FARMER CITY – The Farmer City Council listened, but answered no questions in
an ongoing land dispute with the Farmer City Fair Association board.
Citizens do not have any promises of when the council will take action. After
the hearing, city Manager David Joswiak said the only immediate deadline is that
imposed by the fair association, which has extended the city's park lease to the
end of September.
Scheduling a public hearing is the first legal step in any sale or trade of
municipal-owned property, Joswiak has said.
The fair association wants to trade land it owns or has promised to buy for
land it now leases from the city. The fair association would give the city the
45-acre parcel known as South Park, which the association leases to the city and
is home to school baseball and soccer fields as well as a BMX bicycle race
track. The deal also includes a promise to buy 20 to 25 acres at the Illinois 54
and I-74 interchange currently owned by the Snow brothers. In exchange, the fair
association would like the city to hand over about 48 acres encompassing the
fairgrounds and race track.
Council members first listened to a presentation about possible economic
development from Robin Hanna, professor with Western Illinois University's
Institute of Rural Affairs.
Council members then listened as 26 citizens spoke their minds. Although
speakers on both sides of the question drew applause from the nearly 200 who
gathered at the American Legion Hall, it was obvious the majority favored
keeping fairgrounds, racetrack and park lands intact.
"Why tear half of Farmer City down for the trade that we might build
something else – we've heard that before," said Herk Judd.
Several speakers asked how the council would replace what the town has built
up if the fair, race track and park were gone.
Phyllis Hieronymous reminded the council of "hundreds of thousands of
volunteer hours" spent in developing the fairgrounds, racetrack and park. She
said tearing those down could be considered "sinful" for "development that isn't
even promised."
"If we lose the fairgrounds and the park, I don't think we can ever recover,"
warned Rick Noble.
Some questioned the value of the racetrack and the motives of the fair
association.
Richard Reynolds said he believes the fair association is using the threat of
closing South Park "as a pawn to get what they want."
"They only bought and built up South Park to blackmail the city," Lucy Tharp
said.
Others questioned the motives of councilmen. "Use your heads and common
sense," said Chad Wills. "Don't hold personal grudges."
Wills called the controversy "the most divisive issue in this town for
decades."
Tracy Feger of Bloomington presented nearly 1,800 signatures in favor of
saving the racetrack. She said the petitions came from an online petition drive
started last Thursday and a petition passed at one race.
"You have no idea what you have here," said Chris Matick, a racing team
leader from Pontiac. "The town is known for something; don't lose that."
Joswiak said there are options for the council's decision, but he has been
given no direction yet. One option would be to draft an ordinance from the fair
association's offer and put it to a vote. To pass, the ordinance would require a
"supermajority," meaning four of the five council members (including the mayor)
must vote in favor for the ordinance to pass. In the past, the council has been
split 3-2. He said another option would be to negotiate an alternative
arrangement with the fair association.
Farmer City makes no changes to fairgrounds
FARMER CITY — An overwhelming majority of those speaking at a public hearing
Monday night expressed a desire to see the Farmer City Fairgrounds and South
Park remain in their present form as the owners try to resolve a property
dispute over the two parcels.
On the table is a proposal from the Farmer City Fair Association to trade the
45-acre South Park property along, with 20-25 acres of land north of Interstate
74, for the 48-acre fairgrounds owned by the city.
Fair Association spokesman Rick Corneglio told the gathering that the Fair
Board’s proposal was the only way to provide the community with all of its
desires as expressed by those in attendance Monday.
“Do we want industrial development in Farmer City?” said Corneglio, the last of
25 people to speak at the hearing. “Of course we do, and that can come with the
property north of the interstate.”
Corneglio added that residential development is already taking place at Prairie
Ridge on the west edge of the community with room for desired commercial
development.
Residential or commercial?
The hearing began with an initial draft of a report by Robin Hanna of the Rural
Economic Technical Assistance Center.
The center was retained by the city in May to analyze the fiscal impact of the
potential development of the fairgrounds and the Snow Farms property north of
the interstate that is part of the proposed swap.
Hanna told the gathering that the best use of the fairgrounds property, if it
were to be developed, would be for a “multi-family rental complex,” as well as a
mix of low and high tech commercial enterprises.
All of the scenarios are speculative at this point, however, and with no
concrete plans for development or negotiations with any company, most people at
the hearing expressed a fear of losing what the community already has with no
guarantee that the properties would be developed after being returned to their
original form when the leases expire.
“If we lose South Park and the fairgrounds, I don’t think the community can
recover,” said Rick Noble, a Blue Ridge school board member. “We have to look at
the big picture and if we take one piece away, we’re not complete.”
Many were most concerned with the possible loss of Farmer City Raceway. If no
agreement is reached, next season would be the last for stock car racing at the
¼-mile dirt track.
With that possibility, Tracy Feger of Bloomington initiated an online petition
urging the city to swap properties with the fair board to keep the raceway
alive.
Feger told Monday night’s hearing that 1,191 people have signed the Internet
petition. Another 691 fans at the track signed the petition at last Friday
night’s races.
The hearing was held before a packed crowd at the American Legion Hall. City
Council members answered no questions at the hearing and were unable to take any
action. A city ordinance will need to be drafted before a vote can be taken on
the land swap proposal. That vote could come as early as the council meeting on
August 20.
Hanna emphasized that his report was an initial draft, with more work to be done
in estimating the amount of revenue that development could bring to the city and
how much it would cost long term.
He emphasized the housing aspect, saying “if you don’t have sufficient housing
you can’t lure industry to the area.”
As for Snow Farms, Hanna said the property could be attractive to a steel
fabrication entity, a motor vehicle parts and accessories facility, a telephone
call center or a corn-based snack food manufacturer.
Sign Petition --
Please take a few
moments and sign the petition to save
Farmer City Raceway located in Farmer City, Ill.
The petition is located at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/feger25/petition.html
HAVE EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY SIGN. SEND TO
FRIENDS.
LET'S GET TONS OF SIGNATURES BEFORE THE HEARING ON MONDAY!
DO NOT FORGET!!! Attend the Public
Hearing August 13th at 7 PM at the Farmer City American Legion and show your
support for the Raceway. Legion is right next to the track by the Pit entrance
from Rte 150.For more information or to learn how YOU can help, call
309-928-3154
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
August 10, 2007
By Racenut
In the quest for the UMP National Championship, Dennis Erb Jr has been on a roll
lately. The best way to make ground on the leaders, is to race against, and beat
them. That is what Dennis Erb Jr has been doing lately. Friday night, he came to
Farmer City Raceway, as did the others in the run for the championship,
including points leader Wes Steidinger, third place Steve Sheppard Jr and fourth
place Jason Feger. After wrestling the lead from Steve Sheppard Jr early in the
race, Erb Jr went on to win, becoming the first driver to win back to back races
at the historic old fairgrounds track in 2007. Last week he became the tenth
different winner of the year. With 29 cars in the pits, Eric Smith started the
night by turning in fast time of 12.691 seconds. The heats went to Steve
Sheppard Jr over Erb, Jr, Ryan Dauber won the second heat over Donnie Walden
with the third heat going to Jr Shickel over Joe Harlan. The semi feature was
the closest race all evening with Tim Lance running side by side trying to pass
Matt Taylor, finally getting the job done at the end of the race, with Ryan
Unzicker third. The feature started off with pole sitter Steve Sheppard Jr in
the lead over outside front row starter Ryan Dauber. It only took a few laps for
Erb Jr to dispose of Dauber and pull alongside Sheppard. The duo raced about 8
laps side by side swapping the lead position a couple of times every lap. Erb
then finally got around Sheppard and sailed off for another feature win.
unofficial finish:
28 Dennis Erb Jr
64 Ryan Dauber
J1 Wes Steidinger
5s Steve Sheppard Jr
Z Joe Harlan
9 Eric Smith
48 Tim Lance
25 Jason Feger
89 Daren Friedman
83 Scott Bull
1W Donnie Walden
3L Matt Taylor
DC3 Don Cisco III
24 Ryan Unzicker
74 Russ Adams
The modified class featured Springfield native, and a local favorite from many
years past Dick Taylor setting fast time of the 35 modified in attendance.
Taylor then won his heat over Jay Ledford and Brian Lynn. The second heat went
to Randy Shuman over Cory Schwengel and the ageless Roger Drake. The third heat
went to Lance Dehm over Jeb Friedman and Wes O'Dell. The final heat went to
Jeffrey Curl over Roben Huffman and Randy Huffman. Newcomer Randy Shuman
mastered the track in the feature taking the lead from Dick Taylor on the second
lap and never looked back on his way to the checkered flag. Taylor caught Shuman
near the end of the race in traffic, but could not make an attempt at a pass.
Third went to Lance Dehm, followed by Jeb Friedman, Jeffrey Curl, Randy Huffman
and Brian Lynn.
There was a "Save the Raceway" petition passed around and signed, with the
Fariboard's lease of the grounds coming due in 2009, the future of the track is
in peril. There is an open meeting of the city council at the American Legion
hall Monday August 13 at 7pm. To sign the online petition, please go to
www.midwestdirttrackfacts.com and click on the link on the main page.
Increased Modified purse at Farmer
City
Due to a generous donation, the Modified purse will be increased and we will
pay $100 to the hard charger and $125 for the last place finisher in the
feature on Friday August 10th. The feature payout will be:
750
500
400
250
200
125
110
90
80
75 for 11th-19th
Thanks to the donor who made this possible!!!
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
August 3, 2006
By Racenut
The 2007 Dennis Erb Jr "In Control" tour kept up the momentum Friday night at
the Farmer City Raceway. With 30 late models in the pits, Jason Feger set fast
time at 12.523 seconds. The first heat went to Donnie Walden in a tight battle
over Jr Shickel and Michael Bradley. The second heat went to Dennis Erb Jr with
a very fast closing Wes Steidinger in second, who finished next to third place
Richie Hedrick. The third heat was also a close one with Tim Lance taking the
win over Eric Smith and Mike Mataragas. The semi-feature went to RJ Gall over
Mike Glasscock, Scott Bull and Rocky Griffin.
