Ryan Unzicker

Mike McKinney

Nick Clubb

Drake Compton

Jake Momper

Results | Points

Late Models (22 entries)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 3. 21B-Rich Bell[7]; 4. 8L-Jeffrey Ledford[10]; 5. 38J-Jake Little[3]; 6. 14-Caden McWhorter[5]; 7. H6-Tim Hanley[20]; 8. M27-Mike Provenzano[11]; 9. 7S-Morgan Staggs[14]; 10. B12-Kevin Weaver[2]

Modifieds (26 entries)
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[5]; 2. 89-Austin Friedman[1]; 3. 5SB-Steven Brooks[7]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger[6]; 5. 18L-Michael Long[9]; 6. 110-Landen Miller[11]; 7. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[8]; 8. 25W-Allen Weisser[12]; 9. 12-Jeff Curl[10]; 10. 36-Eric Vaughan[15]

Stock Cars (16 entries)
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 22-Nick Clubb[4]; 2. 41-Kyle Anderson[2]; 3. 9-Joe Brown[9]; 4. 818-Matthew Hammond[1]; 5. 21-Zane Reitz[3]; 6. 27G-Jace Gall[7]; 7. 23-Cody Clubb[6]; 8. 23T-Rick Thomas[8]; 9. 27-Eric Legner[10]; 10. 23D-Bailey Downey[16]

Pro Mods (17 entries)
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 3C-Drake Compton[2]; 2. 32-Mason Duncan[1]; 3. H28-David Henderson[4]; 4. 215-Jake Montgomery[3]; 5. 99G-Liam Gray[6]; 6. 24M-Matt Milner[10]; 7. 15T-Taryn Page[7]; 8. 37S-Randy Schoener[5]; 9. 99B-Jake Borth[9]; 10. X75-Dylan Turpin[12]

Bang Bangers (24 entries)
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 43-Jake Momper[3]; 2. 96-Jacob Reiter[12]; 3. 44F-Styven Fanning[8]; 4. 11X-Mike Cunz[4]; 5. 51-Shawn Fanning[10]; 6. B66-Ben McChristy[5]; 7. 8UP-Richie Yost[9]; 8. 44E-Evan Eckhoff[14]; 9. 21M-Joe McChristy[7]; 10. 70R-Matt Radtke[6]

Brandon Sheppard

Brandon Sheppard

Cole Falloway

Falloway Dominates Summit Modified Nationals

Results | Story by Spence Smithback | Pictures by Rocky Ragusa

It’s starting to feel like old times again for Rocket1 Racing and Brandon Sheppard.

The most dominant pairing in the history of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision won 71 races and four championships in an incredible five-year stretch from 2017 to 2021. After going their separate ways for two seasons before reuniting in 2025, nights like Saturday prove that Sheppard and Mark Richards still have a lot left in the tank.

The New Berlin, IL native won the Prairie Dirt Classic for the fourth time in his career, marking his first crown jewel win in the Rocket house car since the last time he won his home state’s biggest race in 2022. Sheppard’s 90th Series win was also his 128th national-touring triumph, which broke the tie with Scott Bloomquist and made Sheppard the winningest driver in the combined history of the World of Outlaws and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

Sheppard’s road to the record involved getting around a driver looking for his first big league triumph. MD3 Rookie of the Year contender Trey Mills won a preliminary Showdown Feature on Friday and drew the Bilstein Pole for the big show on Saturday, and held off some of the biggest stars in Late Model racing for the first 63 laps. But as Mills’ tires started to fade in the second half of the race, the trio of Sheppard, Bobby Pierce and Hudson O’Neal saw their chance to pounce.

Sheppard found some grip on the low side while Mills continued to pound the cushion like he had been doing all race long, and one bobble up high gave Sheppard enough room to clear Mills exiting Turn 2. With slower traffic approaching on the bottom, Sheppard had no choice but to go back to the top and slide up in front of Mills in Turn 3 to seal the position.

