Drake Troutman Wins First Career Summer Nationals Feature at Peoria Speedway

admin | June 15, 2025

by: Matt Skipper

PEORIA, IL (June 13, 2025) – After a series of second and third-place finishes to start his first season with Team 22 Inc., Drake Troutman was itching to win his first Feature for the team in 2025.

That moment came on Thursday night as the Hyndman, PA driver earned his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals win at Peoria Speedway with a mixture of defense and luck on his side.

Troutman began the night strong with a win in his Heat race, then rolled off in fourth for the 30-lap Feature.

Polesitter Brian Shirley brought the field to the green flag, with Dillon McCowan and Bob Gardner in tow as Troutman fought against three-time Hell Tour champion Dennis Erb Jr for fourth.

Once he got Erb off his tail, he got creative with passing Gardner on Lap 5 by swinging high into Turn 3, then immediately ducked low to get under the No. 4G and pass him through Turns 1-2.

Troutman caught his first lucky break on Lap 13 when McCowan got into the back of a lapped car that sent him spinning from second place and took him out of contention.

While Troutman attempted the opposite lines of Shirley when the green flag waved for the second time, he did not wait long to get his opportunity for the lead as Shirley’s No. 3S suffered a flat tire with 10 laps to go that ended his night at Peoria.

Troutman’s No. 22* endured a new challenge to tackle in the final laps, as Ryan Unzicker and Erb joined the podium positions and did not leave the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Models presented by DIRTVision Rookie of the Year contender out of their sights as Erb used the low line and Unzicker up top.

Troutman had to block each line while not losing momentum in the lead, and it paid off with a $5,000 check and the honor of being a Summer Nationals winner.

“I hate to get one this way,” Troutman said. “(Shirley) was pretty good, I felt like we’ve been every bit as good as him, but I’ve led races before, and I guess it’s part of racing. But, I gotta thank (GR Smith) for giving us this opportunity. Man, I don’t know, they reached their necks out and gave me a shot when nobody else did, they’ve been believing in us from Day 1.”

Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals head to Tri-City Speedway in the fourth chapter of the opening week on Friday night, June 13.

44 entries
DIRTcar Late Models
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[7]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[10]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[3]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb[20]; 7. 1-Tyler Erb[13]; 8. 31-Tyler Millwood[11]; 9. 388-Jackson Hise[12]; 10. 14JR-Trey Mills[17]; 11. 15-Clay Stuckey[8]; 12. 25F-Jason Feger[19]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson[14]; 14. 75-Dillon McCowan[2]; 15. 09-Michael Leach[9]; 16. 10J-Joseph Joiner[18]; 17. 29-Christian Hanger[6]; 18. 32M-Cody Maguire[21]; 19. (DNF) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[22]; 20. (DNF) 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 21. (DNF) 38G-Camden Gardner[15]; 22. (DNF) 38J-Jake Little[16]

Last Chance Showdown (B-Main) (10 Laps): 1. 14JR-Trey Mills[1]; 2. 10J-Joseph Joiner[3]; 3. J12-Jason Wagner[5]; 4. 28B-Carson Brown[9]; 5. C6-Oakley Johns[14]; 6. 98-Cole Swibold[8]; 7. 5-Mark Whitener[13]; 8. 17SR-Brody Smith[16]; 9. 32M-Cody Maguire[4]; 10. 108-Chuck Southard[12]; 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker[10]; 12. (DNF) 25F-Jason Feger[2]; 13. (DNF) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 14. (DNF) T2-Brayton Wallace[7]; 15. (DNF) 17A-Austin Howes[15]; 16. (DNS) 25W-Allen Weisser

Consolation Race (C-Main) (8 Laps): 1. 5-Mark Whitener[2]; 2. C6-Oakley Johns[4]; 3. 17A-Austin Howes[1]; 4. 17SR-Brody Smith[6]; 5. 8-Matthew Larson[10]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith[12]; 7. 17-Andy Clark[5]; 8. 77-Jeremy Petty[11]; 9. 55-Eli Johnson[3]; 10. 35X-Parker Foster[7]; 11. 1G-Graham Fate[15]; 12. 10-Paul Parker[9]; 13. (DNS) 248-Brandon Lance; 14. (DNS) 27M-Rodney Melvin; 15. (DNS) 130-Chase Osterhoff; 16. (DNS) 18-Shannon Babb

