Heckenast comes from 11th to win DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Springfield

July 23, 2020 | by Jordan DeLucia

Earlier this week, Frank Heckenast Jr. was about ready to give up his bid for the 2020 DIRTcar Summer Nationals title after a few frustrating nights on the tour. Fast forward just a few days, and he parks it in victory lane.

Heckenast certainly made the most of his first-ever visit to the Springfield Raceway Thursday night, catching and passing points leader Brian Shirley just after halfway and hanging on for his first Summer Nationals victory of 2020 in the 40-lap contest.

Make no mistake, the 2014 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Rookie of the Year had to work for this one. Heckenast placed fourth in his Heat Race, which set him 11th on the Feature starting grid. But he and the rest of his Jim Weber Motorsports team had set the car up perfectly to cruise around the bottom and were determined to make up the ground.

At the drop of the green, Heckenast took to the bottom of the super-racy quarter mile and went to work, advancing all the way to fifth place before the race was even 10 laps in.

Back out front, Shirley was in command, putting some distance between he and second-place Dennis Erb Jr. A caution on Lap 20 restacked the field and lined Heckenast up in third. Just three circuits later and he was passing for second.

A final restart just past halfway proved to be all Heckenast needed to get by leader Shirley, as he zoomed by on the bottom and led the field back around to the checkers to collect $5,000 and the third Summer Nationals victory of his career.

Since the incident with he and Bobby Pierce last Tuesday night at Plymouth Speedway, Heckenast said he’d been down on himself a bit. But after a great runner-up finish on Sunday night at Randolph County, the Frankfort, IL-native seemed to have his mojo rolling again. Combine that with a few much-needed days off this week, and it’s safe to say the #99jr team is back in business.

“I told my wife that I was thinking about getting off tour, and she looked at me and said, ‘well, you’re not a quitter, so get your ass to the shop,’” Heckenast said in the Summit Racing Equipment Wrap-Up after the race.

“We went down on my favorite motor, my favorite car got wrecked in that Plymouth [Speedway] deal…. It’s so hard to say focused and stay positive. But over the winter and last year, it was my goal to come and run this.”

Lots of local talent was able to gather up the magic to earn themselves spots among the top-10, including Mason Oberkramer (2nd); Jesse Stovall (4th); Scott Crigler (7th) and Dewayne Keifer (10th). Shirley had another great points night and crossed in third while World of Outlaws regular Erb rounded-out the top-five. Tim Lance had the best run of his season in sixth, coming from 18th on the grid.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
DIRTcar Summer Nationals presented by Greenlawn Funeral Home
Springfield Raceway, Springfield, Mo.
Thursday, July 23, 2020

DIRTcar Late Models

Feature (40 Laps) 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [11][$5,000]; 2. 93-Mason Oberkramer [12][$2,500]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley [1][$1,700]; 4. 00-Jesse Stovall [9][$1,400]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb [6][$1,200]; 6. 48-Tim Lance [18][$1,000]; 7. 12-Scott Crigler [13][$800]; 8. 25-Jason Feger [14][$700]; 9. 1-Jim Moon [20][$600]; 10. 0-Dewayne Keifer [7][$550]; 11. 16-Rusty Griffaw [17][$500]; 12. 86-Kyle Beard [3][$500]; 13. 6-Daryn Klein [5][$500]; 14. 14W-Dustin Walker [15][$500]; 15. 7J-Ryan Johnson [10][$500]; 16. 4G-Bob Gardner [19][$500]; 17. 21-Billy Moyer [2][$500]; 18. 56-Tony Jackson [16][$500]; 19. 1V-Will Vaught [21][$500]; 20. 15-Payton Looney [8][$500]; 21. 48L-Tim Lance [22][$500]; 22. 36-Logan Martin [4][$500] Hard Charger: 48-Tim Lance[+12]

