Duncan Continues Dominance In FALS Cup Action

By Rocky Ragusa – Fairbury,Ill. (7/16/22) The annual Eden-Piercy Memorial race for the CR Towing Sportsman division headlined the racing program Saturday night at the Fairbury Speedway. Presented by Holt Supply Company, the ¼ dirt track featured five classes of racing. Tommy Duncan (CR Towing Sportsman), Ryan Unzicker (Late Model), Michael Ledford (Modified), Ian Keller (Stock Car), and Brian Deavers (Hobby-Modified) carried home the hardware on an action packed night.

Led by Steve Mattingly and Landen Miller, 15 drivers took the green flag for the $1000 to win, 25 lap Sportsman race. Mattingly took the lead on the start as Tommy Duncan got by Miller for second. Duncan made several attempts to overtake Mattingly for the lead before the Metamora hotshoe moved to the front on the fourth lap. The trio pulled away from the competition, sometimes going three wide for the lead. By the 15th lap, Duncan had put some space between him, as Mattingly and Miller continued to race for second. Duncan,running the bottom, pulled away in the final laps and had over a five second lead as the checkered flag waved.

Winning his sixth consecutive race, Duncan commented in victory lane.

“ It has been a really good year. I just can’t believe the year that we are having. My crew worked hard and made the car flawless”.

Miller took second, followed by Mattingly, Jim Farley lll, and Wes Odell. Josh Hetherington finished in sixth, with Makinzi Semmens (hardcharger), Dylan Naeger, Eric Saltzman, and Tyler Roth completing the top ten.

Mattingly was the winner of the first heat race and also set fast time with a lap of 14.492. Miller claimed the second heat race.

Hall of Fame driver Kevin Weaver set quick time (12.498) and was the first heat race winner. McKay Wenger and Jason Feger were also winners in their heat races.

A field of 23 Late Model drivers lined up for their 30 lap, $2500 to win race.Weaver led the first two laps, before Wenger took over for three laps. Weaver led with Wenger, Feger, Ryan Unzicker, and Tommy Sheppard Jr. in the thick of the battle. Unzicker found a little moisture of the bottom of the track,giving him the grip he needed to take the lead from Weaver on lap 14. Unzicker, tuning up for the PDC, had a 1 ½ second lead over the field and took his third FALS Cup win as the track reached its halfway point of the year.

“ I am a little out of breath. It was an up on the wheel type of deal”, Unzicker said. “ The track was a complete 180 from last week. Slick is fast and it makes for better racing”.

Feger took second, Sheppard Jr. (hardcharger), finished in third. The rest of the top ten had Weaver, Mike Mataragas, Wenger, Jay Sparks, Bob Gardner, Mike Provenzano, and Mike Spatola.
When the green flag waves in the Modified class, the cape comes on for “ Superman” Michael Ledford. After a stirring battle with Austin Friedman, Ledford had to survive several late race cautions and Matt Fabrizius in winning his third race at Fairbury. Ledford and Friedman exchanged slide jobs before 10th starting Alan Stipp moved into second. It was heartbreak hotel as Stipp’s tire went flat with seven laps remaining. Fabrizius was able to cut into Ledford’s lead, but the Pontiac racer was not to be denied.

“ That was a fun race with Austin”, Ledford spoke. “ Him, Duncan,and Whitfill keep getting better each week. I knew if I pressured Austin and showed him the nose of my car, maybe he would mess up”.

Fabrizius, a veteran driver from the Sycamore Speedway, served notice as a driver to contend with took second, Friedman, Adam Pockrus, Lyndon Whitfill, Eric Vaughan, Jim Farris Jr. (hardcharger),Jimmy Diabo, Jason Brandt, and Shawn Scripter completed the top ten.

Friedman was the fast qualifier with a time of 13.636 with 19 cars on hand.Friedman and Whitfill were the heat race winners.

Ian Keller paced the 19 Stock Cars in qualifying with a time of 15.006. Keller and Megan Erwin were heat race winners.

Keller survived several caution periods and went uncontested in taking his third feature win of the year.

“ Fairbury is topnotch”, Keller said. “ My crew bust their butts until 3:00 a.m. this morning trying to get this car dialed in”.

