Shannon Babb
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Alexandria, IL — July 7, 2009 —Better late than never for two-time UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Shannon Babb on the Hell Tour circuit. On Tuesday night at Shepp’s Speedway, Babb claimed his third feature win in his past four starts.
Babb’s win came in the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals initial visit to Shepp’s Speedway, just outside New Berlin, Ill. Using an outside front row starting position, Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., jumped out to a quick lead over pole sitter and defending champion Dennis Erb Jr., of Carpentersville, Ill.
Erb used quick time honors and a heat race win earlier in the night to claim the pole position for the 40-lap main event. Erb, who ran second the entire distance, made a last-ditch effort to clear Babb with less than 10 laps to go but wound up settling for the runner-up position.
Randy Korte, of Highland, Ill., charged from his 12th-place starting spot to finish third and retain his narrow lead over Erb in the overall “Hell Tour” championship standings. With the finish, Korte will take a 4-point lead into the remaining four events on the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals Tour.
Rodney Melvin, of Logan, Ill., claimed the fourth spot while Jason Feger, of Bloomington, Ill., rounded out the top five.
Heat 1:
1. Dennis Erb Jr.
2. Dustin Linville
3. Mark Burgtorf
4. Kevin Weaver
5. Roger Brickler
6. Charley Hess
7. Jeep Van Wormer
8. Ryan Little
9. Mathew McAdams
Heat 2:
1. Rodney Melvin
2. Brandon Sheppard
3. Don O’Neal
4. Frank Heckenast Jr.
5. Adam Mefford
6. John Beck
7. Jason McBride
DNS. Brandon Thirlby
Heat 3:
1. Shannon Babb
2. Jason Feger
3. Ryan Unzicker
4. Donny Walden
5. Derek Chandler
6. Shane Allen
7. Dick Taylor
8. Shane Tomlin
Heat 4:
1. Mark Voigt
2. Terry Casey
3. Randy Korte
4. Steve Sheppard Jr.
5. Scott Schmitt
6. Tim Lance
7. Jeff Leka
8. Mike Hammerle
B Main:
1. Adam Mefford
2. Derek Chandler
3. John Beck
4. Charley Hess
5. Jeff Leka
6. Shane Allen
7. Shane Tomlin
8. Roger Brickler
9. Tim Lance
10. Scott Schmitt
11. Jason McBride
12. Brandon Thirlby
13. Ryan Little
14. Dick Taylor
15. Mathew McAdams
16. Mike Hammerle
17. Jeep Van Wormer
Feature:
1. Shannon Babb
2. Dennis Erb Jr.
3. Randy Korte
4. Rodney Melvin
5. Jason Feger
6. Kevin Weaver
7. Brandon Sheppard
8. Ryan Unzicker
9. Mark Voigt
10. Mark Burgtorf
11. Frank Heckenast Jr.
12. Roger Brickler
13. Mike Hammerle
14. Adam Mefford
15. Dustin Linville
16. Don O’Neal
17. Steve Sheppard Jr.
18. Derek Chandler
19. Terry Casey
20. Jeep Van Wormer
21. Donny Walden
HELL TOUR NOTES
Defending UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Dennis Erb Jr. paced group one of the 33 competitors around the small quarter-mile oval with a lap time of 12.015 seconds. Other group quick time honors were recorded by Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., and Terry Casey of New London Wisc.
Heat race one saw Erb use a good start and a very controlled drive through the first two turns to overcome outside polesitter Jeep Van Wormer of Pinconning, Mich., to capture the heat race win. Outside polesitter Rodney Melvin powered his way to the heat race two victory holding off a pressure from a very aggressive Brandon Sheppard.
Shannon Babb, of Moweaqua, Ill., got the jump in heat race number three and pulled away to the win as Jason Feger and Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., battled for the second spot. Mark Voigt avoided a slide job attempt from Terry Casey in turns one and two in the fourth and final heat race to claim the last heat race victory.
Adam Mefford of nearby Jacksonville, Ill., claimed the B-Main win. Second place finisher Derek Chandler of Pontiac, Ill., along with winner Mefford earned transfer spots into the night’s 40-lap main event. Provisionals were used by Jeep Van Wormer, Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., and Roger Brickler of Springfield, Ill.