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.
Mike Spatola topped the charts in Late Model qualifying with a time of 12.800. Three heat races saw Mike Mataragas, Ryan Unzicker, and Jake Little emerge victorious. Alex Wilson took the B-main. Unzicker took the lead on the start with Little, Spatola, Jeffrey Ledford, and Hammer following. After a lap-five caution, Ledford vaulted into second and gave Unzicker a run. Hammer flexed his muscle and reeled in the duo to take first on lap eight. On the restart after a lap-11 yellow flag, Hammer put his car on the treacherous topside as Unzicker worked the bottom. Unzicker was able to reclaim the lead, but Hammer came back with 10 laps to go. Hammer pulled away to earn his first career Fairbury Late Model feature win. “I thought that I messed up on that restart when Ryan got by,” explained Hammer. “So, I messed up. I might have gotten him a little bit, but the track was rough. I really couldn’t turn down and get away from him. It feels great.” Unzicker took second, with track point leader Spatola in third. Jeffrey Ledford had his first top-ten finish of the year in fourth, with Little, Myles Moos, McKay Wenger, Donny Walden, Mataragas, and Justin White completing the top ten.
A time of 14.178 gave Steven Brooks fast time in the 25-lap Modified race. Brooks also won his heat race, while track point leader Mike McKinney and Lyndon Whitfill also picked up heat race victories. The B-main went to Travis Kohler. Brooks led at the start as the race for second went between Austin Friedman, Zeke McKenzie, McKinney, and Carson Friedman. A caution fell with three laps to go, and on the restart, Carson Friedman shot past McKenzie to take second. With Brooks glued to the bottom of the track, Friedman tried the topside. Brooks withstood the challenge and took his first Fairbury win since July 8, 2017. Jubilant might be an understatement as Brooks spoke in victory lane. “We do so much for the plastic gold. To win at Fairbury, this is the place we all want to win at. The guys behind me, I know they are hungry too. I felt them. They were pushing me, beating me, Brooksie on the bottom, Brooksie on the tires! The high side didn’t prevail tonight! It feels great.” Friedman, last week’s winner McKenzie, McKinney, and Landen Miller rounded out the top five. The remainder of the top ten saw Lyndon Whitfill, Matthew Baker, Billy Knippenberg, Eric Vaughan, and Charlie Mohr.
Nick Clubb’s time of 15.925 gave him Stock Car quick time honors, and he also won his heat race. Younger brother Cody was the winner of the second heat race. Starting from the pole position, Nick Clubb stuck his car to the bottom groove and led flag-to-flag to take his first Fairbury win of the year. Cody Clubb was second, followed by Joe Brown, Zane Reitz, Jace Gall, Kyle Anderson, Peyton Oswald, Jake Lund, Eric Legner, and Chevy Andreatta.
Drake Compton toured the track in Pro Mod time trials and set quick time with a lap of 15.075. Compton and Kody Kovski won their heat races. The final 10 laps of the 15-lap feature saw Compton on the top and Kovski on the bottom swapping the lead with no clear-cut advantage. With three laps to go, Compton found his line and was able to distance himself from Kovski in taking his second win at Fairbury and eighth overall. “Kody really had a good car tonight,” Compton said. “We are pretty good friends. I’m worn out after that one. That was rough. I was bouncing up and down. It was definitely cowboy up.” Kovski finished second as point leader Jake Montgomery was third. Taryn Page turned in a fine performance and was fourth, with Brody Unzicker earning a hard-fought fifth. Liam Gray, Lucas Boulton, Dylan Turpin, Jake Borth, and Gregory Doerr rounded out the top ten.
The KidModz made their second appearance of the year, and the winner of the last race, Brody Brandon, was the heat race winner. With four laps to go in the 12-lap race, race leader Brandon and Canon Stipp were battling for the lead when contact was made to bring out the caution. Both had to go to the rear of the field. Coy Billingsley inherited the lead and held on for his first career KidModz win. Stipp rallied for second, followed by Brandon, Brantley Feeney, and Paislie McKenrick.