Even after losing the lead, Mills remained in the hunt for a top-five finishing position for a few more laps until his right-rear tire finally gave out with 18 laps remaining. His night wasn’t over though, as the crew put on some fresh rubber and Mills wheeled his way back up to 11th at the checkered flag.

Up front, a rash of cautions meant Sheppard struggled to build any momentum out front. The ensuing restarts also meant Pierce and O’Neal had plenty of chances to make a bid for the top spot. Their last chance came after Ricky Thornton Jr. pounded the backstretch wall with four to go, but once again, no one could stop Sheppard from sealing the deal and earning the $50,000 top prize.

“You’ve kind of got to wait for a little while until the track starts to slow down, and then it gets to a point where there’s three lanes out there and you can run all over it,” Sheppard said. “You’ve got to make the right moves when it comes to that part of the race. Late in the race, when it gets slick and I can really run that momentum line like I do, you know, I passed those guys in basically the middle-bottom in [Turns] 1 and 2. Caution came out immediately, and I’m like, ‘Now what do I do? I don’t know where to be at.’ I just stuck to the old faithful line that I always seem to be pretty good with here, especially when I’m out front, and it definitely paid off.”

O’Neal came up one spot short of joining Jonathan Davenport and Kyle Larson as the third different driver to win the PDC in the K&L Rumley Enterprises No. 6. Pierce finished third in his first weekend with his father and crew chief, Bob Pierce, back at the track after his stroke on July 15. Trailing the podium were Nick Hoffman and Tim McCreadie in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Falloway Dominates Summit Modified Nationals

Results | Story by Jordan DeLucia | Pictures by Rocky Ragusa

Cole Falloway has already won several big races in his young career. But there was one on his bucket list that he had been eying since becoming one of the top DIRTcar UMP Modified drivers in the nation — the Prairie Dirt Classic.

On Saturday night, the 23-year-old Kentucky native punched through to Victory Lane on Fairbury Speedway’s biggest stage of the year, leading all 40 circuits around the iconic Illinois 1/4-mile racetrack to bank the $5,000 check and his fifth career DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature win.

“I’ve wanted this thing. I haven’t raced it a whole lot, but I knew it would just be a cool one to win with the amount of people here, the eyes on this race and everything,” Falloway said. “It’s one that I wanted, for sure.

“Anything you win here at Fairbury — it’s always tough to win here. There’s so many good cars and everything. It’s up there with a few really big ones that I’ve won. One of the top three, for sure.”

Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. Merrill Downey Memorial. Mega 100. Plowboy Nationals. Troutman Memorial. Falloway’s list of marquee event wins in the DIRTcar UMP Modified world is rapidly expanding and now features a trophy from one of Illinois’ most prestigious motorsports events.

From outside of the front row, Falloway jumped to the lead on the opening lap, powering around the outside of Trevor Neville through Turns 1 and 2. The race’s first caution flag with 12 laps complete restacked the field and put Neville and three-time Fairbury track champion Michael Ledford on Falloway’s rear bumper for the restart.

Ledford got a strong restart on the top side of the track and pulled ahead of Neville to take second at the flag stand to complete Lap 13. Damian Kiefer and Ricky Thornton Jr. got by Neville around the halfway point to move into positions three and four and set their sights on Ledford in second. When Ledford stumbled out of Turn 2 on Lap 28, Kiefer and Thornton both went by in Turn 3 to take the podium spots.

A second caution flag flew one lap later, restacking the field once more and erasing the lead of over two-and-a-half seconds Falloway had built.

“I got hung up in some of that lapped traffic, but I knew I still had a decent lead, so I was kind of okay either way — getting back out of lapped traffic with a yellow or just staying in it,” Falloway said. “I got through like three of them there before that yellow, and I felt like I could put a decent cushion between me and whoever was behind me.”

Falloway picked up the throttle on the restart and resumed his drive through the middle groove on the track. Kiefer gave him a challenge to the inside through Turns 1 and 2 but was unable to get close enough to make a move as Falloway began to speed away in the closing laps.