Qualifying Flight-A 1. 86-Kyle Beard, 12.25; 2. 36-Logan Martin, 12.356; 3. 0-Dewayne Keifer, 12.437; 4. 12-Scott Crigler, 12.455; 5. 7-Cole Wells, 12.472; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell, 12.538; 7. 56-Tony Jackson, 12.576; 8. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 12.875; 9. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 13.125; 10. 8D-Darek Wiss, 13.634

Qualifying Flight-B 1. 6-Daryn Klein, 12.302; 2. 15-Payton Looney, 12.323; 3. 21-Billy Moyer, 12.335; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, 12.429; 5. 25-Jason Feger, 12.509; 6. 48-Tim Lance, 12.679; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner, 12.939; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard, 13.098; 9. 48L-Tim Lance, 14.12

Qualifying Flight-C 1. 1V-Will Vaught, 12.376; 2. 00-Jesse Stovall, 12.377; 3. 28-Dennis Erb, 12.585; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley, 12.657; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 12.739; 6. 14W-Dustin Walker, 13.184; 7. 1-Jim Moon, 13.61; 8. 14-Shawn Strong, 13.738; 9. 118-Mike Fenton, 13.829

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 86-Kyle Beard [1]; 2. 36-Logan Martin [2]; 3. 0-Dewayne Keifer [3]; 4. 7J-Ryan Johnson [8]; 5. 12-Scott Crigler [4]; 6. 16-Rusty Griffaw [9]; 7. 8D-Darek Wiss [10]; 8. 56-Tony Jackson [7]; 9. 7-Cole Wells [5]; 10. 50-Kaeden Cornell [6]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 21-Billy Moyer [3]; 2. 6-Daryn Klein [1]; 3. 15-Payton Looney [2]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [4]; 5. 25-Jason Feger [5]; 6. 48-Tim Lance [6]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner [7]; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard [8]; 9. 48L-Tim Lance [9]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3S-Brian Shirley [4]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb [3]; 3. 00-Jesse Stovall [2]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer [5]; 5. 14W-Dustin Walker [6]; 6. 1-Jim Moon [7]; 7. 118-Mike Fenton [9]; 8. 1V-Will Vaught [1]; 9. 14-Shawn Strong [8]

Consolation Race (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 56-Tony Jackson [7][-]; 2. 16-Rusty Griffaw [1][-]; 3. 48-Tim Lance [2][-]; 4. 1V-Will Vaught [9][$50]; 5. 1-Jim Moon [3][$50]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell [13][$50]; 7. 3W-Brennon Willard [8][$50]; 8. 118-Mike Fenton [6][$50]; 9. 8D-Darek Wiss [4][$50]; 10. 14-Shawn Strong [12][$50]; 11. 4G-Bob Gardner [5][$50]; 12. 7-Cole Wells [10][$50]; 13. 48L-Tim Lance [11][$50]

Reliable Chevrolet USRA B-Mods

A Feature: 1. 18-JC Morton[3]; 2. 33-Ryan Gillmore[2]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 4. 65-Kris Jackson[6]; 5. 9-Sam Petty[14]; 6. 112-Justin Comer[13]; 7. 21-Jackie Dalton[1]; 8. 68-Ricky Watkins[16]; 9. 1-Justin Rigel[19]; 10. 55-Bill Schahuber[10]; 11. 15-Cayden Stacye[11]; 12. 3A-Aaron Speck[4]; 13. 7G-Gabriel Hodges[7]; 14. 28B-Wesley Briggs[12]; 15. 4W-Mark Wolfe[15]; 16. 119-Jimmy Cummins[9]; 17. 22C-Cole Campbell[17]; 18. 160-Michael Maggard[18]; 19. 13-Brandon Baldridge[20]; 20. 75-Shannon Anastosopolos[8]