The feature event was a 30 lap affair with $2,000 going to the winner. Walden
and Erb Jr started on the front row, and after a first lap caution that left
Feger in the pits, the race restarted with the 2007 UMP Summernationals champion
Erb Jr taking control and never looking back. Midway through the race, Erb Jr
found the top groove to be fastest, and never missed his marks, leaving the
field behind. Late in the race, Steidinger found the fast way around the track,
and closed the gap a bit, but never seriously challenged Erb Jr. Steidinger, the
UMP National points leader, finished second with Jr Shickel, Tim Lance and
Darren Friedman rounding out the top five.
unofficial finish:
28 Dennis Erb, Jr
J1 Wes Steidinger
S10 Jr Shickel
48 Tim Lance
89 Darren Friedman
9 Eric Smith
Z Joe Harlan
1M Mike Mataragas
29 laps
30 Mike Glasscock
95 Aaron Ricketts
22 Chris Dick
83 Scott Bull
The modified class had four heats, all being decided on the final lap at the
checkers by Lance Dehm, Rob Fuqua, Matt Bachman and Jeff Leka. The feature
started with those four at the front. Early in the race, Leka got shuffled back
as far as eighth while Lance Dehm held the lead. About halfway through the $750
to win race, Leka found the high side and started passing cars, and after taking
the lead, simply drove away from the field. Leka, the UMP National points
leader, and the Farmer City Raceway point leader would win, followed by Jeb
Friedman, Danny Schwartz, Randy Huffman, Wes O'Dell, McKay Wenger, Jeffrey Curl,
Matt Bachman, Rob Fuqua and Jeffrey Leka.
The street stock feature went to Jim Quinn.
The sportsman feature had some last lap drama, as Jason Unzicker led the entire
race, until coming through turn four on the last lap, when he got blasted by
Gary Turpin, who then went low, and on to victory, followed by Joel Funk and
Nick Macklin.
The hornet heats went to Chris Burton, Joe Reed, and Larry Hawk. Joe Reed held
off Chris Burton for the victory in the feature.
There were a total of 131 cars in the pits.
July 27....Rain
We will have $2000 to win Late Models (not topless) 30 laps, and $750 to win
Modifieds next Friday August 3.
Also racing will be Sportsman, Street Stocks and Hornets.
For more information visit
www.farmercityraceway.net or call 217-737-7134
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
July 20, 2007
By Racenut
Friday night at Farmer City Raceway saw 27 late models sign in, with current
points leader Scott Bull turning in fast time at 12.555 seconds. The first heat
went to Bull over Jason Feger, Kyle Logue and Michael Bradley. The second heat
went to Wes Steidinger over Joe Harlan, Donnie Walden and Chris Dick. The third
heat went to Daren Friedman over Jr Shickel, Eric Smith and Derek Chandler. The
semi feature went to Jimmy Felker Jr, taking the lead from Mike Glasscock at the
white flag with Matt Beadles in third.
The feature started out to be an exciting race, with pole sitter Scott Bull
taking the initial lead. A few laps into the race, Jason Feger made his high
side run and took the lead from Bull, only to lead about four laps himself, and
watched the current national UMP points leader Wes Steidinger slide by on the
low side, and within a few laps, Steidinger started lapping cars at a blistering
pace. Steidinger would eventually win, as there were no cautions for the fifth
week in a row, with Scott Bull coming home second, Jason Feger third and Eric
Smith fourth.
unofficial rundown
J1 Wes Steidinger
83 Scott Bull
25 Jason Feger
9 Eric Smith
700 Kyle Logue
89 Daren Friedman
S10 Jr Shickel
22 Chris Dick
Z Joe Harlan
24 laps
35 Derek Chandler
24 Ryan Unzicker
7M Michael Bradley
30 Mike Glasscock
1G Rocky Griffin
99J Jimmy Dehm
43 Jimmy Felker Jr
74 Russ Adams
23 laps
JP7 Mike Petersak
dnf
1W Donnie Walden
17B Matt Beadles
The sportsman feature was a close battle almost to the white flag lap with
Jason Unzicker battling it out with Billy Nail. However, just one lap before the
white flag came out, Nail went off turn one. On the restart, Jason Unzicker then
had to hold off a charging Justin DeLong, Gary Turpin and Rob Bauman for the
win. Fifth went to Greg Kimmons followed by Al Crowder.
The modified class saw a familiar face in victory lane, although it has been
several years in the works. Matt Bachman held off McKay Wenger for the win,
followed by Jeb Friedman, Wes O'Dell, Jeffrey Curl, Roben Huffman and Darcy Wey.
Jim Quinn won the street stock feature
Fast Joe Reed won the hornet feature
Former driver Fran Dick won the grain truck races, both the heat and the
feature. Fran's sons Chris and Darrell and Grandson Tim all race.
With 118 cars and a handful of grain trucks on hand, the late model feature
was finished before 10 pm once again.
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
Friday July 13, 2007
By Racenut
Friday the thirteenth brought good luck to Brady Smith, of Solon Springs, WI,
as he took home his first feature win at the historic Farmer City Raceway, and
he did it on the night that the UMP DIRTcar Summernationals were in town. The
good fortune part being that the track was in great shape and the feature netted
Mr. Smith a cool $10,000. Don O'Neal turned in overall fast time of the thirty
nine late models on tap with a time of 12.797 seconds. The first heat went to
Wes Steidinger with Summernationals point leader Dennis Erb Jr alongside at the
checkers, followed by Greg Johnson. The second heat was also a thriller, as
Steve Sheppard Jr made a last lap pass on Don O'Neal for the win with Jason
Feger right behind them. The third heat was literally a photo finish, with
Shannon Babb opening up a nice lead over Brady Smith, only to have Smith run him
down and pass him for the win right at the checkered flag. Derek Chandler was
third. The fourth heat saw Brian Shirley leave the field behind in the only
boring race of the evening, finishing second was Kevin Weaver followed by Scott
Bull.
The feature started out with Wes Steidinger on the pole and Brian Shirley on
the outside front row. Shirley jumped out to an early lead in the 40 lapper.
Brady Smith had started fourth, but stayed within striking distance. Fourteen
laps into the race, Smith made his move to the low side of Shirley, and set the
cruise control headed for the checkers. The green flag stayed out the entire
distance, and Smith pulled off the win, followed by Shirley, Steidinger, Babb
and Steve Sheppard Jr.
time trials
first group fast time was Wes Steidinger at 12.875
second group fast time was Don O'Neal at 12.797
third group fast time was Eddie Kirchoff of Gillette WY at 13.189
fourth group fast time was Brian Shirley at 13.322
heat one top 3 advance
Wes Steidinger, Dennis Erb Jr, Greg Johnson, Daren Friedman, Kyle Logue, Matt
Taylor, Tim Lance, Russ Adams, Larry Elliott, Eric Smith scratch
heat two
Steve Sheppard Jr, Don O'Neal, Jason Feger, Jr Shickel, Jeep VanWormer, Donnie
Walden, Mike Mataragas, Rohn Moon, Matt Beadles, Rich Harlan
heat three
Brady Smith, Shannon Babb, Derek Chandler, Eddie Kirchoff, AJ Diemel, Mike
Glasscock, Jimmy Felker Jr, Rocky Griffin, Shane Tomlin, Brandon Sheppard
heat four
Brian Shirley, Kevin Weaver, Scott Bull, Rodney Melvin, Mike Marlar, Chris Dick,
Joe Harlan, Lisa Shickel, Charlie Hess
semi one top 3 advance
Daren Friedman, Tim Lance, Jeep VanWormer
semi two
Eddie Kirchoff, Rodney Melvin, AJ Diemel
Feature $10,000 to win 40 laps
2 Brady Smith(4)
3s Brian Shirley(2)
J1 Wes Steidinger(1)
18 Shannon Babb(7)
5s Steve Sheppard Jr(3)
71 Don O'Neal(6)
28 Dennis Erb Jr(5)
4 Greg Johnson(9)
25 Jason Feger(10)
B12 Kevin Weaver(8)
34 Mike Marlar(16)
83 Scott Bull(12)
27 Rodney Melvin(14)
89 Daren Friedman(13)
5K Eddie Kirchoff(18)
39 laps
9 Eric Smith(17)prov..track
dnf
35 Derek Chandler(11)
58 AJ Diemel(19)prov..series
75 Tim Lance(15)
3L Matt Taylor(20)prov..UMP
55 Jeep VanWormer(dns)
The modified feature went to McKay Wenger over Jeff Leka
The street stock feature went to Terry Miller
The sportsman feature went to Joel Funk Jr over Greg Kimmons, Jason Unzicker and
Billy Nail
With the Circles of Hope benefit, Cody Griffin was voted #1 fan, and also won
the raffle for the Schwinn StingRay bicycle, with the CruzinCooler going to Tom
Noble on his 18th birthday
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
July 6, 2007
by: Racenut
Twenty two late models took time trials, with Scott Bull turning in fast time
at 12.621 seconds. The first heat went to Daren Friedman over Scott Bull. The
second heat went to Kyle Logue over Joe Harlan. The final heat went to Mike
Petersak over Donnie Walden. The feature started with Kyle Logue on the outside
front row, taking the point at the start and never letting go for the whole 25
laps. Last week, Logue led 23 of the 25 laps, only to have Joe Harlan take the
win at the checkers. This week, Harlan challenged several times, but just could
not get the job done. The unofficial rundown had Logue as winning his first
Farmer City Late Model feature, Harlan, Scott Bull, Daren Friedman, Eric Smith,
Ryan Unzicker, Mike Glasscock, Donnie Walden and Mike Petersak.
In the modified class, Danny Schwartz made it two feature wins in a row, this
week followed by Randy Huffman and Barker. Lance Dehm had earlier set a new
modified track record at 14.051 seconds.