“I saw Curtis (crew member), he had the sticks opened up a decent amount, and I felt like I was making pretty good laps and pretty good speed there through the middle,” Falloway said. “I just tried to watch him, and if he moved me, I knew there were some good cars behind me that could’ve made speed either around the bottom or the top. So, I just tried to keep making speed like I was through the middle and keep an eye on him in case he did try to move me.”

Uncontested in the final circuits, Falloway crossed underneath the checkered flag to seal the victory with Ledford getting back to second, Kiefer in third, Thornton in fourth and Tyler Nicely rounding out the top five.

Jason Feger

Sam Seawright

Brandon Sheppard

Trey Mills

Tyler Nicely

Mike McKinney

Ricky Thornton Jr.

Trevor Neville

Nicely, McKinney, Thornton Jr., Neville Claim Modified Showdown Victories

Results | Story by Spence Smithback | Pictures by Rocky Ragusa

Sixteen drivers have punched their ticket into the 2026 running of the Prairie Dirt Classic.

Friday’s program at Fairbury Speedway featured four $5,000-to-win Showdowns for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision won by Jason Feger, Sam Seawright, Brandon Sheppard and Trey Mills.

Showdown 1

The “High Side Hustler” lived up to his name on Friday, as Feger jumped out to the early lead and remained committed to the cushion with pressure from behind from Dallon Murty and Ricky Thornton Jr.

A flurry of cautions halted the momentum in the second half of the race, but the finish turned out to be worth the wait. With three laps remaining, Thornton used a strong run off Turn 2 to send it to the inside of Feger in Turn 3 and try the slide job. The move cleared, but Feger turned down and used the crossover to go side-by-side down the frontstretch under the two-to-go signal. Feger nosed out in front through Turns 1 and 2 and drove the No. 25F deep into Turn 3 to clear Thornton and take the lead for good.

“Man, this feels good,” Feger said. “We were the only one out there on a hard right-rear tire, and those yellows were killing me. I felt like every time I would get in a good rhythm there was another yellow, another yellow. I felt like I burned up every trick I had on every restart. Ricky’s pretty sly, I knew there was one point where he was going to get me timed up just right. I appreciate him racing me clean.”

Feger will have the chance to start on the pole in the PDC for the second time after doing so in 2024 if luck is on his side in the Redraw. Thornton dropped back to the fourth and final transfer spot at the end behind Murty in second and Kaede Loudy in third, two drivers who will both make their first PDC start on Saturday night.

Showdown 2

Hudson O’Neal in the K&L Rumley Enterprises No. 6 was the one to beat by far in the early stages of the race, but his night turned upside down when he cut his left-rear tire past halfway. Rather than pit and drop to the back, O’Neal elected to stay out and hope for the best, and he held on for a few green-flag laps with the soft tire until it went down completely with six laps to go.

That misfortune put Chris Simpson at the front of the field on the restart ahead of Dennis Erb Jr. and Brenden Smith, but the true beneficiary was fifth-starting Sam Seawright. The Alabama native pounded the cushion to get to third in one lap after going back green, and he stayed up there to work past Erb and then Simpson to lead the final three laps.

“I really wasn’t that good on the bottom and I felt like they were all over me,” Seawright said. “I said, ‘I’m going to just go up here and beat the wall down, see what I got.’ It’s pretty cool because the fans were so pumped up, I could see them on the backstraightaway when I was ripping through there. That’s the coolest moment of my life. We’ll just tweak on it a little bit and see what we’ve got tomorrow.”

Simpson held on for second to make the Saturday Feature along with Erb in third and Ryan Gustin in fourth.

Showdown 3

The opening laps saw Justin Duty flex some muscle, as the Oregon driver who spends most of the season competing regionally in the Midwest kept the hottest Late Model driver in the nation, Bobby Pierce, in his tire tracks. The two drivers had roughly equal pace on the cushion, and traffic on the bottom hindered Pierce’s ability to find room to go for a slider.

A Lap 21 restart allowed Tyler Erb to briefly get around Pierce in the first corner after the restart, while Brandon Sheppard also joined the party to make it a three-way race for second. That battle gave Duty a chance to build a gap, but once Sheppard secured second he didn’t need much time to catch Duty. The No. 15 caught the Turn 3 cushion wrong with three to go, and that gave Sheppard all the room he needed to sneak through and win his seventh PDC Showdown.

