Shirley Takes Spoon River Dollars

 With the weather forecast for today ( Friday ) a bit on the iffy side, we decided to make an addition to our schedule and headed for Spoon River Speedway on Thursday. The 3/8 mile clay oval is always one of the most popular stops on the UMP Summernationals circuit and this year was no exception. With no rain in the area - although they received two inches on Wednesday - a total of 110 race teams in three classes swelled the somewhat soft pit area. By race time there was also a very nice week night crowd on hand.
  One issue with the facility is a P.A. system in need of an upgrade, thankfully mobile phone access to the UMP website comes in very handy for lineups, etc.
  Despite all the rain the previous day, the warm sunshine helped to dry out the track, and officials needed to add a considerable amount of water ahead of race time. The result was a multi groove, though high side dominant surface that wound up taking a fair amount of rubber by feature time. Indeed, Tyler Erb broke the track record in time trial qualifying, topping the thirty five late models with a lap of 12.955 seconds.
  Four heat races qualified the top eight rows for the $5,000 to win forty lap headliner. Polesitter Brian Shirley topped Allen Weisser, sixth starting Ryan Unzicker, and Billy Moyer in the first ten lapper. Outside row one starter Shannon Babb bested Rodney Melvin, Rusty Schlenk, and Kolby Vandenbergh in heat two. Erb captured heat three ahead of Frank Heckenast Jr., Kyle Bronson, and Kevin Weaver in the Jay Morris #77M. Tanner English took the final heat from the pole over Jason Feger, Billy Drake, and Walker Arthur.
  Following four heat races for the fifty one Summit Modifieds and twenty four Hornets, it was back to late model action. Although there seemed to be confusion in the tower, what in essence amounted to a " C " feature took three of six starters to the back of the Last Chance Showdown ( read B main. ) From the Showdown, top two finishers Bobby Pierce and Bob Gardner moved on to the feature. Provisional starters Paul Stubber, Rusty Griffaw, Mike Glascock, and Chuck Hummer filled out the twenty two car field.
  A brief intermission was followed by the Hornet feature. The twenty cars making the call went non stop, with David Lauritson setting a fast pace, taking the win over Matt Mackey and Jake Momper.
  The late models then lined up for forty quick laps. Aside from a ripple between turns three and four, the track was smooth and fast. Babb and Shirley made up the front row, and Shirley jumped ahead before a yellow flag for contact between Bronson and Unzicker created a complete restart. Although both were able to rejoin the pack, Moyer suffered rear end damage. His crew attempted some quick repairs and he rejoined the field as the green waved, but he retired to the pits after only a couple of laps. Once again, Shirley vaulted to the lead, followed by Babb, English, and Erb. Pierce was the man on the move, and by lap three he had advanced from his row nine start to eleventh. Up front, Shirley opened a big lead even as slower traffic came into play. Just before the halfway mark, lap nineteen, Babb slowed going down the back chute with a flat tire, bringing out the second and final caution of the race. With clean air in front, Shirley again opened a sizable advantage as the Delaware restart created lots of action behind him. It was now Erb and Heckenast Jr. in a side by side battle for second as Pierce continued to charge around the very top of the oval, picking off cars in steady fashion. By lap twenty nine, he was in the top five and closing on fourth running English. Before he could make a move on English, he found himself trying to hold off the #33 of Melvin who seemed to be getting faster as the laps wound down. Erb was finally able to shake loose from Heckenast Jr., but the checkers flew with Shirley well out front of his nearest challengers. English drove to a steady fourth, and Pierce nosed ahead of Melvin for fifth. Weisser came home in seventh ahead of Schlenk, while Weaver won a close duel with Unzicker to complete the top ten. Shirley sits at the top of the points chase, with a pair of wins as the Hell Tour has now completed three main events.
  The clock now read 11:00 and we regretfully headed to the parking lot ahead of the modified finale. Reports on the way home show that pole sitter Nick Hoffman picked up the win over series points leader Tyler Nicely and Kenny Wallace.
  We are now keeping an eye on the weather, with a visit to Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Illinois for more Summernationals action the main focus for today. Summer officially begins today, let's go racing!