JUNE 29, 2009

The Heckenast Racing team went on the road last week with the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals tour, as they entered six series events at six different venues in Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Frank Heckenast, Jr. was able to notch one top five performance and a pair of top ten efforts during the ultra-busy week. His best run came on Saturday, June 27 at the Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, Illinois where Frankie led the $10,000 to win race early on before finishing a strong runner-up to winner Billy Moyer.

Below is a quick synopsis of Frankie's racing endeavors last week:
June 23 | Charleston (IL) Speedway ($6,000) - Finished Eleventh After Starting Eleventh
June 24 | Tri-City (IL) Speedway ($6,000) - Did Not Start
June 25 | Clayhill (TN) Motorsports ($6,000) - Finished Eighteenth After Starting Seventh
June 26 | Paducah (KY) Int'l Raceway ($10,000) - Did Not Start
June 27 | Fairbury A.L. (IL) Speedway ($10,000) - Finished Second After Starting Second
June 28 | Lincoln (IL) Speedway ($6,000) - Finished Ninth After Starting Tenth

JUNE 22, 2009

Frank Heckenast, Jr. reached victory lane for the second time in the 2009 racing season last Saturday night, June 20 at the Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Indiana! Frankie laid down the quickest lap during qualifying, won his heat race, and later captured the checkers in the $1,200 to win A-Main over Ted Loomis, Joe Janowski, Steve Dimmick, and Guy Volk. Earlier in the week, Frankie wound up fifteenth in a $6,000 to win UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals event at the Belle Clair Speedway in Belleville, Illinois on Wednesday, June 17. The #99jr team was also rained-out in two other Summer Nationals shows at the Charleston (IL) Speedway on Thursday and the Farmer City (IL) Raceway on Friday.

JUNE 15, 2009

Following a weekend off from Dirt Late Model competition, Frank Heckenast, Jr. helped kick off the grueling UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals tour from June 11-13 in the states of Indiana and Illinois. After unfortunately failing to transfer into the feature events at the Brownstown (IN) Speedway on Thursday and the Kankakee County (IL) Speedway on Friday, Frankie enjoyed a much better night on Saturday at the Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Indiana.

The Orland Park, Illinois native set fast time in his group during qualifying and later won his heat race. Frankie then started third on the grid in the $10,000 to win A-Main, but was forced to pit early in the race to fix damage to his #99jr machine. He returned to the track at the tail end of the field and stormed back to finish fourth in the final rundown behind winner Eric Smith, Ryan Unzicker, and Terry Casey. You can view extensive coverage of the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals by pointing your web browser to www.dirtondirt.com.

JUNE 1, 2009

Frank Heckenast, Jr. and his #99jr team entered four Dirt Late Model events in Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri over the May 28-31 extended weekend. Frankie finished eighth in a $2,000 to win Monster Midwest Series show on Thursday at the LaSalle (IL) Speedway, fourth in a $5,000 to win O'Reilly All Star Late Model Series (ASLMS) race on Friday at the Hartford (MI) Motor Speedway, ninth in a $5,000 to win Northern Allstars Late Model Series (NALMS) event on Saturday at the I-55 (MO) Raceway, and eighth in a similar $5,000 to win NALMS show on Sunday at the Shepp's (IL) Speedway. The Orland Park, Illinois native was extremely fast all weekend, as he set a new track record in qualifying at Hartford and also set fast time in time trials at Shepp's. You can view complete results from all four races by accessing www.dirtondirt.com.