by Don Martin                    7.25.2018

Below are the rankings after last weekend.  Scott Bloomquist is still the high point man and picked up another win at Jackson, Minnesota last week.   He also finished second at I-80 last Thursday behind Jonathan Davenport and finished just outside of the top five Saturday night at the Silver Dollar Nationals.   Davenport is in the second spot after two big wins in Nebraska last weekend.   Davenport seems to be rolling again and at the right time with some big events coming up over the next two months.   The Silver Dollar Nationals win was worth over $53,000 to the Georgia native.   Brandon Sheppard also had a solid week in the Mark Richards house car and sits third in the rankings.  Chris Madden is fourth with Mike Marlar rounding out the top five.   Jimmy Owens with his 3^rd place finish moved inside the top ten and Ricky Weiss moved up as well with his runner-up finish at the Silver Dollar Nationals.     Chad Simpson joined his brother in the Top 25 once again with his first WoO win at Davenport last night.

The Lucas Series will be ide for the next two weeks giving the World of Outlaws full attention.    The biggest dirt late model race in Illinois takes place this week in Fairbury, Illinois.   The Prairie Dirt Classic will pay $30,000 to win this weekend before the series heads to Wisconsin for two shows at Plymouth and Shawano paying $10,000 to win.    Then the tour will head to Cedar Lake for the USA Nationals paying $50,000 to win.    I want to give a big shout out to Brian Shirley’s car owner Bob Cullen for promoting the Plymouth World of Outlaw race.

Now it is the 29^TH ANNUAL PRAIRIE DIRT CLASSIC PREVIEW.  This event is one of the flagship events of the year for the World of Outlaws, last year we saw hometown boy Brandon Sheppard pick up his first PDC win.   A couple of other Illinois drivers that have won the event include Shannon Babb and Dennis Erb Jr.   There are 3 Illinois drivers that  I believe are going to be in the hunt this year and those include  Bobby Pierce, Ryan Unzicker, and Brian Shirley this year.

Pierce has been close, and nobody has more laps on the 1/3 mile oval over the last few years than Ryan Unzicker.   The darkhorse of the event has to be Brian Shirley.    Coming off the Summer Nationals Tour Championship the team chose not to race last week in Nebraska to prepare for the PDC.   Brian has a new bullet in his XRI Rocket and is ready and confident heading into Fairbury.    Brian finished second at the Summer National race back in June.

Anytime Jonathan Davenport  and Billy Moyer are in the pits at Fairbuy, you can never count these two out.   Moyer won the Summer National event back in June and has been in victory lane numerous times at Fairbury.   Davenport won the event a few years ago, and the place has turned into one of his favorite events of the year.

Action kicks off Friday with Qualifying and 25 lap feature event to determine the starting field for the $30,000 to win 100 lap feature event Saturday night.  Consolation races and Prairie Dirt Shootout event paying $2,000 to win will also take place Saturday evening.   The winner of the shootout can choose to take the money or start dead last in the main event.    Modifieds are also on the card with a $5,000 win feature event on Saturday as well.   Modified preliminary is similar to the late models and those take place on Friday night as well.     The purse is nearly $100,000 for the weekend.

In closing on the PDC, if you have never been here before you need to be here, the atmosphere rivals the World 100.    Watching the community and local business’s grasping this event is just incredible, the money raised to support local charities such as the Shriner’s Hospital is just overwhelming and brings a tear to your eyes.   All I can say is Fairbury gets it !!!

Dirty Don’s Top Ten – Prediction Prairie Dirt Classic

Brian Shirley is your 2018 winner !!! – 2^nd Brandon Sheppard, 3^rd Billy Moyer, Jonathan Davenport, and Bobby Pierce are your top 5.    Jimmy Owens, Shannon Babb, Ryan Unzicker, Mike Marlar., and Jason Feger are my Top Ten for this year’s edition of the PDC.

StlRacing.com Top 25 Super Dirt Late Model Rankings 7.25.2018

1              Scott Bloomquist

2              Jonathan Davenport

3              Brandon Sheppard

4              Chris Madden

5              Mike Marlar

6              Dale McDowell

7              Bobby Pierce

8              Brian Shirley

9              Jimmy Owens

10           Josh Richards

11           Tim McCreadie

12           Shannon Babb

13           Earl Pearson Jr.

14           Don O’Neal

15           Chris Simpson

16           Hudson O’Neal

17           Billy Moyer

18           Ricky Weiss

19           Brandon Overton

20           Devin Moran

21           Shane Clanton

22           Zach Dohm

23           Gregg Satterlee

24           Tyler Erb

25           Chad Simpson

On a special note please keep Ozzie Altman in your prayers, he is a true ambassador of our sport and suffered a major stroke last weekend.   I have known Ozzie for over 25 years and don’t know if I have ever met a more enthusiastic person in motorsports.

Enjoy the races and keep supporting your local dirt tracks !!

Dirty Don – see you at the races !!  This week I am off to Fairbury to participate in the PDC Shriner’s Hospital Golf Outing and the 29^th Annual Prairie Dirt Classic.

Quote of the week has to be Josh Richards – “Not only did we tear up our race cars and make 3 engine changes in a week but a push truck also ran over our mini-bike.”   Now that’s a tough week.