FAIRBURY FOUR: Gustin, Pierce, Scott, and O’Neal win Prairie Dirt Classic Showdowns
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models kicked off the 31st Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway in style Friday, with more than 70 cars fighting for 16 spots in Saturday’s 100-lap finale.
Ryan Gustin, Bobby Pierce, Stormy Scott, and Hudson O’Neal collected each $3,000 by winning one of Friday’s four Showdowns and have the chance to start on the pole for the Morton Buildings Feature.
SHOWDOWN #1
World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year contender Ryan Gustin has never been afraid to run the outside at any speedway. He used that experience to his advantage Friday, leading all 25 laps to score the $3,000 prize.
The Marshalltown, IA driver also swept the night, winning his Showdown and setting Slick Woody’s Cornhole Co. Quick time.
Gustin received advice from a DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals driver to help him get around Fairbury Speedway.
“Mike Harrison has been helping me out a little bit, telling me what lines to run and stuff,” Gustin said. “He’s got a million laps around [Fairbury Speedway], so I really got to thank him and everyone else that helps.”
Shannon Babb, a three-time Prairie Dirt Classic winner, finished second after starting 13th. Chris Madden crossed the line third, and Chris Simpson grabbed the fourth and final transfer spot.
SHOWDOWN #2
Bobby Pierce was one turn away from winning the Prairie Dirt Classic in 2019 before Brandon Sheppard passed him for the win on the final corner. The “Smooth Operator” proved he’s wasting no time in his quest for redemption, winning Friday’s second Showdown.
The Oakwood, IL driver chased down early race leader Jonathan Davenport and pulled an epic slide job in traffic to take the lead away from “Superman” with six laps to go.
Pierce stated he should’ve tried to make the pass a few laps sooner.
“I was kind of kicking myself in the butt for not pulling the trigger on the slider I was thinking about a few laps before that,” Pierce said. “Right place right time with the lap car, and it kind of set the pick for me, so I went right there and capitalized on it.”
Davenport settled for second, followed by Brian Shirley and Tyler Bruening.
SHOWDOWN #3
Kyle Larson started on the pole for Friday’s third showdown, hoping to find Victory Lane for the first time at the Prairie Dirt Classic. But Stormy Scott had other ideas, sneaking by Larson on the bottom to grab the $3,000 prize.
The Las Cruces, NM driver, bested a field of former Series champions, including Brandon Sheppard and Rick Eckert. The trip to Victory Lane caught him by surprise, knowing the competition he was facing.
“If you had asked me if I thought we were going to be here before this deal started, I would’ve told you no way; I just would’ve been happy to get into the show,” Scott said. “I’m more thrilled for my crew than myself to finally put an entire night together for these guys because they deserve it, and they work their butts off.”
Larson, Sheppard, and Eckert grabbed the final three transfer spots into Saturday’s race.
SHOWDOWN #4
Hudson O’Neal wasted no time driving away from the rest of the field in Friday’s fourth showdown, leading all 25 laps.
The Martinsville, IN driver, started on the inside and made sure he beat Jimmy Owens to Turn 1 to carry his momentum to the top.
“I knew that the top was going to be okay, and I wanted to get up there to where I had some momentum built up where if somebody showed me the nose underneath, I could at last do something with him,” O’Neal said. “I didn’t want to get caught on the top and have no momentum built up, so that was kind of just where I stayed for the whole race.”
Owens crossed the line second, followed by Chase Junghans and Allan Weisser.
Weisser was penalized three positions due to a post-race infraction, moving Mckay Wenger into the fourth and final transfer spot.
The four Showdown winners will learn their starting positions on Saturday in the Morton Buildings redraw during Opening Ceremonies.
UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Fairbury Speedway on Saturday for the 100-lap Prairie Dirt Classic. Last chance showdowns will set the rest of the field along with the Late Model Shootout, where the winner can collect $2,500 or start last in the $50,000-to-win finale.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month
Drydene Heat #1 – Flight (A) (25 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer-1. 19R-Ryan Gustin [1]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb [13]; 3. 44-Chris Madden [2]; 4. 32S-Chris Simpson [3]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [8]; 6. 41-Jeremiah Hurst [4]; 7. 25F-Jason Feger [10]; 8. T2-Todd Bennett [7]; 9. B12-Kevin Weaver [9]; 10. 12-Ashton Winger [18]; 11. 14-Wil Herrington [16]; 12. 11T-Trevor Gundaker [6]; 13. 10J-Joseph Joiner [17]; 14. 26M-Brent McKinnon [14]; 15. 12Q-Brandon Queen [19]; 16. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [12]; 17. 24-Ryan Unzicker [5]; 18. 162-Logan Moody [11]; 19. 18L-Jeffrey Ledford [15]
Drydene Heat #2 – Flight (A) (25 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer-1. 32-Bobby Pierce [2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport [1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley [6]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening [3]; 5. 0-Nick Hoffman [10]; 6. 45-Kyle Hammer [8]; 7. 7-Ricky Weiss [4]; 8. B1-Brent Larson [7]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb [13]; 10. 7S-Jay Sparks [5]; 11. 59-Garrett Alberson [15]; 12. 9S-Eric Smith [9]; 13. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh [11]; 14. 1st-Johnny Scott [12]; 15. 6S-Blake Spencer [17]; 16. 3-Dale Markham [18]; 17. 40B-Kyle Bronson [14]; 18. 2-Mike Chasteen [16]
Drydene Heat #3 – Flight (B) (25 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer-1. 2s-Stormy Scott [3]; 2. 6-Kyle Larson [1]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard [6]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert [5]; 5. 9-Devin Moran [8]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton [11]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton [7]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs [14]; 9. 22-Chris Ferguson [2]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum [10]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola [9]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner [13]; 13. 10-Scott Schmitt [16]; 14. 111-Steven Roberts [12]; 15. 11H-Spencer Hughes [4]; 16. 73-Ryan Weistart [17]; 17. 76S-Titus Sneed [18]; 18. 354-Chris Nash [19]; 19. 35-Austin Simpson [15]
Drydene Heat #4 – Flight (B) (25 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer-1. 71-Hudson O’Neal [1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens [2]; 3. 18C-Chase Junghans [3]; 4. 42-Mckay Wenger [8]; 5. 11-Gordy Gundaker [6]; 6. 35C-Derek Chandler [5];7. 61-Allen Weisser [4]; 8. 97-Cade Dillard [10]; 9. 51-Matt Furman [12]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton [9]; 11. 1M-Mike Mataragas [11]; 12. 116-Torin Mettille [13]; 13. 9Z-Lyle Zanker [16]; 14. T4-Adam Tishhouser [14]; 15. 12C-Jeff Curl [15]; 16. 84-Myles Moos [7]; 17. 79W-Greg Wagner [17]; 18. B14-Victor Benedetto [18]
Qualifying Flight-A –1. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 12.97; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 13.315; 3. 44-Chris Madden, 13.392; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce, 13.409; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson, 13.473; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening, 13.475; 7. 41-Jeremiah Hurst, 13.476; 8. 7-Ricky Weiss, 13.484; 9. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 13.544; 10. 7S-Jay Sparks, 13.546; 11. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 13.555; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley, 13.555; 13. T2-Todd Bennett, 13.556; 14. B1-Brent Larson, 13.56; 15. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, 13.566; 16. 45-Kyle Hammer, 13.596; 17. B12-Kevin Weaver, 13.657; 18. 9S-Eric Smith, 13.665; 19. 25F-Jason Feger, 13.667; 20. 0-Nick Hoffman, 13.669; 21. 162-Logan Moody, 13.687; 22. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh, 13.708; 23. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.713; 24. 1st-Johnny Scott, 13.734; 25. 18-Shannon Babb, 13.757; 26. 28-Dennis Erb, 13.873; 27. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 13.88; 28. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 13.893; 29. 18L-Jeffrey Ledford, 13.893; 30. 59-Garrett Alberson, 13.909; 31. 14-Wil Herrington, 13.916; 32. 2-Mike Chasteen, 13.935; 33. 10J-Joseph Joiner, 13.99; 34. 6S-Blake Spencer, 13.994; 35. 12-Ashton Winger, 14.165; 36. 3-Dale Markham, 14.509; 37. 12Q-Brandon Queen, 14.646
Qualifying Flight-B-1. 6-Kyle Larson, 13.551; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 13.722; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson, 13.899; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens, 13.913; 5. 2s-Stormy Scott, 13.968; 6. 18C-Chase Junghans, 13.996; 7. 11H-Spencer Hughes, 14.015; 8. 61-Allen Weisser, 14.073; 9. 0E-Rick Eckert, 14.083; 10. 35C-Derek Chandler, 14.096; 11. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 14.12; 12. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 14.15; 13. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, 14.151; 14. 84-Myles Moos, 14.158; 15. 9-Devin Moran, 14.215; 16. 42-Mckay Wenger, 14.215; 17. 89-Mike Spatola, 14.232; 18. 25-Shane Clanton, 14.248; 19. 25B-Mike Benedum, 14.252; 20. 97-Cade Dillard, 14.276; 21. 76-Brandon Overton, 14.285; 22. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 14.316; 23. 111-Steven Roberts, 14.407; 24. 51-Matt Furman, 14.415; 25. 4G-Bob Gardner, 14.434; 26. 116-Torin Mettille, 14.473; 27. 99B-Boom Briggs, 14.508; 28. T4-Adam Tishhouser, 14.608; 29. 35-Austin Simpson, 14.616; 30. 12C-Jeff Curl, 14.641; 31. 10-Scott Schmitt, 14.681; 32. 9Z-Lyle Zanker, 14.705; 33. 73-Ryan Weistart, 14.75; 34. 79W-Greg Wagner, 14.982; 35. 76S-Titus Sneed, 15.72; 36. B14-Victor Benedetto, NT; 37. 354-Chris Nash, NT
Prairie Dirt Classic
Friday, July 30, 2021
Fairbury Speedway
600 South Third Street
Fairbury, Illinois 61739
Event Description
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models will battle in the 31st Annual Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway. The winner of the 100-lap Morton Buildings Feature will take home $50,000.
