Patience Pays Off For Fairbury Winners  

Fairbury, IL. (6-28-08) Saturday night at the Fairbury American Legion Speedway was the halfway point of the season and produced a very exciting night of racing. Action took place in 4 UMP sanctioned divisions. In addition, the Raminator monster truck was on hand for an exhibition of car crushing entertainment.

  The street stock class was the first event of the night. A caution on the opening lap knocked out contender Terry Miller, as Joe Brown and Robert Turner rode the front stretch wall; leaving Miller to collect debris and a flat tire. Outside starter Brandon Kessinger was able to take the lead on the opening lap and was never seriously challenged as he collected his 4^th straight win. Kevin Lenzen, Nick Montalta, point leader Darrin Kohler,Tom Legner, Orin Naramore, Joseph Hillman, Jay Hamilton, and David Billingsley rounded out the top 10.

  The sportsman class took to the speedway for a 15 lap battle next and that it was. Polesitter Jason Unzicker led the first 2 laps before surrendering the lead to Joel Funk. Funk had to battle with teammates Andrew Funk and Rick Thomas early in the race. Unzicker droped out on the10th with rear end problems.While Joel was able to open a lead Andrew, Thomas, and Scott Hatzer fought it out for 2^nd. Thomas fell out on the last lap while Joel Funk was able to hold off a hard charging Hatzer. Andrew Funk, Curt Vincent, Loren Haberkorn, Rod Rusher, Tim Fitzpatrick, Greg Kimmons, Shane Garrison, and Ed Bright completed the top 10.

  Polesitter McKay Wenger took the lead at the start of the 20 lap modified feature and looked like he might be on his way to his first win of the year at Fairbury. Wenger built a 10 car length lead over the field, while there was a heated battle for 2^nd among Jim Farris, Kevin Hastings, and Jeff Curl. A caution fell came out on the 16^th lap enabling the drivers a last ditch opportunity at Wenger. While Wenger was running the top of the speedway, Curl running his patented bottom groove, took over 2^nd and reeled in Wenger. Coming off of turn 4 on the last lap Curl was able to get by Wenger to win his first race of the year by a ½ car length. The win broke a streak of 3 straight 2^nd place finishes for Curl at Fairbury. Wenger, Dave Porth, Farris, Hastings, George B. Aimone, Jeb Friedman, Justin Delong, Jay Ledford, and Ben Hulse were the top 10 finishers.

  With the summernational race at Clarksville, Tn. Canceled several of the drivers made it to Fairbury for their upcoming race. Ryan Unzicker, Ryan Dauber, and Scott Bull raced hard for the last 10 laps, sometimes side by side while treading their way thru slower traffic. The trio kept the fans on their feet while Bull held a slight lead. While working the lapped cars, Dauber got by Bull at turn 2 and posted his 2^nd win of the year. Unzicker moved past Bull coming off of turn 4 to take the runnerup spot. Derek Chandler, Jr. Shickel, Eric Smith, Richie Hedrick, Daren Friedman, Donny Walden, and John Provenzano rounded out the top 10.

NOTES: 29 street stocks, 21 sportsman, 32 modifieds, and 29 late models turned out on a very racey, prepared track. Richie Hedrick ran his new Mastersbilt race car in hot laps and found a few bugs that needed to be worked out. He broke out his older car and 5 laps into the feature reinjured his thumb for the 2^nd time this year. McKay Wenger had a new motor from Hovis Race Engines. Aaron Ricketts suffered mechanical problems in his heat race and was finished for the night. Joel Funk drove the car normally driven by Rick Thomas , while Rick drove the car of R.J. Gall. Scott Williams(sportsman), Paul Graf(sportsman),Chris Wakely(modified), and Bill Reiniche were making their first runs of the year. Next week Hell Tour 08 comes to the track as the speedway host a 50 lap $10,000 to win summernational. Also on the card will be modifieds and sportsman.