By Rocky Ragusa-Fairbury,Ill. (8/13/22) Varsitee Screenprinting and Aftershock Decals and Designs presented Saturday’s FALS Cup and Alkota racing program at the Fairbury Speedway. Six divisions were in action on the ¼ mile dirt oval as fans witnessed one of the best Late Model races of the season. Mike Spatola (Late Model), Kelly Kovski (Modified), Ian Keller (Street Stock), Steve Mattingly (Sportsman), Rick Thomas (Hobby-Modified), and Eric Rebholz (Vintage) received all the accolades in victory lane.
In the 30 lap Late Model feature, Mike Spatola and Kevin Weaver staged a battle of epic proportions. The two gladiators went back and forth for the lead and never established clear cut favorite until the final lap.. Spatola was on the outside and Weaver on the inside as the two exited turn four, Spatola carried enough momentum to edge Weaver at the line to win by a ½ car length.
“ The old man still has it in him. That is why he’s one of the best at Fairbury,” Spatola said. “ I thought we were pretty good early in the race. I couldn’t find a good line in turns 3 and 4. That caution came out and my crew told me to get to the bottom. I tried it, but the car was too tight.”
A dejected Weaver had to settle for second, with Mike Provenzano and Jake Little following. Tom Thoennes, Scott Schmitt, Jay Sparks, Torin Mettille (hardcharger), Logan Moody, and Glen Thompson completed the top ten.
Moody surprised many by leading the way in time trials. 12.767 gave him quick time honors as 15 cars made qualifying runs. Spatola and Moody claimed heat race wins.
An infrequent guest to Fairbury, Kelly Kovski made short order of leader Jared Thomas to take the lead after a lap 12 caution for early leader, Michael Ledford. Once in front, Kovski turned up the wick and was able to record his first Fairbury career win.
“ I have been coming here for a long time,” the Springfield resident spoke. “ To finally get my first Fairbury win is awesome.”
Thomas had to hold off Alan Stipp for second. Austin Friedman was fourth, with Bob Pohlman (hardcharger), Caden McWhorter, Matt Fabrizius, Mark Rhodes, Braiden Bohlmann, and Joshua Hotsinpiller round out the top ten.
Friedman had a time of 14.045,leading the way as 20 cars made qualifying attempts. Friedman and Ledford were the heat race winners.
Point leader Ian Keller had to contend with Megan Erwin and six caution periods in the first six laps during the 15 lap Street Stock race. After the final yellow flag, Keller kicked it into high gear and pulled away from the field, winning by over a straight away for his fourth Fairbury win of the year.
“ How about that FALS cushion !!!!,” Keller spoke. “ We did a little something different to the car and it all worked out.”
Erwin took second, Tim Loomis finished in third, followed by last year’s track champion Adam Williams. The remainder of the top ten saw Don Hilleary, Jace Gall (hardcharger), Derrick Weiand, Brice Slavens, and Dalton Mickle.
In qualifying, Cody Clubb went under the clock with a 15.534 as 17 cars made qualifying attempts. Two heat racs saw Erwin and Keller taking the wins.
Knocking on the door all season, Steve Mattingly was able halt the win streak of Tommy Duncan. Starting in the fourth position, Mattingly took the lead on the second lap. Riding the high side of the speedplant, the Chenoa racer pulled away from all comers in the 15 lap, CR Towing Sportsman race.
“ It has been a long time,” an elated Mattinly said. “ We have been chasing Tommy all year. The car has been getting faster and trying different stuff. Tonight it paid off.”
Tyler Roth edged Duncan at the line for second. Josh Hetherington (hardcharger) and Makinzi Semmens followed. The rest of the top ten saw Roy Magee,Aaron Reid, Landen Miller, Victor Strong, and Jim Farley lll in that order.
12 cars went under the clock, which saw Strong post a 15.366 for fast time. Strong and Roth picked up heat race wins.
Winning in a Modified, Sportsman, Street Stock, and now a Hobby-Modified, Rick Thomas had to survive a rash of cautions and Trevor Ringle to pick up the win in the 12 lap feature.
“ I decided at 6:00 this morning that I was going to race,” Thomas said. “ I have to thank RJ Gall and his sons for helping me get the car ready.”
Finishing third went to Kirby McCormick, early race leader Scott McDonald, and Jake Green. Clay Wisher, Lube Gebhardt, Josh Robb, Mike Petersen, and Scott Brown completed the top ten.
24 cars were on hand that saw McCormick turn a lap at 15.492 for quick time. Robb, Petersen, and Payton Semmens grabbed heat race wins.