Tanner Sullivan took second, Jordan Smith finished in third, and Kyle Anderson was fourth. The rest of the top ten had Megan Erwin, Jesse Simmons, Jerrad Krick, Matt Maier (hardcharger), Don Hilleary, and Dustin Pruitt.

The night’s program ended with a 12 lap Hobby-Modified race. In a heated duel for the lead, Brian Deavers got by last week’s winner, Kirby McCormick on the third lap and went on to win his fourth race of the year. Ryan Kohler had his best run to date and finished in second, Clay Wisher, Scott McDonald, Reid Gall, Scott Williams, Brendan Decker, McCormick,Jake Green, and Kellen Arnold rounded out the top ten.

A time of 15.099 gave Deavers fast time honors. McCormick and Green were the heat race winners.

The track will take a break and give the ole girl a spitshine before racing returns for the 32nd Annual Prairie Dirt Classic on July 29-30.
23 entries

DIRTCAR LATE MODELS

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A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[5]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 3. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[9]; 4. B12-Kevin Weaver[1]; 5. 1M-Mike Mataragas[6]; 6. 42-Mckay Wenger[2]; 7. 7-Jay Sparks[11]; 8. 4G-Bob Gardner[12]; 9. M27-Mike Provenzano[15]; 10. 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 11. 76-Titus Sneed[17]; 12. 15-Justin Duty[10]; 13. 21A-Nick Allen[8]; 14. 33-Billy Hough[20]; 15. 10-Scott Schmitt[14]; 16. 81J-Jack Riggs[19]; 17. 38J-Jake Little[13]; 18. 3-Dale Markham[7]; 19. 14-Glen Thompson[18]; 20. 1-Tom Thoennes[21]; 21. B15-Robert Sidener[22]; 22. 73-Bill Weistart[16]; 23. 79W-Greg Wagner[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. B12-Kevin Weaver[1]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 3. 3-Dale Markham[2]; 4. 15-Justin Duty[5]; 5. 38J-Jake Little[4]; 6. 73-Bill Weistart[6]; 7. 81J-Jack Riggs[7]; 8. B15-Robert Sidener[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 42-Mckay Wenger[1]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[3]; 3. 21A-Nick Allen[2]; 4. 7-Jay Sparks[5]; 5. 10-Scott Schmitt[4]; 6. 76-Titus Sneed[6]; 7. 33-Billy Hough[7]; 8. (DNF) 79W-Greg Wagner[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 1M-Mike Mataragas[1]; 3. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[4]; 4. 4G-Bob Gardner[3]; 5. M27-Mike Provenzano[5]; 6. 14-Glen Thompson[6]; 7. 1-Tom Thoennes[7]

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 37-Michael Ledford[3]; 2. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[5]; 3. 89-Austin Friedman[1]; 4. 48-Adam Packrus[11]; 5. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[2]; 6. 36-Eric Vaughan[7]; 7. 69JR-Jimmy Farris Jr[18]; 8. 40-Jimmy Diabo[12]; 9. 33-Jason Brandt[19]; 10. (DNF) 10-Shawn Scripter[15]; 11. (DNF) X-Alan Stipp[9]; 12. (DNF) 11S-Nick Seplak[13]; 13. (DNF) 32-Mason Duncan[4]; 14. (DNF) 94-Tom Pasek[8]; 15. (DNF) 14-Caden McWhorter[6]; 16. (DNF) 71T-Troy Ricketts[14]; 17. (DNF) 1-Nash Hilmes[10]; 18. (DNS) 12-Wyatt Harms; 19. (DNS) 79-Jeff King

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Austin Friedman[1]; 2. 37-Michael Ledford[2]; 3. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[3]; 4. 36-Eric Vaughan[5]; 5. X-Alan Stipp[6]; 6. 48-Adam Packrus[4]; 7. 11S-Nick Seplak[7]; 8. 10-Shawn Scripter[8]; 9. (DNS) 12-Wyatt Harms

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[1]; 2. 32-Mason Duncan[3]; 3. 14-Caden McWhorter[2]; 4. 94-Tom Pasek[6]; 5. 1-Nash Hilmes[5]; 6. 40-Jimmy Diabo[8]; 7. 71T-Troy Ricketts[10]; 8. 79-Jeff King[7]; 9. 69JR-Jimmy Farris Jr[4]; 10. 33-Jason Brandt[9]

