Ledford Wins Race, Spatola Nets Championship
By Rocky Ragusa – Fairbury,Ill. (8/28/21) Saturday night at the Fairbury Speedway was Championship Night. Class titles were still undecided, along with the Alkota “Keep it Clean” hard charger. Making their way to victory lane on a hot and humid night were Jeffrey Ledford (Late Model), Mike McKinney (Modified), Tanner Sullivan (Stock Car), Tommy Duncan (Sportsman), and Chris Tippit (Hobby-Modified).
A field of 22 Late Model drivers registered for the rescheduled 25th Annual Pappy and Bob Allen Memorial race. Point leader Mike Spatola turned a lap at 12.842 for quick time honors.Spatola, Jay Sparks, and Kevin Weaver won their heat races. The semi feature went to Logan Moody.
Early in the 30 lap feature, as Spatola was leading , a puff of smoke showed from the rear end of his car. The yellow flag came out and although Spatola’s night was done, his 15th place finish gave him enough points to wrap up his first ever track championship at Fairbury. Jeffrey Ledford moved into the lead as Ryan Unzicker and Weaver raced for second. The caution waved on lap 17 and Weaver parked his car with mechanical problems. For the final 13 circuits, Unzicker threw everything he had at Ledford, but the young Pontiac resident pulled away in the final five laps to win his second feature of the season and add his name to a distinguished list of winners of the Allen Memorial.
“ I am so lucky to have the people that I do in my life that make this possible”, Ledford said. “ Congrats to Opie on the championship. I hated to see him break instead of racing for the title. I thought that Ryan was going to get me. I was giving it everything I had”.
McKay Wenger was able to overtake Unzicker with two laps to go and take second. Eric Smith finished in fourth, while Derek Chandler continues to make strides and finished in fifth. The remainder of the top ten saw Dale Markham, Torin Mettille, Alex Wilson, Dan White, and Blake Bailey (hard charger) finish in that order.
Austin Friedman earned fast time with a time of 13.833 as 24 Modified drivers looked to capture a FALS Cup trophy. Jason Hastings, Frank Marshall, and point leader Mike McKinney won heat races. AJ Meiferdt was the winner of the B-main.
In a race that saw nine caution flags, Marshall held an early lead before McKinney took command after a lap three yellow flag. Brandon Bollinger moved past Marshall at the halfway mark of the 25 lap race and closed to within five car lengths of McKinney. A caution with three laps to go, gave Bollinger the chance to overtake McKinney, but the newly crowned track champion was able to hang on for his fifth win of the year at Fairbury and the 99th career feature race win.
In addition to his track title, Mckinney won the Alkota “Keep it Clean” series and will be awarded a pressure washer, courtesy of Ricky Bane and Rural Route Repair.
“ I must be the old guy of the bunch now because these young kids are getting good”, McKinney spoke. “ It feels good to win another championship and thanks to Ricky Bane for all that he does”.
Michael Ledford survived a spirited race with Marshall and took third. Nick Clubb turned in another good showing to finish in fourth. Marshall was fifth, Willy Myers in his first appearance took sixth and the hard charger winner. Hastings, Travis Kohler, Alan Stipp, and Friedman completed the top ten.
A time of 15.276 gave Tanner Sullivan fast time with 22 Stock Cars for their 15 lap race. Three heat races had Sullivan, Megan Erwin, and Scott Schoener taking the checkered flag.
Sullivan took the lead at the start with Erwin closely following. The first of five cautions that fell in the first seven laps, saw Michael Schomas bring out the yellow bringing his bid for a second straight title to an end. With Schomas finished for the evening, Adam Williams picked up the 2021 track title. After a lap seven caution, Sullivan pulled away from his competition and win his third straight feature and fourth overall at Fairbury.
“ Three in a row is tough to do”, commented Sullivan. “ Megan was beating on my bumper at the start. The car was good, but the driver could have been better”.
Erwin settled for second followed by Lance Evans, Terry Reed, Cody Clubb, Zane Reitz, Williams (hard charger), Austin Hubbard, Schoener, and Calvin Peek Jr.
$500 was put up to the winner of the Harold Kincade Memorial for the CR Towing Sportsman division. 14.893 gave Landon Miller fast time. Wes Odell and Lyndon Whitfill won their heat races.
