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Unzicker Wins in FALS Cup Action

By Rocky Ragusa – Fairbury,Ill. (7/2/22) Following a weekend off due to rain,the Fairbury Speedway celebrated Independence Day with a FALS Cup/Alkota weekly program presented by Knapp Kitchens and CK Power. Action on the ¼ mile dirt track saw Ryan Unzicker(Late Model), Michael Ledford (Modified), Tommy Duncan (CR Towing Sportsman), Megan Erwin (Stock Car), Brian Deavers (Hobby-Modified), and Gavyn Parmele (KidModz) cross the finish line first in their respective classes.

A time of 12.682 gave Mike Mataragas fast time as 24 cars made qualifying attempts. McKay Wenger, Bob Gardner, and Ryan Unzicker were heat race winners. Logan Moody advanced to the 30 lap feature in winning the semi.

Unzicker had originally planned to race in West Burlington, but a decision was made to stick around the house and the “Gremlin” headed to Fairbury. After a caution on lap six, third starting Unzicker and Wenger staged a spirited duel for the lead, racing side by side, without making contact. Unzicker was able to take the top position with ten laps to go and pulled away for his second Fairbury win of the year.

“ That was an awesome feature”, Unzicker said. “ I was a little upset that they reworked the track. I love this place. The fans, the track staff, and the track are all awesome. It is just a blessing to come to a racetrack like this”.

Wenger settled for second, followed by Tommy Sheppard Jr., Titus Sneed, and Mike Spatola. The remainder of the top ten saw Dale Markham(hardcharger), Gardner, Kevin Weaver, Mataragas, and Jeffrey Ledford.

18 Modified drivers made qualifying runs that saw Austin Friedman turn a lap at 13.592. Two heat races were held that saw Michael Ledford and Mason Duncan take the wins.

Starting on the pole position, Ledford was able to turn back several bids for the lead by Duncan before running the top side of the track to perfection and recorded his second win of the weekend.

Breaking out the notebook and guidance from his brother, Ledford spoke in the winner’s circle.

“ Duncan has been getting better and better each week. I kept seeing him down there. I knew as long as I made some smooth laps, I could hold him off”.

Duncan took second, with Tanner Reed in third. Old pro, Bob Pohlman Jr. was fourth and Ethan Weber finished in fifth. Friedman, Lyndon Whitfill, Caden McWhorter, Alan Stipp (hardcharger), and Jim Farris Jr. completed the top ten.

Landen Miller took fast time honors with a lap of 14.416 as 14 CR Towing Sportsman drivers were on hand for their 15 lap race. The two heat races went to Miller and Duncan.

Miller led the opening lap before point leader Duncan used his vast experience to motor into the lead. Looking to add another track championship to his belt, Duncan took his fourth win of the year.

“ It has been a good year”, Duncan said. “ The car is doing good. It is easy to drive and that makes it easy on me”.

Steve Mattingly held off Josh Hetherington for second. First year driver Victor Strong was fourth and Jime Farley finished in fifth. Rookie contender Doug Carls claimed sixth, followed by Makinzi Semmens (hardcharger), Roy Magee, Eric Saltzman, and Miller.

A field of 16 Stock Cars made qualifying attempts that saw Ian Keller click off a time of 14.774 for fast time. Keller and Megan Erwin were the heat race winners.

At the start of the feature, Erwin got the jump on Keller for the lead and never looked back in taking her second Fairbury win and seventh overall.

“ After getting my first Fairbury win, I didn’t think I would ever get another one here”, spoke Erwin. “ This is a great feeling”.

Cody Clubb had a strong second, with Tim Loomis in third. Braiden Keller, Don Hilleary, Brandon Tracy, Jesse Simmons, RJ Akers, Joe Spiewak (hardcharger), and Devin Hoskins rounded out the top ten.

Scott McDonald and Jason Vandermeir were Hobby-Modified heat race winners with 16 cars in the lineup.

McDonald led the first three laps of the 12 lap race, before the smooth and consistent driving by Brian Deavers moved to the front. Deavers led the remaining laps in taking his third win of the year.

“ I knew most of the guys would go to the bottom”, Deavers said. “ I decided to try the top, but couldn’t find anything up there. I went back to the bottom”.