With 41 Late Models on the grounds, time trials were broken into two groups. Co-track point leader McKay Wenger turned in a time of 12.643 to lead Group A. Group B was led by Shannon Babb with a time of 12.561.
A field of 37 Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals participants rolled into the pit area for their 30-lap, $2,000-to-win race. Group A was led by Nick Allen’s time of 13.976, and hometown favorite Lyndon Whitfill’s time of 13.746 led Group B.
Seventeen Stock Cars vied for the top prize in their 15-lap, $750-to-win feature. Track point leader Zane Reitz turned in a time of 14.740 to earn quick time honors. Two heat races saw Reitz and Joe Brown take the wins.
Farmer City Raceway Hall of Fame inductee Donny Walden was the Late Model fast qualifier with a time of 12.841. Two heat races saw Mike Spatola and McKay Wenger take the wins. In the 30-lap, $2,500-to-win feature, six cautions fell during the first 10 laps. Spatola led Wenger, Zach Taylor, and Rich Bell Jr. When the field went back to green, Wenger offered a brief challenge to Spatola. Running the top side of the track, Spatola was able to outdistance his competitors and held a straightaway lead over Wenger at the finish. “That was fun there. It was like vintage 2018 FALS running around the top,” said Spatola. “I knew that I would have to get McKay on the start. I was really happy with all those cautions. We went with softer tires. The track started taking rubber at the end, but we are thankful to get it done.” Taylor turned in a fine performance and finished third, with Kevin Weaver, Walden, Bell Jr., Mike Mataragas, Alex Wilson, Mike Winn, and Billy Knippenberg III finishing in the top ten.
Michael Long completed the hat trick in the Modified class by taking quick time honors with a 13.599, winning his heat race, and dominating the field in the 25-lap, $1,500-to-win feature. The yellow flag waved four times in the first seven laps of the race. Long was leading, while Landen Miller and Carson Friedman were locked in an intense race for second, followed by Mike McKinney and Alan Stipp. When the field went back to green, Long opened his lead to 10 car lengths as McKinney moved to third. With three laps to go, the yellow flag came out with Long in command. As the cars went back to green, Long was able to pull away and take his first win of the year at Fairbury. “It feels good to get this win out of the way,” Long said. “We were way better in time trials. That is what we have been missing the last couple of weeks.” Carson Friedman turned back McKinney for second, with Miller, Austin Friedman, Steven Brooks, Jeff Curl, Stipp, Billy Knippenberg Jr., and Collin Shain rounding out the top ten.
A time of 15.326 gave Barry Sauder fast time honors. Joe Brown and Nick Clubb won the heat races. Brown rebounded after last weekend’s Hubert Memorial. Brown was leading the race, clipped an infield tire, and was done for the night. On this night, Brown raced through cautions and held off Nick Clubb early in the race before turning up the wick to win the 15-lap, $750-to-win Stock Car feature. “We were set up for the bottom. I was tired of banging the boards,” said Brown. “The bottom wasn’t working tonight, so I knew that I had to go to the top. The car was tight. I had to get it up there, and we got it done.” Heat race winner Nick Clubb took second, followed by Zane Reitz and 17th starter Cody Clubb. The rest of the top ten were Matt Hammond, Kyle Anderson, Nathan Arterberry, Jace Gall, Peyton Oswald, and Eric Legner.
Dylan Turpin toured the track in 14.576 to set fast time in the Pro Modified class. Donnie Cheesman and Drake Compton won their heat races. Cheesman and Compton were involved in a caution on the first lap and were eliminated from the race. Kody Kovski inherited the pole position when the track went back to green. Kovski was able to lead all 15 laps and pick up a check for $400. Turpin, David Henderson, Gavyn Parmele, Gregory Doerr, Jake Montgomery, Coulter Pierson, Randy Schoener, Donnie Martin Sr., and Aiden Page rounded out the top ten.
