Role reversal

On Friday night it was Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., trying to overtake Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., in MARS Championship Series action at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway. One night later at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway, it was Feger chasing Unzicker in another 40-lapper.

Unzicker’s $5,000 Fairbury victory made him the tour’s first two-time winner as he survived a couple of bobbles against a tricky cushion to repel Feger, who rallied from his ninth starting spot while frequently using the middle groove.

Feger was all over Unzicker the last half-dozen laps, but the three-time and reigning series champion couldn’t find a way by.

"Man, what a show right there, boys,” Unzicker said in victory lane. “Jason and I, we put on a lot of battles and that one right there, he made me nervous. I kept seeing him and I appreciate him running me clean. We definitely run each other clean, I think, and that's what you pay your money to come to this racetrack right here.

“It's one of the best ones in the country that we go to and we can run the bottom, we can run the top,” the 45-year-old winner added. Obviously, Jason made a middle out of it and I think that's from the track prep. They never went out there and scratched it, so I made that middle a little less dirty.”

Feger was intent on driving his longtime competitor clean.

“Me and Ryan race hard, but we race a lot. There’s no need in getting anything going we don’t need to,” Feger said. “Man, he's been really fast all year. And it's just hard to start ninth. … The car was really good through the middle and stuff. And I didn't really feel like I had a good shot to kind of get in front of him there. So he just nutted up and did really good.” — Series and staff reports

Feger’s first

After three consecutive MARS Late Model Series championships, Jason Feger has struggled through a slow start to the 2026 campaign that left him outside the top five in series points through four races.

The 48-year-old Bloomington, Ill., driver finally got on track Friday at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway, outdueling series points leader Ryan Unzicker among others for his first MARS victory of the season. The pole-starting Feger fought past Tanner English on the second lap, regained the lead from Unzicker on lap 27 and kept a charging Ryan Gustin in check in the 40-lapper en route to a $5,000 payday.

“It feels really good. We’ve definitely been struggling this year and definitely haven't been up to our standards,” said Feger, who entered his trusty Longhorn Chassis after running a new car most of the season.

“I hate getting up on the top like that that early in the race because typically you kinda gotta try to save your tires. Man, it was a handful at the end. I haven’t even look at (the tires) yet. I just didn’t think there was as much on the bottom as normal. I don’t know, (Unzicker) was making it work really good down there — I definitely couldn’t do what he was doing down there,” Feger said. “That yellow probably saved me there, but what a good race.”

Indeed, after Unzicker led the 26th lap, Feger went back ahead. But Unzicker was on the verge of regaining the lead when a lap-30 caution fell.

“Jason’s good here. You gotta give him credit there, so congrats to them guys,” Unzicker said. “I had a path on the backstretch and then I heard “Caution!” and I was cussing in my helmet. I didn’t want to see that. But coming out of here with a second is great for us. Just trying to stay in the top five and keep our points lead.”

Feger’s car was good enough, but not perfect.

“The car was definitely a little out of balance — I don’t know if it was tires or what — but it was a handful,” said Feger, who notched his 37th career MARS victory. “If I got it pointed straight it was pretty good, but it was definitely a handful through the corners and the cushion got way up off the track. Ryan’s been super fast all year, so his car is really good. I’m glad that yellow came out.

“We’ll take every one we can get. Especially with the way this year’s been going, this one feels real good.” — From series and staff reports