Jason Unzicker won the sportsman feature.
Jim Quinn won the street stock feature.
The hornet feature again went to Fast Joe Reed over Stacey Whitehouse and Bob
Sanders.
Next Friday is the rerun of the rained out UMP Summernationals, along with a
benefit for Circles of Hope.
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
June 29, 2007
By: Racenut
Twenty nine late models and twenty nine modifieds came to race at Farmer City
Friday night. And race they did. Late Model driver Joe Harlan turned in fast
time at 12.787 seconds. Harlan then went on to win the first heat in a spirited
battle with Kyle Logue, with Michael Bradley finishing third. The second heat
went to Jr Shickel over Derek Chandler and Eric Smith. The third heat went to
Scott Bull over Ryan Dauber and Jeff Beyers. The semi feature was won by Lindell
Jewell over Cody Bauman. The feature saw Harlan on the pole, and he jumped out
to an early lead. But fourth place starter Kyle Logue got by Harlan on the
second lap. Logue would then lead 23 laps of the race, surviving two cautions,
with Harlan very close the whole distance. Several times in the last eight laps,
Harlan pulled alongside, and led down the backstretch, only to have Logue get by
again in turn four. The final effort by Harlan after the white flag paid off,
however, with Harlan getting the checkers and Logue finishing in second, just
one lap short of his first late model win at the historic old fairgrounds track.
Behind Harlan and Logue, Eric Smith came from eighth to finish third with Scott
Bull and Ryan Dauber rounding out the top five.
unofficial finish
Z Joe Harlan
7oo Kyle Logue
9 Eric Smith
83 Scott Bull
64 Ryan Dauber
7M Michael Bradley
35 Derek Chandler
27 Jeff Beyers
1W Donnie Walden
43 Jimmy Felker Jr
There were 118 cars in the pits and the late model feature finished at 10:10
p.m.
In the modified class, Jeff Leka had a run of eight feature wins in eight
races so far in 2007. The promoters put a $200 bounty up to anyone who could
beat him. Danny Schwartz almost beat him a few weeks back, but the extra
incentive was all it took for Schwartz to lead wire to win and take home that
extra cash. Leka spent much of the feature in fourth, after starting third.
Lance Dehm held down the second spot with Jeffrey Curl holding down third until
he retired late in the race. Leka then made his move for the lead with three to
go got around Dehm and with two to go, pulled alongside Schwartz but could not
make a clean pass. Schwartz won with Leka second, followed by Lance Dehm, Gary
Cook Jr, Aaron Ricketts and Chad Evans. Heat races earlier went to Danny
Schwartz over Jeffrey Curl, Lance Dehm over Matt Bachman, and Leka over Aaron
Ricketts with the semi feature going to Roben Huffman over Tommy Burnside. Fast
time went to Schwartz.
The Sportsman class saw Ben Hulse and Justin Delong win heats, with the
feature going to Ben Hulse and second going to Justin Delong by inches, as
Darrell Dick was alongside him at the finish.
Hornet heats went to Stacey Whitehouse, Joe Reed and Chris Burton. Reed held
off a charging Burton for the feature win.
06-22-07
UMP Summernationals Rained out
Rescheduled for July 13....next to last night of the series...with points
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
June 15, 2007
By: Racenut
Farmer City Raceway was once again the place to be for action on Friday
night. Eric Smith started out the evening with fast time of the twenty-two
qualifiers at 12.554 seconds. Smith also won the first heat in a bit of a
runaway over the improving Jeff Beyers and Donnie Walden. The second heat went
to Joe Harlan in a hard fought battle over Scott Bull and Rocky Griffin. The
third heat went to Daren Friedman over Jr Shickel and Derek Chandler. The
feature seemed to be another runaway with Eric Smith taking advantage of his
pole position and by midway in the 25 lapper, had put some distance on the rest
of the field. A few laps later, however, Jeff Beyers ran him down and pulled
alongside in lapped traffic. But with four laps to go, Smith abruptly pulled to
the infield, handing the lead to Beyers. Two laps later, Beyers did the same
thing, abruptly pulled to the infield, handing the lead to Scott Bull. The crowd
seemed stunned when two laps later, the flagman was flagging Bull as the winner.
Daren Friedman had held his ground, and finished second. Jr Shickel, Joe Harlan,
Dan O'Connor, Derek Chandler, Mike Glasscock, Chris Dick, Lindell Jewell, Donnie
Walden, Russ Adams and Lisa Shickel rounded out the remainder of the cars on the
lead lap. There were no cautions, and the late model feature was finished
before 9:30.
The modified class had Lance Dehm turn in fast time at 14.156, very close to
Jeff Leka's track record. The first heat went to Dehm over Gary Cook Jr. The
second heat went to McKay Wenger over Matt Bachman. The third heat went to Jeff
Leka, with Cory Schwengel holding off Randy Myers by inches for third. The
feature had Lance Dehm take the lead from his pole position. On lap thirteen,
Matt Bachman found himself sliding off turn number one and rolling his car. He
was unhurt. Dehm would then lead the field back around with Leka, Wenger, Brent
Mullins, Cook Jr, and Randy Huffman all challenging for position. With two laps
to go, Leka finally got around Dehm, and kept his perfect record for 2007 intact
with the seventh feature win. Lance Dehm was second, Brent Mullins, Gary Cook Jr
and McKay Wenger rounded out the top five. The next five were Randy Huffman,
Cory Schwengel, Randy Myers, Jeb Friedman, and Danny Schwartz..
Leka left the facilities within five minutes of his
interview....headed to Danville to try to tag in at the rear of the feature....
The sportsmen class saw Jason Unzicker win the first heat over Wes O'Dell and
the second heat went to Greg Kimmons over Al Crowder. The feature was a hard
fought battle, with the win going to Greg Kimmons over Wes O'Dell, Curt Vincent,
Justin Delong and Al Crowder.
The street stock heats were won by David Shain and Josh Griffith.Josh
Griffith won the feature followed by Jim Quinn, Greg Brewer and Terry Miller
The hornet heats went to Stacey Whitehouse and Joe Reed. Joe Reed also won
the feature.
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City, IL
June 8, 2007
by: Racenut
Thirty late models rolled through the gates Friday night,
with Steve Sheppard Jr turning in fast time at 12.372 seconds, again very close
to the track record. The heat races were very exciting, with the first heat
going to UMP National points leader Wes Steidinger, passing Jr Shickel at the
checkers for the win followed by Steve Sheppard and Derek Chandler. The second
heat went to the Raceway's current point leader Eric Smith over a fast closing
Brian Diveley. They were followed by Donnie Walden and Rocky Griffin. The third
heat was a runaway by Billy Drake over Mike Mullvain, Scott Bull and Jimmy
Felker Jr. The fourth heat was a real barn burner with Joe Harlan taking the
victory over Chris Dick, Jason Feger and last week's feature winner Darren
Friedman. The semi feature went to Roger Brickler over Cory Rolfe and Cody
Bauman. The feature started with Steidinger and Smith on the front row. Smith
took off to an early lead, followed by Steidinger, Drake, Harlan, Shickel,
Diveley and Dick, racing four and sometimes five wide for second place. About
half way through, Steidinger cleared away the others for second place and ran
down the leader Smith with ten laps to go and passed Smith one lap later. But as
they got into lapped cars, four wide down the backstretch, something had to
give, and Roger Brickler left the track, with Steidinger spinning to the
infield. With Steidinger relegated to the rear, Smith had to battle off Joe
Harlan and Billy Drake for the win. Harlan was second, Drake third, Brian
Diveley and Scott Bull rounded out the top five. They were followed by Chris
Dick, Steve Sheppard, Jr Shickel, Donnie Walden, Jason Feger, Derek Chandler,
Darren Friedman, Mike Mullvain, Rocky Griffin, Jeremy Conaway and Wes
Steidinger. Sixteen of the twenty starters finished the race, all on the lead
lap.
The modified class saw Jeff Leka once again set fast time
of the twenty nine modifieds on hand. For the first time this season, however,
Leka did not win his heat race. That went to the young McKay Wenger with Leka
second and Jay Ledford third. The second heat went to Gary Cook Jr over Lance
Dehm and Todd Kirkland. The third heat went to Danny Schwartz over Randy Myers
and Randy Huffman. The semi went to Matt Bachman over Dennis Wilson. The feature
saw pole sitter Wenger lead the first two laps, and passed by Gary Cook Jr, who
led three laps. There was then a yellow flag, and on the restart, Leka took the
top position, and went on to his seventh feature win, still undefeated in 2007
followed very closely by McKay Wenger, Cook Jr, Danny Schwartz, Randy Huffman,
Lance Dehm, Randy Myers, Todd Kirkland, Marty Hiser, Jeffrey Curl, Jeb Friedman,
Dennis Wilson and Rick Weekly.
The sportsman feature went to Gary Turpin over Jimmy
Dehm, Darrell Dick, Greg Kimmons, Ryan Unzicker, Wes O'Dell and Shane Tomlin.
The street stock feature was won by Chris Tackett, who
came from deep in the field, over Terry Miller, Greg Brewer and Greg Rubenacker.
The hornets, a beginners class, was won by Eric Keymon
over Stacy Whitehouse and Chris Osborne.
The racing activities were complete before 10:30 with a
total of 110 cars in the pits.
Friday June 15 is a regular show plus hornets, and on Friday June 22 is the UMP
Summernationals paying $10,000 to the winner of the late models!
