TWO-FOR-32: Simpson Holds off Pierce, Erb at FALS for Second Hell Tour Win in Three Days
Pierce charges 22nd-to-second after electrical issues in Qualifying, extends points lead
FAIRBURY, IL – June 18, 2022 – Two starts, two wins. Chris Simpson has been hotter than the Hell Tour this week.
Thursday night in his home state of Iowa, he won. Saturday night at Fairbury Speedway in Illinois, he did it again, besting a stacked field of 48 other drivers to stake claim to the second $10,000 check of the 37th DIRTcar Summer Nationals season.
Simpson set Quick Time in the sixth and final group of Qualifying before going on to win his Heat Race and redrawing the pole for the Feature. Outside polesitter Nick Allen got the jump at the drop of the green and led the race through the first 23 laps with several restarts along the way, until Simpson and the rest of the top-five got the jump on him.
Simpson, of Oxford, IA, threw his Longhorn Chassis #32 to the outside into Turn 1 as fourth-starting Tanner English did the same to Allen’s inside. By the time they came back around to the stripe, Simpson had the upper hand and control of the race with one half left.
Simpson held strong out front until Erb brought his A-game with him to the low groove, moving past him with 15-to-go. But that lead didn’t last long. Simpson stuck to the high line and wound-it-up on the banking, then uncorked a slide job to take the lead back with 10-to-go.
“[Erb] kept getting under me and I kept getting a run off of Turn 2 where I’d get back ahead of him,” Simpson said. “I went down in front of him to try and slow him down, and then he ended up getting by me and the top started cleaning up really good.
“I got a run down the front-stretch and he kept going way out wide. I got a run off of Turn 2 and went down into 3 and slid him, got in front of him, and a lap later the caution came out.”
The yellow was indeed displayed, twice more, both with an extra bit of pressure coming back on Simpson for the restarts.
Behind him, an epic climb through lapped traffic for reigning champion Bobby Pierce. After suffering electrical issues in Qualifying and his Heat, Pierce took a provisional and started 22nd on the grid.
Five laps in, he was 15th. Fifteen laps down, he had cracked the top-10. He cracked the podium on Lap 31, using his signature high-side to make the moves, and topped it off with a pass for second on Lap 41.
Under caution for the last couple restarts, Simpson got the idea he was getting closer by the lap.
“I could hear them say on the [one-way driver radio] that 32 was in fifth, then third, and then second,” Simpson said.
But Simpson hung tough through the restarts to bag his second Feature win in two starts.
“I got the best crew help I’ve ever had,” Simpson said, reflecting on the weight of his two Hell Tour victories this week after going nearly seven years since his previous one. “I got the best crew chief – my crew chief Chad Simonson. I’ve told this to my sponsors the last four years… I said, ‘Listen, I have the best help I’ve ever had.’ There’s no reason I can’t go out here and win these races.”
UP NEXT
The season-opening Illinois-Iowa Week wraps up Sunday evening, June 19, with a visit to Sycamore Speedway in Maple Park, IL. If you can’t be at the track, stream it live on DIRTVision
50 entries
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[22]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker[7]; 5. 111V-Max Blair[3]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[21]; 8. 42-Mckay Wenger[12]; 9. 35-Derek Chandler[15]; 10. B12-Kevin Weaver[8]; 11. 25-Jason Feger[19]; 12. 11-Gordy Gundaker[20]; 13. 14G-Joe Godsey[18]; 14. F1-Payton Freeman[13]; 15. 38J-Jake Little[17]; 16. 89-Mike Spatola[23]; 17. 4G-Bob Gardner[25]; 18. 76-Titus Sneed[24]; 19. 21A-Nick Allen[2]; 20. 81E-Tanner English[4]; 21. 45-Kyle Hammer[16]; 22. 1M-Mike Mataragas[5]; 23. 36-Logan Martin[14]; 24. 7-Drake Troutman[10]; 25. 77-Preston Luckman[11]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 11-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 5. 15-Justin Duty[9]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[13]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 8. 18-Shannon Babb[14]; 9. 10-Paul Parker[8]; 10. 4D-Doug Tye[10]; 11. 3-Dale Markham[15]; 12. 30-Mark Voigt[16]; 13. 23NZ-Mick Quin[11]; 14. 14R-Jeff Roth[5]; 15. 51-Matt Furman[12]; 16. (DNS) 10S-Taylor Scheffler