A good battle took place behind the race leader and saw Ryan Kohler take second. Former Kart racer, Trevor Ringle finish third, McDonald was fourth, and Wes Ricketts finished in fifth.Jake Green would finish sixth, followed by Vandermeir, Luke Gebhardt, Rick Thomas, and Kellen Arnold.

Gavyn Parmele, in his second year of racing, led flag to flag to garner the feature win. Liam Gray finished in second, followed by Hudson Dick, Brenden Heizer, and Parker Ramer.

25 entries

DIRTCAR LATE MODELS

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A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[3]; 2. 42Z61-Mckay Wenger[1]; 3. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 4. 76-Titus Sneed[12]; 5. 89-Mike Spatola[5]; 6. 3-Dale Markham[20]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[2]; 8. B12-Kevin Weaver[7]; 9. 1M-Mike Mataragas[10]; 10. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[9]; 11. 35-Derek Chandler[13]; 12. 38J-Jake Little[11]; 13. 16-Rusty Griffaw[14]; 14. M27-Mike Provenzano[4]; 15. 10-Scott Schmitt[8]; 16. 73-Bill Weistart[18]; 17. 2-Charlie Cole[19]; 18. 162-Logan Moody[16]; 19. 9-Lyle Zanker[15]; 20. 80-Rich Dawson[17]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 162-Logan Moody[1]; 2. 80-Rich Dawson[3]; 3. 73-Bill Weistart[2]; 4. 2-Charlie Cole[7]; 5. 3-Dale Markham[6]; 6. 7-Jay Sparks[4]; 7. 14-Glen Thompson[5]; 8. 79W-Greg Wagner[8]; 9. 28-Ron Donaldson[10]; 10. 621-Matt Ramer[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42Z61-Mckay Wenger[2]; 2. M27-Mike Provenzano[1]; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver[3]; 4. 1M-Mike Mataragas[4]; 5. 35-Derek Chandler[6]; 6. 162-Logan Moody[5]; 7. 7-Jay Sparks[7]; 8. 2-Charlie Cole[9]; 9. 28-Ron Donaldson[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4G-Bob Gardner[1]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 3. 10-Scott Schmitt[2]; 4. 38J-Jake Little[3]; 5. 16-Rusty Griffaw[7]; 6. 73-Bill Weistart[6]; 7. 14-Glen Thompson[5]; 8. 79W-Greg Wagner[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[4]; 2. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[2]; 3. 18-Jeffrey Ledford[1]; 4. 76-Titus Sneed[5]; 5. 9-Lyle Zanker[6]; 6. 80-Rich Dawson[3]; 7. 3-Dale Markham[7]; 8. 621-Matt Ramer[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 00:12.682[13]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:12.812[1]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:12.831[6]; 4. B12-Kevin Weaver, 00:12.877[10]; 5. 38J-Jake Little, 00:12.920[19]; 6. 80-Rich Dawson, 00:12.932[2]; 7. 42Z61-Mckay Wenger, 00:12.936[21]; 8. 10-Scott Schmitt, 00:13.129[24]; 9. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:13.131[7]; 10. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:13.181[5]; 11. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:13.186[9]; 12. 18-Jeffrey Ledford, 00:13.189[15]; 13. 162-Logan Moody, 00:13.215[16]; 14. 14-Glen Thompson, 00:13.246[20]; 15. 76-Titus Sneed, 00:13.300[8]; 16. 35-Derek Chandler, 00:13.307[18]; 17. 73-Bill Weistart, 00:13.313[25]; 18. 9-Lyle Zanker, 00:13.315[23]; 19. 7-Jay Sparks, 00:13.341[3]; 20. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 00:13.575[12]; 21. 3-Dale Markham, 00:13.577[22]; 22. 28-Ron Donaldson, 00:13.774[14]; 23. 79W-Greg Wagner, 00:14.314[17]; 24. 621-Matt Ramer, 00:14.516[11]; 25. 2-Charlie Cole, 00:14.516[4]