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
June 1, 2007
by: Racenut
Twenty two late models took time trials Friday night with
Joe Harlan of Flanagan turning in fast time at 12.587 seconds. The first heat
went to Daren Friedman by about one foot over Joe Harlan with Derek Chandler in
tow. The second heat went to Chris Dick in another close finish over Scott Bull
and Jason Feger. The third heat saw a smooth Don Cisco III take the win over
points leader Eric Smith and Jr Shickel. The feature event once again saw a very
smooth Don Cisco III take the lead at the start, but Daren Friedman got past him
on lap three. Friedman then held the point through several cautions on the
smooth, fast track, to the checkers, but there was a lot of racing going on very
close behind him with Cisco, Eric Smith, Scott Bull, Joe Harlan and Jason Feger
all battling it out for second and third spots. Eric Smith would finally take
second with Scott Bull, Jason Feger and Derek Chandler rounding out the top
five. They were followed to the checkers by Jeff Beyers, Joe Harlan, Jimmy
Felker Jr, Jr Shickel, Chris Dick, Corey Rolfe, Cody Bauman, Don Cisco III,
Steve Lance Sr and Larry Elliott.
The premier class for the evening was the Modifieds. They
went topless, 25 laps for $1000 to win. It really did not matter, Jeff Leka
broke his own track record, won his heat, and for the sixth time in six racing
nights this season, scored a clean sweep with yet another feature win. The heats
went to Leka over Lance Dehm, Randy Huffman over Matt Bachman and Rick Weekly in
a very exciting win over Wes O'Dell. The feature finish, finally after 8
cautions slowed the first six laps, was Leka, Lance Dehm, Randy Huffman, Matt
Bachman, Rick Weekly, McKay Wenger(who started 20th), Marty Hiser, Roben
Huffman, Jeffrey Curl and Chad Evans.
The Sportsman feature went to Darrell Dick in an exciting finish over Greg
Kimmons, Jimmy Dehm, Gary Turpin, Wes O'Dell, and Shane Tomlin.
The Street Stock feature went to Jim Quinn in a close
finish over Timothy Feldhake, Terry Miller, Donald Beyers and Chris Tackett.
The Hornet feature (a beginners class) was a battle of the Central Illinois
titans, with the Mighty Tiburon of Fast Joe Reed with his 25 years of racing
experience, (beginners class) and young Chris Burton. The two had started the
feature on the front row. Reed got off to a fast start, with Burton getting
battling the third and fourth place starters. By the time Burton finally cleared
the others, Reed had a straightaway lead on Burton. Burton then ran him down and
with three laps to go, went low, Reed had been running high, Reed got crossed
up, came down and the two touched. Burton continued on, Reed stopped on the
track, causing a yellow flag, relegating himself to the rear of the field.
Burton went on to win over a hard charging Michael Pundt, with Bo O'Donoghue in
third followed by Jason Sharrow, EJ Gregory and Eric Reynolds. Reed had worked
his way back through the field finishing seventh after taking out several of his
fellow racers in the process. After the race ended, Burton came around to get
his just rewards of the checkered flag, and Reed pulled to the front of Burtons
car and proceeded to give every kid in the place a lesson on poor sportsmanship.
May 25....Rain
Farmer City Raceway
Farmer City IL
May 18, 2007
by: Racenut
Friday night, Farmer City Raceway had a regular
show. With 22 late models on hand, the Young Gun Donnie Walden turned in fast
time at 12.706 seconds with Jason Feger second fast at 12.759 seconds. The first
heat went to Donnie Walden over Jr Shickel, Chris Dick, Mike Mullvain and Don
Cisco III. The second heat was won by Wes Steidinger over Joe Harlan, Jeff
Beyers, Jason Feger and Eric Smith. The final heat went to Tim Lance over Darren
Friedman, Derek Chandler and Mike Petersak. The feature started out with Walden
on the pole and the recently red-hot Steidinger on the outside. But it was third
place starter Tim Lance who jumped into the lead on the first lap, and held off
challenges from Steidinger, Walden and later in the race Jr Shickel to post the
win on the smooth, well prepared track. Following Lance to the checkered flag
was Jr Shickel, 11th place starter Jason Feger, Joe Harlan, Donnie Walden, Wes
Steidinger, Scott Bull, Jeff Beyers, Eric Smith and Derek Chandler.
The Sportsman feature was a hard fought battle
finally won by Greg Kimmons over Jimmy Dehm, Darrel Dick, and Jason Unzicker.
The Street Stock feature went to Josh Griffith
in a wild blanket finish over Jeremy Nichols, Donald Byers, Jim Quinn and Terry
Miller.
The Hornet heats were won by AJ Gregory and Brad
Rexroad. The feature once again went to Fast Joe Reed in the Mighty Tiburon in
another wild finish with cars wrecked in turn four all the way to the flagstand
and the checkers and yellow flag waving. Second went to AJ Gregory followed by
local driver Stacy Whitehouse, Chris Osborne and Tony Thoennes.
There was a decision made early in the week to
let the modified drivers run one lap in time trials, with the hope that someone
would knock Jeff Leka off his winning streak of four features. Leka went out
during those time trials, ran one perfect lap and put his name on the honor
roll, wiping out Matt Goulden's track record. The new track record for modifieds
is now 14.206 seconds. The feature event was very exciting, as Leka and Denny
Schwartz were starting on the front row. Schwartz would get tangled up with Rick
Weekly at the start, with both drivers retiring for the night. But, Danny
Schwartz held tight to Leka's rear bumper, and midway through the race, made
several attempts, and got by Leka for the lead, only to have Leka's experience
put Leka back out front several times. Leka would go on to win his fifth feature
of the season, extending his perfect record so far this year, along with his
points lead. Danny Schwartz eventually finished second right on Leka's tail,
with Lance Dehm, Randy Huffman and Wes O'Dell rounding out the top five. The
remainder of the top ten were Dave Sandage, Matt Bachman, Chad Evans, Jeffrey
Curl and Marty Hiser.
All in all, it was a very exciting night of racing on a super smooth, fast race
track, which turned to dryslick by feature time. There were a total of 120 cars
in the pits, and all racing action was complete at 10:30 pm.
Starting Friday May 18, we will
again qualify the modifieds 1 lap.
We will have the fast qualifier roll the dice to see if we invert 0 to 4 in
the heats.
Any questions call Don 217-737-7134
Farmer City Raceway (IL)
May 11, 2007
Farmer City Raceway hosted a full show Friday
night will all five classes on the card. Late model Scott Bull turned in fast
time with Donnie Walden second fast. Eric Smith took the first heat over Scott
Bull and Daren Friedman. The second heat went to Rocky Griffin over Donnie
Walden and Frank Shickel Jr. The feature went to Eric Smith over Scott Bull with
Rocky Griffin running third. Shickel Jr, Daren Friedman, Donnie Walden, Mike
Mullvain, Jeff Beyers, Jimmy Felker Jr and Derek Chandler filled out the top ten
The modified heats went to Wes O'Dell over Nick Neville and Lance Dehm. The
second heat went to Jeff Leka over Jeb Friedman and Cory Schwengel. Third heat
went to McKay Wenger over Denny Schwartz and Ricky Weekly. The feature once
again went to Jeff Leka, this week over Denny Schwartz, with Danny Schwartz
putting on a show starting 15th and finishing third over Lance Dehm and Wes
O'Dell.
The sportsmen heats went to Wes O'Dell, Billy Nail and Gary Turpin. The feature
went to Jimmy Dehm over Jason Unzicker, Greg Kimmons, Wes O'Dell and Justin
Delong.
The street stock feature was won by JJ Miller over Troy Dodson, Chris Tackett,
Terry Miller and Greg Rubenacker.
The hornet feature went to Fast Joe Reed in his Mighty Tiburon over Eric
Reynolds, EJ Gregory, Mike Linneman, Stacy Whitehouse, Chris Osborn and Victor
Overland.
May 5,
2007....Rain
World of Outlaws Late Model
Series News & Notes: Wrapping Up Farmer City Raceway & Kamp Motor Speedway
CONCORD, NC – April 30, 2007 –
HOMETOWN BOY:
Moweaqua, Ill.’s Shannon Babb certainly had the hometrack advantage on his
side in Friday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Farmer City
(Ill.) Raceway, but that didn’t necessarily make winning the 50-lap feature easy
for him.
Actually, racing at one of the tracks he grew up
at put some extra pressure on him.
“It almost seems like it makes it tougher to do
good,” Babb said of performing before his legion of local fans. “There’s just so
many of our family members, friends and fans that want to see us when we run a
big race close to home like this.
“I love ‘em that they come out and support us –
that’s great, and I’m glad everybody was here tonight. But when we’re out racing
in Virginia or other places (far away), it’s just me and (chief mechanic) Jay
(Hunt), and we can concentrate on what’s going on more. We have to really think
about keeping our focus on a night like this.”
Babb drew by far the loudest cheer from Farmer
City’s packed grandstands when he was introduced during the pre-feature draw for
positions. There were fans pressed up against the catch fence to get a close-up
glimpse of him and shout their support, and a teenage girl nearly
hyperventilated as she snapped a photo of him with her cell phone.
Yes, Babb was a rock star at Farmer City, and his
victory made the post-race procession of well-wishers to his hauler even longer.
SOON GONE?:
As Babb celebrated his biggest victory ever at Farmer City Raceway, he couldn’t
help thinking – with clear disdain – about recent reports that place the
venerable quarter-mile track’s future in doubt.
Published reports have been documenting efforts of
the Farmer City Fair Association to secure the future of the speedway and county
fair. The Fair Association leases the 49-acre plot the track sits on from the
City, which is looking to develop the property after the Fair Association’s
lease expires in December 2009.
The Fair Association has offered to swap land it
owns nearby – a 45-acre park and 20-25 acres of property bordering Interstate 74
– to the City in exchange for the fair/speedway property, but the Farmer City
Council rejected the proposal in early April. It’s possible that the land-swap
idea could be raised again in May by a newly-elected council member, but if
there’s no movement in that direction then the speedway’s days could be
numbered.
Farmer City Speedway promoter Don Hammer, who is
in his third year of leasing the track from the Fair Association, has said that
2008 would likely be the last season for racing at the oval if things continue
on the current path.
That’s not a scenario Babb sees as being good for
the Farmer City community.
“It’s a sad deal,” said Babb. “This dirt racing
deal is big and growing like you wouldn’t believe, and this place brings a lot
of good people and a lot of money into this town.
