Jason Feger
Mike McKinney
Joe Brown
Drake Compton
Results | Points | Story & Pictures by Rocky Ragusa
Following a two-week delay due to Mother Nature, race teams and fans were starving to get their racing fix at Fairbury Speedway. On tap was the Third Annual Richard Craven Memorial, which saw extra money up for grabs in each class.
The Late Model class was featured in a 40-lap, $5,012-to-win event. Thirty-two drivers were broken into two groups for qualifying. Track point leader Mike Spatola led Group A with a time of 12.734, and Donny Walden led Group B with a time of 12.781. Spatola, McKay Wenger, Mike Mataragas, and Jeffrey Ledford were the heat race winners. Zach Taylor and Mike Provenzano won their B-main races. Spatola led the field to the green flag as Ledford took second on lap five. Spatola led Ledford by 10 car lengths before the caution light came out on lap 18. On the restart, Wenger moved into second and made a bid for the lead, but Spatola held him off as Jason Feger moved into third. When the field went back to green after a lap 24 caution, Wenger powered his way past Spatola for the lead. Feger took over second after a lap 26 caution as Kyle Hammer joined the trio in the race for first. With six laps remaining, Feger executed a slide job on Wenger to take the lead. When the race went back to green following a caution with three laps to go, Spatola took second and hounded Feger for the lead. Feger was able to hang on for his 11th feature win. “Man, what a track,” said Feger. “Top, bottom, and middle. We were slicing and dicing. I didn’t know where to go. This is the only place you can still run the old No. 3 tire, and you can’t run the middle like that on them new tires.” Wenger finished third, followed by Jake Little, Hammer, Daniel Adam, Caden McWhorter, Chase Osterhoff, Bob Gardner, and Zach Taylor.
Modified teams competed for a $2,012 payday in a 30-lap feature. Michael Ledford paced Group A time trials with a time of 13.668, and Steven Brooks led Group B with a time of 13.673. Six heat races were held for the 48 drivers, with Austin Friedman, Michael Long, Mike McKinney, Brooks, Carson Friedman, and Trevor Neville taking the wins. John Dimmitt and Allen Weisser won the B-mains. Brooks took the lead at the start with Austin Friedman in hot pursuit. Long, running the bottom, overtook Brooks for the lead on lap seven. Following two caution periods on laps 10 and 11, Long led Ledford by half a straightaway with McKinney closely following. McKinney flexed his muscle, overtaking Ledford and quickly cutting into Long’s lead. The two went all out over the final five laps, swapping the lead back and forth. In the end, McKinney crossed the line first for his 10th feature win of the year and third at Fairbury. “We put ourselves in the right spot,” McKinney said. “I wasn’t sure what I could do from the fifth spot. I just stuck to my guns on the bottom and we were really good. I was able to get to Michael (Long) with the lapped traffic and make the right decisions.” Ledford, Brooks, Cole Falloway, Austin Friedman, Landen Miller, Neville, Ben Harmon, and Chris Spalding rounded out the top ten.
Eighteen Stock Car racers lined up for their 20-lap, $1,012-to-win race. Kyle Anderson earned quick time with a 15.059. Jesse Simmons and track point leader Zane Reitz won their heat races. Four cautions fell in the first seven laps of the race, keeping the field in check. When the race went back to green on lap seven, Simmons and Joe Brown dueled for the lead. Brown, running the topside, was able to edge ahead of Simmons for the lead. Behind Brown, Anderson and Nick Clubb had a tremendous race for second. In the closing laps, Clubb took the position and rapidly closed in on Brown but ran out of laps as Brown won his fourth race of the year and second at Fairbury. “I really wanted to be on the bottom,” said Brown. “I got forced up there on the restart. That cushion was treacherous. You just had to go in there, hit it, and turn and burn. It was FALSly tonight.” Clubb was second, followed by Anderson, Cody Clubb, Reitz, Braiden Keller, Jace Gall, Simmons, Eric Legner, and Bailey Downey.
The night concluded with a 15-lap, $512-to-win Pro Modified feature. Weston Hicks was the fast qualifier with a time of 14.859 as 24 drivers made qualifying attempts. Hicks joined Drake Compton and Kody Kovski as heat race winners. The B-main went to Bradley Stanfill. In the feature, Compton started on the outside of the front row and overtook Hicks at the start. Compton then went flag to flag in picking up his 10th win of the season. “I can’t thank my Dad and crew enough,” Compton said. “They give me a great race car to drive.” With his win, Compton moved into first place in the class standings by one point over Kovski. Kovski was second, followed by Hicks, David Henderson, Jake Montgomery, Dylan Turpin, Kanden Tompkins, Bradley Stanfill, Lucas Boulton, and Clayton Stanfill.