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 37-Michael Ledford[1]; 2. 32-Mason Duncan[2]; 3. 34T-Tanner Reed[6]; 4. 1W-Bob Pohlman[5]; 5. 35-Ethan Weber[10]; 6. 89-Austin Friedman[7]; 7. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[3]; 8. 14-Caden McWhorter[4]; 9. X-Alan Stipp[16]; 10. 69JR-Jimmy Farris Jr[12]; 11. 73-Mark Rhoades[8]; 12. 71R-Troy Ricketts[13]; 13. 33-Jason Brandt[15]; 14. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[9]; 15. 36V-Macy Vaughan[14]; 16. 17H-Scott Hauge[11]; 17. 64-Dawson Cook[18]; 18. 42-Roger Mills[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Michael Ledford[2]; 2. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[3]; 3. 1W-Bob Pohlman[1]; 4. 89-Austin Friedman[4]; 5. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[5]; 6. 17H-Scott Hauge[7]; 7. 71R-Troy Ricketts[8]; 8. 33-Jason Brandt[9]; 9. 42-Roger Mills[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Mason Duncan[4]; 2. 14-Caden McWhorter[3]; 3. 34T-Tanner Reed[1]; 4. 73-Mark Rhoades[7]; 5. 35-Ethan Weber[2]; 6. 69JR-Jimmy Farris Jr[6]; 7. 36V-Macy Vaughan[8]; 8. X-Alan Stipp[9]; 9. 64-Dawson Cook[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:13.592[6]; 2. 32-Mason Duncan, 00:13.741[1]; 3. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:13.829[18]; 4. 14-Caden McWhorter, 00:13.836[12]; 5. 37-Michael Ledford, 00:13.918[11]; 6. 35-Ethan Weber, 00:14.047[10]; 7. 1W-Bob Pohlman, 00:14.155[3]; 8. 34T-Tanner Reed, 00:14.239[8]; 9. 0F-Matt Fabrizius, 00:14.312[17]; 10. 64-Dawson Cook, 00:14.366[5]; 11. 42-Roger Mills, 00:14.457[15]; 12. 69JR-Jimmy Farris Jr, 00:14.473[16]; 13. 17H-Scott Hauge, 00:14.484[14]; 14. 73-Mark Rhoades, 00:14.825[9]; 15. 71R-Troy Ricketts, 00:14.899[13]; 16. 36V-Macy Vaughan, 00:14.980[7]; 17. 33-Jason Brandt, 00:15.349[2]; 18. X-Alan Stipp, 00:15.349[4]

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 32-Tommy Duncan[2]; 2. 7-Steven Mattingly[3]; 3. 15-Josh Hetherington[6]; 4. 81-Victor Strong[8]; 5. 84L-Jim Farley III[4]; 6. 14-Doug Carls[7]; 7. 66-Makinzi Semmens[12]; 8. 11-Roy Magee[10]; 9. 421-Eric Saltzman[5]; 10. 110-Landen Miller[1]; 11. 20R-Tyler Roth[11]; 12. 18-Anthony Craven[14]; 13. 13-Aaron Reid[9]; 14. (DNS) 87-Wes Odell

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 110-Landen Miller[1]; 2. 7-Steven Mattingly[4]; 3. 421-Eric Saltzman[5]; 4. 14-Doug Carls[6]; 5. 13-Aaron Reid[7]; 6. 20R-Tyler Roth[2]; 7. 87-Wes Odell[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Tommy Duncan[1]; 2. 84L-Jim Farley III[2]; 3. 15-Josh Hetherington[3]; 4. 81-Victor Strong[4]; 5. 11-Roy Magee[6]; 6. 66-Makinzi Semmens[5]; 7. 18-Anthony Craven[7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 110-Landen Miller, 00:14.416[5]; 2. 32-Tommy Duncan, 00:14.750[2]; 3. 20R-Tyler Roth, 00:14.759[9]; 4. 84L-Jim Farley III, 00:14.981[10]; 5. 87-Wes Odell, 00:15.011[12]; 6. 15-Josh Hetherington, 00:15.237[13]; 7. 7-Steven Mattingly, 00:15.278[8]; 8. 81-Victor Strong, 00:15.356[3]; 9. 421-Eric Saltzman, 00:15.673[4]; 10. 66-Makinzi Semmens, 00:16.037[6]; 11. 14-Doug Carls, 00:16.074[11]; 12. 11-Roy Magee, 00:16.350[14]; 13. 13-Aaron Reid, 00:17.338[1]