Consolation Race 1 (10 Laps): 1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[2]; 2. 3-Dale Markham[6]; 3. 9R-Curtis Roberts[4]; 4. 26M-Brent McKinnon[1]; 5. 334-Billy Hough[5]; 6. 9-Lyle Zanker[3]; 7. 76-Titus Sneed[10]; 8. 31-Paul Stubber[9]; 9. 73-Bill Weistart[7]; 10. (DNS) 33-Rickey Frankel
Consolation Race 2 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 2. 30-Mark Voigt[3]; 3. M27-Mike Provenzano[6]; 4. 18M-Jimmy Miller[4]; 5. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[9]; 6. T8-Tim Gauntt[1]; 7. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[7]; 9. (DNS) 84-Myles Moos; 10. (DNS) 4T-Tommy Sheppard Jr
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21A-Nick Allen[2]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[3]; 3. F1-Payton Freeman[1]; 4. 11-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 5. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[8]; 6. 26M-Brent McKinnon[4]; 7. 9R-Curtis Roberts[6]; 8. 73-Bill Weistart[7]; 9. 76-Titus Sneed[9]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. B12-Kevin Weaver[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[4]; 4. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 5. 10-Paul Parker[6]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 7. 334-Billy Hough[8]; 8. 33-Rickey Frankel[7]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 3. 35-Derek Chandler[2]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 5. 15-Justin Duty[3]; 6. 9-Lyle Zanker[8]; 7. 3-Dale Markham[5]; 8. 31-Paul Stubber[7]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 111V-Max Blair[2]; 2. 7-Drake Troutman[3]; 3. 45-Kyle Hammer[4]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[5]; 5. 4D-Doug Tye[7]; 6. T8-Tim Gauntt[8]; 7. 18M-Jimmy Miller[6]; 8. (DNS) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 1M-Mike Mataragas[5]; 2. 77-Preston Luckman[1]; 3. 38J-Jake Little[4]; 4. 14R-Jeff Roth[6]; 5. 23NZ-Mick Quin[7]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 7. 84-Myles Moos[3]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]
Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 42-Mckay Wenger[4]; 3. 14G-Joe Godsey[2]; 4. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]; 5. 51-Matt Furman[3]; 6. 30-Mark Voigt[7]; 7. M27-Mike Provenzano[6]; 8. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[8]; 9. (DNS) 4T-Tommy Sheppard Jr
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:12.702[2]; 2. 21A-Nick Allen, 00:12.778[8]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:12.883[3]; 4. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:13.002[1]; 5. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:13.108[9]; 6. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 00:13.369[6]; 7. 73-Bill Weistart, 00:13.520[4]; 8. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 00:13.571[5]; 9. 76-Titus Sneed, 00:14.030[7]
Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:12.845[4]; 2. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:12.946[3]; 3. 25-Jason Feger, 00:13.001[5]; 4. 36-Logan Martin, 00:13.213[8]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:13.398[2]; 6. 10-Paul Parker, 00:13.450[7]; 7. 33-Rickey Frankel, 00:13.525[6]; 8. 334-Billy Hough, 00:13.985[1]
Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 81E-Tanner English, 00:12.809[3]; 2. 35-Derek Chandler, 00:13.184[2]; 3. 15-Justin Duty, 00:13.188[4]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:13.250[6]; 5. 3-Dale Markham, 00:13.467[8]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:13.500[1]; 7. 31-Paul Stubber, 00:13.657[7]; 8. 9-Lyle Zanker, 00:13.679[5]
Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:13.125[7]; 2. 111V-Max Blair, 00:13.216[4]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:13.441[6]; 4. 45-Kyle Hammer, 00:13.479[2]; 5. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:13.521[5]; 6. 18M-Jimmy Miller, 00:15.035[1]; 7. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:15.537[8]; 8. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:16.633[3]
Qualifying 5 (2 Laps): 1. 77-Preston Luckman, 00:13.458[4]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:13.641[3]; 3. 84-Myles Moos, 00:13.720[6]; 4. 38J-Jake Little, 00:13.950[7]; 5. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 00:14.019[8]; 6. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:14.682[5]; 7. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:15.925[2]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:15.925[1]
