Shirley Wins at Farmer City

By admin April 6, 2019 Farmer City Raceway, World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series

Pt. 1 of the 2019 Illini 100 Goes to Shirley, while the rest of the field prepares for Saturday’s 75-lapper

FARMER CITY, IL – April 5, 2019 – Team Illinois was firing on all cylinders on Friday night at Farmer City Raceway, as Chatham-native Brian Shirley bested the man from New Berlin, Brandon Sheppard, in an exciting 25-lap battle for $6,000. This marked Shirley’s sixth career win with the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series, as part of the 12th annual Illini 100 presented by Douglas Dodge.

Chris Madden earned his hard-fought third-place finish, starting on the outside pole and battling through heavy pressure from those behind him to collect his fourth top-five of the season.

He said wasn’t as clean as he would have liked, but Shirley persevered through one intense battle in the closing stages with Series points leader Sheppard on a lightning-fast, yet technical racetrack.

“It wasn’t a perfect race, but in the end, it ended up being good enough to get the job done,” Shirley said.

Shirley grabbed the lead on the opening lap and held it until Madden pulled the trigger to Shirley’s inside on a lap seven restart. Madden held that lead only for a few laps before hitting a few ruts in turn one and jumping the cushion, handing the lead back over to “Squirrel,” which he held the rest of the way.

However, the battle with Sheppard had only begun once he regained the lead. Every corner of each of the last 10 circuits, “The Rocket Shepp” was nipping at Shirley’s heels, making forceful challenges to the inside several times. The Rocket Chassis house car driver’s efforts went unrewarded, but what a show both drivers put on in front of a packed grandstands.

“That guy’s an animal, he’s the best driver in the country,” Shirley said of fellow Illinoisan Sheppard. “To be able to compete with him is second-to-none. I’m just glad I was able to beat him this time.”

Overall, Shirley said the difference maker was just track position. Even though Sheppard started directly behind him, Shirley admitted a pole-position redraw definitely aided his drive to victory.

“It definitely didn’t hurt us, starting in front of him,” Shirley said. “Anytime you can get an advantage over the No. 1 team, it’s pretty good, and I’m thankful.”

Sheppard also had himself quite a run in Qualifying, picking up the PFC Brakes Fast Time Award and smashing the Farmer City Raceway track record of 11.973, set by Billy Moyer in 2008, with a lap of 11.750.

Chris Madden had a great night up front, aboard his Skyline Motorsports, Capital Race Cars No. 44. He held his runner-up starting spot through the first six laps before catching a better line than Shirley on a lap seven restart, shooting to the bottom and snatching the lead away. His efforts to defend the lead went sour, however, when he hit a rough patch in turns one and two and found himself over the cushion, allowing Shirley and Sheppard to sneak back by.

“Earlier on, I was able to get by Brian and the racetrack really wasn’t that bad,” Madden said. “I was able to run the middle through one and two, and I got by Brian racing him down there.”

“Smokey” was unable to make up the ground and reclaim the top spots but held off a bit of late-race pressure from Dennis Erb Jr. and Darrell Lanigan to bag the last podium spot.

Race highlights by DIRTVision: click here.

Tonight, the Outlaws will go back to work at Farmer City, this time, for a much richer prize of $15,000 and a much more demanding distance of 75 laps to complete the Illini 100. Hot laps are scheduled for 5 p.m. CST, catch all the action live on DIRTVision!

More event info: click here.

Abbreviated results (click here for full results)

Morton Buildings Feature (25 Laps) 1. 3s-Brian Shirley [1][$6,000]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard [3][$3,000]; 3. 44-Chris Madden [2][$2,000]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb [8][$1,750]; 5. 29-Darrell Lanigan [6][$1,500]; 6. 36v-Kyle Hardy [4][$1,400]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans [9][$1,300]; 8. 25-Shane Clanton [7][$1,200]; 9. 7-Ricky Weiss [13][$1,100]; 10. 28m-Jimmy Mars [15][$1,000]; 11. 32p-Bobby Pierce [20][$900]; 12. 29D-Spencer Diercks [22][$850]; 13. 4G-Bob Gardner [18][$800]; 14. 89-Mike Spatola [14][$775]; 15. 97-Cade Dillard [19][$750]; 16. 99B-Boom Briggs [24][$700]; 17. 99jr-Frank Heckenast [11][$660]; 18. 24-Ryan Unzicker [16][$640]; 19. 22-Tanner English [5][$620]; 20. 21-Billy Moyer [12][$600]; 21. B1-Brent Larson [23][$600]; 22. 7r-Kent Robinson [10][$600]; 23. 6p-Jose Parga [21][$600]; 24. 6-Blake Spencer [17][$600] Hard Charger: 29D-Spencer Diercks[+10] Lap Leaders: 3s – Brian Shirley – 1-6, 12-25; 44 – Chris Madden – 7-11

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Drydene (Official Motor Oil), E-Z-GO Golf Carts (Official Golf Cart)Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing(Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), NGK Spark Plugs (Official Spark Plug),Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams,DART,JE Pistons, MSD, Penske Shocks, PFC Brakes (Fast Time Award), QuarterMaster, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars,FireAde,Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.

Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS® Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws .

Sources: Jordan DeLucia, World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series PR

4/5/19 – Farmer City Raceway Night 1

FARMER CITY, IL – April 5, 2019 – Score one for team Illinois! Brian Shirley picked up the win over fellow Illinoisan Brandon Sheppard in Friday night’s 25-lap segment of the 12th annual Illini 100 presented by Douglas Dodge. Chris Madden held his own up front all race, even taking the lead briefly, and came home for a solid third place finish.

Qualifying Flight-A 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 11.75; 2. 44-Chris Madden, 11.952; 3. 18-Chase Junghans, 11.987; 4. 99jr-Frank Heckenast, 12.054; 5. 25-Shane Clanton, 12.09; 6. 22-Tanner English, 12.14; 7. 25F-Jason Feger, 12.182; 8. 83-Scott James, 12.212; 9. 84-Myles Moos, 12.218; 10. 28m-Jimmy Mars, 12.265; 11. 99B-Boom Briggs, 12.293; 12. 18b-Shannon Babb, 12.31; 13. 7-Ricky Weiss, 12.363; 14. 97-Cade Dillard, 12.448; 15. 6p-Jose Parga, 12.514; 16. 6-Blake Spencer, 12.606; 17. 12-Jeff Curl, 12.815; 18. 25h-Chuck Hummer, 14.103

Qualifying Flight-B 1. 3s-Brian Shirley, 12.146; 2. 29-Darrell Lanigan, 12.223; 3. 28-Dennis Erb, 12.248; 4. 21-Billy Moyer, 12.31; 5. 7r-Kent Robinson, 12.342; 6. 36v-Kyle Hardy, 12.383; 7. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 12.446; 8. 10-Scott Schmitt, 12.473; 9. 89-Mike Spatola, 12.497; 10. 25w-Allen Weisser, 12.5; 11. 4G-Bob Gardner, 12.504; 12. B1-Brent Larson, 12.603; 13. 32-Chris Simpson, 12.614; 14. 29D-Spencer Diercks, 12.635; 15. 2-Allen Murray, 12.676; 16. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 12.838; 17. B12-Kevin Weaver, 12.956; DNS. 9-Lyle Zanker, NT

Drydene Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton [3]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans [2]; 4. 7-Ricky Weiss [7]; 5. 84-Myles Moos [5]; 6. 12-Jeff Curl [9]; 7. 6p-Jose Parga [8]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs [6]; 9. 25F-Jason Feger [4]

Drydene Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 44-Chris Madden [1]; 2. 22-Tanner English [3]; 3. 99jr-Frank Heckenast [2]; 4. 28m-Jimmy Mars [5]; 5. 18b-Shannon Babb [6]; 6. 6-Blake Spencer [8]; 7. 97-Cade Dillard [7]; 8. 83-Scott James [4]; 9. 25h-Chuck Hummer [9]

Drydene Heat #3 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 3s-Brian Shirley [1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb [2]; 3. 7r-Kent Robinson [3]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola [5]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner [6]; 6. 32-Chris Simpson [7]; 7. 32p-Bobby Pierce [4]; 8. B12-Kevin Weaver [9]; 9. 2-Allen Murray [8]

Drydene Heat #4 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 36v-Kyle Hardy [3]; 2. 29-Darrell Lanigan [1]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer [2]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker [8]; 5. 29D-Spencer Diercks [7]; 6. 9-Lyle Zanker [9]; 7. 25w-Allen Weisser [5]; 8. 10-Scott Schmitt [4]; 9. B1-Brent Larson [6]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer 1. 6-Blake Spencer [4][-]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard [6][-]; 3. 6p-Jose Parga [5][-]; 4. 12-Jeff Curl [3][$110]; 5. 25h-Chuck Hummer [10][$110]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs [7][$110]; 7. 83-Scott James [8][$110]; 8. 84-Myles Moos [1][$110]; 9. 18b-Shannon Babb [2][]; 10. 25F-Jason Feger [9][]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer 1. 4G-Bob Gardner [1][-]; 2. 32p-Bobby Pierce [5][-]; 3. 29D-Spencer Diercks [2][-]; 4. 32-Chris Simpson [3][$110]; 5. 9-Lyle Zanker [4][$110]; 6. 2-Allen Murray [9][$110]; 7. 25w-Allen Weisser [6][$110]; 8. B12-Kevin Weaver [7][$110]; 9. 10-Scott Schmitt [8][]; 10. B1-Brent Larson [10]