Whitfill, looking for his first win of the year, led the first five laps before Tommy Duncan came roaring by to lead the rest of the way. With his win, Duncan has now won the last three Sportsman championships.
“ The track was amazing tonight,” Duncan said. I am not sure of the plans next year, but this is a good class for a person to start in”.
In his final Sportsman race before moving into the Modifieds, Whitfill finished in second, with Odell, Tyler Roth, Anthony Craven (hard charger), Rick Roedel, Makinzi Semmens, Victor Strong, Roy Magee, and Ronald Bacon in the top ten.
Chris Tippit’s time of 15.082 gave him fast time with 17 Hobby-Modified drivers featured for their final race of the year. Tippit and Payton Semmens were the heat race winners.
Tippit was the class of the field and took his fifth straight race win, in a race that was cut two laps because of the time limit.
“ I have to thank Black Market Race Cars”, said Tippit. “ The car is a lot faster than I am. I am still learning to drive it. Hopefully next year it will be even”.
Bryce Cunningham finished in second,with Kirby McCormick taking third. Jace Gall, Tim McGuire, Ty Stutzman, Semmens, Jake Green, Jason Vandermeir, and Luke Gebhardt.
This Saturday night New Solutions Ag and Casey’s General Store will present the FALS Super Nationals. $10,000 will go to the winner of the MARS series Late Model race and a check for $10,000 goes to the AMS Modified winner.
Jeffrey Ledford – Rocky Ragusa photo
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
A Feature 1: 1. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[4]; 2. 42-Mckay Wenger[9]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker[6]; 4. 9-Eric Smith[7]; 5. 35-Derek Chandler[5]; 6. 3-Dale Markham[11]; 7. 116-Torin Mettille[14]; 8. Z61-Alex Wilson[15]; 9. 03-Dan White[13]; 10. 11B-Blake Bailey[19]; 11. 12-Jeff Curl[8]; 12. 10M-Austin Mccarty[18]; 13. (DNF) 7-Jay Sparks[2]; 14. (DNF) B12-Kevin Weaver[3]; 15. (DNF) 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 16. (DNF) 14-Glen Thompson[10]; 17. (DNF) M27-Mike Provenzano[12]; 18. (DNF) 162-Logan Moody[16]; 19. (DNF) 05-Gary Schalmo[17]; 20. (DNF) 56-Rodney Hamblin[20]
B Feature 1: 1. 162-Logan Moody[1]; 2. 05-Gary Schalmo[2]; 3. 10M-Austin Mccarty[4]; 4. 11B-Blake Bailey[3]; 5. 56-Rodney Hamblin[5]; 6. 61-Curtis Radke[6]; 7. 74-Dan Deyoung[7]
Heat 1: 1. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 2. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[8]; 3. 9-Eric Smith[3]; 4. 14-Glen Thompson[4]; 5. 03-Dan White[5]; 6. 162-Logan Moody[2]; 7. 10M-Austin Mccarty[6]; 8. 74-Dan Deyoung[7]
Heat 2: 1. 7-Jay Sparks[1]; 2. 35-Derek Chandler[3]; 3. 12-Jeff Curl[5]; 4. 3-Dale Markham[2]; 5. 116-Torin Mettille[4]; 6. 05-Gary Schalmo[6]; 7. 56-Rodney Hamblin[7]