Qualifying 6 (2 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:13.405[7]; 2. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:13.513[5]; 3. 51-Matt Furman, 00:13.596[6]; 4. 42-Mckay Wenger, 00:13.642[4]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:14.017[8]; 6. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:14.170[2]; 7. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:14.418[3]; 8. 0-Deshawn Gingerich, 00:14.726[1]; 9. 4T-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:14.726[9]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:13.106[9]; 2. 21A-Nick Allen, 00:13.472[8]; 3. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:13.514[2]; 4. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 00:13.541[5]; 5. 73-Bill Weistart, 00:13.878[4]; 6. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:13.906[3]; 7. 76-Titus Sneed, 00:13.937[7]; 8. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:14.339[1]; 9. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 00:14.339[6]
Hot Laps 2: 1. 33-Rickey Frankel, 00:13.298[6]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:13.345[4]; 3. 36-Logan Martin, 00:13.372[8]; 4. 25-Jason Feger, 00:13.378[5]; 5. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:13.421[3]; 6. 334-Billy Hough, 00:13.580[1]; 7. 10-Paul Parker, 00:13.995[7]; 8. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:13.995[2]
Hot Laps 3: 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:12.776[6]; 2. 31-Paul Stubber, 00:13.056[7]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:13.058[1]; 4. 3-Dale Markham, 00:13.151[8]; 5. 81E-Tanner English, 00:13.222[3]; 6. 35-Derek Chandler, 00:13.376[2]; 7. 9-Lyle Zanker, 00:13.439[5]; 8. 15-Justin Duty, 00:13.557[4]
Hot Laps 4: 1. 111V-Max Blair, 00:12.876[4]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:12.983[5]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:13.039[6]; 4. 45-Kyle Hammer, 00:13.213[2]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:13.228[7]; 6. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:13.974[8]; 7. 18M-Jimmy Miller, 00:14.044[1]; 8. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:14.948[3]
Hot Laps 5: 1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:12.722[1]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:12.754[3]; 3. 38J-Jake Little, 00:12.764[7]; 4. 84-Myles Moos, 00:12.916[6]; 5. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 00:13.027[8]; 6. 77-Preston Luckman, 00:13.135[4]; 7. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:13.816[5]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:14.202[2]
Hot Laps 6: 1. 42-Mckay Wenger, 00:12.645[4]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:12.795[7]; 3. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:12.862[8]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:12.968[5]; 5. 51-Matt Furman, 00:12.987[6]; 6. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:13.311[2]; 7. 0-Deshawn Gingerich, 00:13.788[1]; 8. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:13.788[3]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOuJ8UKwzS0
FOUR SURE: Hoffman Keeps Win Streak Alive with $2K Win at FALS
Nick Hoffman continued reign of terror through the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals schedule Saturday night at Fairbury Speedway with his fourth-straight trip to Victory Lane.
In what was likely his smoothest route to victory thus far, the Mooresville, NC-driver dominated, leading all 25 laps unchallenged en route to his 61st career victory on the tour.
“As long as you don’t have any issues and you get on a streak like this, it feels like everything’s going your way and you’ve just gotta ride the high,” Hoffman said.
Local standout Ethan Weber, of Fairbury, IL, drove an impressive run from 22nd to finish second, swiping the runner-up spot away from Kyle Steffens on the final lap. Steffens crossed third, Michael Ledford in fourth and Trevor Neville rounded out the top-five.
UP NEXT
The season-opening Illinois-Iowa Week wraps up Sunday evening, June 19, with a visit to Sycamore Speedway in Maple Park, IL. If you can’t be at the track, stream it live on DIRTVision.
