Shirley Back On Top During Summer Nationals; Krup Cashes-In For Fourth Career Victory At Butler

Story By: JORDAN DELUCIA / DIRTCAR – QUINCY, MI – After a rough past couple of races, the current DIRTcar Summer Nationals point leader Brian Shirley is back on top after earning his seventh Feature win of the season Wednesday night in the tour debut at Butler Motor Speedway.

Shirley got caught-up in a wreck in the Feature at Lincoln Speedway on Sunday night, leaving him with a 22nd-place DNF result. On Tuesday night at Kankakee County Speedway, he started on the outside pole, fell back to sixth and nearly got lapped. Twenty-four hours later, he’s standing in Victory Lane.

Shirley and the Bob Cullen Racing team put in a great deal of work since their troubles last week, and it all came together Wednesday night in another flag-to-flag victory.

“This is the car we wrecked at Lincoln,” Shirley said of the car he drove into Butler Victory Lane. “After how we did last night, I was like ‘we’ve got to figure out what to do to get this car back together.’ So, me and [crew guy] busted our ass and drove all the way here last night, woke up at eight this morning and have been working and thrashing on it.”

After consulting with a few friends, he and the crew found the source of the problem. One that rewarded them with another $5,000 Feature winner’s check.

“The shock tower was pushed-in. A couple good buddies – Kyle Bronson, and I talked to Brandon Sheppard on the way here last night – they explained what I needed to do, and then we just got up early enough to get it done,” Shirley said.

Right away, the repairs were noticeable on Wednesday night. He set fast time in Qualifying, won his Heat Race and jumped out to a commanding lead at the drop of the green, leading several of the Hell Tour regulars and a couple surprise names up front.

Hubbardston, MI-pilot Garrett Wiles came out to challenge the Summer Nationals big guns and had a very successful venture, winning his Heat Race and running inside the podium for most of the Feature before slipping back to fourth.

Drake Troutman, the 15-year-old DIRTcar Late Model talent from Hyndman, PA, made the follow-up trip to his Summer Nationals debut at Butler a very successful one.

Starting from outside Row 3, Troutman battled with Jason Feger and Rusty Schlenk and out front for several laps before making the pass on Wiles for second on Lap 18. With a fast car underneath him, Troutman maintained the spot all the way back to the checkers for his best career finish with the tour.

But above all others was the three-time and defending tour champion. Going virtually untouched in the Feature, win #7 on the season will increase his points lead over Frank Heckenast Jr. and lead him one step closer to he and his team’s fourth tour championship with just three races remaining.

The JHA Motorsports team has quickly become one of the household names in DIRTcar UMP Modified Racing. With pilot Will Krup’s flag-to-flag victory Wednesday night at Butler Motor Speedway, he’s now quadrupled his career win total with the tour since his first triumph late last year.

Much like that of his closest competition, Krup’s #K19 Elite Chassis worked well for him, leading every lap en route to the fourth victory of his DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals victory of his career.

“We’re always running up front here this season,” Krup said. “Qualifying good, heat racing good. Starting up front in these Features is a big deal when you’re racing against the competition that we are. So, it feels good to have a good chassis underneath us.”

Elite Chassis took two of the three spots on the podium once again with 15-year-old Hunt Gossum coming in right behind Krup. While Krup may have led every lap untouched, the talented Kentuckian showcased his skills a bit further back, holding off challenges from Summit Modifieds regular Zeke McKenzie, and a big local presence with names in the top-six that include Tim Wilber (3rd); Nathan Loney (5th) and Corey Bevard (6th).

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models

Feature (30 Laps) 1. 3S-Brian Shirley [1][]; 2. 7-Drake Troutman [6][]; 3. 91-Rusty Schlenk [3][]; 4. 16-Garrett Wiles [2][]; 5. 25-Jason Feger [4][]; 6. 21N-Logan Nickerson [5][]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [7][]; 8. 27-Eric Spangler [8][]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin [15][]; 10. 21B-Rich Bell [10][]; 11. 44-Colten Burdette [11][]; 12. 19X-Cody Bauer [12][]; 13. 52-Brad Harden [14][]; 14. 15G-Jamie Grochowski [18][]; 15. 20T-Troy Hahn [21][]; 16. 4-Travis Stemler [9][]; 17. 5X-Bryant Dickinson [20][]; 18. 4G-Bob Gardner [19][]; 19. 11X-Ryan Lanphierd [16][]; 20. 48-Tim Lance [17][]; 21. 11C-Rachel Carpenter [23][]; 22. 48L-Tim Lance Jr [22][]; 23. O6-Jake Rendel [13][] Hard Charger: 19R-Ryan Gustin[+6]

DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals

Feature (20 Laps) 1. K19-Will Krup [1][]; 2. 99-Hunt Gossum [2][]; 3. O-Tim Wilber [6][]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie [5][]; 5. 10L-Nathan Loney [3][]; 6. 8C-Corey Bevard [10][]; 7. 4-Logan Beckwith [8][]; 8. 25-Josh Lolmaugh [11][]; 9. 5D-David VanGuilder [12][]; 10. 22M-Deuane Morley [14][]; 11. 44-KC Burdette [17][]; 12. 5CS-Curt Spalding [9][]; 13. 12M-John McClure [15][]; 14. 86-Louis Miller [16][]; 15. 65-Todd Sherman [19][]; 16. 81-Rick Swartout [7][]; 17. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [20][]; 18. 9-Garrett Rons [18][]; 19. 27-Jason Jones [21][]; 20. 25M-Brian McFeeters [22][]; 21. 7-Nick Hoffman [13][]; 22. 71-Logan Beckwith [4][] Hard Charger: 44-KC Burdette[+6]