Joining the World of Outlaws are the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals.
Series Racing
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Support Divisions
Summit Modified Nationals
Event Schedule
Friday, July 31st, 2020
Drivers Meeting – 5:30pm
Hot Laps – 6:00pm
ORDER OF EVENTS:
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Hot Laps
DIRTcar Modified Hot Laps/Qualifying
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Qualifying – 2 Cars / 2 Laps
Opening Ceremonies
DIRTcar Modifieds Showdown Feature # 1 – 20 Laps
DIRTcar Modifieds Showdown Feature # 2 – 20 Laps
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Showdown Feature # 1 – 25 Laps
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Showdown Feature # 2 – 25 Laps
DIRTcar Modifieds Showdown Feature # 3 – 20 Laps
DIRTcar Modifieds Showdown Feature # 4 – 20 Laps
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Showdown Feature # 3 – 25 Laps
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Showdown Feature # 4 – 25 Laps
Saturday, August 1st, 2020
Autograph Session 4:00pm
Drivers Meeting – 5:15pm
Hot Laps – 5:45pm
ORDER OF EVENTS:
DIRTcar Modified LCS Cars Hot Lap
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model LCS Cars Hot Lap
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model & DIRTcar Modified Redraw
Opening Ceremonies
DIRTcar Modified Last Chance Showdowns – 15 Laps
DIRTcar Modified Feature Cars Hot Lap
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Last Chance Showdowns – 20 Laps
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Feature Cars Hot Lap
DIRTcar Modified Feature – 40 Laps $5,000 to win
Victory Lane
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Shootout–25 Laps $2,500 to win or start PDC
Victory Lane
Track Prep
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Prairie Dirt Classic – 100 Laps $50,000 to win
Victory Lane
*All times Central
Adult General Admission ticket, Friday July 26th $25, Saturday July 27th $35, General 2-day Weekend Admission $55 | Pit Passes $15 (in addition to General Admission Ticket) | Kids 12 & under - General Admission - free with paying adult (seats in reserved sections must purchase a reserved seat) | Kids 12 & under Pit Pass $15
Grandstand Type
Bleachers - No backs
Handicapped Seating Location
In front of main covered grandstands on front stretch and a few select handicap spots on the first row of bleachers. Please email [email protected] to request accessible seating at least one week in advance.
Pit Age Requirement
No Age limit - All minor's require proper waiver
Pit Gate Location
3rd Street entrance
Parking Cost
Free
Handicapped Parking Location
Near the main front grandstands
Camping Availability
non-electric, offsite, onsite
Camping Cost
Available day of race only
Summit Modified Nationals
Type of Grandstand
Bleachers - No backs
Stadium Seating
Stadium seats are not allowed
Handicapped Seating
In front of main covered grandstands on front stretch and a few select handicap spots on the first row of bleachers. Please email [email protected] to request accessible seating at least one week in advance.
Handicapped Parking
Near the main front grandstands
Pit Age Limit
No Age limit - All minor's require proper waiver
Pit Gate Location
3rd Street entrance
Personal Coolers
They are allowed on the grounds, but NOT in the bleachers or grandstands.
ATMs
1
Alcohol Sales
Alcohol is available to purchase at the track. Only FALS purchased cans and alcohol allowed in the bleachers or grandstands. Alcohol is prohibited in the pit area until the races are over for the evening.
Smoking Policy
No smoking or vaping in the bleachers or grandstands at any time.
Parking Cost
Free
Camping Availability
non-electric, offsite, onsite
Camping Cost
Available day of race only
Fairbury Speedway
600 South Third Street
Fairbury, Illinois 61739
Track Phone
(815) 692-3222
Track Email
[email protected]
Track Size
0.25
Track Type
Semi-banked
Late Model Track Record
12.143 seconds by Kyle Strickler on 9/15/20
Closest Airport
Bloomington, IL (BMI / KBMI) Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal
Other Airport
Champaign, IL (CMI / KCMI) University of Illinois Willard Airport
Pit Gate Location
3rd Street entrance
Track Map
https://www.dirtcarmembers.com/downloads.php
Competitor Info
Tire Rules:
ALL FOUR (4) CORNERS: M20 or M30
RIGHT REAR OPTION: M40
GROOVING AND SIPING IS ALLOWED
**Friday after qualifying you can change right rear tire for the showdown features. Saturday is LM20, LM30 on all 4 corners with a LM40 right rear option (No limit for Saturday)
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