Bobby Pierce earned $30,000
As is often the case, it proved to be a wild night at Fairbury Speedway on Saturday in the first ever visit to the legendary track by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Bobby Pierce emerged as the winner of a race that experienced many twists and turns after a long rain delay. It was the third event of Illinois Speedweek which will be completed when teams return to Farmer City Raceway on Monday to complete a rained out show.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Oakwood, Illinois earned a $30,000 payday for his efforts on the track located in Fairbury, Illinois in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 43 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Hudson O’Neal(12.794), 2. Garrett Smith, 3. Kevin Weaver, 4. Mike Marlar, 5. Dennis Erb Jr., 6. Ryan Unzicker, 7. Dale Markham, 8. Daulton Wilson, 9. Boom Briggs, 10. Tyler Erb
Group B Results- 1. Jimmy Owens(12.870), 2. Spencer Hughes, 3. Shannon Babb, 4. Bobby Pierce, 5. Jonathan Davenport, 6. Mckay Wenger, 7. Brandon Sheppard, 8. Tyler Bruening, 9. Frank Heckenast Jr., 10. Jason Feger
Heat 1 Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Kevin Weaver, 4. Boom Briggs
Heat 2 Results: 1. Garrett Smith, 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Daulton Wilson, 4. Ryan Unzicker
Heat 3 Results: 1. Shannon Babb, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Jonathan Davenport
Heat 4 Results: 1. Spencer Hughes, 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Mckay Wenger, 4. Tyler Bruening
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Garrett Alberson, 3. Brandon Overton
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Gordy Gundker, 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Mike Spatola
Feature Re-cap: The 60-lap feature got underway with Babb leading O’Neal, Dennis Erb Jr., Hughes and Smith. Erb moved around O’Neal for second on lap 2 just before Smith took third away from Hughes.
Erb began to harass Babb with those two drivers running side-by-side for multiple laps. in a contest for the lead before finally taking the top spot on lap 6. Pierce entered the top-5 on lap 10 while O’Neal and Smith fought over third.
Davenport spun on lap 11 to bring out a caution. On the restart, Erb continued to lead Babb and O’Neal. Further back, Pierce rolled past Smith to grab fourth. O’Neal passed Babb for second on lap 18. However, Babb would go back to the runner-up spot on lap 22.
Davenport would retire from the race at that point.
Leader Erb found himself working through heavy traffic on lap 24 which allowed Babb and O’Neal to close just before a lap 25 yellow flag when Briggs tagged the outside wall.
Once again when the racing action resumed, O’Neal and Babb fought over second. Pierce seized the opportunity and moved to third behind Erb and O’Neal. Hughes also moved forward as he took fourth.
At the halfway mark, Erb stayed on the low side of the track as O’Neal took to the high line and closed. However, a lap 35 caution would slow the action when Alberson slowed.
Just after the restart, O’Neal made a move to the inside on Erb for the lead. Contact between the two sent Erb spinning. Fifth running Babb was collected in the mishap. Erb was sent to the tail because the caution was called for him. O’Neal and Pierce were then leading the pack.
Pierce went to the lead on the restart with O’Neal, Wilson, Hughes and Overton trailing. Erb stalled on track to bring out another caution on lap 39. Wilson grabbed second away from O’Neal on lap 41 just after O’Neal had made a bid for the lead.
O’Neal took to the high side and went back to second with 15 laps remaining. Thornton crashed from fifth position to bring out a caution on lap 46.
The top-3 of Pierce, O’Neal and Wilson were running in very tight formation but a caution flag for debris waved on lap 48. After the restart, O’Neal and Wilson continued their fight for second behind Pierce.
O’Neal broke away from Wilson and pulled alongside Pierce for the lead but Pierce held back the charge. But O’Neal would jump the cushion and slam the outside wall on lap 58 causing extensive damage. That left Pierce leading Wilson, Sheppard, Overton and Owens.
Pierce held back the challengers over the last two laps to claim the lucrative win.
Feature Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Brandon Overton, 5. Jimmy Owens, 6. Spencer Hughes, 7. Devin Moran, 8. Gordy Gundaker, 9. Tyler Bruening, 10. Max Blair, 11. Earl Pearson Jr., 12. Garrett Smith, 13. Brian Shirley, 14. Tim McCreadie, 15. Boom Briggs, 16. Hudson O’Neal, 17. Ricky Thornton Jr., 18. Dennis Erb Jr., 19. Shannon Babb, 20. Garrett Alberson, 21. Kevin Weaver, 22. Mike Spatola, 23. Ryan Unzicker, 24. Mike Marlar, 25. Tyler Erb, 26. Mckay Wenger, 27. Ross Robinson, 28. Jonathan Davenport
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