The Vintage Racing of Illinois series brought 18 cars for their special event. Jerry Vance in a 1963 Impala won the first heat. Kelly Christmas took the second heat driving a 1970 Nova. The third heat race had Andy Thompson in his 1968 Plymouth taking the victory.
Eric Rebholz wheeling a 1970 Camaro came out on top in their 15 lap feature. Kraig Hughes, Thompson, Austin Lipe, and Tyler Sebby followed.
“ I had to lock the car down on the bottom,” spoke Rebholz. “ Last year I was leading the race and had a flat tire. We got some redemption tonight.”
This Saturday night as part of the annual fair, another FALS Cup/Alkota series night of racing is on the agenda.
15 entries
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 2. B12-Kevin Weaver[4]; 3. M27-Mike Provenzano[7]; 4. 38J-Jake Little[6]; 5. 1-Tom Thoennes[8]; 6. 10-Scott Schmitt[10]; 7. 7-Jay Sparks[5]; 8. 116-Torin Mettille[13]; 9. 162-Logan Moody[2]; 10. 14-Glen Thompson[9]; 11. 2M-Matt Mickelson[14]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker[11]; 13. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[3]; 14. 32-Bob Thoennes[15]; 15. F8-Bryan Clendenen[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 2. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[4]; 3. 7-Jay Sparks[2]; 4. M27-Mike Provenzano[6]; 5. 14-Glen Thompson[3]; 6. 38-Thomas Hunziker[5]; 7. 116-Torin Mettille[7]; 8. 32-Bob Thoennes[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 162-Logan Moody[2]; 2. B12-Kevin Weaver[1]; 3. 38J-Jake Little[3]; 4. 1-Tom Thoennes[5]; 5. 10-Scott Schmitt[4]; 6. F8-Bryan Clendenen[6]; 7. 2M-Matt Mickelson[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:12.767[8]; 2. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:12.859[3]; 3. 7-Jay Sparks, 00:12.904[10]; 4. 162-Logan Moody, 00:12.910[7]; 5. 14-Glen Thompson, 00:13.053[5]; 6. 38J-Jake Little, 00:13.077[14]; 7. 18-Jeffrey Ledford, 00:13.142[1]; 8. 10-Scott Schmitt, 00:13.222[12]; 9. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:13.322[9]; 10. 1-Tom Thoennes, 00:13.323[11]; 11. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:13.358[6]; 12. F8-Bryan Clendenen, 00:13.519[15]; 13. 116-Torin Mettille, 00:13.699[2]; 14. 2M-Matt Mickelson, 00:14.401[4]; 15. 32-Bob Thoennes, 00:14.401[13]
DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 10K-Kelly Kovski[3]; 2. 43-Jared Thomas[6]; 3. 88S-Alan Stipp[4]; 4. 89-Austin Friedman[1]; 5. 1W-Bob Pohlman[12]; 6. 14-Caden McWhorter[9]; 7. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[7]; 8. 73-Mark Rhoades[10]; 9. 25B-Braiden Bohlmann[11]; 10. 5H-Joshua Hotsinpiller[17]; 11. 40-Jimmy Diabo[15]; 12. 33-Jason Brandt[19]; 13. 36V-Macy Vaughan[18]; 14. 17H-Scott Hauge[14]; 15. 32-Mason Duncan[5]; 16. 37-Michael Ledford[2]; 17. 94-Tom Pasek[13]; 18. 35-Ethan Weber[8]; 19. 71T-Troy Ricketts[16]; 20. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[20]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Austin Friedman[1]; 2. 10K-Kelly Kovski[2]; 3. 32-Mason Duncan[3]; 4. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[5]; 5. 14-Caden McWhorter[4]; 6. 25B-Braiden Bohlmann[8]; 7. 94-Tom Pasek[6]; 8. 40-Jimmy Diabo[7]; 9. 5H-Joshua Hotsinpiller[9]; 10. 33-Jason Brandt[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Michael Ledford[1]; 2. 88S-Alan Stipp[4]; 3. 43-Jared Thomas[2]; 4. 35-Ethan Weber[3]; 5. 73-Mark Rhoades[5]; 6. 1W-Bob Pohlman[7]; 7. 17H-Scott Hauge[6]; 8. 71T-Troy Ricketts[9]; 9. 36V-Macy Vaughan[8]; 10. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[10]