“If they do away with it, they’re gonna cut
somebody’s chances of growing up and
being a racer. Young kids who live around here come to this track and get hooked
on racing -- hell, that’s how I came to want to be a race car driver! I used to
go to races here as a kid, but if you don’t have places like this to start off
at, you ain’t got a chance.”
Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of
Batesville, Ark., who has won several events at Farmer City over the years, has
similar bad feelings about the possible stoppage of racing at the track.
“I think it’s a shame,” Moyer said after finishing
second in Friday’s WoO LMS A-Main. “This little bullring here – look at the
crowd it always gets. Those fans bring a lot of money into this town. They spend
money at the gas stations and restaurants and hotels around here, and the town
better realize that will be gone if there’s no racetrack.”
The Fair Association is considering the
possibility of taking the speedway’s stands, lights, etc. and building a new
track elsewhere in DeWitt County if Farmer City Raceway must be closed, but no
specific location has been determined.
GOOD BUDDIES:
Clint Smith has provided plenty of help already this season to his longtime pal
Chris Madden, who is embarking on his first campaign on the road with the WoO
LMS.
On Saturday night at Kamp Motor Speedway, Madden
helped Smith.
“Madden gave me the right-rear tire I ran,” Smith
said after winning the ‘Boswell Brawl 50’ by about three car lengths over
Madden. “I didn’t pay him for it yet, so he’s probably gonna want more for it
now.”
STAYING STRONG:
Smith is pleased with the fact that he’s tied for the WoO LMS points lead with
Babb after nine events, but he knows that the tale for the season will begin to
be told with the busy upcoming schedule, starting with the five-race ‘Monster
Midwest Tour’ that kicks off on Wed., May 9, at the Davenport (Iowa) Speedway
Quarter-Mile.
“It’s been a steady, excellent year for us so
far,” said Smith. “We’re trying not to have that two-month lull that we’re
usually into by this time, and now we’re coming up on part of the country where
we haven’t been all that great in the past.
“If we can get out of this next roadtrip and still
have the points lead or be second, then I feel like you can start looking over
the horizon and shooting for the end of the year.”
GREAT REVIEWS:
Kamp Motor Speedway’s wide, racy surface drew across-the-board praise from
drivers.
“Man, it was by far the best racetrack we’ve been
on this year,” asserted Smith. “You could move all over – drive right up against
the inside wall, all the way to the outside wall, and run the middle. Wherever
you caught traffic at, you could drive by him. You could just do business.”
“It was a super racetrack,” added Madden. “You
could run anywhere on this place. We’d love to see every racetrack be just like
this was tonight.”
MID-SHOW SWITCH:
Josh Richards and Co. weren’t pleased with the performance of their Rocket No. 1
after the 19-year-old finished third in a heat race Saturday night at Kamp, so
they made a significant change for the feature.
“We ran a swing-arm car last night (at Farmer
City) and all the way up to feature time tonight,” said Richards. “After the
heat we switched to our normal stuff, a four-link setup. I’m not real
comfortable with that swing-arm deal yet, so we switched to our normal stuff so
we don’t end up getting ourselves too far back in the points.”
The decision paid off to the tune of a
fourth-place finish for Richards, who started 11th. It was his second
consecutive top-five run and moved him into a tie for fourth in the point
standings with Steve Francis, 38 points behind co-leaders Babb and Smith.
IN A RUT:
Darrell Lanigan registered more top-five finishes on last year’s WoO LMS than
any other driver, but through nine events this season he doesn’t have one.
The Union, Ky., star is mired in a frustrating
stretch of bad luck, which was never more evident than Saturday night at Kamp.
Lanigan ripped off a qualifying lap that ended up
being the fastest time of the evening, but smoke that drifted from his Rocket
No. 29 during his effort spelled trouble. A busted oil tank caused terminal
problems with his motor, forcing him to pull out his backup car and start the
first heat from the rear rather than the pole.
After being involved in an opening-lap tangle that
bent up his car’s right-side bodywork, Lanigan was able to secure a transfer
position in his heat. But he finished last (25th) in the A-Main
because a broken rearend eliminated his car on lap 22.
LEARNING FROM THE BEST:
Personable UMP DIRTcar Racing standout Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., made
his presence known at his hometown Farmer City Raceway, timing eighth-fastest,
winning a heat race and drawing the pole for the feature.
But major rear-suspension problems forced Feger to
retire his distinctive No. 25 on lap 39. He then struggled the following night
at Kamp, finishing one lap down in 18th after qualifying through a
B-Main.
Feger, who turns 29 of May 7, chalked the weekend
up as a great educational experience.
“I learned that I’m not mentally tough enough,”
Feger said when asked what he took home from racing with the Outlaws. “When you
run against these guys, you see that even when they’re not on their game,
they’re still on the next level. That’s how good they are, so running with them
makes you realize how focused you have to be every lap.”
Feger, who plans to enter selected WoO LMS shows
throughout the season, will be hitting the road again this summer to follow the
grueling UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals. A mechanic by trade, he’ll try to
enter as many Summernationals events as he can.
NOTABLE…
* How much rain fell in central Illinois in the
days leading up to Farmer City’s WoO LMS? Brian Shirley would certainly tell
you, “A lot.”
Shirley, of course, lives in Chatham, Ill., so he
experienced the mid-week downpours that flooded farms. And on Friday night at
Farmer City, he experienced what that heavy precipitation did to the ground when
he spun off the first turn of the racetrack during hot laps.
Shirley’s Petroff Towing No. 3s slid down the
banking above the track’s berm and became stuck in deep mud. After a tow truck
also got stuck in the quagmire trying to help Shirley, a chain was run from
Shirley’s car to the speedway’s huge packer truck to pull his machine from the
muck.
The talented 26-year-old recovered nicely from his
practice problems, marching from the 16th starting spot to an
eighth-place finish in the 50-lapper.
* WoO LMS Rookie of the Year leader Tim Fuller of
Watertown, N.Y., cracked the top 12 in tour points after finishing 14th
at Farmer City, making him eligible for traveling-driver benefits.
Fuller competed in both weekend events with a
Custom Race Engine under the hood of his John Wight-owned No. 19. Wight gave the
go-ahead for Fuller to purchase a Custom powerplant from Steve Francis during
the recent Colossal 100 weekend at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and
a second brand-new engine was shipped to Fuller from Custom’s Tennessee shop a
few days later.
* It wasn’t a memorable weekend for WoO LMS
standout Shane Clanton, who used a provisional to make the field at Farmer City
and qualified through a B-Main at Kamp.
Clanton salvaged an 11th-place finish
at Kamp, but he finished 21st at Farmer City after breaking a
right-front spindle before the halfway mark.
Clanton’s struggles saw him tumble from third in
the point standings (four points behind) to seventh (58 back).
* Brian Birkhofer appeared primed for his best WoO
LMS outing of the season at Farmer City, but a tangle with Wisconsin’s Terry
Casey caused both drivers to spin into the infield as they battled for third.
At Kamp, Birky finished 10th after
changing his car’s rearend due to a problem that developed as he raced to a
transfer spot in his heat.
* Terry Casey entered both shows, with a 13th-place
at Kamp being his best. He said he’d love to follow the WoO LMS and would likely
do it if he could land a fuel sponsor for his hauler.
Casey is planning to run the next four WoO LMS
events, all of which are part of the ‘Monster Midwest Tour.’
* Eddie Carrier Jr. continued to show some speed,
timing second-fastest at Farmer City and fourth-fastest at Kamp. But that didn’t
translate into strong finishes for the 2006 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year.
The West Virginian spun off the backstretch while
running sixth on the third lap of Farmer City’s A-Main, and he fell from the
third starting spot to a 14th-place finish at Kamp.
* WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Adam Hensel
of Barron, Wis., returned to the tour for the weekend but didn’t have an
enjoyable experience.
The 19-year-old ran into major problems during
heat action at Farmer City, where he rode the turn-three wall after being forced
high. The wild ride left Hensel’s No. 44H with significant damage, including a
bent rear clip.
Hensel, who was accompanied to the races by only
his father and mother, patched the car together for Saturday’s program at Kamp.
He got in the feature thanks to a provisional, but he said after the race that
the bent machine “was the most inconsistent car I’ve ever driven” and in dire
need of frame work when he returned home.
* Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., hauled
his familiar No. 28 to the weekend’s events inside a new trailer he recently
picked up. His finishes of ninth (Farmer City) and eighth (Kamp) made him one of
six drivers who registered top-10s in both A-Mains.
Erb said he expects to hook up with the WoO LMS
again to follow the five-race ‘Monster Midwest Tour’ that runs from May 9-18.
* After suffering through a trip to the Colossal
100 that saw him smash into an inside marker tire during a heat race,
Wisconsin’s Brady Smith saw his fortunes get no better at Farm City. He ran his
time-trial laps on a flat left-rear tire, than saw his night end after
developing fuel-pressure problems during heat action.
Smith didn’t travel on to Kamp on Saturday night,
but on his schedule are WoO LMS ‘Monster Midwest Tour’ events at Davenport
(Iowa) Speedway (May 9), Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wis. (May 12) and
Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway (May 13).
For more information on the World of Outlaws Late
Model Series, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
April 27 - World of Outlaws
LM $10,000 to win
pics from WoO show....click here
Red-Hot Babb Gives The Locals Something To Cheer
About In World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event At Farmer City Raceway
FARMER CITY, IL – April
27, 2007 – Shannon Babb gave the locals what they came to see.
The Moweaqua, Ill.,
native defended his home turf well on Friday night, scoring a powerful
flag-to-flag victory in the ‘Farmer City 50’ at the venerable Farmer City
Raceway.
It was the third win in
the last four World of Outlaws Late Model Series events for Babb, who departed
Farmer City – a quarter-mile fairgrounds oval at which he raced often early in
his career – with sole possession of the tour points lead.
