Tri-City Speedway
Babb rebounds, captures Tri-City Bud 50, $10,000
Shannon Babb earned $10,000 at Tri-City for his second victory of the season. (stlracingphotos.com)
PONTOON BEACH, Ill. (May 26) — Without a single top-five finish in a $10,000-to-win race, and fresh off a lousy weekend in Missouri, Shannon Babb wasn’t even sure he wanted to head to Sunday’s Budweiser 50 at Tri-City Speedway. The 39-year-old Moweaqua, Ill., driver is sure glad he did as he dominated the racing program for his richest victory of the season. | Video | Slideshow
“I sat on the couch with my wife last night, and I wouldn’t even go racing. I was bummed out. Nothing was feeling good,” the pole-starting Babb said. “But it’s like everything, you take your truck and go to the next racetrack, and then hell, it feels good again. Things have to go your way and it was good tonight.”
It couldn’t have gone much better as Babb topped 38 qualifiers in time trials, won his heat race and won the dash before leading every lap at the 3/8-mile oval to pick up the $10,000 check.
Eighth-starting Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., reached the second spot on lap 38, but he couldn’t catch Babb in scoring his fourth straight finish of fourth or better in May.
“It’s been awesome, especially coming back after my knee surgery. I sat for two or three months or whatever it was,” Smith said. “Don’t get me wrong, I felt ready to come back. We worked really hard on our race cars, and confidence-wise, I’m a confident person, so I expected to do well, and I’m just glad that we did.”
Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., was third in the independent event sanctioned by UMP DIRTcar while outside front-row starter Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., was fourth. Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., rounded out the top five finishes.
Two early cautions slowed the action in the Sunday evening race. Eric Jacobsen smacked the wall and slowed at the conclusion of the first lap, triggering a six-car scramble just past the flagstand that included Michael Kloos, Dewayne Kiefer, Billy Moyer and others. Those three were among early retirees.
Another yellow appeared on the third lap when Brian Shirley hit the turn-three wall and collected Mark Burgtorf. Shirley’s race was over.
Notes: Babb’s Victory Circle Chassis is sponsored by Petroff Towing, Donley Trucking, Allstar Performance and PRC. ... Babb struggled in prelims at Lucas Oil Speedway's Show-Me 100 earlier in the weekend and headed back home early, skipping his consolation race. ... He credited a pre-race pep talk with long-time sponsor Ed Petroff, who provided some advice and perspective to help Babb re-evaluate the changes he made throughout the night. Sometimes, Babb said, “I’ve got my nose too far in the books and can’t see what I’m doing.” ... The night wasn’t quite perfect for Babb. A hauler breakdown after the race required his rig to get a tow from major sponsor Petroff Towing. ... Scott Bloomquist smacked the wall in the second heat race, ending his night. ... Other drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Matt Bailey, Billy Drake, Rickey Frankel, Ryan Little, Gordy Gundaker, Mike Hammerle and Jake Little. ... Tri-City’s next Late Model special is June 21 with a $10,000-to-win UMP DIRTcar Summernationals program.
Budweiser 50: (1) Shannon Babb, (2) Brady Smith , (3) Bobby Pierce, (4) Tyler Reddick, (5) Dennis Erb Jr., (6) Brandon Sheppard, (7) Randy Weaver, (8) Ryan Unzicker, (9) Scott Bloomquist, (10) Randy Korte, (11) Mark Burgtorf, (12) Shelby Miles, (13) Jeff Herzog, (14) Eric Jacobsen, (15) Brian Diveley, (16) Jerry Lierly, (17) Billy Faust, (18) Brian Birkhofer, (19) Brian Shirley, (20) Mike Marlar, (21) Craig Smith, (22) Scott Weber, (23) Michael Kloos, (24) Billy Moyer, (25) Dewayne Kiefer. Fast qualifier (among 38 cars): Babb, 14.370 seconds. Heat race winners: Babb, Erb, Sheppard, Reddick. Consolation winner: Diveley. Dash winner: Babb.