Qualifying 1: 1. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:13.636[10]; 2. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:13.762[14]; 3. 37-Michael Ledford, 00:13.801[19]; 4. 14-Caden McWhorter, 00:14.016[12]; 5. 0F-Matt Fabrizius, 00:14.108[9]; 6. 32-Mason Duncan, 00:14.146[6]; 7. 48-Adam Packrus, 00:14.196[11]; 8. 69JR-Jimmy Farris Jr, 00:14.204[4]; 9. 36-Eric Vaughan, 00:14.278[8]; 10. 1-Nash Hilmes, 00:14.300[15]; 11. X-Alan Stipp, 00:14.369[5]; 12. 94-Tom Pasek, 00:14.371[17]; 13. 11S-Nick Seplak, 00:14.653[3]; 14. 79-Jeff King, 00:14.707[18]; 15. 10-Shawn Scripter, 00:14.724[7]; 16. 40-Jimmy Diabo, 00:14.842[16]; 17. 71T-Troy Ricketts, 00:14.846[13]; 18. 33-Jason Brandt, 00:15.163[1]; 19. 12-Wyatt Harms, 00:17.000[2]

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 32-Tommy Duncan[3]; 2. 110-Landen Miller[2]; 3. 7-Steven Mattingly[1]; 4. 84L-Jim Farley III[5]; 5. 87-Wes Odell[4]; 6. 15-Josh Hetherington[7]; 7. 66-Makinzi Semmens[12]; 8. 8-Dylan Naeger[11]; 9. 421-Eric Saltzman[10]; 10. 20R-Tyler Roth[15]; 11. 14-Doug Carls[8]; 12. (DNF) 81-Victor Strong[6]; 13. (DNF) 13-Aaron Reid[13]; 14. (DNF) 18C-Jerry Creemeenn[9]; 15. (DNF) V8-Jim Farley Jr[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Steven Mattingly[1]; 2. 32-Tommy Duncan[3]; 3. 84L-Jim Farley III[2]; 4. 15-Josh Hetherington[4]; 5. 18C-Jerry Creemeenn[5]; 6. 8-Dylan Naeger[6]; 7. 13-Aaron Reid[7]; 8. (DNS) 20R-Tyler Roth

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 110-Landen Miller[1]; 2. 87-Wes Odell[2]; 3. 81-Victor Strong[4]; 4. 14-Doug Carls[3]; 5. 421-Eric Saltzman[6]; 6. 66-Makinzi Semmens[5]; 7. V8-Jim Farley Jr[7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 7-Steven Mattingly, 00:14.492[15]; 2. 110-Landen Miller, 00:14.703[3]; 3. 84L-Jim Farley III, 00:15.023[9]; 4. 87-Wes Odell, 00:15.066[5]; 5. 32-Tommy Duncan, 00:15.074[1]; 6. 14-Doug Carls, 00:15.107[13]; 7. 15-Josh Hetherington, 00:15.226[2]; 8. 81-Victor Strong, 00:15.346[12]; 9. 18C-Jerry Creemeenn, 00:15.744[7]; 10. 66-Makinzi Semmens, 00:15.812[10]; 11. 8-Dylan Naeger, 00:16.209[6]; 12. 421-Eric Saltzman, 00:16.321[8]; 13. 13-Aaron Reid, 00:16.908[4]; 14. V8-Jim Farley Jr, 00:18.771[11]; 15. 20R-Tyler Roth, 00:59.999[14]

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. K67-Ian Keller[1]; 2. X20-Tanner Sullivan[4]; 3. 13-Jordan Smith[6]; 4. 1A-Kyle Anderson[5]; 5. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 6. 42-Jesse Simmons[7]; 7. 99K-Jerrad Krick[3]; 8. 7-Matt Maier[15]; 9. 10H-Don Hilleary[14]; 10. 21-Dustin Pruitt[12]; 11. 65-Jeff Czemske[13]; 12. (DNF) F5-Michael Schomas[10]; 13. (DNF) 14D-Dalton Mannin[11]; 14. (DNF) 16L-Dylon Holycross[18]; 15. (DNF) 13D-Bailey Downey[19]; 16. (DNF) K67JR-Braiden Keller[9]; 17. (DNF) 63T-Brandon Tracy[8]; 18. (DNF) 27-Eric Legner[16]; 19. (DNS) 10-Devin Hoskins