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 2. 23-Cody Clubb[3]; 3. 93-Tim Loomis[5]; 4. K67JR-Braiden Keller[4]; 5. 10H-Don Hilleary[7]; 6. 63T-Brandon Tracy[6]; 7. 42-Jesse Simmons[10]; 8. 14A-RJ Akers[9]; 9. 28-Joe Spiewak[14]; 10. 10-Devin Hoskins[8]; 11. 66-Derrick Weiand[12]; 12. 32-Brice Slavens[16]; 13. 65-Jeff Czemske[11]; 14. 1A-Kyle Anderson[13]; 15. 37S-Randy Schoener[15]; 16. K67-Ian Keller[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. K67-Ian Keller[2]; 2. 23-Cody Clubb[1]; 3. 93-Tim Loomis[3]; 4. 10H-Don Hilleary[5]; 5. 14A-RJ Akers[4]; 6. 65-Jeff Czemske[8]; 7. 1A-Kyle Anderson[6]; 8. 37S-Randy Schoener[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Megan Erwin[2]; 2. K67JR-Braiden Keller[1]; 3. 63T-Brandon Tracy[6]; 4. 10-Devin Hoskins[3]; 5. 42-Jesse Simmons[4]; 6. 66-Derrick Weiand[5]; 7. 28-Joe Spiewak[7]; 8. 32-Brice Slavens[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. K67-Ian Keller, 00:14.774[4]; 2. 14-Megan Erwin, 00:14.998[16]; 3. 23-Cody Clubb, 00:15.176[15]; 4. K67JR-Braiden Keller, 00:15.319[11]; 5. 93-Tim Loomis, 00:15.443[14]; 6. 10-Devin Hoskins, 00:15.464[1]; 7. 14A-RJ Akers, 00:15.523[13]; 8. 42-Jesse Simmons, 00:15.543[2]; 9. 10H-Don Hilleary, 00:15.895[6]; 10. 66-Derrick Weiand, 00:16.036[10]; 11. 1A-Kyle Anderson, 00:16.080[7]; 12. 63T-Brandon Tracy, 00:16.110[5]; 13. 37S-Randy Schoener, 00:16.469[12]; 14. 28-Joe Spiewak, 00:17.260[9]; 15. 65-Jeff Czemske, 00:17.992[8]; 16. 32-Brice Slavens, 00:17.992[3]

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 9-Brian Deavers[4]; 2. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[11]; 3. 81-Trevor Ringle[13]; 4. 77M-Scott McDonald[1]; 5. 22-Wes Ricketts[2]; 6. 21-Jake Green[3]; 7. 6-Jason Vandermeir[10]; 8. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[8]; 9. 23T-Rick Thomas[12]; 10. 75-Kellen Arnold[15]; 11. 66-Payton Semmens[14]; 12. 21G-Coltin Grace[7]; 13. 31T-Meara Tilstra[6]; 14. 25-Jenna Norvell[16]; 15. 47-Jordan Walker[5]; 16. 14-Madison Walker[17]; 17. 0ONE-Jake Bachtold[9]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 77M-Scott McDonald[5]; 2. 22-Wes Ricketts[3]; 3. 21-Jake Green[9]; 4. 9-Brian Deavers[1]; 5. 47-Jordan Walker[6]; 6. 31T-Meara Tilstra[7]; 7. 21G-Coltin Grace[8]; 8. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[2]; 9. 0ONE-Jake Bachtold[4]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 6-Jason Vandermeir[1]; 2. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[3]; 3. 23T-Rick Thomas[2]; 4. 81-Trevor Ringle[5]; 5. 66-Payton Semmens[4]; 6. 75-Kellen Arnold[6]; 7. 25-Jenna Norvell[7]; 8. 14-Madison Walker[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. 9-Brian Deavers[12]; 2. 23LG-Luke Gebhardt[1]; 3. 22-Wes Ricketts[13]; 4. 0ONE-Jake Bachtold[11]; 5. 77M-Scott McDonald[16]; 6. 47-Jordan Walker[14]; 7. 31T-Meara Tilstra[2]; 8. 21G-Coltin Grace[5]; 9. 21-Jake Green[8]; 10. 6-Jason Vandermeir[3]; 11. 23T-Rick Thomas[7]; 12. 21JR-Ryan Kohler[4]; 13. 66-Payton Semmens[9]; 14. 81-Trevor Ringle[6]; 15. 75-Kellen Arnold[15]; 16. 25-Jenna Norvell[17]; 17. 14-Madison Walker[10]