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 75-Dillon McCowan[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 3. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 5. 14JR-Trey Mills[8]; 6. J12-Jason Wagner[6]; 7. 28B-Carson Brown[10]; 8. 17A-Austin Howes[4]; 9. 17-Andy Clark[9]; 10. 10-Paul Parker[11]; 11. 27M-Rodney Melvin[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 3. 31-Tyler Millwood[6]; 4. 38G-Camden Gardner[3]; 5. 10J-Joseph Joiner[4]; 6. T2-Brayton Wallace[5]; 7. 25W-Allen Weisser[7]; 8. 5-Mark Whitener[10]; 9. 17SR-Brody Smith[9]; 10. (DNF) 8-Matthew Larson[11]; 11. (DNF) 130-Chase Osterhoff[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 2. 29-Christian Hanger[2]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 25F-Jason Feger[4]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[7]; 8. 55-Eli Johnson[8]; 9. 35X-Parker Foster[10]; 10. 77-Jeremy Petty[9]; 11. 1G-Graham Fate[11]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 4G-Bob Gardner[1]; 2. 15-Clay Stuckey[4]; 3. 388-Jackson Hise[7]; 4. 38J-Jake Little[5]; 5. 32M-Cody Maguire[10]; 6. 98-Cole Swibold[9]; 7. 108-Chuck Southard[11]; 8. C6-Oakley Johns[6]; 9. 248-Brandon Lance[8]; 10. 17SS-Brenden Smith[2]; 11. 18-Shannon Babb[3]

Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 27M-Rodney Melvin, 00:12.195[12]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:12.279[22]; 3. 75-Dillon McCowan, 00:12.333[19]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:12.393[8]; 5. 09-Michael Leach, 00:12.408[3]; 6. 38G-Camden Gardner, 00:12.454[17]; 7. 17A-Austin Howes, 00:12.470[20]; 8. 10J-Joseph Joiner, 00:12.481[2]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:12.522[15]; 10. T2-Brayton Wallace, 00:12.550[13]; 11. J12-Jason Wagner, 00:12.554[1]; 12. 31-Tyler Millwood, 00:12.563[21]; 13. 1-Tyler Erb, 00:12.574[11]; 14. 25W-Allen Weisser, 00:12.608[7]; 15. 14JR-Trey Mills, 00:12.610[14]; 16. 130-Chase Osterhoff, 00:12.670[9]; 17. 17-Andy Clark, 00:12.716[18]; 18. 17SR-Brody Smith, 00:12.752[16]; 19. 28B-Carson Brown, 00:12.780[4]; 20. 5-Mark Whitener, 00:12.861[5]; 21. 10-Paul Parker, 00:12.919[10]; 22. 8-Matthew Larson, 00:13.104[6]

Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman, 00:12.135[8]; 2. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:12.245[11]; 3. 29-Christian Hanger, 00:12.417[10]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:12.511[2]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:12.551[18]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:12.572[20]; 7. 25F-Jason Feger, 00:12.587[9]; 8. 15-Clay Stuckey, 00:12.588[17]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:12.602[4]; 10. 38J-Jake Little, 00:12.645[13]; 11. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:12.686[5]; 12. C6-Oakley Johns, 00:12.717[3]; 13. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:12.768[6]; 14. 388-Jackson Hise, 00:12.810[12]; 15. 55-Eli Johnson, 00:12.840[7]; 16. 248-Brandon Lance, 00:12.949[15]; 17. 77-Jeremy Petty, 00:13.158[22]; 18. 98-Cole Swibold, 00:13.259[1]; 19. 35X-Parker Foster, 00:13.277[16]; 20. 32M-Cody Maguire, 00:13.347[21]; 21. 1G-Graham Fate, 00:13.405[14]; 22. 108-Chuck Southard, 00:13.840[19]

