7/3/2023
Morgan Bagley
5 straight DIRTcar Summer Nationals top-10 finishes for Mo Bags
Morgan Bagley had an extremely successful Week Three of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour, finishing no worse than eighth and claiming third place in the point standings.
The third week of the grueling summer series kicked off with a trio of $5,000-to-win programs in Missouri and Illinois.
First up, “Mo Bags” and Team 14 visited Springfield Raceway (Springfield, Missouri) on Tuesday, where their Billy Bob's Repair & Tire No. 14M car was one of 27 DIRTcar Late Models in the pit area. After a second-place finish in his heat, Bagley started the 40-lap main event from the fifth spot. The driver from Longview, Texas, advanced one position to finish fourth on the quarter-mile oval, following Logan Martin, Billy Moyer Jr. and Ashton Winger under the checkered flag. Kaeden Cornell took the fifth spot.
The tour shifted to the quarter-mile Adams County Speedway (Quincy, Illinois) on Wednesday for a program that drew 25 Late Model entrants. After a fifth-place result in his heat race, Bagley was strong in the 40-lap A-Main, advancing 11 positions from his 14th-place starting spot to finish third. Winger won the race, with Jason Feger second. Shannon Babb and Drake Troutman rounded on the top five.
On Thursday it was back to the Show-Me State and Benton Speedway (Benton, Missouri) for a race program featuring 22 DIRTcar Late Models. Bagely finished fourth in his heat and rolled off 12th for the 40-lap main event on the 3/8-mile oval. He once again moved forward throughout the race and registered an eighth-place finish.
The purse increased to $10,000 for Friday night’s stop at Paducah International Raceway (Paducah, Kentucky), where 21 Late Models filled the pit area at the 3/8-mile track. After finishing fifth in his heat, Bagley rolled off 15th for the 30-lap A-Main. He charged forward and recorded a seventh-place result.
Saturday’s scheduled event at the quarter-mile Clarksville Speedway (Clarksville, Tennessee) fell to weather, and the following evening’s race at Lake Cumberland Speedway (Somerset, Kentucky) was pushed to Monday.
Fourteen Late Models took part in Monday’s Lake Cumberland event in search of the $7,500 winner’s share. After finishing fourth in his heat, Bagley started the 40-lap A-Main eighth on the 3/8-mile track. He came home in the same spot to take his fifth top-10 finish in a row and secure third in the weekly points, trailing only champion Ashton Winger and runner-up Billy Moyer Jr.
With Bagley’s third-place finish in the Week Three standings he took home $3,000.
Bagley also finished 10th in the Week Two standings, and despite missing the first week of the Hell Tour, he currently sits 10th overall out of 143 drivers who have made at least one start in this year’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals.
Full results can be found at www.dirtcarsummernationals.com.
Article Credit: Josh James Artwork image