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Richards's Heat-Race Victory Over Babb Among Highlights Of
Illini 100 Qualifying Night At Farmer City Raceway
FARMER CITY, IL (April 3) - Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., did
what few drivers are able to do at Farmer City Raceway on Friday night –
outrun Moweaqua, Ill.'s Shannon Babb.
But while Richards beat the master of the quarter-mile oval to capture a
heat race for Saturday night's second annual World of Outlaws Late Model
Series ‘Illini 100,' the 21-year-old knows he has a tough road ahead of him
in the weekend's $20,000-to-win finale.
“Shannon is always fast here and he'll be the guy to beat (on Saturday
night),” said Richards, who leads the WoO LMS points standings entering the
season's sixth event. “I just was able to get ahead of him at the start of
the heat because the top (groove) was the preferred line and that's where I
started (alongside Babb on the front row).”
Richards was certainly pleased with the performance of his Rocket Chassis
house car, giving him high hopes that he can pull off the richest victory of
his career at a bullring he loves to visit.
“My car felt like it was pretty good,” said Richards, who has a top-five
finish in four of the five WoO LMS A-Mains contested to date. “We wanted to
come here and have a solid qualifying night and we did that, and now we'll
concentrate on (the Illini 100) and hopefully we'll have everything go our
way.
“I'm excited,” he continued. “This place is fun to race. It's usually fast
early in the night and by feature time you can really move all over. I think
that's what it'll be like (on Saturday night), so we'll have to be fast to
stay up front.”
Babb, who registered the fastest lap of the 51 drivers taking time-trial
circuits on Friday night (12.179 seconds), settled for second place in the
first 10-lap heat. He'll start seventh in the Illini 100, behind the six
Friday-night heat winners who will redraw for positions 1-6 in the feature
event.
Other heat winners were Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, Jimmy Mars of
Menomonie, Wis., Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., Richie Hedrick of
Urbana, Ill., and Rick Eckert of York, Pa.
Eckert's triumph in the final heat came after his fellow WoO LMS regular,
Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., relinquished the lead on lap five due to a
flat right-rear tire. Frank made a crowd-pleasing charge after pitting for a
new tire, grabbing the third and final transfer spot by overtaking Ryan
Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., and Donny Walden of Towanda, Ill., on the last
lap.
The evening's most serious accident occurred during hot laps when Jon Rogers
of German Valley, Ill., flipped his car between turns one and two. He
escaped the ordeal without injury, but his badly damaged machine was
sidelined for the weekend.
A huge crowd is expected to pack the fairgrounds track for Saturday night's
Illini 100. The program, which kicks off at 6 p.m., includes two B-Mains, a
25-lap Non-Qualifiers' Race and the Illini 100 plus a $750-to-win show for
the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds.
Ticket information is available at
www.farmercityraceway.net
or by calling the speedway at 217-828-0078.
Ohlins Shock Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
1. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 12.179
2. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 12.231
3. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 12.305
4. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 12.328
5. 0-Richie Hedrick/Urbana, IL 12.347
6. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 12.408
7. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 12.434
8. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 12.471
9. 9-Eric Smith/Bloomington, IL 12.523
10. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 12.537
11. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 12.543
12 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 12.552
13. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 12.554
14. b5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 12.584
15. 35-Derek Chandler/Pontiac, IL 12.601
16. 1v-Will Vaught/Crane, MO 12.672
17. 5s-Steve Sheppard Jr./New Berlin, IL 12.698
18. 24U-Ryan Unzicker/El Paso, IL 12.721
19. 99J-Jimmy Dehm/Lexington, IL 12.732
20. 25-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 12.752
21. Z-Joe Harlan/El Paso, IL 12.765
22. 28-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 12.783
23. 21L-Matt Lux/Franklin, PA 12.800
24. 2b-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 12.836
25. 89-Daren Friedman/Forrest, IL 12.862
26. b12-Kevin Weaver/Gibson City, IL 12.889
27. 83-Scott Bull/Fairbury, IL 12.903
28. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 12.940
29. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 12.964
30. 1W-Donny Walden/Towanda, IL 13.040
31. 14-Kerry Mathew/Rensselaer, IN 13.053
32. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 13.089
33. 73-Zach Johnson/Kensington, MN 13.095
34. 11-Tyler Reddick/Corning, CA 13.103
35. F15-Jeremy Conaway/Springfield, IL 13.294
36. 18H-Dustin Hapka/Grand Forks, ND 13.302
37. 3R-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 13.308
38. 96-Cory Daugherty/Blue Mound, IL 13.352
39. 36-Eric Vaughan/Fairbury, IL 13.356
40. 21B-Rich Bell/Sheffield, IL 13.409
41. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 13.425
42. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 13.656
43. 1M-Mike Mataragas/Dekalb, IL 13.756
44. 7M-Adam Mefford/Jacksonville, IL 13.767
45. 64-Gary Cook Jr./Deer Creek, IL 13.806
46. 56s-Chas Shellenberger/Winfield, PA 13.940
47. 74-Russ Adams/Princeville, IL 14.009
48. 33H-Roben Huffman/Clinton, IL 14.193
49. z45-Paul Zehr/Fisher, IL 14.626
50. 23L-Ted Loomis/Kingston, IL N/T
51. 61-Jon Rogers/German Valley, IL N/T
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Richards, Babb, C. Smith, Dehm,
Mathew, Friedman, Robinson, Mataragas, Zehr
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Birkhofer, Francis, Feger, B.
Sheppard, King, Weaver, Loomis, Mefford, Daugherty
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Mars, Harlan, Z. Johnson, E. Smith,
Bull, Chandler, Cook, Vaughan (DNS) Rogers
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Clanton, Lanigan, Vaught, Erb,
Shirley, Reddick, Bell, Shellenberger
Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Hedrick, Lux, Fuller, Bland, Conaway,
S. Sheppard, Coffey, Adams
Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Eckert, B. Smith, Frank, Unzicker,
Walden, Hapka, George, Huffman
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can't get to a track to see the World of Outlaws Late
Model Series, they can experience the excitement of the nation's premier
tour live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to
www.dirtvision.com and click
on the DIRT Radio Network logo.
Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT
Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail
customerservice@dirtvision.com .
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country
by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts
(Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane
Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires),
Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), SuperClean (Official
Cleaner-Degreaser) and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to
contingency sponsors Champ Pans, Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tires, Integra
Shocks, Jake's Custom Golf Carts, Ohlins Shocks, Racing Electronics, Quarter
Master and Wrisco Aluminum; Crane Cams Engine Builder's Challenge
participants Cornett Racing Engines, Custom Race Engines and Pro Power
Racing Engines; and Chassis Builder Challenge participants Rocket Chassis
and Team Zero by Bloomquist.
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