Hot Laps: 1. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:11.956[33]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:12.046[22]; 3. 75-Dillon McCowan, 00:12.053[19]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman, 00:12.143[30]; 5. 38G-Camden Gardner, 00:12.155[17]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:12.162[15]; 7. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:12.167[40]; 8. 130-Chase Osterhoff, 00:12.228[9]; 9. 27M-Rodney Melvin, 00:12.231[12]; 10. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:12.269[26]; 11. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:12.271[24]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:12.300[8]; 13. 29-Christian Hanger, 00:12.304[32]; 14. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:12.307[42]; 15. 14JR-Trey Mills, 00:12.308[14]; 16. 15-Clay Stuckey, 00:12.321[39]; 17. 25F-Jason Feger, 00:12.340[31]; 18. 98-Cole Swibold, 00:12.356[23]; 19. 10J-Joseph Joiner, 00:12.364[2]; 20. 5-Mark Whitener, 00:12.419[5]; 21. 55-Eli Johnson, 00:12.452[29]; 22. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:12.455[28]; 23. 388-Jackson Hise, 00:12.456[34]; 24. 25W-Allen Weisser, 00:12.469[7]; 25. 31-Tyler Millwood, 00:12.470[21]; 26. 10-Paul Parker, 00:12.483[10]; 27. 8-Matthew Larson, 00:12.484[6]; 28. 28B-Carson Brown, 00:12.491[4]; 29. 09-Michael Leach, 00:12.516[3]; 30. 17-Andy Clark, 00:12.530[18]; 31. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:12.549[27]; 32. J12-Jason Wagner, 00:12.571[1]; 33. 38J-Jake Little, 00:12.577[35]; 34. C6-Oakley Johns, 00:12.586[25]; 35. T2-Brayton Wallace, 00:12.594[13]; 36. 17SR-Brody Smith, 00:12.612[16]; 37. 77-Jeremy Petty, 00:12.904[44]; 38. 35X-Parker Foster, 00:13.216[38]; 39. 108-Chuck Southard, 00:13.243[41]; 40. 1G-Graham Fate, 00:13.316[36]; 41. 248-Brandon Lance, 00:13.354[37]; 42. 32M-Cody Maguire, 00:13.596[43]; 43. (DNF) 1-Tyler Erb[11]; 44. (DNF) 17A-Austin Howes[20]

30 entries
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 777-Trevor Neville[4]; 2. 1H-Ben Harmon[8]; 3. 10M-Chris Morefield[10]; 4. 96M-Mike McKinney[5]; 5. 8A-Austin Holcombe[12]; 6. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[13]; 7. 66-Cole Falloway[3]; 8. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[16]; 9. 110-Landen Miller[11]; 10. 74M-Manix Furqueron[2]; 11. 242-Degan Dozard[19]; 12. S1-Austin Simpson[21]; 13. 04-Buddy Randle[22]; 14. 3-Carson Friedman[14]; 15. 14-Dalton Lane[17]; 16. 05-Dave Wietholder[9]; 17. 45-Chase Holland[7]; 18. 97-Charles Hess[15]; 19. 89-Noah Faw[18]; 20. 09-Michael Ledford[1]; 21. 72A-Austin Lynn[20]; 22. 48-Casey Lappin[6]

Last Chance Showdown (8 Laps): 1. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[1]; 2. 14-Dalton Lane[3]; 3. 89-Noah Faw[2]; 4. 242-Degan Dozard[4]; 5. 72A-Austin Lynn[8]; 6. S1-Austin Simpson[10]; 7. 04-Buddy Randle[14]; 8. 23-Tim Carpenter Jr[6]; 9. 69-Billy Bahnfleth[13]; 10. 49B-Zach Brandt[9]; 11. 10-Michael Mennel[5]; 12. 11D-Brian Diveley[7]; 13. (DNS) 12-Allen Weisser; 14. (DNS) Z24-Zach Taylor; 15. (DNS) 23B-Ethan Boomsma

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway[2]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[1]; 3. 45-Chase Holland[3]; 4. 10M-Chris Morefield[8]; 5. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[4]; 6. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[10]; 7. 242-Degan Dozard[6]; 8. 11D-Brian Diveley[5]; 9. S1-Austin Simpson[7]; 10. 69-Billy Bahnfleth[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 09-Michael Ledford[1]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 3. 1H-Ben Harmon[3]; 4. 110-Landen Miller[5]; 5. 3-Carson Friedman[4]; 6. 89-Noah Faw[6]; 7. 10-Michael Mennel[8]; 8. 72A-Austin Lynn[9]; 9. 12-Allen Weisser[7]; 10. 04-Buddy Randle[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 74M-Manix Furqueron[1]; 2. 48-Casey Lappin[2]; 3. 05-Dave Wietholder[5]; 4. 8A-Austin Holcombe[3]; 5. 97-Charles Hess[6]; 6. 14-Dalton Lane[7]; 7. 23-Tim Carpenter Jr[8]; 8. 49B-Zach Brandt[10]; 9. (DNF) Z24-Zach Taylor[4]; 10. (DNS) 23B-Ethan Boomsma

Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 777-Trevor Neville, 00:13.231[10]; 2. 66-Cole Falloway, 00:13.272[6]; 3. 45-Chase Holland, 00:13.434[3]; 4. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr, 00:13.463[9]; 5. 11D-Brian Diveley, 00:13.567[2]; 6. 242-Degan Dozard, 00:13.692[5]; 7. S1-Austin Simpson, 00:13.761[1]; 8. 10M-Chris Morefield, 00:13.801[7]; 9. 69-Billy Bahnfleth, 00:13.959[4]; 10. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr, 00:13.962[8]

Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 09-Michael Ledford, 00:13.170[2]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney, 00:13.268[8]; 3. 1H-Ben Harmon, 00:13.381[10]; 4. 3-Carson Friedman, 00:13.431[7]; 5. 110-Landen Miller, 00:13.458[9]; 6. 89-Noah Faw, 00:13.579[1]; 7. 12-Allen Weisser, 00:13.584[6]; 8. 10-Michael Mennel, 00:13.751[5]; 9. 72A-Austin Lynn, 00:13.779[4]; 10. 04-Buddy Randle, 00:13.991[3]

Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 74M-Manix Furqueron, 00:13.576[6]; 2. 48-Casey Lappin, 00:13.603[7]; 3. 8A-Austin Holcombe, 00:13.624[8]; 4. Z24-Zach Taylor, 00:13.647[10]; 5. 05-Dave Wietholder, 00:13.792[9]; 6. 97-Charles Hess, 00:13.902[1]; 7. 14-Dalton Lane, 00:13.949[2]; 8. 23-Tim Carpenter Jr, 00:14.242[4]; 9. (DNF) 23B-Ethan Boomsma[3]; 10. (DNS) 49B-Zach Brandt

18 entries
B Modifieds
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. X20-Lucas Boulton[1]; 2. M16-Blake Monroe[2]; 3. 121-Deece Schwartz[9]; 4. X75-Dylan Turpin[3]; 5. 215-Jake Montgomery[17]; 6. 10-Todd O’Neill[6]; 7. A4-Michael Wells[14]; 8. 24-Matt Milner[11]; 9. 5A-Kevin Anderson[5]; 10. 5J-Jake Helfers[15]; 11. 55-Mark Kelly[16]; 12. 13-Justin Deemie[12]; 13. 5-Jay Mariuzza[18]; 14. 15-Cody Young[13]; 15. 14K-Shane Kelley[7]; 16. 216-Coulter Pierson[4]; 17. 89-Kendyl Faw[8]; 18. 17C-Randy Billingsley[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. X20-Lucas Boulton[2]; 2. X75-Dylan Turpin[1]; 3. 5A-Kevin Anderson[6]; 4. 14K-Shane Kelley[8]; 5. 121-Deece Schwartz[5]; 6. 24-Matt Milner[9]; 7. 15-Cody Young[7]; 8. 5J-Jake Helfers[3]; 9. 215-Jake Montgomery[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. M16-Blake Monroe[4]; 2. 216-Coulter Pierson[3]; 3. 10-Todd O’Neill[7]; 4. 89-Kendyl Faw[5]; 5. 17C-Randy Billingsley[9]; 6. 13-Justin Deemie[1]; 7. A4-Michael Wells[8]; 8. 55-Mark Kelly[2]; 9. 5-Jay Mariuzza[6]

19 entries
DIRTcar 4 Cylinders
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 501-Matthew Mackey[3]; 2. 37-Austin Traver[5]; 3. J28-Jeremy Hancock[15]; 4. 51-Shawn Fanning[4]; 5. 44F-Styven Fanning[6]; 6. 02-Richard Mackey[7]; 7. 88J-Jordyn Hamilton[9]; 8. 17K-Hunter Kelley[11]; 9. B55-Haylee Mackey[10]; 10. 778-Parker Rogers[8]; 11. 214-Ryan Spinelli[13]; 12. 45-Shawn Towne[16]; 13. DJ47-John Pace[19]; 14. 30JR-Connor Petrakis[17]; 15. 28M-Huntley McMullen[14]; 16. 01JR-Matthew Mackey Jr[1]; 17. 14K-Shane Kelley[2]; 18. 14B-Ethan Brown[12]; 19. (DNS) 11-Danny Terrell

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01JR-Matthew Mackey Jr[4]; 2. 501-Matthew Mackey[8]; 3. 37-Austin Traver[7]; 4. 02-Richard Mackey[1]; 5. 88J-Jordyn Hamilton[6]; 6. 17K-Hunter Kelley[3]; 7. 214-Ryan Spinelli[9]; 8. J28-Jeremy Hancock[5]; 9. 30JR-Connor Petrakis[10]; 10. (DQ) DJ47-John Pace[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14K-Shane Kelley[4]; 2. 51-Shawn Fanning[2]; 3. 44F-Styven Fanning[1]; 4. 778-Parker Rogers[3]; 5. B55-Haylee Mackey[7]; 6. 14B-Ethan Brown[9]; 7. 28M-Huntley McMullen[8]; 8. 45-Shawn Towne[5]; 9. 11-Danny Terrell[6]

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