CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT!
Smith Prevails on Fairbury Fair Night
By Rocky Ragusa – Fairbury,Ill. (8/21/21) A FALS Cup weekly program presented by TKS Concrete and Knapp Kitchens took place on Saturday night as part of the 145th annual Fairbury Fair. All the hardware and accolades went to Eric Smith (Late Model), Josh Allen (Modified), Tommy Duncan (Sportsman), Tanner Sullivan (Stock Car),and Chris Tippit.
Tonica’s Scott Schmitt in his new Sniper Chassis turned a lap of 12.988 for fast time over 20 other drivers. Jeffrey Ledford, Eric Smith, and Mike Spatola won their heat races.
Ledford and Smith lined up for the start of the 30 lap,$2500 to win race. Smith moved to the lead as the green flag waved, but a yellow flag was displayed as Ledford slowed on the track with mechanical issues. The restart saw Spatola and Derek Chandler throw every move possible to overtake Smith for the lead, but the cagey veteran stood his ground. Kevin Weaver soon made it a four way battle for first place, but Spatola slowed in turn two for a caution flag and his race night came to an end. After a caution fell with eight laps to go, Rusty Griffaw was able to overtake Weaver for second place, but the laps ran out for the “Festus Flash” and Smith, who ended a six year hiatus, returned to victory lane.
“ My crew kept working on the car trying to get it better on the cushion”, said Smith, a two time Fairbury track champion. “ I don’t know if they were faster than me, but I was able to hold them off”.
Griffaw, an infrequent guest to FALS, turned in an outstanding race to finish second. Weaver, Chandler, and Torin Mettille rounded out the top five. Rich Bell, Mike Provenzano (hardcharger), Kyle Hammer, Jeff Curl, and Glen Thompson completed the top ten.
19 Modified drivers looked to take a FALS Cup trophy and the $1500 first prize in the Modified class. Point leader Mike McKinney posted a lap of 14.316 for quick time. Michael Ledford and Josh Allen won heat races.
Josh Allen, a regular at the Spoon River Speedway, made the decision to head to Fairbury after rain washed out the program at the track located in Banner. Allen was able to lead all 25 laps of the feature, but it didn’t come easy. Michael Ledford and Mike McKinney took turns as both drivers tried to knock Allen off the front position. Mckinney jumped the cushion and fell back several positions in the late stages of the race. Ledford and Nick Seplak were able to capitalize and race each other for second, as Allen had checked out on the competition.
“ I have never really been good here”, said Allen on his first career Fairbury win. “ We were able to get off on the right start. I saw Ledford and McKinney on the cushion and I knew that is what it would take to hold them off. I’m usually not that good on the cushion here, but tonight we did alright”.
Ledford, who trails McKinney by three points in the race for the track championship, finished in second. Nick Seplak continues to impress with a solid third palace run. The remainder of the top ten went to Trevor Neville (hardcharger), McKinney, Bob Pohlman Jr., Brent Weaver, Austin Friedman, Alan Stipp, and Mike Moiser.
A time of 15.153 gave Landen Miller fast time in the CR Towing Sportsman division. With only seven cars one heat race was held and Miller came out ahead.
Looking to wrap up his third straight track title, Tommy Duncan took the lead on the start of the 15 lap feature. Miller was able to hang tough, but as the race went on, Duncan pulled away to take his sixth Fairbury win.
“ We didn’t change anything on the car”, Duncan spoke. “ We just stayed with the setup we had and kept our speed up”.
Miller, Lyndon Whitfill,Victor Strong (hardcharger),Makinzi Semmens, Daniel Flessner, and Anthony Craven completed the finish.
Tanner Sullivan jumped out to a commanding lead in the 15 lap, Stock Car feature event. Never threatened for the lead, Sullivan was able to cruise to his second straight win.
“ This was the best the car has run all year,” Sullivan said. “Anywhere I put the car, it would work”.
Fellow heat race winner, Megan Erwin finished in the runner up position, followed by Cody Clubb, Terry Reed, Andy Zahnd, Michael Schomas, Pete Odell, Josh Hetherington, Scott Schoener, and Adam Williams. Don Hilleary finished 11th and was the race’s hardcharger.
