5/9/2016
PIERCE Feeding Frenzy at FALS
If there is one bullring that I cannot get enough of it has to be Fairbury American Legion Speedway located just 25 miles north of Bloomington, Illinois. It is so good even the hype doesn’t do it justice. The fans that attend and support this place weekly are some of the luckiest race fans in the country. Matt Curl and his staff just don’t get enough credit, I have attended races at Fairbury since the early 90’s and still to this day making the 3 hour journey north from St. Louis is worth every penny spent. As Billy Moyer mentioned before Illinois has probably the best three race tracks of any other state in the country, including Tri-City Speedway, Farmer City, and of course Fairbury. Well I can tell you Fairbury didn’t disappoint anyone this past Saturday night as we saw another jewel on the 1/3 mile banked oval.

The race was labeled the FALS Frenzy and was sanctioned by MARS/ALMS/UMP which paid $10,000 to win for the Super Late Models. 43 Cars were on hand with Bloomington’s Jason Feger setting quick time with a 12.939 lap time.

Heats were won by Earl Pearson Jr, Jeremy Payne, Dennis Erb Jr., and Billy Moyer. Pearson was driving for Larry Moring, while Payne was making his first FALS visit in the GRT House Car. Erb was in the house with the Lucas Series idle this weekend, and Moyer was coming off a Farmer City victory the night before taking home $5000.
The stage was set for the 50 lap feature event with Jeremy Payne and Earl Pearson Jr. on the front row. Payne would take the initial lead followed by Pearson, Moyer, Erb, and Feger in the early going. The track was very fast with two preferred lines, the bottom was good and the top was there as well. Feger was the first one to hit the top and set sail battling Erb. Shannon Babb and Brandon Sheppard were making some noise of their own running side by side killing the cushion running down the leaders coming from mid-pack.

Pearson would take the lead from Payne on lap 8. Earl looked very good making just his second start at Fairbury getting some precious laps before July’s Prairie Dirt Classic. A few laps later the red flag waved for Jason Feger who barely turned his mount over avoiding a stalled car in turn four. I hated this for Jason he had a good car and was solid running in the top five. Before the flip, Feger, Babb, and Sheppard were putting on a clinic running the cushion.

Back to green it was Pearson out front, Moyer looked to be on the move and was gaining ground as they entered lapped traffic. Meanwhile Payne was sliding back while the Smooth Operator Bobby Pierce was making his way to the front. Pierce was on a mission, he was taking it to the edge putting the race fans on the edge of their seats as well, actually they were already standing !!! Pierce broke into the top five passing Sheppard in the Best Motorsports Rocket with just 15 to go. 5 Laps later he passed Moyer to get to 4th, and then he had to deal with the blocking Erb for a handful of laps before giving up his preferred cushion to running the middle of the race track. Erb had no match for the youngster, and once he passed Erb to get to second, he soared back to the cushion to run down the former World 100 winner Pearson. Earl would relinquish the lead with under a handful of laps left to Pierce. Once Pierce took the lead he marched on to meet Promoter Matt Curl in victory lane to get the $10,000 check.

Great job by Bobby in his Bob Pierce Race Car Machine sponsored by Champion Spark Plugs and Allgayer Inc., with Pro Power Racing engines under the hood. Earl Pearson Jr. came home second with Dennis Erb Jr, Brandon Sheppard, and Billy Moyer rounding out the top five. Wisconsin’s Mike Mullen came home sixth with Jeremy Payne, MARS Champion Tony Jackson Jr, Shannon Babb, and Scott Schmitt rounding out the top ten. Other notables included Rusty Schlenk who came home 11th after taking a provisional and starting near the tail. Indiana modified driver Devin Gilpin finished 13th, Adam Bowman and Ryan Unzicker finished 15th and 16th. Jason Feger came home 22nd, Track favorite Kevin Weaver was 23rd, and Michael Kloos was 24th after winning a consolation race.

In closing race fans if you have not been to Fairbury get it on your schedule for the June 25 Summernational Race and definitely for the Prairie Dirt Classic at the end of July. The ones that have been there already have their rooms booked and camping spots reserved !! Great job again to entire staff at FALS for another great show !!