By Kevin Kovac,
UMP Public Relations Director

DANVILLE, IL - June 22, 2008 - Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., broke through for his first victory of the 2008 UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals, capturing Sunday night's 40-lap tour A-Main at Vermilion County Speedway.

VanWormer, a 33-year-old who is chasing the Summer Nationals points crown for the fourth consecutive season, passed Scott Bull of Fairbury, Ill., for the lead on a lap-seven restart and never looked back. He picked up a $6,000 check in RacingJunk.com Victory Lane.

Summer Nationals points leader Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., advanced from the eighth starting spot to second by lap 16 and was able to quickly run down VanWormer's familiar spider-webbed No. 55. But the 27-year-old Shirley was unable to overtake VanWormer, who made all the right moves through late-race lapped traffic to preserve his seventh career Summer Nationals triumph.

Shirley settled for second place in the Petroff Towing mount. Summer Nationals rookie Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., enjoyed another strong outing with a third-place finish, while defending tour champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., placed fourth and Bull took fifth after leading the race's early circuits.

With 43 cars signed in for the eighth stop of the 2008 Summer Nationals, Erb was the overall fastest qualifier in the group time-trial session with a lap of 13.634 seconds.

Heat winners were Randy Korte of Highland, Ill., Bull, Erb and VanWormer. The C-Main was captured by Derek Fisher of Columbus, Ind., and Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Ryan Dauber of Tonica, Ill., topped the B-Main.

The UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals takes a scheduled night off on Monday (June 23) before returning to action on Tuesday night (June 24) at Sedalia (Mo.) State Fair Speedway.

For more information on the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals, visit www.dirtcar.com.

UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals A-Main Finish (40 laps):

1. Jeep Van Wormer, 2. Brian Shirley 3. Will Vaught 4. Dennis Erb Jr. 5. Scott Bull 6. Randy Korte 7. Kevin Claycomb 8. Terry Casey 9. Ryan Dauber 10. Wes Steidinger 11. Joe Harlan 12. Steve Sheppard Jr. 13. Terry English 14. Jason Feger 15. Patrick Sheltra 16. Frank Heckenast Jr. 17. Kevin Weaver 18. Ryan Unzicker 19. Mike Petersak 20. Dewayne Kiefer 21. Donny Walden

B-Main Finish: Ryan Dauber, Donny Walden, Terry English, Ryan Unzicker, Patrick Sheltra, Frank Heckneast Jr., Don O'Neal, Mike Mataragas, Derek Fisher, Tim Lance, Kevin Weaver, Dan Walden, Mike Petersak, Brandon Sheppard, B.J. McCammon, Justin Shaw

First C-Main Finish: Derek Fisher, Tim Lance, Richie Hedrick, Jason McBride, Jammie Wilson, Toby Hallett, Aaron Ricketts, Sam Epling

Second C-Main Finish: Brandon Sheppard, Mike Petersak, Jordan Bland, Brian Diveley, Jimmy Dehm, Jim Moon, Dewayne Kiefer

UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Points Standings (after 8 events):

1. Brian Shirley 616 2. Dennis Erb Jr. 602 3. Will Vaught 567 4. Jeep VanWormer 544 5. Wes Steidinger 542 6. Jason Feger 474 7. Randy Korte 468 8. Steve Sheppard Jr. 445 9. Kevin Claycomb 372 10. Dewayne Keifer 358 11. Kevin Weaver 350 12. Darren Miller 348 13. Billy Moyer 315 14. Terry English 295 15. Rodney Melvin 259


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