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. K67-Ian Keller[1]; 2. 99K-Jerrad Krick[2]; 3. 1A-Kyle Anderson[5]; 4. 42-Jesse Simmons[4]; 5. K67JR-Braiden Keller[3]; 6. 14D-Dalton Mannin[8]; 7. 65-Jeff Czemske[9]; 8. (DNF) 7-Matt Maier[6]; 9. (DNF) 10-Devin Hoskins[7]; 10. (DNS) 13D-Bailey Downey

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Megan Erwin[1]; 2. X20-Tanner Sullivan[2]; 3. 13-Jordan Smith[3]; 4. 63T-Brandon Tracy[5]; 5. F5-Michael Schomas[6]; 6. 21-Dustin Pruitt[4]; 7. 10H-Don Hilleary[7]; 8. 27-Eric Legner[9]; 9. 16L-Dylon Holycross[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. K67-Ian Keller, 00:15.006[13]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin, 00:15.060[16]; 3. 99K-Jerrad Krick, 00:15.115[9]; 4. X20-Tanner Sullivan, 00:15.200[3]; 5. K67JR-Braiden Keller, 00:15.309[17]; 6. 13-Jordan Smith, 00:15.426[1]; 7. 42-Jesse Simmons, 00:15.522[6]; 8. 21-Dustin Pruitt, 00:15.596[18]; 9. 1A-Kyle Anderson, 00:15.601[19]; 10. 63T-Brandon Tracy, 00:15.676[10]; 11. 7-Matt Maier, 00:15.721[7]; 12. F5-Michael Schomas, 00:15.767[4]; 13. 10-Devin Hoskins, 00:15.843[15]; 14. 10H-Don Hilleary, 00:16.016[8]; 15. 14D-Dalton Mannin, 00:16.296[2]; 16. 16L-Dylon Holycross, 00:16.540[12]; 17. 65-Jeff Czemske, 00:16.820[5]; 18. 27-Eric Legner, 00:17.229[11]; 19. 13D-Bailey Downey, 00:19.047[14]

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 9-Brian Deavers[3]; 2. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[7]; 3. 182-Clay Wisher[6]; 4. 77M-Scott McDonald[4]; 5. 27-Reid Gall[8]; 6. 54-Scott Williams[2]; 7. 81-Brendan Decker[10]; 8. 5K-Kirby McCormick[1]; 9. 21-Jake Green[9]; 10. 75-Kellen Arnold[12]; 11. 22-Darren Kerrins[11]; 12. 39-Kevin Sonquist[17]; 13. 23T-Rick Thomas[5]; 14. 66-Payton Semmens[13]; 15. 14B-Ty Stutzman[14]; 16. 31T-Meara Tilstra[15]; 17. 3TX-Graham Jackson[16]; 18. 79K-Josh King[21]; 19. (DNF) 01-Billy Decker[18]; 20. (DNF) 26-Cameron Pierce[20]; 21. (DNF) 25-Jenna Norvell[19]; 22. (DNS) 37-Tim Eilts

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 5K-Kirby McCormick[2]; 2. 54-Scott Williams[5]; 3. 9-Brian Deavers[1]; 4. 77M-Scott McDonald[4]; 5. 23T-Rick Thomas[3]; 6. 182-Clay Wisher[7]; 7. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[8]; 8. 27-Reid Gall[6]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Green[1]; 2. 81-Brendan Decker[5]; 3. 22-Darren Kerrins[2]; 4. 75-Kellen Arnold[7]; 5. 66-Payton Semmens[6]; 6. 14B-Ty Stutzman[3]; 7. 31T-Meara Tilstra[4]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 3TX-Graham Jackson[1]; 2. 39-Kevin Sonquist[2]; 3. 01-Billy Decker[3]; 4. 25-Jenna Norvell[4]; 5. 26-Cameron Pierce[5]; 6. 79K-Josh King[6]; 7. 37-Tim Eilts[7]