Mike Spatola
Mike McKinney
Kyle Anderson
Tommy Duncan
Chris Tippit
Results | Story & Pictures by Rocky Ragusa
Slide jobs, last lap passes, and three and four wide racing. It was just another typical Saturday evening at the Fairbury Speedway. Tool’s Auto Sales and Detailing, along with Hotrod Septic Treatment, presented the action that saw Mike Spatola (Late Model), Mike McKinney (Modified), Kyle Anderson (Stock Car), Tommy Duncan (Sportsman), Chris Tippit (Hobby Mod), and Hagen Langley (KidModz) make their way to the winner’s circle.
Metamora’s Jay Sparks turned a lap at 13.120 seconds giving the veteran campaigner fast time as 24 Late Model drivers vied for a starting position in their 30-lap race. Three heat races saw Jeffrey Ledford, Kevin Weaver, and Eric Smith taking the wins. Scott Schmitt, in a new ride, earned his way into the feature by winning the b-main. Starting on the inside of the second row, Smith snuck into the lead with Ledford in close pursuit. Both wheelmen exchanged track position with slide jobs, before Ledford was able to settle in as the race leader. Track points leader Mike Spatola took second on the 14th lap and cut into Ledford’s straightaway lead. Once on Ledford’s bumper, both drivers tried slide jobs on each other with neither able to gain a clear-cut advantage. On the white flag lap, Spatola slid Ledford, making it stick, and crossed the line for his fifth FALS Cup win. Mike Mataragas finished in third, with Smith, Weaver, 16th starter Schmitt, Derek Chandler, Sparks, and Logan Moody in the top ten. “I am worn out after that race,” an exhausted Spatola commented. “Fairbury breeds some great drivers. I had better get these wins, because Jeffrey is going to be tough to beat. I shot the moon on that last lap. My car got tight. I didn’t know if I needed to slide him or leave him room.”
Debuting a new MBR chassis, Pontiac’s Michael Ledford clipped a lap of 13.983 seconds as 23 Modified drivers looked to take home a FALS Cup trophy. Three heat races saw Steven Brooks, Nick Allen, and Mike McKinney taking the wins. Polesitter Brooks led the first two laps of the race before McKinney took the lead and checked out on his competition. Ledford and Nick Seplak had a tremendous battle for second place exchanging the position back and forth before Ledford took the runner-up spot on the last lap. Brooks was fourth, AJ Meiferdt charged through the field from his 16th starting position for fifth. The rest of the top ten were Treb Jacoby, Nick Clubb, Caden McWhorter, Nash Hilmes, and Mark Brucker.
Currently second in DIRTcar Stock Car national points, Attica, Indiana racer Megan Erwin’s time of 15.807 seconds gave her fast time over 17 other drivers. Track points leader Adam Williams and Kyle Anderson took heat race wins. Williams led the field to the green flag as Anderson had to fend off a challenge from Don Hilleary in a battle for second. Anderson was able to break away from Hilleary and closed to within a car length of Williams before a caution fell on lap six. On the restart, Anderson overtook Williams for the lead and turned back repeated challenges from Williams to take his first win of the year. “Adam is a great competitor,” Anderson said. “I knew I could race him clean and we had a hard-fought race.” Williams settled for second, followed by Austin Hubbard, Joe Brown, Cody Clubb, Michael Schomas, Hilleary, Josh Hetherington, and 17th starter Erwin.
Fairbury’s Lyndon Whitfill led 13 other CR Towing Sportsman competitors in qualifying with a lap of 14.824 seconds. Freshman driver Landen Miller and Springfield area racer Wes Odell won their respective heat races. Starting in the third position in the 15-lap feature, points leader Tommy Duncan overtook Miller and Odell on the start and pulled away from the field in recording his fifth Fairbury win of the season. Miller and Whitfill dueled each other all race long before Whitfill edged Miller on the last lap for second. Jim Farley, Joel Ortberg, Ken Kelley, Dan Flessner, Shane Kelley, Makinzi Semmens, and Tom Davidson completed the top ten. “We had a good car tonight,” spoke Duncan. “We will keep working on it and try to make it faster.”
14 Hobby Mod drivers took to the ¼ mile dirt oval in time trials for their 12-lap feature race. Roselawn, Indiana driver Chris Tippit set fast time with a lap of 15.146 seconds. Luke Gebhardt and Ty Stutzman won their respective heat races. Tippit took the lead on the start leading all the way in claiming his second straight win. Michael Pockrus finished in second, followed by Mike Petersen, Sawyer Prosser, and Ryan Kohler. Jake Green, Scott McDonald, Jace Gall, Payton Semmens, and Stutzman rounded out the top ten. “This is the third night out in our new car,” Tippit said. “I am just trying to get seat time and figure it out. So far so good.”
The Kid Modz Racing Series brought two entries for a 10-lap feature race. Brenden Heizer took the heat race. Hagen Langley took the lead at the halfway mark to earn the victory. Langley, 9 years old, is the current series points leader in a class designed for drivers 8-16 years of age looking to further their racing careers.