Babb Leads Land of Lincoln Racers’ Assault On World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event
FAIRBURY, IL – July 26, 2013 – The Illinois boys came to play Friday night at Fairbury American Legion Speedway.
Defending their home-state turf in impressive fashion, drivers hailing from the Land of Lincoln kicked off the historic 24th annual Prairie Dirt Classic weekend by winning four of the six 15-lap heat races that highlighted a high-energy qualifying program.
Moweaqua’s Shannon Babb led the Illinois contingent’s assault on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event, turning the fastest lap of the four home-grown heat-race victors en route to his triumph in the fifth preliminary. Derek Chandler of Pontiac, Mike Spatola of Manhattan and Kevin Weaver of Gibson City also did their home state proud with heat victories.
The only outside drivers to break the Illinois stranglehold on heat-race checkered flags were Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., and five-time Prairie Dirt Classic winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.
The 11 WoO LMS regulars in attendance struggled in the national tour’s first-ever visit to the quarter-mile Fairbury oval, claiming just two of the 18 total transfer positions in the heats. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. (third place in Heat 3) and Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga. (second in Heat 5) were the lone World of Outlaws travelers to make the cut.
Among the Outlaws who failed to qualify through a heat were the top two in the current points standings, Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. Both drivers finished fourth in their respective heats.
In all, 13 of the 18 drivers locked into Saturday night’s $20,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic 100 are from Illinois – making it abundantly clear that local knowledge of the high-banked bullring is an advantage.
“The more time you put in here, the more it helps you out,” said Babb, who frequented Fairbury early in his career. “I think the thing about this place is there’s not really one certain sweet spot. I think that you can go everywhere (to race) here, so it takes a new guy coming in here a few laps to figure out where he’s at.”
Babb, who owns 10 career WoO LMS A-Main victories but none since September 2010, is confident about his chances of keeping the Prairie Dirt Classic winner’s trophy in its home state.
“The car felt pretty good,” said Babb, a two-time winner of the Prairie Dirt Classic (2002, 2006). “I think it could’ve been better, but we started in the right place tonight – front row outside – and took advantage of it. Now hopefully we’ll make the right decisions and catch some breaks tomorrow (in the 100).”
The drive of the night was authored by 16-year-old Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., who made a stirring rally to claim the third and final transfer position in Heat 5. The teenage sensation – and son of five-time Prairie Dirt Classic winner Bob Pierce – was running a close third to Babb and Clanton on lap 11 when a run-in with a lapped car caused Clanton to get out of shape and led to Pierce stalling his machine on the inside of turn four. Pierce restarted at the rear and used the outside lane to charge back to third place, which he grabbed on the final circuit.
Fifty-two cars were signed in for the qualifying program, which began over an hour later than scheduled because track crews had to work overtime to sufficiently dry a track surface that was dampened by several afternoon showers.
Ohlins Shocks Time Trials were split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups, with the first half competing for starting positions in heats 1-3 and the second half racing against the clock to align heats 4-6.
Frankie Heckenast of Orland Park, Ill., was the fastest overall qualifier, turning a lap of 12.986 seconds in Group ‘B.’ It was the first-ever WoO LMS fast-time honor for Heckenast, who failed to qualify through his heat despite starting from the pole position.
Fairbury’s WoO LMS card on Saturday night (July 27) includes B-Mains, a Non-Qualifiers’ Race and the 100-lap Prairie Dirt Classic. A full UMP Modified show topped by a $3,000-to-win feature is on the undercard of the event, which is slated to start with hot laps at 5:45 p.m. CT.
More information on the Prairie Dirt Classic is available by logging on to www.fairburyspeedway.com.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Fans can also follow the WoO LMS on Twitter at Twitter.com/WoOLateModels and Facebook at Facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws .
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
Group ‘A’
1. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 13.068
2. 35-Derek Chandler/Pontiac, IL 13.166
3. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 13.206
4. 21K-Kyle Logue/Cisco, IL 13.228
5. 11-Tyler Reddick/DuQuoin, IL 13.255
6. 7-Ricky Weiss/Winnipeg, Manitoba 13.256
7. 89-Daren Friedman/Forrest, IL 13.273
8. 9d-Daniel Flessner/Roberts, IL 13.278
9. 72-John Mason/Millersburg, OH 13.292
10. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 13.312
11. 75-Billy Drake/Bloomington, IL 13.338
12. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 13.350
13. b5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 13.361
14. 10-Scott Schmitt/Tunica, IL 13.399
15. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 13.419
16. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 13.447
17. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 13.497
18. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 13.521
19. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 13.545
20. 5-Brian Dunn/Fairbury, IL 13.573
21. 5s-Steve Sheppard Jr./New Berlin, IL 13.591
22. 24-Ryan Unzicker/El Paso, IL 13.606
23. 30-Mike Glasscock/LeRoy, IL 13.633
24. D2-Snookie Dehm/Chatsworth, IL 13.915
25. 44M-Mike McGuire/Forrest, IL 14.478
26. Z-Joe Harlan/El Paso, IL N/T
Group ‘B’
1. 99Jr-Frankie Heckenast/Orland Park, IL 12.986
2. 32-Bobby Pierce/Oakwood, IL 13.000
3. 9-Eric Smith/Bloomington, IL 13.050
4. 89-Mike Spatola/Manhattan, IL 13.087
5. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 13.097
6. b12-Kevin Weaver/Gibson City, IL 13.141
7. 95-Aaron Ricketts/Fairbury, IL 13.188
8. 18W-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 13.204
9. 81-Randy Korte/Highland, IL 13.220
10. 42-McKay Wenger/Fairbury, IL 13.293
11. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, GA 13.300
12. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 13.318
13. 83-Scott Bull/Fairbury, IL 13.426
14. 116-Torin Mettile/Cullom, IL 13.434
15. 1W-Donny Walden/Towanda, IL 13.453
16. 1w-Dillon Wood/New Smyrna Beach, FL 13.467
17. 4-Mike Mullvain/Bartonville, IL 13.511
18. 77M-Jay Morris/Watseka, IL 13.519
19. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 13.566
20. 31-Tom Thoennes/Bloomington, IL 13.664
21. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 13.665
22. 7T-Steve Thorston/Milford, IL 13.687
23. 36-Eric Vaughan/Fairbury, IL 13.830
24. 7R-Kent Robinson/Bloomington, IN 13.889
25. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 14.088
26. z28-Rich Harlan/Flanagan, IL 14.096
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): McDowell, Shirley, Logue, Friedman, B. Sheppard, McCool, McCreadie, Unzicker, McGuire
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Chandler, Reddick, Drake, Fuller, Schmitt, Flessner, Dunn, Glasscock
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Moyer, Weiss, Frank, Lanigan, Mason, Bagley, Dehm, S. Sheppard
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Spatola, Wenger, Ricketts, Richards, Heckenast, Wood, Bull, C. Smith, Thorston
Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Babb, Clanton, Pierce, Mettille, Wells, Mullvain, Vaughan, Thoennes, R. Harlen
Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Weaver, E. Smith, Korte, Mars, Robinson, Eckert, Walden, Morris
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: American Racing Custom Wheels (Official Custom Wheel), Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), KMC (Official Custom Truck Wheel), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award) and McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award); in addition to contingency sponsors: Butlerbuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, QuarterMaster, Roush Yates Performance Parts, Superflow Dynos, Wrisco Aluminum and XS Power Racing Batteries; along with manufacturer sponsors Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, GRT Chassis, Jake’s Carts, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis, TNT Rescue, and Warrior Chassis.