Qualifying 1: 1. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:14.045[2]; 2. 37-Michael Ledford, 00:14.303[4]; 3. 10K-Kelly Kovski, 00:14.396[16]; 4. 43-Jared Thomas, 00:14.422[10]; 5. 32-Mason Duncan, 00:14.465[17]; 6. 35-Ethan Weber, 00:14.543[3]; 7. 14-Caden McWhorter, 00:14.550[7]; 8. 88S-Alan Stipp, 00:14.600[18]; 9. 0F-Matt Fabrizius, 00:14.651[1]; 10. 73-Mark Rhoades, 00:14.767[9]; 11. 94-Tom Pasek, 00:14.831[12]; 12. 17H-Scott Hauge, 00:14.873[6]; 13. 40-Jimmy Diabo, 00:14.988[11]; 14. 1W-Bob Pohlman, 00:15.007[8]; 15. 25B-Braiden Bohlmann, 00:15.149[13]; 16. 36V-Macy Vaughan, 00:15.225[14]; 17. 5H-Joshua Hotsinpiller, 00:15.314[19]; 18. 71T-Troy Ricketts, 00:15.348[5]; 19. 33-Jason Brandt, 00:15.517[20]; 20. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:15.517[15]
CR TOWING SPORTSMANS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7-Steven Mattingly[4]; 2. 20R-Tyler Roth[2]; 3. 32-Tommy Duncan[3]; 4. 15-Josh Hetherington[10]; 5. 66-Makinzi Semmens[7]; 6. 11-Roy Magee[12]; 7. 13-Aaron Reid[11]; 8. 110-Landen Miller[6]; 9. 81-Victor Strong[1]; 10. 84L-Jim Farley III[8]; 11. 421-Eric Saltzman[9]; 12. 14-Doug Carls[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Victor Strong[1]; 2. 32-Tommy Duncan[3]; 3. 14-Doug Carls[4]; 4. 66-Makinzi Semmens[5]; 5. 421-Eric Saltzman[2]; 6. 13-Aaron Reid[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20R-Tyler Roth[1]; 2. 7-Steven Mattingly[2]; 3. 110-Landen Miller[6]; 4. 84L-Jim Farley III[3]; 5. 15-Josh Hetherington[4]; 6. 11-Roy Magee[5]
Qualifying 1: 1. 81-Victor Strong, 00:15.366[4]; 2. 20R-Tyler Roth, 00:15.420[5]; 3. 421-Eric Saltzman, 00:15.463[11]; 4. 7-Steven Mattingly, 00:15.610[1]; 5. 32-Tommy Duncan, 00:15.629[3]; 6. 84L-Jim Farley III, 00:15.767[8]; 7. 14-Doug Carls, 00:15.888[12]; 8. 15-Josh Hetherington, 00:16.065[6]; 9. 66-Makinzi Semmens, 00:16.302[7]; 10. 11-Roy Magee, 00:16.649[9]; 11. 13-Aaron Reid, 00:17.131[10]; 12. 110-Landen Miller, 00:17.131[2]
DIRTCAR STREET STOCKS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. K67-Ian Keller[2]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin[1]; 3. 93-Tim Loomis[5]; 4. 83A-Adam Williams[6]; 5. 10H-Don Hilleary[10]; 6. 10-Devin Hoskins[8]; 7. 23G-Jace Gall[16]; 8. 66-Derrick Weiand[15]; 9. 32-Brice Slavens[12]; 10. 25M-Dalton Mickle[14]; 11. 114-Austin Hubbard[4]; 12. 23-Cody Clubb[3]; 13. 63T-Brandon Tracy[13]; 14. 13D-Bailey Downey[17]; 15. 37S-Scott Schoener[11]; 16. 1A-Kyle Anderson[7]; 17. F5-AJ Meiferdt[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 2. 23-Cody Clubb[1]; 3. 93-Tim Loomis[4]; 4. 1A-Kyle Anderson[3]; 5. F5-AJ Meiferdt[7]; 6. 37S-Scott Schoener[5]; 7. 63T-Brandon Tracy[6]; 8. 66-Derrick Weiand[8]; 9. 13D-Bailey Downey[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. K67-Ian Keller[1]; 2. 114-Austin Hubbard[2]; 3. 83A-Adam Williams[3]; 4. 10-Devin Hoskins[4]; 5. 10H-Don Hilleary[7]; 6. 32-Brice Slavens[6]; 7. 25M-Dalton Mickle[8]; 8. 23G-Jace Gall[5]