22 entries
DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 35-Ethan Weber[22]; 3. 8-Kyle Steffens[3]; 4. 37L-Michael Ledford[5]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville[21]; 6. 89-Austin Friedman[8]; 7. 19B-Chad Bauer[4]; 8. 1W-Bob Pohlman[14]; 9. 88S-Alan Stipp[7]; 10. 36-Eric Vaughan[10]; 11. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[11]; 12. 14-Caden McWhorter[17]; 13. 26D-Derick Doerr[9]; 14. 73-Mark Rhoades[15]; 15. 40-Jimmy Diabo[18]; 16. 54-Zachary Hawk[20]; 17. 18L-Michael Long[2]; 18. 25B-Braiden Bohlmann[19]; 19. 12-Wyatt Harms[16]; 20. 130-Chase Allen[6]; 21. 32-Mason Duncan[13]; 22. 0-Travis Kohler[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Steffens[1]; 2. 19B-Chad Bauer[3]; 3. 88S-Alan Stipp[4]; 4. 36-Eric Vaughan[5]; 5. 32-Mason Duncan[2]; 6. 12-Wyatt Harms[7]; 7. 25B-Braiden Bohlmann[6]; 8. 35-Ethan Weber[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[3]; 2. 37L-Michael Ledford[2]; 3. 89-Austin Friedman[1]; 4. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[4]; 5. 1W-Bob Pohlman[5]; 6. 14-Caden McWhorter[6]; 7. 54-Zachary Hawk[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18L-Michael Long[1]; 2. 130-Chase Allen[3]; 3. 26D-Derick Doerr[5]; 4. 0-Travis Kohler[4]; 5. 73-Mark Rhoades[6]; 6. 40-Jimmy Diabo[7]; 7. 777-Trevor Neville[2]
Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Steffens, 00:13.743[3]; 2. 32-Mason Duncan, 00:14.167[2]; 3. 19B-Chad Bauer, 00:14.190[4]; 4. 88S-Alan Stipp, 00:14.197[5]; 5. 36-Eric Vaughan, 00:14.465[8]; 6. 25B-Braiden Bohlmann, 00:14.816[7]; 7. 12-Wyatt Harms, 00:14.816[1]; 8. 35-Ethan Weber, 00:14.816[6]
Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:13.683[5]; 2. 37L-Michael Ledford, 00:13.899[3]; 3. 2-Nick Hoffman, 00:13.960[7]; 4. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:13.970[1]; 5. 1W-Bob Pohlman, 00:14.009[4]; 6. 14-Caden McWhorter, 00:14.062[6]; 7. 54-Zachary Hawk, 00:14.430[2]
Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 18L-Michael Long, 00:13.845[5]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville, 00:14.032[6]; 3. 130-Chase Allen, 00:14.051[3]; 4. 0-Travis Kohler, 00:14.256[4]; 5. 26D-Derick Doerr, 00:14.378[1]; 6. 73-Mark Rhoades, 00:15.385[7]; 7. 40-Jimmy Diabo, 00:15.527[2]
18 entries
DIRTCAR STREET STOCKS
A Feature 1: 1. 20-Tanner Sullivan[3]; 2. X-Zane Reitz[1]; 3. K67JR-Braiden Keller[6]; 4. K67-Ian Keller[2]; 5. 10-Devin Hoskins[11]; 6. 10H-Don Hilleary[8]; 7. 32-Brice Slavens[10]; 8. 63T-Brandon Tracy[7]; 9. 27-Eric Legner[13]; 10. 65-Jeff Czemske[14]; 11. 5-Jeff Hartzell[17]; 12. 0-Zane Miller[15]; 13. B9-Joe Brown[18]; 14. 1A-Kyle Anderson[5]; 15. 23G-Jace Gall[9]; 16. 14-Megan Erwin[4]; 17. 13D-Bailey Downey[16]; 18. 52P-Steven Perkins[12]
Heat 1: 1. X-Zane Reitz[1]; 2. 20-Tanner Sullivan[3]; 3. 1A-Kyle Anderson[5]; 4. 63T-Brandon Tracy[4]; 5. 23G-Jace Gall[7]; 6. 10-Devin Hoskins[6]; 7. 27-Eric Legner[9]; 8. 0-Zane Miller[8]; 9. 5-Jeff Hartzell[2]
Heat 2: 1. K67-Ian Keller[1]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 3. K67JR-Braiden Keller[3]; 4. 10H-Don Hilleary[4]; 5. 32-Brice Slavens[7]; 6. 52P-Steven Perkins[6]; 7. 65-Jeff Czemske[8]; 8. 13D-Bailey Downey[9]; 9. B9-Joe Brown[5]
Qualifying 1: 1. X-Zane Reitz, 00:15.693[12]; 2. K67-Ian Keller, 00:15.750[9]; 3. 5-Jeff Hartzell, 00:15.840[1]; 4. 14-Megan Erwin, 00:15.858[7]; 5. 20-Tanner Sullivan, 00:15.924[5]; 6. K67JR-Braiden Keller, 00:16.047[11]; 7. 63T-Brandon Tracy, 00:16.083[6]; 8. 10H-Don Hilleary, 00:16.263[8]; 9. 1A-Kyle Anderson, 00:16.369[4]; 10. B9-Joe Brown, 00:16.422[18]; 11. 10-Devin Hoskins, 00:16.617[10]; 12. 52P-Steven Perkins, 00:17.135[16]; 13. 23G-Jace Gall, 00:17.217[2]; 14. 32-Brice Slavens, 00:17.281[15]; 15. 0-Zane Miller, 00:17.386[17]; 16. 65-Jeff Czemske, 00:17.441[3]; 17. 27-Eric Legner, 00:17.628[13]; 18. 13D-Bailey Downey, 00:19.604[14]