Scott Bloomquist was among the FALS heat race winners on Friday
*Story composed from DirtVision.com audio, Race Monitor and various social media reports.
The World of Outlaws Late Models tour made its way to the Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, Illinois for the Prairie Dirt Classic, which has become one of the most anticipated and energized races on the Dirt Late Model racing calendar each year. Friday’s activities included qualifying and heat races to set the lineup for Saturday’s 100-lap $26,000-to-win main event.
A total of 64 entrants were on hand for Friday night’s action, which was reported to be a record for a Late Model event in the state of Illinois.
Home state favorite Kevin Weaver proved to be fastest in Group A qualifying and overall when he posted a lap of 12.713 seconds around the quarter-mile oval. Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb, Jr., Chase Junghans and Brian Shirley rounded out the top-5 in that group.
World of Outlaws Late Models points leader Shane Clanton topped the charts in Group B qualifying with a lap of 12.782 seconds. Billy Moyer, Jr., Billy Moyer, Sr., Darren Friedman and Chub Frank rounded out the top-5 in that group.
Friday night would include six heat races with the top-3 from each earning a spot in Saturday’s Prairie Dirt Classic. A redraw to be held on Saturday will determine the top starting positions.
Heat Race 1:
Starting Lineup- 1. Kevin Weaver, 2. Chase Junghans, 3. McKay Wenger, 4. Scott Schmitt, 5. Boom Briggs, 6. Brandon Overton, 7. Mike Mulvain, 8. James Rice, 9. Morgan Bagley, 10. Mike McGuire, 11. Mark Larson
Summary- A multiple car pileup on the initial attempt at a start that included Briggs caused a complete restart. Junghans took the early lead with Weaver following. Schmitt began moving forward as he got to third but then banged off the outside wall on lap 3 while challenging for second, collecting Overton in the process.
Weaver challenged Junghans for the lead following the lap 3 restart with Overton and Bagley moving forward behind them. However, Bagley and Wenger got together in turn 3 on lap 11, causing Wenger to spin.
Overton and Weaver exchanged the second position a couple of times over the final four laps before Weaver took the spot.
Heat 1 Finish- 1. Junghans, 2. Weaver, 3. Overton… 4. Bagley, 5. Briggs, 6. Schmitt, 7. Rice, 8. Mulvain
Heat Race 2:
Starting Lineup- 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Scott Bloomquist, 4. Joe Harlan, 5. Steve Thorsten, 6. Jonathan Davenport, 7. Ryan Unzicker, 8. Mike Glasscock, 9. Derek Chandler, 10. Glen Thompson, 11. Shane Allen
Summary- Sheppard took the early lead with Bloomquist quickly grabbing second. On lap 2, Sheppard jumped the cushion and the bobble allowed Bloomquist to take the lead. Shirley then banged off the front stretch wall in the early going to draw a yellow flag. That misfortune allowed Davenport to move into third.
Davenport moved around Sheppard for second on the ensuing restart then set off after Bloomquist for the lead. With two laps remaining, Davenport offered a strong challenge to the leader but was unable to complete the pass.
Heat 2 Finish- 1. Bloomquist, 2. Davenport, 3. Sheppard… 4. Unzicker, 5. Shirley, 6. Glasscock, 7. Chandler, 8. Thorsten
Heat Race 3:
Starting Lineup- 1. Dennis Erb, Jr., 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Gregg Satterlee, 5. Rick Eckert, 6. Daniel Flessner, 7. Chad Hollenbeck, 8. Levi Kissinger, 9. Mike Provenzano, 10. Cole Swibold
Summary- A spin involving Hollenbeck and Provenzano caused a complete restart on the initial attempt to get this one going. Owens took the lead once the green flag waved the second time on this heat with Erb settling into second while being pressured by McCreadie.
A spin by Swibold brought out another yellow flag just after the completion of the first circuit. On the ensuing restart, Owens faded with McCreadie bolting to the lead and Erb moving to second.
A third caution on lap 4 allowed Owens a chance to regain that which was lost on the next restart, which he did until yet another caution came out for a spin by Swibold. McCreadie was returned to the lead as a result of the caution.
Owens moved by Erb for second as the cars reached the halfway point. At that time, the two drivers who battled for the win in this race a year ago fought for position. However, Erb found the bottom lane and shot to the lead when McCreadie jumped the cushion on lap 11, where he would stay for the remainder of this preliminary.
Heat 3 Finish- 1. Erb, 2. McCreadie, 3. Owens… 4. Satterlee, 5. Eckert, 6. Hollenbeck
Heat Race 4:
Starting Lineup- 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Darren Friedman, 3. Mason Zeigler, 4. Jason Feger, 5. Mike Mataragas, 6. Josh Richards, 7. John Gardner, Jr., 8. Earl Pearson, Jr., 9. Bob Gardner, 10. Mike Spatola, 11. Aaron Ricketts
Summary- Clanton took the lead at the start with Zeigler and Friedman trailing. Just before halfway, Zeigler moved around Clanton for the top spot after slight contact between the two. Richards moved up to claim the final transfer spot.
The race ran caution free.
Heat 4 Finish- 1. Zeigler, 2. Clanton, 3. Richards… 4. Feger, 5. Pearson, Jr., 6. Spatola
Heat Race 5:
Starting Lineup- 1. Billy Moyer, Jr., 2. Chub Frank, 3. Jimmy Mars, 4. Shannon Babb, 5. Frank Hecknast, Jr., 6. Eric Wells, 7. Jordan Yaggy, 8. Chris Simpson, 9. Kolby Vanderbergh, 10. Jay Morris, 11. Snooky Dehm
Summary- Moyer, Jr. went to the early lead early with Frank, Mars and Babb following. A caution flag flew after the completion of the first lap for a spin by Vanderbergh. Following the ensuing restart, Babb moved around Mars to take third then began to look for second.
On lap 5, however, Babb jumped the cushion and contacted the outside wall while challenging Frank for the runner-up spot. Heckenast then began to make a move as he charged by Frank to take second and then challenge Moyer, Jr. for the lead.
Mars began stalking Frank for third but ultimately lost his fourth position to a hard charging Simpson. Frank regained the runner-up spot as the top-3 cars battled in close quarters for the lead.
Moyer, Jr. held off his pursuers for the win.
Heat 5 Finish- 1. Moyer, Jr., 2. Frank, 3. Heckenast, Jr. … 4. Simpson, 5. Mars, 6. Vanderbergh, 7. Wells
Heat Race 6:
Starting Lineup- 1. Billy Moyer, Sr., 2. Michael Kloos, 3. Eric Smith, 4. Scott Bull, 5. Josh Rice, 6. Torin Mettille, 7. Kyle Hammer, 8. Steve Lance, Jr., 9. Jay Sparks, 10. Billy Hough
Summary- Moyer took the lead early on with Kloos, Bull and Smith following. The second running Kloos spun and collected Hammer in the process on lap 2.
After the restart, Rice surged forward and moved in on Bull for the third and final transfer position. However, Rice would ultimately draw a caution on lap 8 when he slammed the outside wall.
A four-wide battle for second took place behind Moyer after the lap 8 restart. Moyer dominated ahead of the battle for the other transfer spots.
Heat 6 Finish- 1. Moyer, Sr., 2. Smith, 3. Mettille … 4. Bull, 5. Hammer, 6. Lance, 7. Hough
