Billy Moyer scored win No. 841
The made-for-PPV tour of Dirt Late Model races continued on Saturday evening as competitors made their way to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 for a $7,000-to-win(with potential bonuses) affair. Unlike most other events held since the partial reopening from COVID-19 mandates, this race did have a limited number of fans in the grandstands. At the end of the Karl’s Chevrolet 50 it was legendary National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Billy Moyer, Sr. who left Pevely, MO with the winner’s share of the prize money and the trophy.
Billy Moyer, Sr. was the fast qualifier in Group A time-trials with a lap of 14.296 seconds around the third-mile clay oval beating out Kody Evans, Rusty Schlenk, Shannon Babb and Daryn Klein.
Tanner English led the way in Group B qualifying with a time of 13.943 seconds to better the efforts of Devin Moran, Tim Manville, Kyle Bronson and Billy Moyer, Jr.
Billy Moyer, Sr. dominated the night’s first heat beating out Brandon Sheppard and Shannon Babb while Daryn Klein beat out Jason Feger and Kody Evans in the second preliminary.
Jake Timm won the third heat by topping Rusty Schlenk and Rodney Melvin.
Kyle Bronson outran Tanner English and Jeff Herzog in the fourth preliminary then Devin Moran was the victor in heat 5 ahead of Billy Moyer, Jr. and Tyler Erb.
Tim Manville just edged Bobby Pierce for the win in the sixth and final heat with Brian Shirley taking the third and final transfer spot.
The redraw placed Jake Timm on the pole for the feature with Billy Moyer, Sr., Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran, Tim Manville and Daryn Klein lining up in order behind the top starter.
Manville and Klein opted to take the Back Row Challenge for a shot at an additional $10,000 bonus.
Dennis Erb, Jr., Mark Voigt, and Ryan Unzicker won the three B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Moyer, Sr. who bolted to the early lead with Timm, Moran, Bronson and Schlenk trialing. Moyer quickly began to pull away from the pack while Moran moved up to challenge Timm for the runner-up position.
A lap 4 caution for a flat tire on the Shirley car slowed the action. On the ensuing restart Moran and Sheppard moved around Timm to take second and third respectively. One lap later Bronson also got by Timm to grab fourth.
Moyer found himself battling slower traffic by lap 13 as Sheppard and Moran fought over second. A yellow flag for Allen Weisser again slowed the action.
On the following restart, Moran and Sheppard resumed their battle for second as Moyer again pulled away from the pack. Sheppard eventually took second while further back Pierce began to move forward as he took fourth on lap 19.
Moyer jumped out to then maintained a relatively comfortable advantage during the middle section of the feature. Sheppard, Moran, Pierce and Bronson staged a tight battle for the remaining top-5 spots as they continued to lose ground to the Hall of Fame driver.
Following a lap 36 restart, English flexed some muscle and jumped up to the fourth while Moyer again slipped away.
As the laps clicked off toward the checkered flag, Moyer got caught up behind a slower car on the rubbered track which allowed Sheppard to close in. Sheppard peeked inside Moyer for the lead on lap 46 but was unable to steal the lead as the veteran star cleared the slower car and drove away to collect career win number 841.
Feature Finish: 1. Billy Moyer, Sr., 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Tanner English, 5. Kyle Bronson, 6. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 7. Tyler Erb, 8. Brian Shirley, 9. Bobby Pierce, 10. Shannon Babb, 11. Tim Manville, 12. Jason Feger, 13. Dennis Erb, Jr., 14. Mark Voight, 15. Jake Timm, 16. Billy Moyer, Jr., 17. Kody Evans, 18. Jeff Herzog, 19. Rusty Schlenk, 20. Rodney Melvin, 21. Ryan Unzicker, 22. Daryn Klein, 23. Chris Simpson, 24. Allen Weisser
