By Paul Bayne
Farmer City, Ill. (April 18) - Just when it looks as though "The Flyin' Farmer" Roger Long of Fithian was on his way to his second consecutive feature triumph at Farmer City Raceway
Friday, along comes Carpentersville's Dennis Erb Jr. to steal the show and take home the checkers, in a battle that had fans on their feet for the latter half of the 25-lap main event. Erb, who started from the sixth slot on the grid, worked his way underneath Long on lap 19, and never looked back en route to his first win of this young 2003 season. While Erb was dialed in on the hub, Long was screaming around the rim in a valiant effort to keep pace. "The car actually worked better tonight than it did last week when we won," said Long. "Dennis was just really hooked up down on the bottom, and we're strugling a bit with the torque curve on this new motor. The rear wheels tend to spin just a bit when we get into that fine loose dirt," he added.
As the green flag fell on the field of nineteen, it was polesitter Mike Glasscock who paced the field for the first circuit. Joe Harlan then took command as he got by Glasscock heading into turn three on lap two. One lap later, Richie Hedrick brought out the only yellow flag displayed during the event, when he suffered a flat right front tire and pulled off the apron coming off of turn four. Harlan then pulled his mount pitside with oil pressure woes and relinquished his lead to Wisconsin driver Bret Sievert.
Sievert's lead would not last long however, as Long was again proving his dominance on the high side. With Long out front comfortably, Erb began to reel in the 49-year-old defending track champion until on lap 19, he was able to wrestle away the lead from Long for good. Long would have to settle for second best on this night, followed by Sievert, Glasscock, and Mike Mullvain. Rounding out the top ten were Junior Schickel, who for the second week in a row received the Hard Charger $200 bonus, Ryan Dauber, Corey Turner, Eric Smith, and John Provenzano.
Heat race victories went to Tom Markham, Gary Webb, Toby Scharp, and Long. Glasscock claimed the dash win, while Mark Anderson and Jeff Leka scored semi wins.
Sixteen-year-old Justin Allgaier of Riverton, IL impressed all in qualifying, taking top honors of the thirty-nie entries at 12.752. Allgaier's night was cut short however, as he blew a head gasket and broke the water jacket while warming up the car for the feature event.
39 Late Models in Attendance
Qualifying
1. Justin Allgaier 12.752
2. Roger Long 12.764
3. Bret Sievert 12.847
4. Mike Mullvain 12.943
5. Joe Harlan 13.016
6. Mike Glasscock 13.050
These top 6 will run the dash for front 3 rows in feature.
Dash Results
1. Glasscock
2. Sievert
3. Harlan
4. Long
5. Allgaier
6. Mullvain
Heat Results
Heat 1
1. Tom Markham
2. Rick Hamilton
3. John Meyne
4. Junior Shickel
Heat 2
1. Gary Webb
2. Richie Hedrick
3. Mike Provenzano
4. Michael Bradley
Heat 3
1.Toby Scharp
2. Jeff Leka
3. Donny Waldon
4. Corey Turner
Heat 4
1. Roger Long ( From 10th starting spot)
2. Dennis Erb Jr.
3. Eric Smith
4. Bret Seivert
Semi 1 (Top 3 Advance)
1. Mark Andeson
2. Tim Rouston
3. Gary Webb
Semi 2
1. Jeff Leka
2. Toby Scharp
3. Richie Hedrick
30 LAP Feature Results
1. Dennis Erb Jr. (started 6th, took lead lap 19, won by 10 car lengths)
2. Roger Long
3. Bret Seivert ( headed to Kamp tommorow)
4. Mike Glasscock
5. Mike Mullvain
6. Junior Shickel ( $200 Hard Charger Award)
7. Ryan Dauber
8. Corey Turner
9. Eric Smith
10. John Provenzano
11. Mark Anderson
12. Tim Rouston
13. Chris Dick
14. Toby Scharp
15. Jeff Leka
16. Gary Webb
17. Jay Sparks
18. Joe Harlan (pulled off while leading on lap 3)
19. Richie Hedrick ( flat on lap 3 brought out only yellow)
20 Justin Allgaier ( Blown Head gasket before feature)
Lead changed hands 5 times.
