FAIRBURY FRIDAY: Gustin, Sheppard, Marlar, Feger Take Victory In Prairie Dirt Classic Showdowns
Sixteen drivers locked into Saturday’s Prairie Dirt Classic through Friday’s four Showdown Feature races
FAIRBURY, IL (July 26, 2024) – Sixteen drivers began the Prairie Dirt Classic weekend on Friday by securing themselves a spot in Saturday’s 100-lap, $50,000-to-win Feature.
Eight of them locked into Saturday’s Redraw, but only four left the night with a trophy and $5,000 in the bank.
Those drivers who claimed victory include Ryan Gustin, Brandon Sheppard, Mike Marlar, and Jason Feger.
Showdown Feature #1
Beginning the night with Feature racing, Benton, KY native Tanner English led the field to the green flag and extended the early lead by arking the car down to the bottom through the turns while the field behind him was gridlocked from the top to the bottom.
However, Ryan Gustin was the expectation, able to manuever through the field of Late Models, making the high line of the track work to his liking.
Knowing that English was going to continue driving the bottom line, Gustin made the top work around the No. 96 Late Model, getting a run off of Turn 2 and snagging the lead.
Gustin stuck to the top line while Mooresville, NC driver Nick Hoffman and Fairbury, IL native Mckay Wenger made hay on the bottom lane. However, time ran out on the two drivers’ chances to catch “The Reaper” as he won the Prairie Dirt Showdown Feature for the second year in a row.
“We’ve been here a couple of days now and we unloaded pretty decent,” Gustin said. “We’ve gotten better since, and I knew the only way to pass Tanner was to rip the top. I hoped it cleaned off, which it did, but it was starting to die at the end and I knew those guys were coming in a hurry on the bottom. But I didn’t want to move down because there was a gaggle of lapped cars down there and I didn’t want to get caught up. Just did what I needed to do and it all worked out.”
Hoffman finished second while Wenger rounded out the podium. Brandon, FL driver Kyle Bronson secured fourth place to get a spot into Saturday night’s Feature.
Showdown Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 2. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 3. 99W-Mckay Wenger[11]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 5. 24-Ryan Unzicker[7]; 6. 96-Tanner English[1]; 7. 10-Garrett Smith[4]; 8. 26M-Bob Gardner[10]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[13]; 10. 31-Tyler Millwood[2]; 11. 14JR-Trey Mills[16]; 12. 89-Mike Spatola[9]; 13. M27-Mike Provenzano[20]; 14. 222-Dwight Falcon[19]; 15. 18R-Ross Camponovo[18]; 16. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 17. 1W-Donny Walden[14]; 18. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford[12]; 19. 33-Kye Blight[15]; 20. 97-Cade Dillard[17]
Showdown Feature #2
Classic “FALS” action was on the menu in the second Feature race.
Watertown, NY driver Tim McCreadie began the 25-lap battle from the pole, but Chatham, IL driver Brian Shirley took control of the race after the second lap.
While the two drivers followed each other on the bottom, multiple drivers were stuck in the pack of cars fighting for the final two transfer spots.
Two Illinois challengers in the form of New Berlin, IL driver Brandon Sheppard and Oakwood, IL driver Bobby Pierce worked their way toward the two leaders, with Pierce succeeding in clearing the pack of cars.
That success was short-lived, as Pierce broke a driveshaft immediately after taking third-place to end his night.
On the ensuing restart, Shirley and McCreadie went back to following each other while Sheppard got to work on the high side of the track. With a faster car and momentum, Sheppard swung around all lanes of the track to get by the two, with Sheppard jumping into the wall with the white flag in the air.
The wall smack did not stop the Dude Wipes No. B5 Late Model as Sheppard got the edge over Shirley at the checkered flag.
“I was biding my time early in the race,” Sheppard said. “I was OK on the bottom but couldn’t really go that well. I was floating around there but you don’t know where you need to be. I was roadblocked and then Bobby (Pierce) started moving and I was like ‘S***, I gotta get the elbows up. We bobbed and weaved through them and then got a clear lane on the outside and just let ‘er eat.”
Shirley took the second-place result and McCreadie finished the night in third. Centerville, PA driver Max Blair took the final transfer spot with a pass around Dresden, OH driver Devin Moran with two laps remaining.
