Washed out

After assessing the condition of the track, track and UMP officials made the decision shortly before 10 p.m. CT to postpone the remainder of the racing program.

UMP director Sam Driggers said he will consult with Fairbury officials to find a suitable date to complete the B-Main and 50-lap feature. An announcement of the raindate is expected to come immediately so Driggers and Fairbury officials can consult the schedules of other series and tracks to find the best possible date for the event, which drew a big crowd to the quarter-mile oval despite the constant threat of rain.

Rain picks up

At about 9:35 p.m. CT, precipitation returned at a steady rate and is still falling at 9:40 p.m. CT — no doubt destroying hopes of a short rain delay.

Officials are still in a holding pattern with the evening’s program.

Rain delay

Rain that continued to threaten the speedway throughout the evening finally arrived at 9:08 p.m. CT with a heavy-but-short shower. Just after 9 p.m. CT officials decided to send the B-Main cars that were sitting in the staging area back to the pits because lightning was flashing in the sky and creating a dangerous situation; moments later the skies opened up.

The shower was heavy for only a few minutes; as of 9:25 p.m. CT just some sprinkles were still falling, so officials hope to be able to run the track in without an extremely long delay.

Officials plan to run the Late Model B-Main and then immediately bring out the Summernationals feature after a quick break to let the last-chance race transfers turnaround their cars.

C-Main

Fairbury favorite Kevin Weaver controlled the entire 10-lap distance, beating Jay Morris to the finish line by just over two seconds. Both drivers moved on to the B-Main.

Finish (top two transfer to B-Main): Kevin Weaver, Jay Morris, Kyle Hammer, Billy Hough, Steve Lance Jr., Derek Chandler, Jim Moon, Snooky Dehm, Brandon Sheppard, Scott Schmitt.

B-Main lineup

(12 laps; top two transfer)
Row 1: Ray Guss Jr., Mike Spatola
Row 2: Scott Bull, Torin Mettille
Row 3: Mike Mullvain, Steve Thorsten
Row 4: Allen Murray, Daren Friedman
Row 5: Eric Vaughan, Pete Parker
Row 6: Jason Riggs, Donny Walden
Row 7: C-Main 1st, C-Main 2nd

C-Main lineup

(10 laps; top two transfer to B-Main)
Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Billy Hough
Row 2: Kevin Weaver, Kyle Hammer
Row 3: Steve Lance Jr., Jay Morris
Row 4: Snooky Dehm, A.J. Diemel
Row 5: Derek Chandler, Jim Moon
Row 6: Scott Schmitt, Daniel Flessner

Fourth heat

Brian Birkhofer rolled to victory, besting Jason Feger by just over a half-second margin. Gregg Satterlee gained one spot to finish third and Wendell Wallace put Larry Moring’s machine into the feature with a fourth-place finish. A.J. Diemel brought out the race’s lone caution on lap four when he stopped on the track with left-rear bodywork damage.

Finish (top four transfer): Brian Birkhofer, Jason Feger, Gregg Satterlee, Wendell Wallace, Torin Mettille, Daren Friedman, Donny Walden, Kyle Hammer, A.J. Diemel (DNS) Daniel Flessner.

Third heat

Brady Smith snapped Billy Moyer’s eight-race heat-race win streak in dramatic fashion, advancing from the fifth starting spot to nip the Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer at the finish by a mere 0.059 of a second. Smith ducked underneath Moyer rounding turns three and four on the final lap and beat the six-time Summernationals champion back to the checkered flag. Bobby Pierce finished third and Shannon Babb placed fourth after overtaking Scott Bull for the final transfer spot with three laps remaining. The race’s only caution flag flew on lap one when Scott Schmitt slowed on the homestretch.

Finish (top four transfer): Brady Smith, Billy Moyer, Bobby Pierce, Shannon Babb, Scot Bull, Allen Murray, Jason Riggs, Kevin Weaver, Snooky Dehm, Scott Schmitt.

Second heat

Brian Shirley dominated the second heat, leading from flag-to-flag to take the win without a serious challenge. Hometown racer McKay Wenger finished a distant second, 2.791 seconds back at the checkered flag. Chris Simpson and Joe Harlan completed the top four. The race’s only caution flag flew on lap three when Jay Morris had problems in turn four.

Finish (top four transfer): Brian Shirley, McKay Wenger, Chris Simpson, Joe Harlan, Mike Spatola, Steve Thorsten, Pete Parker, Billy Hough, Jay Morris, Jim Moon.

First heat

Outside polesitter Brandon Sheppard appeared headed to a runaway victory after grabbing the lead at the initial green flag and pulling aw ay, but a blown left-rear tire on lap eight knocked him from contention. His problem handed the lead to Rick Eckert, who had started from the pole position but fell back to fourth on the opening circuit. Eckert had just fought back to second with a pass of Ryan Unzicker before Sheppard slowed to bring out a caution, putting him in position to go on and capture the prelim. Unzicker settled for second, with Jimmy Mars and Eric Smith grabbing the other two transfer spots. Sheppard returned to the race after a pit stop and stopped on the backstretch to draw a caution flag, but he could only manage an eighth-place-finish.

Finish (top four transfer): Rick Eckert, Ryan Unzicker, Jimmy Mars, Eric Smith, Ray Guss Jr., Mike Mullvain, Eric Vaughan, Brandon Sheppard, Steve Lance Jr. (DNS) Derek Chandler.