Heat 3: 1. B12-Kevin Weaver[2]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 3. 42-Mckay Wenger[3]; 4. M27-Mike Provenzano[4]; 5. Z61-Alex Wilson[6]; 6. 11B-Blake Bailey[7]; 7. 61-Curtis Radke[5]
Qualifying 1: 1. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:12.842[22]; 2. 7-Jay Sparks, 00:12.984[4]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:13.072[5]; 4. 162-Logan Moody, 00:13.075[15]; 5. 3-Dale Markham, 00:13.157[12]; 6. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:13.158[10]; 7. 9-Eric Smith, 00:13.168[11]; 8. 35-Derek Chandler, 00:13.177[16]; 9. 42-Mckay Wenger, 00:13.190[18]; 10. 14-Glen Thompson, 00:13.285[8]; 11. 116-Torin Mettille, 00:13.339[19]; 12. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:13.394[21]; 13. 03-Dan White, 00:13.856[20]; 14. 12-Jeff Curl, 00:13.885[9]; 15. 61-Curtis Radke, 00:14.110[3]; 16. 10M-Austin Mccarty, 00:14.248[2]; 17. 05-Gary Schalmo, 00:14.272[17]; 18. Z61-Alex Wilson, 00:14.315[7]; 19. 74-Dan Deyoung, 00:14.542[13]; 20. 56-Rodney Hamblin, 00:14.706[6]; 21. 11B-Blake Bailey, 00:14.956[14]; 22. (DNS) 18-Jeffrey Ledford
Mike McKinney – Rocky Ragusa photo
DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1: 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[3]; 2. 242-Brandon Bollinger[7]; 3. 37-Michael Ledford[6]; 4. 22C-Nick Clubb[5]; 5. 28M-Frank Marshall[2]; 6. 21M-Willy Myers[13]; 7. 35-Jason Hastings[1]; 8. 0-Travis Kohler[11]; 9. 88S-Alan Stipp[10]; 10. 89-Austin Friedman[4]; 11. 36-Eric Vaughan[12]; 12. 32-Mason Duncan[9]; 13. 71R-Troy Ricketts[14]; 14. 98C-Jeff King[20]; 15. (DNF) 1-Nash Hilmes[17]; 16. (DNF) 5M-Scott Melvin[21]; 17. (DNF) 192-Kyle Laughlin[18]; 18. (DNF) 17H-Scott Hauge[19]; 19. (DNF) 14-AJ Meiferdt[16]; 20. (DNF) 11S-Nick Seplak[8]; 21. (DNS) 17-Mike Mosier
B Feature 1: 1. 14-AJ Meiferdt[1]; 2. 1-Nash Hilmes[2]; 3. 192-Kyle Laughlin[8]; 4. 17H-Scott Hauge[3]; 5. 98C-Jeff King[5]; 6. 5M-Scott Melvin[4]; 7. (DNS) 11-Mark Brucker; 8. (DNS) 33-Jason Brandt; 9. (DNS) 42T-Ric Trulock
Heat 1: 1. 35-Jason Hastings[1]; 2. 89-Austin Friedman[2]; 3. 242-Brandon Bollinger[4]; 4. 88S-Alan Stipp[3]; 5. 21M-Willy Myers[5]; 6. 14-AJ Meiferdt[6]; 7. 5M-Scott Melvin[8]; 8. 42T-Ric Trulock[7]
Heat 2: 1. 28M-Frank Marshall[2]; 2. 22C-Nick Clubb[1]; 3. 11S-Nick Seplak[3]; 4. 0-Travis Kohler[4]; 5. 71R-Troy Ricketts[7]; 6. 1-Nash Hilmes[6]; 7. 98C-Jeff King[8]; 8. 192-Kyle Laughlin[5]
Heat 3: 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 37-Michael Ledford[2]; 3. 32-Mason Duncan[3]; 4. 36-Eric Vaughan[4]; 5. 17-Mike Mosier[6]; 6. 17H-Scott Hauge[5]; 7. (DNS) 11-Mark Brucker; 8. (DNS) 33-Jason Brandt
