WEST MEMPHIS, AR (July 4, 2024) – For the first time since 2012, Rodney Melvin is a Feature winner with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals.
Melvin, the veteran racer from Benton, IL, led all 30 laps of the Feature while holding off Tanner English and Ethan Dotson in the final laps for his eighth career Hell Tour victory Thursday night at Riverside International Speedway.
“It’s an awesome deal,” said Melvin. “It’s nice. Started up front and kind of pace yourself. The lapped cars anymore, they just give you fits.”
After setting the Quick Time in his Qualifying group and winning his Heat Race, Melvin redrew the pole for the main event. With English – Melvin’s son-in-law – lined up on his outside, Melvin got the jump at the start and took the lead on the first lap.
Once he got out to the lead, Melvin started to set the pace around the 1/4-mile oval. Melvin was over a second ahead of second-place English by the time the race hit the midway point, but then lapped traffic made things more interesting.
When Melvin caught the slower cars on Lap 18, English started to get closer to Melvin each time around the track. On Lap 25, English got to the rear of Melvin and on Lap 26, English went side-by-side with Melvin in Turns 3 and 4 but Melvin stayed in front, racing through the middle groove while English stayed down low.
When the field got the two-to-go signal, Melvin was working to try and get by the slower car of JC Waller directly in front of him with English right on his tail. English dove low in Turn 1 and pulled even with Melvin in Turn 2 but was unable to make the pass.
Melvin darted underneath Waller down the backstretch and cleared him going into Turn 3, putting some separation between himself and English as they raced toward the white flag.
Behind them both, eighth-starting Ethan Dotson was jetting around the high line and caught English as the two raced down the backstretch. English and Dotson gave it all through Turns 3 and 4 but were unable to catch Melvin as he crossed the stripe to claim the $5,000 winner’s check.
“I know [English] is going to race me clean,” Melvin said. “I ain’t got to worry about [English] and it’s fun to start on the front row.”
Dotson, of Bakersfield, CA, wound-up the momentum on the top side through the last two corners and zoomed past English out of Turn 4 to finish second.
With English finishing third, he stays within 5 points of Melvin in the Week 4 points standings, in pursuit of the $10,000 check awarded after Sunday’s main event to the Week 4 points champion.
UP NEXT
Week 4 of the 39th DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues Friday, July 5, at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY. Tickets will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 27M-Rodney Melvin[1]; 2. 174-Ethan Dotson[8]; 3. 96-Tanner English[2]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 5. 58-Tyler Clem[3]; 6. 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 7. 31AUS-Joe Chalmers[9]; 8. 74-Mike Carr[6]; 9. 818-Jadon Frame[11]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker[10]; 11. 15-Clayton Stuckey[17]; 12. 29-Christian Hanger[20]; 13. 14M-Morgan Bagley[16]; 14. 75-Daniel Adam[12]; 15. 3N-Nathan Brown[7]; 16. 90-Brian Rickman[15]; 17. 2-Charlie Cole[23]; 18. 7W-JC Waller[21]; 19. 51-Dean Carpenter[18]; 20. 28B-Carson Brown[22]; 21. 86-Kyle Beard[13]; 22. 30-Mark Voigt[19]; 23. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[14]
Neville Capitalizes on Lee’s Flat Tire for Third Summit Modified Win of 2024
Lucas Lee looked to be en route to his first DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature win since 2022 Thursday night at Riverside International Speedway. And then, pop.
Lee, 36, of Paris, TN, had been leading since Lap 5 and was almost two seconds ahead of the field when on Lap 21, Lee’s left-rear tire went flat after contact with another car in spinning to avoid Greg Belyea, who had looped around in Turns 3 and 4. Neville, who had been chasing Lee throughout the race, inherited the lead and led the rest of the way to bank his third Summit Modified Nationals win of the season.
“I feel awful for Lucas,” Neville, of Mackinaw, IL, said. “That’s not how I want to win a race. It’s honestly hard to do an interview and take claim for that win when it was somebody else’s like that, so I feel awful.”
From the outside pole, Neville took the lead on the first lap using the high side of the 1/4-mile oval and he stayed out front until a caution was thrown on Lap 5. On the restart, Lee got even with Neville with in Turns 1 and 2 and down the backstretch and then made his move. Lee dove down low in Turn 3 and slid up in front of Neville in Turn 4 to take the lead at the start/finish line.
While Lee created a sizeable gap between himself and Neville after taking the lead, Neville stayed patient on the high side to hold on to his second-place spot. When Lee’s tire went flat, Neville was there to take advantage for his third win of the Summit Modified season.
“The banking on here is pretty extreme,” Neville said. “It was kind of like home at Fairbury. So, I figured I’d just keep the momentum up and I didn’t have enough side bite or forward drive to try to run the bottom.”
UP NEXT
Week 4 of DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals competition continues Friday, July 5, at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY. Tickets will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 777-Trevor Neville[2]; 2. 13-Charlie Mefford[8]; 3. 96M-Mike McKinney[7]; 4. 94-Austin Rettig[16]; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 6. 9-Ken Schrader[14]; 7. 14-Dalton Lane[19]; 8. 9D9-Cole Hilton[3]; 9. 88-Shane Mendoza[18]; 10. 29-Colby Richardson[12]; 11. 23Z-Austin Wayne Self[5]; 12. 18-Clay Caldwell[17]; 13. 5-Dennis Kimbrough[10]; 14. 99P-Brandon Poppenheimer[9]; 15. 07-Jack Walker[22]; 16. 25-Greg Belyea[23]; 17. 12L-Lucas Lee[1]; 18. 52-CJ Davison[20]; 19. 54-Zachary Hawk[6]; 20. 6-Dillon Knight[11]; 21. 60-Blake Bass[15]; 22. 177-Johnny Gustavus[21]; 23. 0K-Damian Kiefer[13]
Photo credit – Tyler Carr
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