FARMER CITY, Ill. — As the final qualifier during Illini 100 weekend at Farmer City Raceway, Jason Feger wanted to have every scrap of information he could about previous time-trialers before his No. 25 tripped the clock.

Compared to our ultracomfortable passenger cars with virtually every modern convenience at your fingertips, the cockpit of a Dirt Late Model is rather sparse.

Dirt Late Model racing's indoor spectacle, the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals at The Dome at America’s Center, takes over Downtown St. Louis for the eighth running of the mega event this week.

Mighty Macon was mighty wild.

No moment captivated Thursday’s opener of the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals like the heat-race kerfuffle between Jason Feger and Carson Hocevar.

With Illinois drivers Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard and Brian Shirley combining to capture nine of its most recent 12 features, the Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts has proven to be a lucrative draw for drivers from the Land of Lincoln over the past two years. In making his miniseries debut during the 2021 version of the unsanctioned miniseries Jan. 9-17, Jason Feger hopes to become the latest Illinois driver to find success with an early-season trip to the desert.