Qualifying 1: 1. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:13.833[4]; 2. 28M-Frank Marshall, 00:13.898[11]; 3. 37-Michael Ledford, 00:13.926[10]; 4. 35-Jason Hastings, 00:14.102[5]; 5. 22C-Nick Clubb, 00:14.144[15]; 6. 96M-Mike McKinney, 00:14.197[12]; 7. 88S-Alan Stipp, 00:14.286[14]; 8. 11S-Nick Seplak, 00:14.346[23]; 9. 32-Mason Duncan, 00:14.394[3]; 10. 242-Brandon Bollinger, 00:14.479[17]; 11. 0-Travis Kohler, 00:14.482[6]; 12. 36-Eric Vaughan, 00:14.497[9]; 13. 21M-Willy Myers, 00:14.503[1]; 14. 192-Kyle Laughlin, 00:14.681[21]; 15. 17H-Scott Hauge, 00:14.826[20]; 16. 14-AJ Meiferdt, 00:14.886[18]; 17. 1-Nash Hilmes, 00:14.960[8]; 18. 17-Mike Mosier, 00:15.067[24]; 19. 42T-Ric Trulock, 00:15.369[7]; 20. 71R-Troy Ricketts, 00:15.369[16]; 21. 11-Mark Brucker, 00:15.386[13]; 22. 5M-Scott Melvin, 00:15.386[19]; 23. 98C-Jeff King, 00:15.673[2]; 24. (DNS) 33-Jason Brandt
Tonny Duncan – Rocky Ragusa photo
CR TOWING SPORTSMANS
A Feature 1: 1. 32-Tommy Duncan[4]; 2. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[2]; 3. 87-Wes Odell[1]; 4. 20R-Tyler Roth[6]; 5. 18-Anthony Craven[9]; 6. 11-Rick Roedel[5]; 7. 66-Makinzi Semmens[7]; 8. 81-Victor Strong[8]; 9. 11M-Roy Magee[10]; 10. 5S-Ronald Bacon[11]; 11. (DNS) 110-Landen Miller
Heat 1: 1. 87-Wes Odell[3]; 2. 110-Landen Miller[1]; 3. 11-Rick Roedel[4]; 4. 66-Makinzi Semmens[5]; 5. 18-Anthony Craven[2]; 6. 5S-Ronald Bacon[6]
Heat 2: 1. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[1]; 2. 32-Tommy Duncan[2]; 3. 20R-Tyler Roth[3]; 4. 81-Victor Strong[4]; 5. (DNF) 11M-Roy Magee[5]
Qualifying 1: 1. 110-Landen Miller, 00:14.893[8]; 2. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:14.906[6]; 3. 18-Anthony Craven, 00:15.013[9]; 4. 32-Tommy Duncan, 00:15.318[2]; 5. 87-Wes Odell, 00:15.482[1]; 6. 20R-Tyler Roth, 00:15.513[5]; 7. 11-Rick Roedel, 00:15.819[11]; 8. 81-Victor Strong, 00:15.863[10]; 9. 66-Makinzi Semmens, 00:16.762[4]; 10. 11M-Roy Magee, 00:16.967[7]; 11. (DNS) 5S-Ronald Bacon
Tanner Sullivan – Rocky Ragusa photo
DIRTCAR STREET STOCKS
A Feature 1: 1. 20-Tanner Sullivan[1]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 3. 37E-Lance Evans[6]; 4. 11-Terry Reed[10]; 5. 23-Cody Clubb[9]; 6. 55-Zane Reitz[7]; 7. 83A-Adam Williams[15]; 8. 114-Austin Hubbard[13]; 9. 73S-Scott Schoener[3]; 10. 88-Calvin Peek Jr[5]; 11. 15JR-Andrew Short[16]; 12. 15H-Josh Hetherington[18]; 13. 27-Eric Legner[19]; 14. 78-Devin Hoskins[17]; 15. 7-Bobby Crego[22]; 16. (DNF) 63T-Brandon Tracy[4]; 17. (DNF) 10H-Don Hilleary[11]; 18. (DNF) 9X-David Rudisill[12]; 19. (DNF) 66-Derrick Weiand[14]; 20. (DNF) F5-Michael Schomas[8]; 21. (DNF) D13-Merle Tholen[21]; 22. (DNS) 21-Dustin Pruitt; 23. (DNS) 37S-Randy Schoener
Heat 1: 1. 20-Tanner Sullivan[2]; 2. 63T-Brandon Tracy[1]; 3. 55-Zane Reitz[3]; 4. 11-Terry Reed[4]; 5. 114-Austin Hubbard[5]; 6. 15JR-Andrew Short[8]; 7. 27-Eric Legner[6]; 8. 7-Bobby Crego[7]
Heat 2: 1. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 2. 88-Calvin Peek Jr[1]; 3. F5-Michael Schomas[3]; 4. 10H-Don Hilleary[5]; 5. 66-Derrick Weiand[7]; 6. 78-Devin Hoskins[6]; 7. (DNS) 21-Dustin Pruitt; 8. (DNS) 37S-Randy Schoener