The KidModz class made its annual appearance at Fairbury for a 12-lap feature race. Brody Brandon and Kaden Breymeier won their heat races. Starting from the pole position, Brandon stayed there to take the win. Breymeier turned back Canon Stipp for second, followed by Brantley Fenney, Coy Billingsley, Raylan Rarick, Christopher Luttrell, Parker Robb, and Paislie McKenrick.
In the 40-lap, $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model feature, third-place starter Ryan Unzicker quickly moved into the lead, followed by Shannon Babb and McKay Wenger. Wenger overtook Babb for second and closed on Unzicker’s lead. MARS Rookie of the Year contender Caden McWhorter brought out the caution on lap nine as he tagged the wall on the frontstretch and climbed the wall. His car was caught in the catchfence and rolled over onto its roof. McWhorter escaped injury. On the restart, Babb and Wenger had a see-saw battle for second before Wenger took the position on lap 14 and closed in on Unzicker. Jason Feger, who took the win the previous night at Davenport, started in the ninth position. Running the bottom and middle of the track, Feger soon found himself in third. On lap 29, Feger took second from Wenger and made ground on Unzicker. On the final lap and exiting turn four, Unzicker’s car bobbled enough for Feger to pull alongside, but Unzicker’s momentum carried him to the win. “Man, what a show,” Unzicker said. “Jason and I, we’ve put on a lot of battles, and that one right there, he made me nervous. I kept seeing him, and I appreciate him racing me clean.” Unzicker, the current MARS point leader, scored his second win of the year and was followed by Feger, Wenger, Dennis Erb Jr., Bob Gardner, Mike Spatola, Tanner English, Babb, Daniel Adam, and Jake Little. A time of 12.520 gave Erb Jr. quick time. Erb Jr., Babb, and Unzicker won the three heat races. Little took the semi-feature.
Outside front row starter Charlie Mefford led the opening three laps of the MARS Modified race before Michael Ledford moved into the lead and decimated his competition. No one was able to step up on this night to challenge the MARS point leader as he was able to take his second MARS Modified win of the year and a check for $2,000. A calm and cool Ledford spoke in victory lane. “It’s just to our advantage to race so many laps here. We talked it over before in staging that the top would be pretty fast with how it was prepped before. Thanks to Charlie for racing me clean.” Defending series champion Cole Falloway took second, with Mefford, Trevor Neville, Austin Friedman, Steven Brooks, Ray Bollinger, Michael Long, Curt Spalding, and Zeke McKenzie completing the top ten. Thirty-six Modifieds were broken into two groups for qualifying. Group A was led by Neville with a time of 14.145, and Ledford turned the track at a time of 14.096 to lead Group B. Four heat races saw Neville, Falloway, Ledford, and Mefford pick up the wins. Damian Kiefer and Brayden Doyle won the two B-mains.
The Hubert Memorial race drew 34 DIRTcar Stock Cars for their 43-lap, $4,300-to-win special. Wally Kerst timed in at 15.199 to lead Group A, while a time of 15.153 by Matt Hammond led Group B. Joe Brown, Barry Sauder, Hammond, and Zane Reitz won their heat races. Jace Gall and Nick Seplak were the B-main winners. Brown led at the start with Hammond, Reitz, Sauder, and Tyler Nicely following. Reitz took the lead on lap eight with the yellow flag coming out on lap 10. Nicely, who started seventh, powered his way to second on the restart as the caution fell on lap 11. The restart had Reitz running the top and Nicely in the middle. Nicely took over the lead on lap 22. After a caution with 19 laps to go, Nicely held a 10-car-length lead while Reitz, Sauder, and Hammond battled for second. Reitz laid claim to the second position with 14 laps to go, but Nicely had a straightaway lead over the field and went on to earn the win. “Mike McKinney gave me an idea the last time we raced here,” said Nicely. “This is the biggest Stock Car race in Illinois, so it is awesome to get it done.” Track point leader Reitz had to settle for second with Kyle Anderson in third. Sauder held on for fourth, and 18th starter Seplak was fifth. Nick Clubb, Hammond, Blake Woodruff, Chuck Mitchell, and Jesse Simmons rounded out the top ten.
