Federated Raceway at I-55
Shirley tops Korte, Vaught to round up $5,000
By Chris Dolack
UMP DIRTcar Racing
Shirley picked up $5,000. (stlracingphotos.com)
PEVELY, Mo. (Oct. 18) — Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., earned a $5,000 Late Model victory at the inaugural UMP DIRTcar Roundup By MyRaceLife.com by outdueling Randy Korte of Highland, Ill., and Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., over the final 10 laps. Shirley's victory capped the four-day, eight-division gala at the third-mile oval south of St. Louis.
Korte was in command through the first half of the 30-lapper feature, but he had his hands full with Vaught and then Shirley, who started eighth and worked his way toward the front. Shirley caught the frontrunners and grabbed second from Vaught, only to have a late-race caution erase the move.
But Shirley won the three-car duel in the closing laps, building momentum on the lightning-fast cushion to grab the victory over Korte and Vaught. Highland's Manville finished fourth while Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., rounded out the top five.
“I had a good feeling coming back tonight, I don’t know what it was,” said Shirley, who locked himself into the feature with at top-five run in Thursday’s semifeature. “I knew if I ran my own race we’d be OK. It’s just nice to be winning.”
Notes: Shirley's Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Petroff Towing, J&J Steel and Jayco Construction. ... Besides his winning purse, Shirley was given a Roundup Silver Plaque and Buckle. ... Rain washed away Wednesday's scheduled action. ... Korte fell out of Thursday's semifeature in an accident, but he led all the way in Friday's semifeature. “We’ve had a bad last month and a half," Korte said, thanking his crew and sponsors. "Just to finish a race and run up front, I’m happy about that." ... Vaught won the Thursday semifeature as eight drivers locked themselves into Saturday's main event. ... Bobby Dauderman of Alhambra, Ill., won the weekend's Crate Late Model main event with a slide job on Caleby Ashby with three laps remaining. “I figured he would be moving down, but I was prepared to go wherever he wasn’t,” Dauderman said. “The car was good all night. I just have to thank all the guys who help me every week. It’s pretty awesome. I’ve had a pretty awesome year and this tops it.” ... Late Model regular Ken Rumble of House Springs, Mo., subbed for Brian Richards in the limited modified division and won the feature event. “I just kind of lucked into this deal,” Rumble said. “I helped Todd McGraw and his car. My motor broke in my Late Model. I have to thank Brian Richards for this ride. This is a good race car and he just lacked the funds to go A-modified racing.”
UMP DIRTcar Roundup By MyRaceLife.com: (1) Brian Shirley, (2) Randy Korte, (3) Will Vaught, (4) Tim Manville, (5) Jason Feger, (6) Billy Faust, (7) Bryan Collins, (8) Michael Kloos, (9) Kyle Steffens, (10) Jeff Beyers, (11) Jeff Johns, (12) Chad Zobrist, (13) Denny Woodworth, (14 Darrell Moser, (15) Mark Burgtorf, (16) Mike Hammerle, (17) John Beck, (18) Frankie Martin, (19) Ron McQuerry, (20) Bruce Unterbrink, (21) Rusty Griffaw, (22) Mike Schulte, (23) Rick Standridge, (24) Danny Haynes, (25) Craig Smith, (26) Tim Hancock, (27) Rick Salter, (28) Jim Durbin. Oct. 18 heat race winners: Kloos, McQuerry. Oct. 18 consolation winner: Standridge. Oct. 16-17 semifeature winners: Vaught, Korte.
