t know if it’s the pressure or what. We’ve won a couple of $2,000 Northern All Stars races there before but when a big event like the “Kamp 50” or a national race like the World of Outlaws it always seemed like things wouldn’t come together.” That night things came together for the “Highside Hustler” as he came from his fifth starting position to check out a stellar field of Late Models.

For the 2009 season Feger’s goals won’t change much from the previous seasons. “I’m not one to chase points. A lot of guys will chase the points but I’ve discovered when I try and do that I do nothing but wear out my equipment. I’d rather save it for the big shows,” he commented. “The way the UMP points works if you do well during the Summer Nationals and some of the big shows you’re probably going to be towards the front of the national points. Last year we really tried to be more focused on being more prepared going to the track rather than racing quite as many nights, which I feel really helped a lot.“We’re going into this season with that same mindset. I’m going to try and be more prepared, which we’re already set up better this season with a new car and a solid back up, which is the car we ran last year. Our motor program is much better this year than year’s past, which we think will be a big plus.

We’re just that much better prepared this season for the big races. If you prepare yourself for the big shows and run well when they come around, in the end, you’ll be there when the points come around, too. If we can run great come Summer Nationals time and string together some top-five’s and top-10’s and show some consistency, we’ll be near the top for points.”Feger also mentioned that the upcoming Monster Midwest Tour promoted by Don Hammer will be another great opportunity to score points in the always competitive UMP Late Model division. “Instead of a week long event like it’s been in the past, he has a 20 to 25 race schedule that starts in May and runs through October. Most of the races are within a two to three hour jaunt for Feger. “He has a points fund together and contingencies for the series, which really helps. Most of the shows will be $2,000 to win and that’ll bring in guys like Erb, Hedrick, Steidinger, Weaver and the Shepherds. The competition will definitely be there.”

For the future, Jason wants to run on the national level someday. “I’d love to run on the World of Outlaws tour someday. The competition there is the toughest around and that’s where you want to prove yourself. I’d like to be like a (Brian) Birkhofer or a (Scott) Bloomquist and freelance. They go where the big money is and run the tracks they want. I’d love to have that opportunity someday. That’s all my crew and I would like to do, is be out on the road full-time.“With our financial situation, we can’t do that right now. I know that I can run with those guys, but when I make that commitment I want to be prepared. When and if I run in those series I want to be in it for the long haul and know that I have a shot at doing it,” he said. “I don’t want to be running the series and then stop because we ran out of money or we don’t have the proper equipment to continue. I want to see the whole thing through.”

For now, Feger feels fortunate to be in the position he’s in. We’re able to race on a lot of quality tracks right here in the Midwest, compete in some big shows and race against some stout competition.”Jason couldn’t race without support from his sponsors and crew. His crew consists of Austin Feger, Devin Shickel, Mike Posio and Josh Otto.Feger’s sponsors include: Bob Pierce Race Cars, Advanced Racing Suspension, Campbell Construction, Mulligans, ABS, LaBamba, SVC Construction, Crutcher Mfg., BSB Mfg., Richardson Racing Products, Budda Racecars, BRT Racing Products, Stealth Racing Carbs, Sweet Mfg., Out-Pace, Weld Racing, All Star Performance, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Bell Racing, PRC Performance Rod and Customs, HyperCo, The V-Batter, KDK, Boitnott Lawn care, Bob’s Taxidermy, Triple T, Strong Concrete, Bairds, Hill Lawn care, and Showtime Signs.

Again, Thanks to the Hawkeye Racing News and Kyle Ealy

Go JEEP!!!

Jason Feger headed North last week to help Jeep prepare for Speedweeks in Florida. Sounds like they had quite a bit of work to do last week in the shop. The past week-end they spent in Georgia watching the races. This week -- Speedweeks to kick off Jeep Van Wormer's run for the Lucas Oil Series. Jason will be serving as Jeep's temporary crew down South than head home with lots of work to do up here to prepare for the Feger teams kick-off at Kentucky Lake Speedway in early March.

I'm sure Jeep will put on a heck of a show at any track he's at. Jeep is running a new Rocket after making the switch from Mastersbilt.
GO JEEP -- show those Lucas Oil guys what ya can do!!

Feger voted 2008 Most Improved Driver

We didn't see that one coming. At the UMP banquet in Dec, Jason received the award as 2008 UMP most improved driver. How cool is that!!

The trophy is about as tall as Jason. I haven't seen it yet, Kris the Shockman from Advance has it.

Thanks to everyone that voted for him!!

In addition, Jason received third place in national UMP late model standings, missing second by five point. Plus second in Northern All Stars.

Hope 2009 is a great season as well.

2008 Track of the Year

WOO HOO!!! Congrats to Bob & Gayle Kamp, plus everyone that works at Kamp Motorspeedway for being voted 2008 UMP Track of the Year. That's quite an honor. Kamp was also the Track of the Year in 2005.

If you haven't been to Kamp, ya gotta go -- it is well worth the trek from Bloomington, IL. The track is bigger than most in Central Illinois, excellent facility, the fans and promoters are great, plus the track is FAST!!! You'll get to see some of the best side by side racing around.

Here's a bit of trivia -- Jason Feger won his first late model feature at Kamp.

Hope to make it there lots of times in 2009. My guess if there isn't a big show on a Sat night some place else, you'll see the tumbling dice at Kamp.

JAX the puppy has a new Forever Home!!

Thank you so much to Samanth Noe and her family!! They've welcomed JAX, the puppy Holly found last week, to their home with open arms.

JAX now has a full name: Jaxon James. He also has a three year old, 4 legged brother Damon, plus two boys and a cat to play with.

Thank you so very much to everyone who helped us look for a home for JAX.

Have you lost a cute, very sweet puppy?

Have you lost a puppy?? This is the little guy that Holly found this morning. Hopefully the owners will contact us . . . this poor little guy is having the time of his life playing with Sam, Dixie and Voche. Unfortunately, the inn is full at our house. So if the owners don't find us, Jax (that's his name for now) will need to go to CISAR.

So, if you know a very good family that is looking for a very smart, good-looking little boy to join their family PLEASE let them know about our find Jax. ~ Thanks! Tracy

Found Lost Puppy

Found lost young dog/puppy around 8:10 behind apartment complex on Mecherle drive, which is behind Premium Pet Supply in Kmart Plaza. We are guessing HE is less than 10 months old. Reddish in color. Appears to have German Sheppard in him, darker muzzle, darker tail. He also has white toes. No collar or microchip. Contact Holly Moreman at 309-242-5307 or Tracy Feger at 309-242-2705. We will also try to post a photo. We will also leave a message with the Humane Society on Wednesday.

Hope he finds his way home!!

If we cannot find the owners, we will be contacting CISAR.