Fairbury Speedway
Mars tops Shirley, keeps stranglehold on Fairbury
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Jimmy Mars earned $10,000. (mikerueferphotos.photoreflect.com)
FAIRBURY, Ill. (July 5) — In trying to overtake polesitter Brian Shirley, Jimmy Mars tried high, he tried low, he tried high, he tried low. Low finally worked.
The third-starting Mars, winning his third UMP DIRTcar Summernationals race at Fairbury American Legion Speedway in the past four years, outdueled Shirley through the opening laps and took command with an inside pass in turn three on the 11th lap. It was all but over thereafter as the Menomonie, Wis., driver cruised away on a rubber-laid track that allowed little passing. | Slideshow | Complete Summernationals coverage
Mars made an outside pass of Shirley on the sixth lap that was negated by a caution flag, so he was glad to get another chance to grab the lead five laps later. "I was like, 'Oh man, I don't know if this will happen.' Finally I drove in there, then the next lap he drove in a little harder, and he slipped up the track and let me get in there," Mars said.
Mars, making just his second Summernationals start of the year, was hampered only by lapped traffic in grabbing his fourth career $10,000 payday at the quarter-mile oval. Mars built nearly a straightaway lead before the halfway point of the 50-lapper, but Shirley cut that margin to nothing when the frontrunners came upon slower cars running in the same groove. But a lap-27 caution gave Mars clean racetrack and he run unchallenged the rest of the way on a track where he's always up front.
While Shirley, of Chatham, Ill., lost the race, he gained in the Summernationals title chase. With series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. dropping back five positions on the last lap with engine problems in finishing 12th, Shirley unofficially turned a 27-point deficit into a four-point lead, 1,249-1,245.
Darren Miller of Milledgeville, Ill., advanced two positions for a third-place finish. Seventh-starting Ryan Dauber of Tonica, Ill., was fourth for his best series run of 2008 and front-row starter Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin, Ill., rounded out the top five. Billy Moyer, the previous night's winner at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., rallied from 16th to finish sixth at a track where he's won five Summernationals events. Erb's 12th-place finish broke a streak of eight straight top-five finishes.
The feature was slowed by three cautions, none for serious incidents. Brian Birkhofer slowed on the frontstretch on the third lap to draw the first yellow. Third-running Jordan Bland, who started fourth, spun between turns one and two on the sixth lap for the second caution. And former track champ Wes Steidinger slowed with a flat right-rear tire on lap 27 for the final yellow.
Mars made an unsuccessful visit to Fairbury in 1998, and didn't return until 2005. In his last seven visits, he has four victories, two runner-up finishes and a third-place finish, all in $10,000-to-win events. His victories came in Summernationals races in '05, '06 and '08 as well as the track's prestigious Prairie Dirt Classic in '05.
"The track drives good," Mars said of an oval that's among his favorites. "It starts out where you've gotta be real elbows up and get up on the cushion and let it go, and then later in the night, the track starts getting really slippery and you've just gotta adjust throughout the night. It's just been real good."
Another thing that's been good for Mars has been the new chassis design he developed along with his brother, crew chief Chris, and Iowa driver Brian Birkhofer. He won with the car June 13 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., and has been rolling since. "Since we won that race at Cedar Lake, it feels like we've been going the right direction," Mars said.
Feature notes
Mars is sponsored by Deppe Enterprises, Chevytown USA, ESSI Motorsports and Pro Power engines. ... Mars also earned $5,000 the previous night with a Rumble Dirt Series victory at Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, Wis. ... Mars finished second in his only other Summernationals start in 2008 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway. ... Dennis Erb Jr. wasn't very talkative following his worst finish of the Summernationals. The reigning series champion only said that "something broke" in the engine. ... The feature started about 10:45 p.m. following driver introductions. The front half of the field lined up on the backstretch and the back half on the frontstretch. ... Sunday's series event is scheduled for Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill., with the 40-lap feature paying $6,000 to the winner.
UMP @ Fairbury: (1) Jimmy Mars, (2) Brian Shirley, (3) Darren Miller, (4) Ryan Dauber, (5) Steve Sheppard Jr., (6) Billy Moyer, (7) Eric Smith, (8) Derek Chandler, (9) Ryan Unzicker, (10) Will Vaught, (11) Wes Steidinger, (12) Dennis Erb Jr., (13) Daren Friedman, (14) Jeep Van Wormer, (15) Jordan Bland, (16) Joe Harlan, (17) Randy Korte, (18) Jason Feger, (19) Scott Bull, (20) Kevin Weaver, (21) Brian Birkhofer. Fast qualifier (among 48 cars): Erb, 13.41 seconds. Heat race winners: Shirley, Sheppard, Mars, Miller, Bland. C-Main winners: Mark Burgtorf, Don O'Neal. B-Main winner: Moyer. Provisional starters: Van Wormer, Weaver, Bull.
B-Main
In a race ran after a break for a fireworks display and an intermission, Billy Moyer outran fellow front-row starter Wes Steidinger for the victory. Joe Harlan, who started fourth, got the third and final transfer spot, taking the position when Tim Lance got sideways on the backstretch and briefly lost momentum. Jeep Van Wormer, Kevin Weaver and Scott Bull all failed to transferred, but they received provisional starting spots in the feature for series points (Van Wormer), 2007 UMP points (Weaver) and track points (Bull).