Heat 3: 1. 73S-Scott Schoener[4]; 2. 37E-Lance Evans[2]; 3. 23-Cody Clubb[3]; 4. 9X-David Rudisill[7]; 5. 83A-Adam Williams[1]; 6. 15H-Josh Hetherington[5]; 7. D13-Merle Tholen[6]
Qualifying 1: 1. 20-Tanner Sullivan, 00:15.276[19]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin, 00:15.310[12]; 3. 37E-Lance Evans, 00:15.391[14]; 4. 63T-Brandon Tracy, 00:15.596[15]; 5. 88-Calvin Peek Jr, 00:15.618[9]; 6. 83A-Adam Williams, 00:15.731[21]; 7. 55-Zane Reitz, 00:15.749[22]; 8. F5-Michael Schomas, 00:15.753[8]; 9. 23-Cody Clubb, 00:15.763[16]; 10. 11-Terry Reed, 00:15.809[3]; 11. 21-Dustin Pruitt, 00:15.809[10]; 12. 73S-Scott Schoener, 00:16.017[4]; 13. 114-Austin Hubbard, 00:16.060[5]; 14. 10H-Don Hilleary, 00:16.130[2]; 15. 15H-Josh Hetherington, 00:16.145[17]; 16. 27-Eric Legner, 00:16.159[11]; 17. 78-Devin Hoskins, 00:16.255[1]; 18. D13-Merle Tholen, 00:16.348[20]; 19. 7-Bobby Crego, 00:16.408[6]; 20. 66-Derrick Weiand, 00:16.803[13]; 21. 9X-David Rudisill, 00:17.058[18]; 22. (DNS) 15JR-Andrew Short; 23. (DNS) 37S-Randy Schoener
Chris Tippit – Rocky Ragusa photo
HOBBY MODS
A Feature 1: 1. 14T-Chris Tippit[1]; 2. 11-Bryce Cunningham[5]; 3. 5K-Kirby McCormick[4]; 4. 27-Jace Gall[6]; 5. 23-Tim McGuire[8]; 6. 14B-Ty Stutzman[13]; 7. 66-Payton Semmens[10]; 8. 21-Jake Green[14]; 9. 6-Jason Vandermeir[15]; 10. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[3]; 11. B17-Scott Brown[12]; 12. (DNF) G6-Brian Deavers[2]; 13. (DNF) 22-Darren Kerrins[9]; 14. (DNF) 77M-Scott McDonald[7]; 15. (DNF) 21JR-Ryan Kohler[11]; 16. (DNF) 2-Coltin Grace[17]; 17. (DNS) 39C-Cody Rogers
Heat 1: 1. 14T-Chris Tippit[1]; 2. G6-Brian Deavers[2]; 3. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[3]; 4. 5K-Kirby McCormick[4]; 5. 11-Bryce Cunningham[7]; 6. 27-Jace Gall[8]; 7. 77M-Scott McDonald[5]; 8. 23-Tim McGuire[6]; 9. (DNF) 22-Darren Kerrins[9]
Heat 2: 1. 66-Payton Semmens[2]; 2. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[1]; 3. B17-Scott Brown[4]; 4. 14B-Ty Stutzman[5]; 5. 21-Jake Green[3]; 6. 6-Jason Vandermeir[6]; 7. (DNF) 39C-Cody Rogers[8]; 8. (DNF) 2-Coltin Grace[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 14T-Chris Tippit, 00:15.082[14]; 2. G6-Brian Deavers, 00:15.369[15]; 3. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt, 00:15.435[4]; 4. 5K-Kirby McCormick, 00:15.452[3]; 5. 77M-Scott McDonald, 00:15.707[2]; 6. 23-Tim McGuire, 00:16.036[7]; 7. 11-Bryce Cunningham, 00:16.056[8]; 8. 27-Jace Gall, 00:16.092[9]; 9. 22-Darren Kerrins, 00:16.136[12]; 10. 21JR-Ryan Kohler, 00:16.298[6]; 11. 66-Payton Semmens, 00:16.395[16]; 12. 21-Jake Green, 00:16.460[13]; 13. B17-Scott Brown, 00:16.532[5]; 14. 14B-Ty Stutzman, 00:16.779[11]; 15. 6-Jason Vandermeir, 00:17.344[1]; 16. 2-Coltin Grace, 00:17.499[10]; 17. 39C-Cody Rogers, 00:17.917[17]