Showdown Feature 2 (25 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 1-Tim McCreadie[1]; 4. 111-Max Blair[12]; 5. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[14]; 7. 25W-Allen Weisser[10]; 8. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 9. 43-Derrick Stewart[18]; 10. 27-Colby Sheppard[13]; 11. 97JR-Cody Overton[11]; 12. 11R-Josh Rice[3]; 13. 111R-Steven Roberts[16]; 14. 122-Timmy Dick[17]; 15. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 16. 24H-Mike Harrison[5]; 17. 84-Myles Moos[7]; 18. 25-Shane Clanton[15]; 19. 33H-Billy Hough[19]
Showdown Feature #3
Continuing to reach the heights with Skyline Motorsports, Winfield, TN driver Mike Marlar made a strong case for a maiden Prairie Dirt Classic win on Friday.
Beginning the night from the outside of the front row, Marlar and Fayetteville, NC driver Daulton Wilson traded slide jobs in a tight battle for the lead around the 1/4-mile bullring.
When Marlar took the lead under the start/finish line, the caution flag waved, solidifying Marlar’s position as the leader.
With the advantage on the restarts, Marlar stretched his lead from Wilson as he managed the lapped cars ahead of him.
He won his third career Prairie Dirt Showdown Feature, with the hopes of it leading to his first Fairbury crown jewel win.
“We were trading slide jobs there,” Marlar said. “He kinda had the advantage on me through the turns and when I got by him on the front straightaway, the caution came out so I got lucky with the lead. At that point, I could control the race.
“I think we’re good on speed though. I don’t think the track will be too different, but it will be similar to tonight. The car is good, but we just need a few adjustments and we’ll be ready to go.”
Wilson drove home to finish second, and Rome, GA driver Austin Smith rounded out the Feature podium. Manhattan, KS driver Chase Junghans completed a late charge towards the final transfer spot with the fourth-place result.
Showdown Feature 3 (25 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 3. 11S-Austin Smith[10]; 4. 18C-Chase Junghans[9]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 6. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 7. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[3]; 8. 8M-Dillon McCowan[14]; 9. 38-Thomas Hunziker[20]; 10. 22*-Max McLaughlin[11]; 11. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 12. 45-Kyle Hammer[19]; 13. T2-Brayton Wallace[16]; 14. 90-Brian Rickman[5]; 15. 3-Dale Markham[13]; 16. 57-Matt Tifft[15]; 17. Z61-Alex Wilson[18]; 18. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 19. 14W-Dustin Walker[17]; 20. 66C-Matt Cosner[12]
VP Racing Fuels Showdown Feature #4
Putting his nickname “The High Side Hustler” to work, Bloomington, IL native Jason Feger capped off the night with a hard charge through the 25-lap Feature.
Feger was gridlocked at the start behind Carpentersville, IL driver Dennis Erb Jr. and Oxford, IA driver Chris Simpson as the two drivers fought for the lead early in the running.
With Erb on the bottom, Simpson used the high line to manage a run on him and grabbed the lead.
Feger could not be stopped once the two cars got clear of each other as the wheelman put his fresh U.S. Air Force-inspired No.25 to the top of the track to get by Erb.
Feger continued to fly high as he ripped around Simpson to take the lead amongst a roaring sea of race fans that attended Friday’s show.
Capping the night of high-octane racing with the Feature win, Feger did not think his car was as good as it looked on the track.
“The track actually surprised me,” Feger said. “The car was OK, but I don’t think it was great by any means. After the race, my guys told me I was better than I thought, so its a hard feeling as a driver. The track ended up being really good there. I feel like I got a good idea of what we need to do for tomorrow, but there’s a lot of good drivers to beat here. It feels good to have a colder beer tonight and see what we can take to these guys in Saturday night’s Feature.”
Simpson crossed the line to finish second, and Decorah, IA driver Tyler Bruening rounded out the top three. Current MD3 Rookie of the Year points leader Dustin Sorensen finished fourth to secure a spot into his first Prairie Dirt Classic Feature.
Showdown Feature 4 (25 Laps): 1. 25F-Jason Feger[4]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson[2]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[10]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[13]; 7. 18-Shannon Babb[5]; 8. 11-Gordy Gundaker[7]; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport[15]; 10. 19M-Spencer Hughes[8]; 11. 93-Carson Ferguson[12]; 12. 126-Kaede Loudy[9]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[16]; 14. 38J-Jake Little[17]; 15. 22-Chris Ferguson[11]; 16. 15-Justin Duty[19]; 17. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 18. 9Z-Lyle Zanker[18]; 19. 75-Daniel Adam[14]