Coming out of retirement, Scott Williams took fast time honors with a lap of 16.169 in the Hobby-Modified class. Chris Tippit and Wes Ricketts were heat race winners.
Tippit continued his winning ways by leading from green to checker in taking his fourth straight feature win. Williams finished in second, with Luke Gebhardt, Brian Deavers, Bryce Cunningham, Jordan Walker, Payton Semmens, Jake Green, Steven Kalb, and Jason Vandermeir completing the top ten.
This Saturday night will be the final night for drivers to earn track points and hardcharger points with several titles still up for grabs. Late Models will have their rescheduled “Allen Memorial” along with a FALS Cup weekly program presented by Consolidated Building Center and Allen Automotive.
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
Eric Smith – Rocky Ragusa photo
A Feature 1: 1. 9-Eric Smith[2]; 2. 16-Rusty Griffaw[6]; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver[7]; 4. 35-Derek Chandler[4]; 5. 116-Torin Mettille[9]; 6. 21B-Rich Bell[13]; 7. M27-Mike Provenzano[15]; 8. 45-Kyle Hammer[8]; 9. 12-Jeff Curl[16]; 10. 14-Glen Thompson[12]; 11. 61-Curtis Radke[14]; 12. Z61-Alex Wilson[11]; 13. (DNF) 33-Rickey Frankel[5]; 14. (DNF) 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 15. (DNF) 14B-Britan Godsey[18]; 16. (DNF) 26-Tyler Worley[19]; 17. (DNF) 10-Scott Schmitt[10]; 18. (DNF) 18-Jeffrey Ledford[1]; 19. (DNF) 11B-Blake Bailey[21]; 20. (DNS) 4G-Bob Gardner; 21. (DNS) 76-Titus Sneed
Heat 1: 1. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[2]; 2. 35-Derek Chandler[1]; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver[5]; 4. 10-Scott Schmitt[3]; 5. 21B-Rich Bell[6]; 6. 12-Jeff Curl[4]; 7. 26-Tyler Worley[7]
Heat 2: 1. 9-Eric Smith[2]; 2. 33-Rickey Frankel[4]; 3. 45-Kyle Hammer[3]; 4. Z61-Alex Wilson[7]; 5. 61-Curtis Radke[6]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]; 7. 76-Titus Sneed[1]
Heat 3: 1. 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 2. 16-Rusty Griffaw[4]; 3. 116-Torin Mettille[5]; 4. 14-Glen Thompson[1]; 5. M27-Mike Provenzano[2]; 6. 14B-Britan Godsey[6]; 7. 11B-Blake Bailey[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 10-Scott Schmitt, 00:12.988[3]; 2. 45-Kyle Hammer, 00:13.049[5]; 3. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:13.108[6]; 4. 18-Jeffrey Ledford, 00:13.113[14]; 5. 9-Eric Smith, 00:13.162[16]; 6. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:13.232[17]; 7. 35-Derek Chandler, 00:13.273[18]; 8. 76-Titus Sneed, 00:13.276[20]; 9. 14-Glen Thompson, 00:13.436[19]; 10. 12-Jeff Curl, 00:13.452[8]; 11. 33-Rickey Frankel, 00:13.479[21]; 12. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 00:13.518[10]; 13. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:13.536[13]; 14. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:13.541[1]; 15. 116-Torin Mettille, 00:13.621[11]; 16. 21B-Rich Bell, 00:13.679[12]; 17. 61-Curtis Radke, 00:13.788[4]; 18. 14B-Britan Godsey, 00:13.840[15]; 19. 26-Tyler Worley, 00:14.281[7]; 20. (DNS) Z61-Alex Wilson; 21. (DNS) 11B-Blake Bailey
DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
Josh Allen – Rocky Ragusa photo
A Feature 1: 1. 292-Josh Allen[2]; 2. 37-Michael Ledford[1]; 3. 11S-Nick Seplak[4]; 4. 777-Trevor Neville[9]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney[3]; 6. 1W-Bob Pohlman[8]; 7. 24B-Brent Weaver[7]; 8. 89-Austin Friedman[6]; 9. 88S-Alan Stipp[5]; 10. 17-Mike Mosier[12]; 11. 17H-Scott Hauge[16]; 12. 36V-Macy Vaughan[15]; 13. (DNF) 14K-Shane Kelley[11]; 14. (DNF) 71R-Troy Ricketts[13]; 15. (DNF) 32-Mason Duncan[10]; 16. (DNF) 61-Chris Osborne Jr[14]; 17. (DNS) 25W-Allen Weisser; 18. (DNS) 35-Ethan Weber; 19. (DNS) 524-Jami Lusher
Heat 1: 1. 37-Michael Ledford[2]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney[3]; 3. 88S-Alan Stipp[1]; 4. 24B-Brent Weaver[4]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville[6]; 6. 14K-Shane Kelley[9]; 7. 71R-Troy Ricketts[7]; 8. 36V-Macy Vaughan[8]; 9. 35-Ethan Weber[5]; 10. 524-Jami Lusher[10]
Heat 2: 1. 292-Josh Allen[2]; 2. 11S-Nick Seplak[1]; 3. 89-Austin Friedman[3]; 4. 1W-Bob Pohlman[5]; 5. 32-Mason Duncan[4]; 6. 17-Mike Mosier[6]; 7. 61-Chris Osborne Jr[8]; 8. 17H-Scott Hauge[7]; 9. 25W-Allen Weisser[9]
Qualifying 1: 1. 96M-Mike McKinney, 00:14.316[10]; 2. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:14.317[15]; 3. 37-Michael Ledford, 00:14.354[6]; 4. 292-Josh Allen, 00:14.490[17]; 5. 88S-Alan Stipp, 00:14.520[5]; 6. 11S-Nick Seplak, 00:14.575[1]; 7. 24B-Brent Weaver, 00:14.666[9]; 8. 32-Mason Duncan, 00:14.805[7]; 9. 35-Ethan Weber, 00:14.813[13]; 10. 1W-Bob Pohlman, 00:14.815[14]; 11. 777-Trevor Neville, 00:14.886[18]; 12. 17-Mike Mosier, 00:14.944[12]; 13. 71R-Troy Ricketts, 00:15.055[8]; 14. 17H-Scott Hauge, 00:15.163[19]; 15. 36V-Macy Vaughan, 00:15.177[3]; 16. 61-Chris Osborne Jr, 00:15.299[2]; 17. (DNS) 14K-Shane Kelley; 18. (DNS) 25W-Allen Weisser; 19. (DNS) 524-Jami Lusher
CR TOWING SPORTSMANS
Tommy Duncan – Rocky Ragusa photo
A Feature 1: 1. 32-Tommy Duncan[2]; 2. 110-Landen Miller[1]; 3. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[3]; 4. 81-Victor Strong[7]; 5. (DNF) 66-Makinzi Semmens[6]; 6. (DNF) 20R-Dan Flessner[4]; 7. (DNF) 18-Anthony Craven[5]
Heat 1: 1. 110-Landen Miller[1]; 2. 32-Tommy Duncan[3]; 3. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[2]; 4. 20R-Dan Flessner[5]; 5. 18-Anthony Craven[4]; 6. 66-Makinzi Semmens[7]; 7. 81-Victor Strong[6]
Qualifying 1: 1. 110-Landen Miller, 00:15.153[5]; 2. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:15.661[4]; 3. 32-Tommy Duncan, 00:15.863[3]; 4. 18-Anthony Craven, 00:15.868[1]; 5. 20R-Dan Flessner, 00:15.896[2]; 6. 81-Victor Strong, 00:16.008[6]; 7. 66-Makinzi Semmens, 00:16.765[7]