“It’s always nice to win
close to home,” said Babb, who is the only repeat winner this season through
eight WoO LMS A-Mains. “When it’s a big show, it’s even better.”
Babb dominated the
feature, blasting off the outside pole to lead the entire distance in his Car
City/J&J Steel Rayburn No. 18. He was fast enough to stay a step ahead of
three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who made a late bid
but settled for second place in his Banner Valley Hauling Rayburn No. 21.
Josh Richards of
Shinnston, W.Va., finished a distant third in his Mark Richards Racing/Seubert
Calf Ranches Rocket, followed closely by Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., in his
Valvoline Rocket and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., in his J.P. Drilling/Cliburn
Tank Lines GRT.
Babb, 33, actually
battled the testy, springtime track surface more than any single driver to
secure the $10,000 top prize. Storms that ripped through Illinois in the days
leading up to Friday’s program dumped several inches of rain on the Farmer City
area, naturally contributing to the spongy, rough conditions that made the night
a survival test.
“Part of the game was
just keeping your car together and not tearing it up,” commented Babb, who
entered the race expecting the track surface to be an issue. “This early-season
racing (in the Midwest) is like this year after year – you can just count on it,
just like you can count on the heat in August.”
Of course, Babb conceded
that he has a combination that’s well suited for the conditions teams faced on
Friday night.
“These cars really run
well on this type of track,” Babb said of C.J. Rayburn-built dirt Late Models.
“I don’t know if they’re really any better for these conditions than other cars,
or if it’s just the setup we run in ‘em, but something makes them work.”
Babb’s vast experience
at Farmer City told him that he couldn’t race too conservatively, however. The
track won’t allow that strategy.
“There’s no finesse
here,” said Babb. “It’s all stomp-and-steer.”
Babb was at his Farmer
City, full-throttle best in the race’s closing laps, after Moyer, who passed
Francis for second on lap 29, closed within striking distance.
Moyer got as close as a
car’s length to Babb, on lap 40, before Babb turned up the wick and surged
through lapped traffic to triumph by roughly a half-straightaway margin.
“I knew Billy was
there,” said Babb, whose car is owned by Moyer’s father, Billy Moyer Sr. “He
runs super-good on this (heavy) stuff. I just had to keep him behind me, so I
just ran as hard as I needed to go to keep him there. If I needed to step it up,
I could’ve.”
Moyer, 49, knew that
passing Babb would be a difficult chore.
“He gets around this
place as good as anybody in the country,” Moyer said of Babb. “Honestly, my only
shot was if he got caught up behind a lapped car. I think he was only going as
fast as he had to.
“Considering where we
started (seventh), I’m happy to get what we did out of the night.”
The runner-up finish was
Moyer’s second of the season on the WoO LMS. He also owns one victory.
Babb, who entered
Friday’s action tied for the tour points lead with Smith, won the fourth WoO LMS
feature of his career. His only previous win prior to his current two-week
checkered-flag explosion was on Feb. 6, 2004, at Florida’s Volusia Speedway
Park.
Richards, 19, registered
his best WoO LMS finish since winning the 2007 season opener on Feb. 17 at
Volusia Speedway Park. He slipped by Francis for third on lap 43 and repelled
both Francis and Smith over the remaining circuits.
Richards raced most of
the distance with his car’s right-side door caved in and a header broken off –
the result of an early encounter with Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., who also
continued on and finished sixth.
But the biggest problem
for ‘Kid Rocket’ was the frenetic pace and physical nature of the event, which
ran caution-free from lap 17 to the finish.
“I didn’t know the race
was actually over,” said Richards, who never saw the checkered flag displayed
because he was so focused on his battle to keep third place. “But I was glad it
was over. I had some pizza before the race, and I felt like I was gonna throw up
the whole race.
“The pizza was good,” he
added with a smile, “but I ate too much and the track was rough, so that wasn’t
too good on my stomach.”
Francis, 39, ran second
for more than half the distance, but he was a beat off the leaders’ pace when it
counted down the stretch. He saw his winless streak on the WoO LMS stretch to 31
races, dating back to his last win, on May 5, 2006, at Brushcreek Motorsports
Complex in Peebles, Ohio.
“At the end we just got
so tight,” said Francis. “The track was really tough on us.”
Smith, 42, just tried to
finish the distance without getting into any trouble and was successful – to an
extent. While he was satisfied with his fifth-place finish, which left him
second in the point standings (10 points behind Babb), early in the race he was
hit in the helmet by a airborne rock or chunk or mud, stunning him momentarily.
Bloomington, Ill.’s
Billy Drake came from 20th to finish seventh, followed by 16th-starter
Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., 18th-starter Dennis Erb Jr. of
Carpentersville, Ill., and a quiet Rick Eckert of York, Pa.
Three caution flags
slowed the A-Main. The problems included Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.,
spinning off the backstretch while running sixth on lap three; Muscatine, Iowa’s
Brian Birkhofer and New London, Wis.’s Terry Casey tangling in turn three as
they battled for fifth on lap seven; and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.,
breaking a spindle on lap 17.
Forty cars entered the
event, which drew one of the largest crowds in the history of Farmer City
Raceway.
Babb was fastest in time
trials with a lap of 12.646 seconds, which was about three-tenths of a second
off Ryan Dauber’s track record.
Heat winners were Owens,
Carrier, Francis and Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. Wes Steidinger of
Fairbury, Ill., and Erb split the B-Mains.
The WoO LMS continues
its weekend Midwest swing on Saturday night (April 28) at Kamp Motor Speedway in
Boswell, Ind.
Results of WoO Late Model Series (Finishing
Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (2) Shannon Babb/50
$10,000
2. (7) Billy Moyer/50
$5,000
3. (10) Josh Richards/50
$3,000
4. (4) Steve Francis/50
$2,500
5. (9) Clint Smith/50
$2,000
6. (6) Jimmy Owens/50
$2,200
7. (20) Billy Drake/50
$1,400
8. (16) Brian Shirley/50
$1,300
9. (18) Dennis Erb
Jr./50 $1,200
10. (11) Rick Eckert/50
$1,100
11. (13) Darrell
Lanigan/50 $1,050
12. (12) Chris Madden/49
$1,000
13. (15) Chub Frank/49
$950
14. (8) Eddie Carrier
Jr./49 $900
15. (14) Tim Fuller/49
$1,100
16. (24) John
Blankenship/39 $800
17. (1) Jason Feger/39
$770
18. (21) Eric Smith/36
$750
19. (3) Brian
Birkhofer/33 $730
20. (17) Wes
Steidinger/26 $700
21. (23) Shane
Clanton/26 $700
22. (25) Darren
Friedman/16 $700
23. (5) Terry Casey/14
$700
24. (22) Joe Harlan/14
$700
25. (19) Kevin Weaver/3
$700
Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 3,
7, 17)
Lap Leaders: Babb (1-50)
Rookie of the Race: Tim
Fuller ($250)
WoO Bonus Bucks Winner:
Jimmy Owens ($500)
Time Trial Results
(Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 18-Shannon
Babb/Moweaqua, IL 12.646
2. 28-Eddie Carrier
Jr./Salt Rock, WV 12.666
3. 42-Terry Casey/New
London, WI 12.782
4. 15b-Brian
Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 12.801
5. 20-Jimmy
Owens/Newport, TN 12.835
6. 21-Billy
Moyer/Batesville, AR 12.874
7. 15-Steve
Francis/Ashland, KY 12.887
8. 25x-Jason
Feger/Bloomington, IL 12.926
9. 29-Darrell
Lanigan/Union, KY 12.964
10. 1-Josh
Richards/Shinnston, WV 12.967
11. 9d-Billy
Drake/Bloomington, IL 12.992
12. 44M-Chris
Madden/Gray Court, SC 13.004
13. 44-Clint
Smith/Senoia, GA 13.034
14. 9-Eric
Smith/Bloomington, IL 13.039
15. 28e-Dennis Erb
Jr./Carpentersville, IL 13.045
16. 88-Terry
Babb/Decatur, IL 13.065
17. J1-Wes
Steidinger/Fairbury, IL 13.098
18. B12-Kevin
Weaver/Gibson City, IL 13.113
19. S10-JR
Shickel/Bloomington, IL 13.125
20. 1W-Donnie
Walden/Towanda, IL 13.153
21. 64-Ryan Dauber/Tonica,
IL 13.218
22. 24-Rick Eckert/York,
PA 13.221
23. 44H-Adam Hensel/Barron,
WI 13.232
24. 25-Shane
Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 13.235
25. 27-Jeff Beyers/Pana,
IL 13.272
26. 19-Tim
Fuller/Watertown, NY 13.301
27. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear
Lake, PA 13.318
28. 3s-Brian
Shirley/Chatham, IL 13.320
29. 24x-Ryan Unzicker/El
Paso, IL 13.628
30. 83-Scott
Bull/Fairbury, IL 13.660
31. 23-John
Blankenship/Williamson, WV 13.700
32. Z-Joe Harlan/El
Paso, IL 13.706
33. 1M-Mike Mataragas/Dekalb,
IL 13.737
34. 16-Nick Macklin/Oreana,
IL 14.184
35. 1G-Rocky
Griffin/Bloomington, IL 14.248
36. 14k-Kenny Adams/El
Paso, IL 14.381
37. 15x-Lisa
Shickel/Bloomington, IL 14.422
38. 4-Cody
Bauman/Eureka, IL 14.451
39. 2-Brady Smith/Solon
Springs, WI 15.468
40. 89-Darren
Friedman/Forrest, IL N/T
Heat No. 1 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer):
Owens, S. Babb, C. Smith, Lanigan,
Steidinger, Dauber, Clanton, Unzicker, Mataragas, L. Shickel
Heat No. 2 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer):
Carrier, Moyer, Richards, Fuller,
Weaver, E. Smith, Bull, Macklin, Bauman, Beyers
Heat No. 3 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer):
Francis, Casey, Eckert, Frank, Erb,
Blankenship, B. Smith, Drake, Griffin, JR Shickel
Heat No. 4 (10 laps - Top 4 Transfer):
Feger, Birkhofer, Madden, Shirley,
Harlan, Walden, T. Babb, Friedman, Adams, Hensel
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer):
Steidinger, Weaver, E. Smith, Clanton,
Dauber, Unzicker, Mataragas, Bull, Macklin, Bauman, L. Schickel (DNS) Beyers
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer):
Erb, Drake, Harlan, Blankenship, T.
