Davenport Tops Erb at the PDC

 My mini vacation started with the IMCA Deery Brothers late model show at Quad City Speedway on Wednesday, the continued with the World of Outlaw late models at Quincy Raceways on Thursday. On Friday, my wife and I took our youngest grandson, Peyton,  to his first major league baseball game in St Louis. Along the way, UMP modified racer Jeff Curl called buddy Darryl with a chance to purchase some backstretch passes to the World of Outlaw late model Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury American Legion Speedway. It had been more than 15 years since my one visit to Fairbury, about a four hour jaunt from home, so we decided to take in the final night of the two night event.
  Despite a threat of rain, we headed out on Saturday morning, checking in at a hotel, then arriving at the track early to take in the festivities, heat, humidity and all.
  There would be a complete show for the UMP modifieds, plus two last chance races for the World of Outlaw late models, the 100 lap $26,000 to win feature on the 1/4 mile oval, followed by the $2,000 to win mod main event, then a 30 lap $1,500 to win non qualifiers feature for the late models.
 Late model last chance race number one went to Morgan Bagley ahead of Rick " Boom " Briggs. The second 20 lap win went to Jason Feger ahead of Brian Shirey. 18 cars had qualified Friday through six heat races, and four provisional starters were now added to make up the 26 car field. Positions three through twelve, not counting provisionals would be eligible for the 20 car non qualifiers feature.
  With the first of two modified B-mains for the modifieds on the track, first a light, then steady rain began to fall. Fortunately, the heaviest of the showers missed the fairgrounds, and after the rain stopped, the track crew went to work getting the surface back in racing condition. After about an hour delay, we were back to racing, with the order of events adjusted. Follwing the mod B-mains, the late model non qualifier feature was called to the track. 64 late models had signed in on Friday, with 60 back on Saturday. Following the delay, apparently some of the bigger names scheduled to run the $1,500 to win race elected to stay on the trailer, giving us 16 starters for the 30 laps.
 The  race got rolling after a first lap pile up, with Ryan Unzicker taking the lead. on the 14th circuit, Mike Spatola used a nifty slide job in turn four to take the top spot, stretching out to a big advantage. But with four to go, he suddenly slowed, ending his run. This put Unzicker back on the point. As the white flag came out, third running Derek Chandler smacked the wall. setting up a one lap shootout. To the delight of the large crowd, local favorite McKay Wenger pulled off a last lap pass for the win, leading 1/2 a lap of the 30. Unzicker settled for second ahead of Josh Rice, Chad Hollenbeck, and Bob Gardner. Steve Thorsten, Joe Harlan, and Steve Lance Jr. were the only other drivers to finish the race.
  Officials then called for the 100 lap main event, pushing the modifieds to last on the card.
  The redraw of the six heat winners saw Billy Moyer and Mason Ziegler start on row one. Moyer took off in the lead, as he and Ziegler opened an advantage on the field. The caution waved on lap eight for Bagley, who was forced to go to a back up car for the feature, starting him on the tail. Back to green, eighth starting Jonathon Davenport powered his way to third, shadowing Ziegler as Moyer opened up a lead. Following a stoppage on lap 13, Dennis Erb Jr took the third spot challenging Ziegler, taking the spot on lap 23. He then began to run down Moyer, and the two ran side by side, with Erb taking the lead on lap 31. The next yellow came on lap 44, with 14th starting Brandon Sheppard entering the top five. At the halfway point, Moyer retook the lead moving to the high line, as Sheppard moved to fourth. On lap 52, Moyer jumped the cushion in turn two, falling to third behind Erb and Davenport. Moyer repeated the move two laps later, apparently with a handling problem, with Sheppard going around. On lap 56, Moyer smacked the turn four fence, ending his run. On the restart, Davenport and Sheppard battled for second, with Davenport finally pulling ahead, going to the top side of the track,bumping the cushion, as Erb ran a low to middle line. As the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 77, Sheppard also jumped to the high line. A yellow on lap 85 saw the end of the night for Kevin Weaver. Back racing, 2014 winner Tim McCreadie moved to third, and two laps later, series points leader Shane Clanton brought out a yellow with a flat tire. Coming back to the track, Clanton showed some displeasure by " rubbing" Chub Frank, earning himself a black flag. On lap 91, Erb and Davenport ran side by side, with Davenport ahead on lap 93. With four circuits remaining, Frank Heckenast Jr was charging forward on the top side, but got into the turn two wall. The restart was now single file, with Davenport again running the top and Erb down low. On lap 99, Davenport eased ahead, but Erb again powered to the front. On the final lap, the two made contact in turn three, and Davenport came to the line first for the win. Erb settled for second, with Sheppard third. Josh Richards started 16th and finished fourth, with Chase Junghans starting and finishing fifth. Jimmy Owens came on late to run sisth, Bagley moved up 18 spots to seventh. McCreadie faded to eighth, Heckenast ninth, and Frank completed the top ten.
  With the delay, it was now the midnight hour, and we headed for the motel with the mod feature still to go.
   Quincy Raceways has a scheduled night off tonight, so I will try to recover and get ready to head back to work after a busy four days of racing and baseball!