B Feature: 1. 112-Justin Comer[1]; 2. 9-Sam Petty[3]; 3. 4W-Mark Wolfe[9]; 4. 68-Ricky Watkins[8]; 5. 22C-Cole Campbell[6]; 6. 160-Michael Maggard[2]; 7. 1-Justin Rigel[5]; 8. 13-Brandon Baldridge[4]; 9. 64-John Ross[13]; 10. 13W-Shawn Whitman[10]; 11. 86-Cory Johnson[12]; 12. 57-Keith Pratt[7]; 13. 17R-Rod Inman[11]; 14. 1K-Kenny Green[14]

Heat 1: 1. 7G-Gabriel Hodges[4]; 2. 3A-Aaron Speck[2]; 3. 75-Shannon Anastosopolos[5]; 4. 15-Cayden Stacye[3]; 5. 55-Bill Schahuber[8]; 6. 13-Brandon Baldridge[6]; 7. 57-Keith Pratt[9]; 8. 13W-Shawn Whitman[7]; 9. 64-John Ross[1]

Heat 2: 1. 65-Kris Jackson[3]; 2. 21-Jackie Dalton[1]; 3. 33-Ryan Gillmore[6]; 4. 28B-Wesley Briggs[2]; 5. 160-Michael Maggard[7]; 6. 1-Justin Rigel[5]; 7. 68-Ricky Watkins[8]; 8. 17R-Rod Inman[4]

Heat 3: 1. 18-JC Morton[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 3. 119-Jimmy Cummins[2]; 4. 112-Justin Comer[4]; 5. 9-Sam Petty[3]; 6. 22C-Cole Campbell[6]; 7. 4W-Mark Wolfe[7]; 8. 86-Cory Johnson[8]; 9. 1K-Kenny Green[9]

Casey's Midwest Modz

A Feature: 1. 3366-Jaren Martin[12]; 2. 9X-Jerad McIntire[10]; 3. 83-Scott Campbell[5]; 4. 41T-Tim Petty[4]; 5. 929-Garrett Thompson[2]; 6. 59-Rob Muilenburg[6]; 7. 34-Jerry Lankton[3]; 8. 38-Ian Morisset[8]; 9. 47-Robert High[20]; 10. 20-Jeremy Lahey[7]; 11. 5D-Josh Dunn[15]; 12. 75-Gage Garoutte[19]; 13. 12M-Ron Maples[9]; 14. 41-Bryan White[13]; 15. 003-James Lee[14]; 16. 74-Kyle Bates[11]; 17. 77W-Frank Waszkiewicz[18]; 18. 59T-Toby Sherrill[17]; 19. 45-Colt Cheevers[1]; 20. 1-Nathan Bresee[16]

B Feature: 1. 41-Bryan White[2]; 2. 003-James Lee[5]; 3. 5D-Josh Dunn[8]; 4. 1-Nathan Bresee[3]; 5. 59T-Toby Sherrill[7]; 6. 77W-Frank Waszkiewicz[4]; 7. 75-Gage Garoutte[11]; 8. 47-Robert High[1]; 9. 64-Andrew Hendren[9]; 10. 51X-Adam Walker[10]; 11. (DNS) 67-Steve Moore

Heat 1: 1. 45-Colt Cheevers[2]; 2. 41T-Tim Petty[3]; 3. 20-Jeremy Lahey[4]; 4. 9X-Jerad McIntire[6]; 5. 47-Robert High[7]; 6. 77W-Frank Waszkiewicz[5]; 7. 59T-Toby Sherrill[1]; 8. 51X-Adam Walker[8]

Heat 2: 1. 929-Garrett Thompson[1]; 2. 83-Scott Campbell[2]; 3. 38-Ian Morisset[4]; 4. 74-Kyle Bates[6]; 5. 41-Bryan White[7]; 6. 003-James Lee[5]; 7. 5D-Josh Dunn[8]; 8. 75-Gage Garoutte[3]

Heat 3: 1. 34-Jerry Lankton[2]; 2. 59-Rob Muilenburg[6]; 3. 12M-Ron Maples[1]; 4. 3366-Jaren Martin[7]; 5. 1-Nathan Bresee[3]; 6. 67-Steve Moore[4]; 7. 64-Andrew Hendren[5]