“Right off the get go, I thought my car was pretty good,” Sheppard said. “I kind of got stuck on the bottom behind those guys longer than I would have liked to, but I think it played out in my favor a little bit. I was able to conserve my tires for a few more laps before I really got up there. About the time I thought I had a clear lane, [Ashton] Winger passed me, and the next thing you know, I’m back there battling with all them guys. They just do such a great job with this racetrack here at FALS. It’s amazing, really. You never know what you’re going to get, and it’s always a little bit different, but it always races really well.”

Joining Sheppard in the transfer spots were Duty, Erb and Pierce in second, third and fourth, respectively.

Showdown 4

A pair of Illinois regional favorites shared the front row of the night’s final race, with Caden McWhorter on the pole and Rich Bell to his outside.

McWhorter’s time out front only lasted four laps, as Shane Clanton cleared him in Turn 3 and took command. Ten laps later, a different No. 14 car came knocking in the form of World of Outlaws rookie Trey Mills. After spending a few laps on the cushion sizing Clanton up, Mills used a short slider that barely cleared Clanton entering Turn 1 to grab the top spot. Clanton returned the favor the next time around, but Mills held strong and had enough pace at the end to pull away and end the battle.

“I was getting a little worried with about 10 or so to go,” Mills said. “The tire was going flat, I could feel the right-rear start dipping over, so I was just trying to make sure I didn’t lean on that cushion too hard, just kind of roll to it.”

Clanton will partake in Saturday’s 5-8 Redraw after holding on for second ahead of Mike Marlar in third and Gordy Gundaker in fourth.

Nicely, McKinney, Thornton Jr., Neville Claim Modified Showdown Victories

Results | Story by Jordan DeLucia | Pictures by Rocky Ragusa

Sixteen drivers have punched their tickets into one of the biggest DIRTcar UMP Modified races of the season and are ready to battle for a $5,000 grand prize.

Friday night of the 36th annual Prairie Dirt Classic for the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals brought Tyler Nicely, Mike McKinney, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Trevor Neville to Fairbury Speedway Victory Lane in the four Showdown Features. The top four finishers in each of the 15-lap events transferred to Saturday’s main event, and the top two in each will redraw during opening ceremonies for their starting spots in the main event.

Showdown 1

The inaugural Modified Prairie Dirt Classic winner is back in FALS Victory Lane. Tyler Nicely cruised to his third career PDC Showdown victory, leading all 15 laps uncontested to secure the win and punch his ticket into the redraw on Saturday.

“The atmosphere — this place is awesome,” Nicely said. “I came up here for that Street Stock race, and I’m not gonna miss the PDC as long as I’m still racing a Modified. I’ve got to thank Allgaier Performance, the Allgaier family, Kelly Kovski, Johnny, and everybody at their place for the opportunity. We’ve had some struggles, but this thing is pretty good right now.”

Two-time Summit Modified winner in 2026 Damian Kiefer finished second, fourth-starting Cody Laney finished third and third-starting Allen Weisser got the final transfer spot in fourth. 2026 Summit Modified champion Zeke McKenzie rounded out the top five.

Showdown 2

For the third time in his career, Mike McKinney is a Prairie Dirt Classic Showdown winner after leading flag-to-flag in the second Showdown race of the night. With an outside front row starting spot, the 2024 Summit Modified champion powered around the outside of Chris Spalding in Turns 1-2 on the opening lap and never looked back enroute to the checkered flag.

“We’ve been really good at this place,” McKinney said. “We can go really slow out here in the slick, and we weren’t too bad. I was able to get a really good start there, roll that middle and get down to the bottom. I know my buddy Cole was on me there in the end, but I was scared to search around — I just wanted to protect that bottom because I knew that’s where it was gonna be.”

Defending DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion Cole Falloway finished second, Spalding finished third, while Mississippi native Hunter Breland secured the final transfer spot in fourth.