Qualifying

Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., picked up right where he left off Friday night at Tri-City Speedway — where he was victorious for the second time on this year’s Summernationals — by registering the overall fastest lap in the split qualifying session. His lap of 13.388 seconds in Group 2 narrowly edged Rick Eckert’s fast circuit of 13.396 seconds in Group 1.

Joining Moyer and Eckert as heat-race polesitters are Brian Shirley and Jason Feger.

Each of four 10-lap heat races will transfer the top-four finishers to the feature.

When Moyer hits the track for his heat, he'll look to extend a solid qualifying streak: eight straight heat-race wins dating back to last month's Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. Going back further to the May 1 Lucas Oil Series event at Macon (Ill.) Speedway, Moyer has been triumphant in 12 of his last 15 heat-race starts.

Pre-race notes

As has been the case almost since the start of the Summernationals, weather is a factor tonight at Fairbury. Teams loaded up their cars around 4 p.m. CT as dark clouds closed in on the speedway, but the thunderstorms that seemed imminent never arrived — winds picked up and the air cooled off, but only a couple slight drops of rain fell on the pit area and tailgate parties that are raging throughout the fairgrounds. The storms skirted Fairbury and at 6:10 p.m. CT hot laps were about to start. The event is not out of the woods yet — storms are still dancing to the north — but the chances for the show running off on schedule are significantly better than they looked just a few hours ago. … A top-notch field of 40 cars is signed in for action, so qualifying will be broken into two groups. Drivers in Group 1 will compete for starting spots in heats 1-2, while those in Group 2 will bid for positions in heats 3-4.

Pre-race setup

Round 7 of the UMP DIRTcar Summernationals stops Saturday night at Fairbury American Legion Speedway for a 50-lap feature paying $10,000 to win.

One of the UMP DIRTcar circuit’s long-time staple tracks, the high-banked, quarter-mile oval has hosted 24 Hell Tour events. Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., won last year’s series race at Fairbury; other past Summernationals winners expected to compete include Billy Moyer (six times), Jimmy Mars (three), Shannon Babb (two), Kevin Weaver (two) and single victors Brian Shirley and Rodney Melvin.

Heat lineups

(10 laps; top four transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Rick Eckert, Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Ryan Unzicker, Jimmy Mars
Row 3: Eric Smith, Ray Guss Jr.
Row 4: Derek Chandler, Steve Lance Jr.
Row 5: Mike Mullvain, Eric Vaughan
Second heat
Row 1: Brian Shirley, McKay Wenger
Row 2: Chris Simpson, Joe Harlan
Row 3: Jay Morris, Billy Hough
Row 4: Mike Spatola, Pete Parker
Row 5: Steve Thorsten, Jim Moon
Third heat
Row 1: Billy Moyer, Bobby Pierce
Row 2: Kevin Weaver, Scott Schmitt
Row 3: Scott Bull, Brady Smith
Row 4: Shannon Babb, Allen Murray
Row 5: Jason Riggs, Snooky Dehm
Fourth heat
Row 1: Jason Feger, Brian Birkhofer
Row 2: Wendell Wallace, Gregg Satterlee
Row 3: A.J. Diemel, Torin Mettille
Row 4: Daren Friedman, Kyle Hammer
Row 5: Donny Walden, Daniel Flessner

Time Trials results

First group
Rick Eckert (1), York, Pa., 12.396
Brian Shirley (81), Chatham, Ill., 12.679
Brandon Sheppard (b5), New Berlin, Ill., 12.737
McKay Wenger (42), Fairbury, Ill., 12.823
Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., 12.89
Chris Simpson (32), Oxford, Iowa, 12.907
Joe Harlan (Z), El Paso, Ill., 12.912
Jimmy Mars (28M), Menomonie, Wis., 12.912
Eric Smith (9), Bloomington, Ill., 13.028
Jay Morris (77M), Watseka, Ill., 13.087
Ray Guss Jr. (58R), Milan, Ill., 13.107
Billy Hough (33H), Thomasboro, Ill., 13.186
Derek Chandler (35), Pontiac, Ill., 13.201
Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., 13.226
Steve Lance Jr. (25L), Cuba, Ill., 13.483
Pete Parker (10P), Kakauna, Wis., 13.544
Mike Mullvain (4), Bartonville, Ill., 13.599
Steve Thorsten (7T), Milford, Ill., 13.667
Eric Vaughan (36), Fairbury, Ill., 13.683
Jim Moon (1M), New Florence, Mo., 13.942
Second group
Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., 12.388
Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 12.678
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 12.689
Brian Birkhofer (15b), Muscatine, Iowa, 12.77
Kevin Weaver (b12), Gibson City, Ill., 12.781
Wendell Wallace (1x), Batesville, Ark., 12.785
Scott Schmitt (10S), Tonica, Ill., 12.868
Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., 12.934
Scott Bull (83), Fairbury, Ill., 12.954
A.J. Diemel (58), Elk Mound, Wis., 12.99
Brady Smith (2), Solon Springs, Wis., 13.058
Torin Mettille (116), Cullom, Ill., 13.09
Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 13.1
Daren Friedman (89F), Forrest, Ill., 13.225
Allen Murray (2), San Antonio, Texas, 13.43
Kyle Hammer (45), Clinton, Ill., 13.449
Jason Riggs (81Jr), Harrisburg, Ill., 13.52
Donny Walden (1W), Towanda, Ill., 13.594
Snooky Dehm (2D), Chatsworth, Ill., 13.67
Daniel Flessner (9D), Roberts, Ill., N/T