Babb, Walden, Griffin, Friedman, Hensel, JR Shickel (DNS) B. Smith, Adams
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point
Standings (after 8 features):
1. Shannon Babb 1,118
2. Clint Smith 1,108
3. Rick Eckert 1,090
4. Steve Francis 1,082
5. Josh Richards 1,078
6. Shane Clanton 1,072
7. Chub Frank 1,070
8. Chris Madden 1,035
9. Darrell Lanigan 1,028
10. Brian Birkhofer 980
11. Eddie Carrier Jr.
937
12. Tim Fuller (rookie)
931
13. Jimmy Mars 924
14. Billy Moyer 920
15. John Blankenship 687
16. Brian Shirley 603
17. Eric Jacobsen 559
18. Billy Decker
(rookie) 536
19. Earl Pearson Jr. 519
20. Adam Hensel (rookie)
510
LISTEN ONLINE:
If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the
excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com
through the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free
audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio
Network logo.
Listeners will need
Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For
technical support or questions, e-mail [email protected].
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is
brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including
contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Hawk
Brake, MSD Ignition and Eibach Springs.
World of Outlaws Late Model
Series ‘At A Glance’: Farmer City Raceway & Kamp Motor Speedway
CONCORD, NC – April 26, 2007 –
WHAT:
* The World of Outlaws Late Model Series heads to
the Midwest for the first time in 2007 for a doubleheader at Farmer City (Ill.)
Raceway on Friday (April 27) and Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind., on
Saturday (April 28).
Friday night’s ‘Farmer City 50’ and Saturday
night’s ‘Boswell Brawl 50’ will each pay $10,000 to win and offer a total purse
of $50,000.
WHEN:
* Farmer City Raceway’s pit gates are scheduled to
open at 4 p.m. on Friday, with hot laps set for 6:30 p.m. and qualifying to
begin at 7 p.m.
On Saturday at Kamp Motor Speedway, pit gates are
scheduled to open at 3 p.m., with spectator gates being unlocked at 5 p.m.
Practice will begin at 6 p.m., followed by qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE:
* Farmer City Raceway is a quarter-mile
fairgrounds oval operated by third-year promoter Don Hammer. The track is
located off Exit 159 of I-74 – take SR 54 .6 of a mile south, then go west .7 of
a mile on US 150 to the DeWitt County Fairgrounds.
A drive of just over 100 miles slightly to the
northeast will bring the teams to Saturday night’s show at Kamp Motor Speedway,
a three-eighths-mile oval that has been completely refurbished since its
purchase in June 2002 by Bob and Gayle Kamp. The track is located across the
Illinois/Indiana border in Boswell, Ind. – go 1.8 miles east of US 41 on SR 352,
then .4 of a mile south on 100 W.
TICKETS:
* General admission tickets for the ‘Farmer City
50’ are $25, with children (6-12) $10 and kids 5 and under free of charge. Pit
passes are $35, with ages 4-10 charged $15 and kids 3 and under free.
* For Kamp’s ‘Boswell Brawl 50,’ general admission
is $25 for adults and $15 for youths (11-15), with children under 10 free. Pit
passes are $35, with children 10-and-under admitted for $15 and kids 3-and-under
free.
MORE INFORMATION:
* Farmer City Raceway: visit
www.farmercityraceway.net or call 309-928-9110 or 217-737-7134.
* Kamp Motor Speedway: visit
www.kampmotorspeedway.com or call 765-742-8494 (office) or 765-869-5212
(track).
PREVIOUS WoO LMS WINNERS:
* The only WoO LMS event that has been run at
Farmer City Raceway was won by Billy Moyer, on Aug. 14, 2006. It was actually
the tour’s third visit of the 2006 season to the track; the first two attempts
to race were rained out.
* This will be the WoO LMS’s first-ever appearance
at Kamp Motor Speedway. An event was scheduled for the track in May 2006, but it
was canceled by foul weather and not made up.
LOCAL FLAVOR:
* The lion’s share of fans’ attention during the
Midwest doubleheader will be focused upon popular central Illinois native
Shannon Babb, a resident of Moweaqua who cut his racing eye teeth competing at
Farmer City Raceway. The ‘Moweaqua Missile,’ who has also won at Kamp Motor
Speedway in the past, is the hottest driver on the WoO LMS circuit, winning
twice in the last three events and sharing the points lead entering the weekend
with Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.
DRIVERS EXPECTED:
* Joining Babb and Smith in search of WoO LMS
points in the two events will be the tour’s all-star cast that includes
19-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who won the tour’s season opener
on Feb. 17 at Volusia Speedway Park; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Chub
Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Steve Francis of
Ashland, Ky.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; 2006 tour Rookie of the Year Eddie
Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va.; Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., the runner-up
in last weekend’s Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway in Concord, N.C., who will make his first career start at both tracks;
Jimmy Mars of Menominee, Wis.; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa; John
Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va.; and tour Rookie of the Year contenders Tim
Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and Adam Hensel of Barron, Wis.
* Three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of
Batesville, Ark., is planning to compete in both events. Other regional
standouts with the same intentions include Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., who
finished third in last weekend’s Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., Brian Shirley of
Chatham, Ill., Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., and Terry Casey of New
London, Wis.
* A strong group of local stars will join the
fields at each track. Some of the drivers to watch include Farmer City’s
opening-night winner and defending track champion Wes Steidinger, Kamp’s
season-opener winner Mike Mataragas, Steve Sheppard Jr., Ryan Dauber, Jason
Feger, Eric Smith, Matt Taylor, Rich Hedrick, Kevin Weaver, Frank Heckenast Jr.,
Dan Walden, Dick Potts and Eddie Liviner.
EXTRA CASH:
* The influx of regional and local standouts who
compete in the three programs will have some extra cash to chase in both events.
In each of the swing’s A-Mains, the
highest-finishing driver who is not ranked among the current top-12 in the WoO
LMS point standings and has never won a WoO feature will receive a $500 ‘Bonus
Bucks’ award.
LISTEN ON THE INTERNET:
* There will not be a DIRT Radio Network internet
broadcast of Friday night’s action from Farmer City Raceway due to internet
concerns, but Saturday night’s action at Kamp Motor Speedway will be broadcast
live.
To listen to the free audio broadcast, log on to
www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.
Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or
higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. Those who sign up for a free
membership can enjoy advanced features while listening to the races, such as
text chat and live scoring via AMB.it.
WoO LMS ON TELEVISION:
* Six World of Outlaws Late Model Series events
this season will be televised on the SPEED cable network. The first two one-hour
broadcasts are set to air on Sun., May 20, at 2 p.m. (Virginia Motor Speedway’s
‘Rumble on the River III’ from April 14) and Sun., May 27, at 12:30 p.m.
(Lernerville Speedway’s ‘Showdown in Sarvertown’ from April 17).
World of Outlaws Sprint car action, meanwhile,
will be televised a total of 20 times this year on SPEED and ESPN2, starting on
Sun., May 13, when fans can watch the event that was taped on April 13 at Ohio’s
Eldora Speedway.
2007 360 OTC World of Outlaws
Late Model Series Point Standings After 4 events (Rank-Driver-Wins-Top 5s-Top
10s-Earnings-Points-Deficit):
1. (tie) Shannon Babb 2-4-5-$31,500-968
1. (tie) Clint Smith 0-2-5-$15,600-968
3. Shane Clanton 0-2-4-$15,900-964 (-4)
4. Rick Eckert 0-2-4-$14,320-960 (-8)
5. Chub Frank 0-2-5-$10,680-946 (-22)
6. Steve Francis 0-4-5-$16,200-940 (-28)
7. Josh Richards 1-1-3-$17,540-934 (-34)
8. Jimmy Mars 0-3-4-$14,230-924 (-44)
9. Chris Madden 1-3-5-$36,710-909 (-59)
10. Darrell Lanigan 0-0-4-$10,480-900 (-68)
11. Brian Birkhofer 0-0-2-$8,430-868 (-100)
12. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-0-1-$6,890-815 (-153)
13. Tim Fuller (rookie) 0-0-0-$6,260-811 (-157)
14. Billy Moyer 1-2-2-$17,825-774 (-194)
15. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$4,940-569 (-399)
16. Eric Jacobsen 0-0-1-$3,060-559 (-409)
17. Billy Decker (rookie) 0-0-0-$2,070-536 (-432)
18. Earl Pearson Jr. 1-2-3-$14,610-519 (-449)
19. Chris Wall 0-0-2-$4,020-497 (-471)
20. Brian Shirley 0-0-1-$4,620-469 (-499)
The World of Outlaws Late
Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and
partners, including contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Ohlins Shocks,
Quarter-Master, Hawk Brake, Eibach Springs and MSD Ignitions.
Shannon Babb Returns To Farmer
City Raceway On Fri., April 27 Sitting Atop World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Point Standings
FARMER CITY, IL – April 22, 2007 –
What a homecoming it will be for Shannon Babb.
When the Moweaqua, Ill., star drives into Farmer
City Raceway on Fri., April 27, for World of Outlaws Late Model Series action,
he’ll be the man sitting atop the national tour’s point standings.
Babb, 33, is tied for the WoO LMS points lead with
Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., but he holds the tie-breaker advantage thanks to his
two feature wins.
No driver has been hotter through the first seven
events of the 360 OTC WoO LMS campaign than Babb, who became the tour’s first
repeat winner in 2007 with back-to-back triumphs at Virginia Motor Speedway on
April 14 and Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on April 17. He also finished
fifth in Saturday night’s Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s
Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., despite being hampered by front bodywork damage
for more than half the distance.
