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Winger scores USA Nationals prelim victory, finishes third in finale

Ashton Winger enjoyed a successful crown jewel weekend during Cedar Lake Speedway’s USA Nationals in his E-Z-GO No. 12 Dekalb / Johnny Doan Plumbing/ Keyser Manufacturing/ XR1 Rocket Chassis / Pro Power Racing Engine Super Late Model.

He registered a thrilling $6,000 World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series prelim feature win on Friday evening before racing to a third-place finish in the USA Nationals $50,000 finale on Saturday night.

"I don't know what it is about this place," Winger said after climbing from his car and celebrating with his patented steering wheel drop on Friday evening. "This place is awesome ... to see all the awesome fans out here. This place, every time we roll in here, it feels like home. This will definitely always be a special place to me, getting my first Outlaw win here last year and now my second won here this year."

Winger then backed up his prelim feature win with a third-place finish in Saturday night’s 100 lapper. The Georgia racer ran as high as second, challenging Kyle Bronson for the lead, before seeing Jonathan Davenport slip past him for the spot and ultimately the win.

"I really thought I was going to give them guys a run there. I knew my best shot was restarts," Winger said. "I threw a couple (of sliders), and threw one, and did everything I could just short of wrecking Kyle (Bronson) — I hope I didn't mess him up — and then the one where J.D. went to the lead, I actually think that I could've went in there a little bit harder. But I figured if I did, I was going to send J.D. and Bronson out to the corndog stand. So, I didn't figure I needed to do that.

"So congrats to J.D., he definitely had the better car than me at the end there. I could stay with him for one or two laps, but he would drive off a couple (tenths of a second) every lap. I just got beat on that last restart. It's good company to be in up here, so we'll lick our wounds and go on to the next one."

On Tuesday afternoon Ashton Winger returned to action with the World of Outlaws (WoO) Morton Buildings Late Model Series as the tour headed north to Outagamie Speedway (Seymour, Wis.) for the FVP Platinum Batteries Showdown. In a field of 29 cars, Ashton clocked in sixth fastest in his group before placing third in his heat. Holding his spot throughout the 40-lap feature, Winger recorded a 12th-place finish.

On Thursday evening the opening night of the USA Nationals weekend came to life at Cedar Lake Speedway (New Richmond, Wis.), and Winger outdueled Dennis Erb Jr. in his heat race to pick up the win.

With Mother Nature postponing the 30-lap feature to Friday afternoon, Ashton blasted past polesitter Chase Junghans on the eighth circuit and held off Junghan’s late charge to capture his sixth win of the season and a $6,000 prize. He took the checkers ahead of Junghans, Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Owens, and Nick Hoffman to record his second series triumph.

With a pair of heat races on Friday’s docket to kick off the 34th annual USA Nationals, Winger advanced forward five spots in his first heat to pick up the win. Coming in fourth in the second round, Ashton was tied for the lead overall in passing points with Jimmy Owens, which positioned him second on the starting grid for the Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win USA Nationals.

Grabbing the lead on the drop of the green flag, Winger held the top spot for the first three circuits until a charging Kyle Bronson grabbed the lead. Ashton went on to place third in the 100-lapper, which came behind Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Overton. Jason Feger and Brandon Sheppard completed the Top-5 finishers.

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