DIRTCAR STREET STOCKS
Tanner Sullivan – Rocky Ragusa photo
A Feature 1: 1. 20-Tanner Sullivan[1]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 3. 23-Cody Clubb[5]; 4. 11-Terry Reed[7]; 5. 2Z-Andy Zahnd[3]; 6. F5-Michael Schomas[8]; 7. 37-Peter Odell[11]; 8. 15H-Josh Hetherington[13]; 9. 73S-Scott Schoener[9]; 10. 83A-Adam Williams[4]; 11. 10H-Don Hilleary[17]; 12. 21-Dustin Pruitt[6]; 13. 63T-Brandon Tracy[15]; 14. 7-Bobby Crego[10]; 15. 27-Eric Legner[12]; 16. 36-Benjamin Odell[18]; 17. 78-Devin Hoskins[16]; 18. 37S-Randy Schoener[14]
Heat 1: 1. 20-Tanner Sullivan[3]; 2. 2Z-Andy Zahnd[2]; 3. 23-Cody Clubb[1]; 4. 11-Terry Reed[4]; 5. 73S-Scott Schoener[5]; 6. 37-Peter Odell[6]; 7. 15H-Josh Hetherington[8]; 8. 63T-Brandon Tracy[7]; 9. 10H-Don Hilleary[9]
Heat 2: 1. 14-Megan Erwin[3]; 2. 83A-Adam Williams[1]; 3. 21-Dustin Pruitt[2]; 4. F5-Michael Schomas[4]; 5. 7-Bobby Crego[6]; 6. 27-Eric Legner[5]; 7. 37S-Randy Schoener[8]; 8. 78-Devin Hoskins[7]; 9. 36-Benjamin Odell[9]
HOBBY MODS
Chris Tippit – Rocky Ragusa photo
A Feature 1: 1. 14T-Chris Tippit[1]; 2. 23-Scott Williams[2]; 3. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[5]; 4. G6-Brian Deavers[4]; 5. 11-Bryce Cunningham[12]; 6. 47-Jordan Walker[6]; 7. 66-Payton Semmens[9]; 8. 21-Jake Green[11]; 9. 12-Steven Kalb[18]; 10. 6-Jason Vandermeir[14]; 11. (DNF) B17-Scott Brown[8]; 12. (DNF) 21JR-Ryan Kohler[7]; 13. (DNF) 22-Wes Ricketts[10]; 14. (DNF) 77M-Scott McDonald[3]; 15. (DNF) 2-Coltin Grace[13]; 16. (DNS) 49-Jack Marion; 17. (DNS) 39C-Cody Rogers; 18. (DNS) 14-Madison Walker
Heat 1: 1. 14T-Chris Tippit[2]; 2. 23-Scott Williams[1]; 3. 77M-Scott McDonald[3]; 4. G6-Brian Deavers[7]; 5. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[9]; 6. 47-Jordan Walker[6]; 7. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[4]; 8. B17-Scott Brown[5]; 9. 66-Payton Semmens[8]
Heat 2: 1. 22-Wes Ricketts[1]; 2. 21-Jake Green[2]; 3. 11-Bryce Cunningham[6]; 4. 2-Coltin Grace[4]; 5. 6-Jason Vandermeir[5]; 6. 49-Jack Marion[9]; 7. 39C-Cody Rogers[8]; 8. 14-Madison Walker[3]; 9. 12-Steven Kalb[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 23-Scott Williams, 00:16.169[11]; 2. 14T-Chris Tippit, 00:16.174[15]; 3. 77M-Scott McDonald, 00:16.222[13]; 4. 21JR-Ryan Kohler, 00:16.655[14]; 5. B17-Scott Brown, 00:16.882[16]; 6. 47-Jordan Walker, 00:16.886[3]; 7. G6-Brian Deavers, 00:17.064[10]; 8. 66-Payton Semmens, 00:17.191[2]; 9. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt, 00:17.271[8]; 10. 22-Wes Ricketts, 00:17.309[6]; 11. 21-Jake Green, 00:17.458[5]; 12. 14-Madison Walker, 00:18.674[1]; 13. 2-Coltin Grace, 00:18.732[7]; 14. 6-Jason Vandermeir, 00:19.710[9]; 15. (DNS) 11-Bryce Cunningham; 16. (DNS) 12-Steven Kalb; 17. (DNS) 39C-Cody Rogers