Fairbury Speedway
Weaver outduels Shirley, edges Babb at Fairbury
Kevin Weaver enjoys victory lane at one of his home tracks. (Jeff Hall)
FAIRBURY, Ill. (May 18) — Kevin Weaver parked his car in the low groove at Fairbury American Legion Speedway, determined to make sure that’d be the winning groove, too.
The Gibson City, Ill., driver and local favorite outdueled Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., then staved off a late challenge from Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., for a $2,000 victory on the Sunoco American Late Model Series. The thrilling 30-lapper went caution-free at the jam-packed quarter-mile oval as Weaver, Babb and Shirley ran three-wide at times. | Slideshow | Video
“It was a really good race. Any time you run side-by-side that many laps,” said Weaver, who notched his second career ALMS victory. “It was just an awesome race. Everybody ran everybody good and clean and it’s what I’d call a perfect race. It’s one of those races you were glad you were here to see and didn’t miss it.”
Weaver took the checkers a length and a half ahead of Babb while hometown driver Scott Bull was third. Donny Walden of Towanda, Ill., and Shirley rounded out the top five finishers.
Shirley led one lap before the low-running Weaver went ahead, but Weaver didn’t get much breathing room as Shirley got rolling in the high groove to track him down midway through the race with Babb and other pursuers hot on the heels of the frontrunners.
“(Shirley) probably knew the bottom was going probably to be the place to win the race. I don’t know if his car was quite good enough to run the bottom, so I think that’s when he went to the top — or he just got tired of following me and went to the top to try to make something happen,” Weaver said.
Shirley indeed made something happen to get back out front, but a few slipups on the cushion cost him as Weaver went back ahead in the race’s late stages as Shirley slipped to fourth on lap 24 with a turn-two bobble. Babb stepped it up in the middle groove the rest of the way, pulling alongside Weaver several times but settling for second as traffic played in the leader’s favor most of the way.
“The heat races were worth the price of admission. It was great,” Babb said of the track. “The feature turned out to be just as good. It was a fun race, probably the best one I’ve been in this year for sure. You could run all over the place. (Shirley) and I and Kevin had a heckuva race right there at the end.
“(Weaver) was stuck pretty good on that bottom. He could really get off the corners good. I was happy for him ... Kevin’s a little bit like I am, he’s struggled a here a few times, but used to be excellent here. He hasn’t forgotten anything. He’s starting to get that car under him and it makes it fun when you can race like that.”
Weaver was glad to hear the cheers of his central Illinois fans.
“It’s awesome to come here and win at Fairbury ... just a lot of people that like to see me win close to home, because a lot of people can’t go far away,” he said. “So it’s an awesome night.”
Notes: Weaver’s No B12 is sponsored by Jimmy’s John’s, Bradbury Auto Sales and Jay Morris Trucking and Excavating. ... Coming off an 18-victory season, he notched his first victory of 2013. ... Instead of his own No. 3s, Brian Shirley was piloting a No. 48 car he'd built for Tim Lance. ... Fairbury drew 120 cars in four divisions and a huge crowd. ... Among drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Phil Ausra, Snooky Dehm, Daniel Flessner, Mike Glynn, Mike Mullvain, Allen Murray, Mike Provenzano, Jeff Riddell, Steve Thorsten, Alan Vochaska, Guy Volk and Jay Morris, who had a rollover accident in prelims. ... The event was the third scheduled among four ALMS races on the weekend. Ryan Unzicker on Thursday at Charleston, Ill. (with Weaver second) while Friday’s race in Kankakee, Ill., was rained out. Sunday’s finale is scheduled for Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Ill.
ALMS @ Fairbury: (1) Kevin Weaver, (2) Shannon Babb, (3) Scott Bull, (4) Donny Walden, (5) Brian Shirley, (6) Steve Sheppard Jr., (7) Ryan Unzicker, (8) Eric Smith, (9) Daren Friedman, (10) Brandon Sheppard, (11) Derek Chandler, (12) Tanner English, (13) Scott Schmitt, (14) Terry English, (15) Joe Harlan, (16) McKay Wenger, (17) Torin Mettille, (18) Matt Furman, (19) Brandon Thirlby, (20) Pete Parker, (21) Kyle Logue, (22) Chad Stapleton. Fast qualifier (among 41 cars): Smith, 12.74 seconds. Heat race winners: Babb, Weaver, Smith, Shirley. Consolation winners: Schmitt, Mettille.