Showdown 3

He’s felt the high of winning the Prairie Dirt Classic in a Late Model, and now, Ricky Thornton Jr. has put himself in position to win it in a Modified as well with a victory in Showdown Feature #3.

The national Dirt Late Model champion from Chandler, AZ, had to work for the win, however, as three-time Fairbury track champion Michael Ledford pressured him throughout the first half of the 15-lap event. While Thornton stuck to the bottom lane around the 1/4-mile oval, Ledford raced one groove higher and pulled to the No. 20RT’s right quarter panel multiple times but was unable to make the pass.

“I couldn’t hear [Ledford] on the outside of me, and a couple times on the back straightaway I got tight, so I figured he was there,” Thornton said. “Our car was good, I think I gave it 150 percent in the Late Model, so there I just gave about 50 percent. Outside of that, I think our stuff’s a little better than what we were showing there. Probably had the wrong right-rear (tire) on — I think I should’ve went hard instead of soft. Heck, it’s only my first time running one of these outside of Volusia, so hopefully we can be just as good as Mike and those guys tomorrow and we can be up front.”

In the end, “RTJ” found the speed around the bottom to drive away from Ledford and under the checkered flag, punching his ticket into Saturday’s main event with Ledford, third-place Blake Brown and fourth-place Jeremy Nichols.

Showdown 4

Trevor Neville had won with the Summit Modifieds before, but never during the Prairie Dirt Classic. Friday night, he checked the box off his list in convincing fashion, taking the lead on a Lap 4 restart and driving away for his first Modified PDC Showdown win.

Polesitter Landen Miller jumped to the early lead, hugging the bottom lane around the track while Neville made speed on the top. An early caution flag restacked the field for a restart on Lap 4, and Neville took advantage right away, racing Miller into Turn 3 on the high side and making great speed off Turn 4 to zoom into the lead.

Miller didn’t go away, however, picking up his pace around the bottom and putting more pressure on Neville’s No. 777 over the next few laps — pulling even with him on multiple instances. In the end, Neville was not going to be denied, keeping Miller behind him at the checkered flag to secure the win.

“We came out here for Qualifying and I felt like I was two tenths off the pace. I knew we were a lot better than that,” Neville said. “It was a couple of changes I made, but then we went back and got to work. Everybody sticking me down there on the bottom, I didn’t know if it was (Michael) Long or Landen (Miller) — I didn’t mean to run down on them, but I did, so my apologies to everybody on that.”

Miller crossed in second, Kentucky native Charlie Mefford was third, followed by 2024 Modified PDC winner Michael Long getting the final transfer spot in fourth.

Hudson O'Neal

Results | Story by FloSeries | Pictures by Rocky Ragusa

Hudson O’Neal bested a talent laden field of 73 Super Late Models to score the FloRacing Night in America feature win on Wednesday night at Fairbury Speedway in the One for the Road presented by I-Beam Sliding Doors.

In a race that saw three different leaders, it was O’Neal who surged back past Shannon Babb to take the lead for good on lap 37 to register the win in the K&L Rumley Enterprises No. 6 Super Late Model.

"It was a really good race, had a really good race car. I could roll that middle really, really good and think, maybe, I just tried to live by that middle just a little bit too long and that let (Shannon) Babb slip under me," O’Neal said. "I knew I wasn’t gonna pass him back on the bottom, so it was time to go to the top and get some of the cushion."

From the pole position, Shannon Babb led the first nine circuits before Josh Rice rocketed past for the lead on lap 10. Babb retook the top spot on lap 16 and would pace the field until lap 22 when Hudson O’Neal took his turn at the front.

Babb was not content to fade into the night, leading laps 34-36 before O’Neal used the high groove on lap 37 to get to the lead and ultimately the win.

Tyler Erb looked to be a contender for the win before contact from Josh Rice on lap 29 sent him spinning from contention on the front stretch.

O’Neal, Rice, and Babb were followed across the finish line by Jason Feger and Brandon Sheppard.

O’Neal, who picked up his first series win of the season and the seventh of his career chose St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital as the recipient of the $2,000 donation from the Angel Donor.