Farmer City, Ill. (April 18) - Just when it looks as though "The Flyin' Farmer" Roger Long of Fithian was on his way to his second consecutive feature triumph at Farmer City Raceway
Friday, along comes Carpentersville's Dennis Erb Jr. to steal the show and take home the checkers, in a battle that had fans on their feet for the latter half of the 25-lap main event. Erb, who started from the sixth slot on the grid, worked his way underneath Long on lap 19, and never looked back en route to his first win of this young 2003 season. While Erb was dialed in on the hub, Long was screaming around the rim in a valiant effort to keep pace. "The car actually worked better tonight than it did last week when we won," said Long. "Dennis was just really hooked up down on the bottom, and we're strugling a bit with the torque curve on this new motor. The rear wheels tend to spin just a bit when we get into that fine loose dirt," he added.
As the green flag fell on the field of nineteen, it was polesitter Mike Glasscock who paced the field for the first circuit. Joe Harlan then took command as he got by Glasscock heading into turn three on lap two. One lap later, Richie Hedrick brought out the only yellow flag displayed during the event, when he suffered a flat right front tire and pulled off the apron coming off of turn four. Harlan then pulled his mount pitside with oil pressure woes and relinquished his lead to Wisconsin driver Bret Sievert.
Sievert's lead would not last long however, as Long was again proving his dominance on the high side. With Long out front comfortably, Erb began to reel in the 49-year-old defending track champion until on lap 19, he was able to wrestle away the lead from Long for good. Long would have to settle for second best on this night, followed by Sievert, Glasscock, and Mike Mullvain. Rounding out the top ten were Junior Schickel, who for the second week in a row received the Hard Charger $200 bonus, Ryan Dauber, Corey Turner, Eric Smith, and John Provenzano.
Heat race victories went to Tom Markham, Gary Webb, Toby Scharp, and Long. Glasscock claimed the dash win, while Mark Anderson and Jeff Leka scored semi wins.
Sixteen-year-old Justin Allgaier of Riverton, IL impressed all in qualifying, taking top honors of the thirty-nie entries at 12.752. Allgaier's night was cut short however, as he blew a head gasket and broke the water jacket while warming up the car for the feature event.
39 Late Models in Attendance
Qualifying
1. Justin Allgaier 12.752
2. Roger Long 12.764
3. Bret Sievert 12.847
4. Mike Mullvain 12.943
5. Joe Harlan 13.016
6. Mike Glasscock 13.050
These top 6 will run the dash for front 3 rows in feature.
Dash Results
1. Glasscock
2. Sievert
3. Harlan
4. Long
5. Allgaier
6. Mullvain
Heat Results
Heat 1
1. Tom Markham
2. Rick Hamilton
3. John Meyne
4. Junior Shickel
Heat 2
1. Gary Webb
2. Richie Hedrick
3. Mike Provenzano
4. Michael Bradley
Heat 3
1.Toby Scharp
2. Jeff Leka
3. Donny Waldon
4. Corey Turner
Heat 4
1. Roger Long ( From 10th starting spot)
2. Dennis Erb Jr.
3. Eric Smith
4. Bret Seivert
Semi 1 (Top 3 Advance)
1. Mark Andeson
2. Tim Rouston
3. Gary Webb
Semi 2
1. Jeff Leka
2. Toby Scharp
3. Richie Hedrick
30 LAP Feature Results
1. Dennis Erb Jr. (started 6th, took lead lap 19, won by 10 car lengths)
2. Roger Long
3. Bret Seivert ( headed to Kamp tommorow)
4. Mike Glasscock
5. Mike Mullvain
6. Junior Shickel ( $200 Hard Charger Award)
7. Ryan Dauber
8. Corey Turner
9. Eric Smith
10. John Provenzano
11. Mark Anderson
12. Tim Rouston
13. Chris Dick
14. Toby Scharp
15. Jeff Leka
16. Gary Webb
17. Jay Sparks
18. Joe Harlan (pulled off while leading on lap 3)
19. Richie Hedrick ( flat on lap 3 brought out only yellow)
20 Justin Allgaier ( Blown Head gasket before feature)
Lead changed hands 5 times.