Finish: Billy Moyer, Wes Steidinger, Joe Harlan, Jeep Van Wormer, Jesse Stovall, Kevin Weaver, Tim Lance, Scott Bull, Jimmy Dehm, Mark Burgtorf, Don O'Neal, Jason McBride, Jim Felker Jr., Justin Shaw, Rocky Griffin, Mike Provenzano.
C-Mains
Mark Burgtorf, Justin Shaw and Jason McBride advanced from the first C-Main. Don O'Neal, Jim Felker Jr., and Rocky Griffin advance from the second C-Main.
Fifth heat
In a race that featured a near four-wide battle for the lead on the opening lap, polesitter Brian Shirley used the high groove to edge away from fellow front-row starter Will Vaught for a victory. Brian BIrkhofer got the third and final transfer spot over Scott Bull, who challenged early but faded midway through the race. Two-time series race winner Jeep Van Wormer was never a factor in finishing fifth. On the first lap, Shirley was high with Vaught and Birkhofer in the middle and Bull ducking down low as they exited turn four in a flurry.
Finish: Brian Shirley, Will Vaught, Brian Birkhofer, Scott Bull, Jeep Van Wormer, Justin Shaw, Derek Fisher, Mike Mullvain.
Fourth heat
Polesitter Jimmy Mars, a two-time Summernationals winner at Fairbury, cruised to an easy victory in the 10-lapper ahead of Derek Chandler and Daren Friedman. Joe Harlan was a distant fourth in the caution-free prelim.
Finish: Jimmy Mars, Derek Chandler, Daren Friedman, Joe Harlan, Jimmy Dehm, Rocky Griffin, Snooky Dehm, Doug Zartler, Don Hilleary.
Third heat
Outside front-row starter Darren Miller cruised on the high side for an easy victory. Runner-up Randy Korte, however, was the first driver of the night to have real success in the low groove as he rallied from the seventh-starting spot up to second by the fourth lap as he clinched the runner-up position. Jason Feger, who started third, ended up third while Tim Lance challenged Feger late but settled for fourth. Surprising polesitter Scott Schmitt, who fell out of the top three transfer spots, got tangled up with Aaron Ricketts in turn one on the fifth lap, causing heavy damage to the front of Ricketts' No. 95; both cars were towed off the track.
Finish: Darren Miller, Randy Korte, Jason Feger, Tim Lance, Kevin Weaver, Jim Felker Jr. Eric Vaughan, Scott Schmitt, Aaron Ricketts, Mike Glasscock.
Second heat
Jordan Bland outdueled polesitter and fellow front-row starter Eric Smith in the early laps then cruised to a 10-lap victory. Bland ran the high side throughout the race, as did runner-up Ryan Dauber, while Smith ran low early before joining them on the top. Billy Moyer, last night's series winner in Granite City, Ill., started and finished fourth. His last-lap dive in turns one and two proved futile in trying to take the final transfer spot from Smith. Mike Provenzano was a distant fifth. Cory Daugherty spun in turn four on the fifth lap to bring out the heat's lone caution.
Finish: Jordan Bland, Ryan Dauber, Eric Smith, Billy Moyer, Mike Provenzano, Donny Walden, Cory, Daugherty, Terry Worth, Jeff Beyers, Clay Watters.
First heat
Starting outside the front row, a high-running Steve Sheppard Jr. outran polesitter Dennis Erb Jr. and then fought off challenges from seventh-starting Ryan Unzicker for the victory. Unzicker, also on the high side, briefly lost the second spot to Erb in the closing laps but went back ahead at the finish. Erb was third. The first start was spoiled by a tangle that knocked out Don O'Neal and Kerry Hansen; Wes Steidinger, trying to get under Erb in turn two, spun on the second lap; he rallied to finish fourth after restarting on the tail.
Finish: Steve Sheppard Jr., Ryan Unzicker, Dennis Erb Jr., Wes Steidinger, Jesse Stovall, Mark Burgtorf, Jason McBride, Kerry Hansen, Don O'Neal.
Qualifying
UMP DIRTcar Summernationals points leader Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., was unofficially the fastest among 48 entries for the 16th leg of the series at Fairbury American Legion Speedway. Erb, who posted a time of 13.41 seconds on the quarter-mile oval, will start on the pole of the first heat race.
Other heat race polesitters, according to group qualifying: Eric Smith, Scott Schmitt, Jimmy Mars and Brian Shirley, who is second to Erb in series points. The top three finishers from each of five heats transfer to the feature event, while finishers 4-6 go to the B-Main. Everyone else goes to one of two C-Mains. The feature pays $10,000 to the winner.
Pre-race notes
Dennis Erb Jr. enters the event with 1,186 points to lead the title chase over Brian Shirley (1,159), who fell from three points to 27 points behind with his eighth-place finish Friday at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill.; Erb finished second. ... Among series newcomers at Fairbury: Kerry Hansen of Spencer, Wis., Mike Provenzano of Aurora, Ill., and Doug Zartler of New Lenox, Ill. ... The sportsman and modified divisions time-trialed before the Late Models, drawing complaints from some Late Model drivers. ... Jay Sparks got into the turn-three wall in time trials and was towed off the track.