Qualifying 1: 1. 23-Cody Clubb, 00:15.534[17]; 2. K67-Ian Keller, 00:15.614[7]; 3. 14-Megan Erwin, 00:15.769[3]; 4. 114-Austin Hubbard, 00:15.772[13]; 5. 1A-Kyle Anderson, 00:16.152[16]; 6. 83A-Adam Williams, 00:16.165[12]; 7. 93-Tim Loomis, 00:16.204[15]; 8. 10-Devin Hoskins, 00:16.272[5]; 9. 37S-Scott Schoener, 00:16.399[8]; 10. 23G-Jace Gall, 00:16.475[10]; 11. 63T-Brandon Tracy, 00:16.499[6]; 12. 32-Brice Slavens, 00:16.724[14]; 13. F5-AJ Meiferdt, 00:16.865[9]; 14. 10H-Don Hilleary, 00:17.191[1]; 15. 66-Derrick Weiand, 00:17.258[11]; 16. 25M-Dalton Mickle, 00:17.894[4]; 17. 13D-Bailey Downey, 00:19.316[2]
HOBBY MODS
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 23T-Rick Thomas[6]; 2. 1-Trevor Ringle[7]; 3. 5K-Kirby McCormick[2]; 4. 77M-Scott McDonald[3]; 5. 21-Jake Green[4]; 6. 182-Clay Wisher[10]; 7. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[5]; 8. 33R-Josh Robb[1]; 9. 54-Mike Petersen[9]; 10. B17-Scott Brown[13]; 11. 75-Kellen Arnold[16]; 12. 31T-Meara Tilstra[15]; 13. 19-Kynlee Brandt[20]; 14. 21G-Coltin Grace[18]; 15. 14B-Ty Stutzman[19]; 16. 26-Cameron Pierce[21]; 17. 0ONE-Rob Kempen[22]; 18. 66-Payton Semmens[17]; 19. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[11]; 20. 81-Marie Strong[23]; 21. 22-Wes Ricketts[12]; 22. 9-Dalton Deavers[14]; 23. 14T-Chris Tippit[8]; 24. 27-Reid Gall[24]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 33R-Josh Robb[2]; 2. 5K-Kirby McCormick[1]; 3. 77M-Scott McDonald[6]; 4. 21-Jake Green[3]; 5. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[5]; 6. 23T-Rick Thomas[8]; 7. 1-Trevor Ringle[7]; 8. 14T-Chris Tippit[4]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 54-Mike Petersen[1]; 2. 182-Clay Wisher[5]; 3. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[3]; 4. 22-Wes Ricketts[7]; 5. B17-Scott Brown[2]; 6. 9-Dalton Deavers[6]; 7. 31T-Meara Tilstra[8]; 8. 75-Kellen Arnold[4]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 66-Payton Semmens[3]; 2. 21G-Coltin Grace[2]; 3. 14B-Ty Stutzman[5]; 4. 19-Kynlee Brandt[4]; 5. 26-Cameron Pierce[7]; 6. 0ONE-Rob Kempen[1]; 7. 81-Marie Strong[6]; 8. 27-Reid Gall[8]
Qualifying 1: 1. 5K-Kirby McCormick, 00:15.492[22]; 2. 33R-Josh Robb, 00:15.604[1]; 3. 21-Jake Green, 00:15.629[19]; 4. 14T-Chris Tippit, 00:15.645[21]; 5. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt, 00:15.740[15]; 6. 77M-Scott McDonald, 00:15.761[8]; 7. 1-Trevor Ringle, 00:15.860[9]; 8. 23T-Rick Thomas, 00:15.906[12]; 9. 54-Mike Petersen, 00:15.922[13]; 10. B17-Scott Brown, 00:16.293[2]; 11. 21JR-Ryan Kohler, 00:16.316[3]; 12. 75-Kellen Arnold, 00:16.408[23]; 13. 182-Clay Wisher, 00:16.409[11]; 14. 9-Dalton Deavers, 00:16.410[24]; 15. 22-Wes Ricketts, 00:16.602[6]; 16. 31T-Meara Tilstra, 00:16.861[16]; 17. 0ONE-Rob Kempen, 00:17.312[17]; 18. 21G-Coltin Grace, 00:17.517[5]; 19. 66-Payton Semmens, 00:17.570[10]; 20. 19-Kynlee Brandt, 00:18.160[7]; 21. 14B-Ty Stutzman, 00:18.329[14]; 22. 81-Marie Strong, 00:19.895[4]; 23. 26-Cameron Pierce, 00:19.895[20]; 24. 27-Reid Gall, 00:19.895[18]