With Babb now contemplating chasing the entire WoO
LMS schedule because he’s gotten off to such a superb start, a visit to familiar
turf for the ‘Farmer City 50’ just might be the final push he needs to make a
run at becoming the tour’s first-ever champion from Illinois.
“Having a local guy like Shannon running strong in
a national series will be great for local support (on April 27),” said Don
Hammer, Farmer City Raceway’s third-year promoter. “Shannon has such a big fan
following in central Illinois, but that’s no surprise. As far as being a great
driver and likeable person, there’s no one better than Shannon.
“He’s just a regular guy, and that’s why the fans
flock to him so much.”
There’s no doubt that the Farmer City locals will
focus most of their attention Friday night on Babb, who cut his racing eye teeth
at the quarter-mile oval. The track was one of his regular haunts when he began
his career driving UMP-type Modifieds in 1991.
“A lot of local fans complain that they don’t get
to see me race very often, so it’s gonna be exciting to run in front of them,”
said Babb, who has won the last two UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals titles.
“We try to roll in there a few times every year when we have some openings in
our schedule, but I like it when a big show comes to town.”
Babb knows what kind of competition Farmer City
can produce.
“For a small track, it’s action-packed,” said
Babb. “You can maneuver all over the track. More than likely, at this time of
year, it’s gonna be real good racing.
“As long as the weather holds off, it’s gonna be
full-throttle racing. It’ll be real tough to win. There’s a lot of strong local
guys who run good there, and one of them can even win it.”
Of course, Babb has to rank as the favorite to
pocket the A-Main’s $10,000 top prize. He was stout in last year’s inaugural WoO
LMS event at Farmer City, but a cut tire seconds after he took the lead
relegated him to an 11th-place finish.
“Anyplace you go where you’ve got a lot of laps,
you’ve got some advantage,” said Babb. “A lot of those (local) guys don’t have a
lot of laps yet and we’ve been running quite a bit, so I feel pretty confident
about it.”
The top 14 drivers in the current WoO LMS point
standings are expected to enter the ‘Farmer City 50,’ including last year’s
event winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.
A strong contingent of regional and local drivers
will take on the Outlaws, including Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., Jimmy Owens
of Newport, Tenn., Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and Farmer City
standouts like defending track champion Wes Steidinger, Steve Sheppard Jr., Ryan
Dauber, Jason Feger, Eric Smith, Matt Taylor and Rich Hedrick.
Pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. on
Friday, with hot laps set for 6:30 p.m. and qualifying to begin at 7 p.m.
For more information call the track at
309-928-9110 or 217-737-7134.
The Farmer City event kicks off a two-day Midwest
weekend for the WoO LMS, which also visit Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind.,
on Saturday (April 28).
More info on the World of Outlaws Late Model
Series is available by logging on to
www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Farmer City Raceway (IL)
April 20, 2007
by: Racenut
Twenty five late models showed up Friday night April 20, 2007 with Donnie
Walden turning in fast time at 12.585 seconds. The first heat went to Russ
Scheffler over Walden and Darren Friedman. The second heat went to young Scott
Bull over Eric Smith and Chris Dick. The third heat went to Jr Shickel over
Rocky Griffin and Jeff Beyers. The semi feature went to Charlie Hess over Butch
Smit. The feature started with Scheffler on the pole and Bull on the outside.
Bull jumped to the lead at the drop of the green flag and was never seriously
challenged. There were two cautions to bunch up the field, but Bull, in only his
first full season in a late model, handled it all like a seasoned veteran. The
checkers fell with Bull a full straightaway over Scheffler, Eric Smith, Jr
Shickel, Donnie Walden, Steve Lance Jr, Rocky Griffin, Darren Friedman, Brian
Diveley,Tim Lance, Lisa Shickel, Jeff Beyers, Roger Brickler, Chris Dick, Butch
Smith, Charlie Hess and Jimmy Felker Jr. His very first ever late model feature
win puts Bull in the local points lead by one point over Eric Smith.
The modified feature once again went to Jeff Leka, followed by Marty Hiser,
Gary Cook Jr, Lance Dehm and Kyle Logue.
The sportsman feature went to Shane Tomlin followed by Greg Kimmons, Jeffrey
Leka, Justin Delong and Wes Odell.
The street stock feature went to Travis Johnson, Donald Beyers, Jim Quinn,
Greg Brewer and Terry Miller.
04-13-07
Racenut took the night off due to the cold weather.....
Thanks to DeeDee for the Report from the bus in turn
2
Racenut, I thought you
were going to miss it...a track record...Feger was flying and in the end did tie
the track record. There was a heater on the bus so I was happy. There were 33
Late models, 43 modifieds, 24 sportsman and 1 rough race track. There was a big
rut in the middle of turn 1 and turn 3. Kudos to the track workers for doing a
great job, they kept working the track but I think it has just been to cold and
rainy lately for the dirt to cooperate. There were 33 Late Models, 43 Modifieds,
24 Sportsman, and 25 Street Stocks. You did miss some great racing.
In a strange twist, the late model races were some of the longest of the night
with several cautions. In heat 2 the 81 car of Greg Smith was in flames for 2-3
laps when he had a fuel cell leak. I am not sure he knew it when he finally
stopped. He was OK. The late model feature was awesome to watch! The top five
kept changing and in one lap Justin Allgaier went from 2 to 5. It was very
competitive and I wasn't sure Steidinger was going to be able to hold off Dauber
or Taylor.
I thought it was awesome the Justin DeLong won the Sportsman special feature. He
has visited the bus in turn 2 before and is a very nice young man. Great way to
start off his season. There was some great racing in this one between DeLong,
Greg Kimmons, and Darrell Dick.
The modified heat races were really good with very few cautions. I had to miss
the modified feature becasue that's when the kids on the bus decided we needed
to take a field trip to get some kettle korn, which was quite tasty.
The Street Stock feature was won by JJ Miller and the track was really rough at
this point. Cars were literally bouncing around the track. I was getting motion
sickness just watching, can't imagine driving in it. There were four cautions.
The street stock heats were really good with Nick Vandenberh and Jim Quinn
winning in camaros and Terry Miller winning by a landslide in his monte carlo.
Other news from the night, there was also a moment of silence for Ronnie Joslin
who passed away in December and had been involved in local dirt racing for over
50 years. There is a new track photographer
and her website is
http://www.brickeypp.com
Thats a recap from the bus in turn 2 for this week.
Farmer City Raceway
April 13, 2007
Opening night at Farmer City Raceway was a very chilly night. So cold that this
reporter missed opening night for the first time since 1980. The following
results are from various sources. With 33 late models in the pits, Jason Feger
tied the current track record in late model time trials. Heat races went to
Justin Allgaier over Jason Feger in a very exciting first heat over Ryan
Unzicker and Jeff Beyers. The second heat went to Wes Steidinger over Frank
Heckenast Jr, Don Cisco III and Cody Watters. The third heat went to Frank
Shickel Jr over Matt Taylor, Eric Smith and Brian Diveley. The final heat went
to Ryan Dauber over Kevin Weaver, Rusty Schlenk and Tim Lance. There were 125
total cars on hand. The semi feature went to Chris Dick over Derek Chandler and
Scott Bull. The feature turned out to be a real barn-burner with Wes Steidinger
taking the well deserved win over Ryan Dauber, Matt Taylor, Jason Feger, Justin
Allgaier, Eric Smith, Ryan Unzicker and Rusty Schlenk.
The modified feature went to Jeff Leka over Matt Goulden, Gary Cook Jr and Randy
Huffman.
The sportsman feature went to Justin DeLong over Greg Kimmons, Jimmy Dehm and
Darrell Dick.
The street stock feature went to JJ Miller over Jim Quinn, Donald Beyers and Bob
Simpson.
Next Friday, April 20 will be a full show with all four classes listed above,
plus the hornets.
04-06-07 Cancelled due to
extreme cold weather
The practice for 3-25 has
been cancelled due to rain
2007....full
schedule scroll down....
April 27 - World of Outlaws LM $10,000 to win
June 22 - UMP DIRTcar Summernationals LM $10,000 to win & Circles of Hope
Benefit
2007 Schedule
**SCHEDULE IS TENTATIVE
*FULL SHOW CONSISTS OF: UMP LATE MODELS, UMP MODIFIEDS,
UMP SPORTSMAN AND UMP STREET STOCK
3/25 OPEN PRACTICE (12-4)
4/1 OPEN PRACTICE (12-4)
4/6 OPENING NIGHT
4/13 FULL SHOW
4/20 FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
4/27 WoO LATE MODELS $10,000 TO WIN PLUS MODIFIEDS & STREET STOCKS
5/4 FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
5/11 FULL SHOW
5/18 FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT $5 ADMISSION *FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
5/25 QUARTER MIDGET NIGHT *FULL SHOW
6/1 $1000 TO WIN TOPLESS MODIFIEDS *FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
6/8 FULL SHOW
6/15 SCOUT NIGHT *FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
6/22 *UMP SUMMER NATIONALS $10,000 TO WIN PLUS MODIFIEDS & STREET
STOCKS
6/29 FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
7/6 FULL SHOW
7/13 FAN APPRICIATION NIGHT $5 ADMISSION *FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
7/18 FAIR NIGHT W/ GRAIN TRUCK RACES AND OTHER CLASSES T.B.A
7/19 FAIR NIGHT ** DEMO DERBY PROMOTED BY TRUSPEED INC.
7/20 FAIR NIGHT * FULL SHOW
7/27 $2000 TO WIN TOPLESS L/M PLUS FULL SHOW
8/3 FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
8/10 FULL SHOW
8/17 FULL SHOW PLUS HORNETS
8/24 POWDER PUFF RACES PLUS FULL SHOW
8/31 FARMER CITY 50 $5000 TO WIN L/M PLUS FULL SHOW
9/7 NO RACES (WORLD 100)
9/14 $1500 TO WIN 4 CYLINDER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP |
