Shannon Babb's train just kept
a`rollin' through LaSalle Speedway Wednesday night as the Decatur, Ill. ace put Frank Heckenast, Jr. (99) away
and notched his sixth win of the Summer Nationals tour. (Mike
Ruefer)
DirtCar Summer Nationals: Babb’s slick track preference at La Salle leads to third in a row Betty Glynn LASALLE, Ill. – July 13. Nature has robbed race enthusiasts of their need for speed on far too many occasions this season at La Salle Speedway, but the Wednesday night make-up of the UMP DIRTcar Summernationals was finally a reality with 29competitors from seven states and two countries rolling into the Illinois Valley’s largest sports complex. Shannon Babb, one of the 17 Illinoisans, took home the biggest prize of all as he works to clinch the coveted, and profitable, tour title.
Shannon Babb's chief pursuer in Summer Nationals points, Scott James found himself behind the eight ball with a provisional start after he got bounced around in his heat race and backed into the wall. (Below) Bret Sievert gets a "What's up with that?" from James after the incident. (Mike Ruefer)
Perfect weather conditions set the stage for a perfect night of racing. Group qualifying, three heat races, a C Main, and four provisional positions decided the feature grid. Pole sitter Babb, dubbed the "Moweaqua Missile", coasted into his spot next to Frank Heckanast, Jr. on the front of the grid while Kevin Weaver and Bret Sievert were in row two. Ryan Unzicker and Donny Walden were in the third row over Mike Glynn and Jack Sullivan.
Perennial Illinois competitor Kevin Weaver (12) of Gibson City checks in on the Babb/Heckenast duel before getting by Heckenast for second at LaSalle. (Mike Ruefer) Once the four-wide salute was done and the green flag waved, it was Heckanast taking charge of the field as he drove into a good lead by the sixth lap. Babb looked faster in the corners, but Heckanast had a good run on the straights, enough to pull away. The two battled back and forth with Babb powering up to the leaders door in the turns, but Heckanast was fast on the top side. Babb was heavy on the gas to force a side by side duel for the point. The two battled back and forth during the early laps trading places until the 16th circuit, when Babb used a lower line to grab the lead.
Matt Miller sizes up #1 Jack Sullivan before advancing past Sullivan and Frank Heckenast, Jr. for third at LaSalle. (Mike Ruefer) “Me and Frankie had a heck of a great race going on early,” Babb told the crowd during an infield interview. The battle early on was the only racing action Babb would be challenged with other than cruising behind lapped cars who were battling for position. The 40-lap main event finished in just over 18 minutes, the same number as the winner’s car. “I loved it,” Babb said when asked about the track surface. “It was slick and we had put ourselves in a position up front.”
Jack Sullivan gets a challenge for his fifth spot from #24 Ryan Unzicker at LaSalle. (Mike Ruefer) Babb’s victory circle visit is the third in a row for the current Summernationals points leader. The chase is coming to a close and it looks as though the trifecta finish boosted Babb into a secure lead en route to the $25,000 top prize. Gibson City’s Weaver ran a strong second place for much of the race finishing runner up to Babb over Matt Miller, Heckenast, and Jack Sullivan.
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Big Gains for Hubbard, Pearson, Ogle - The A-Team Has Been Updated 05-15-12
Scott James battles #13 Barry Doss in heat race action at Florence (Ky.) Speedway, but in the $2,000-to-win feature, the only thing anyone saw was the tail end of James' #81 car. (Roy Walker)
After plenty of trash-talking via the electronic media between Jeff Matthews and Ivedent Lloyd last week, it was #21 Lloyd who got the final word as he reeled in #33 Matthews to win Friday's LM feature at Oclala, Fla.'s Bubba Raceway Park. (R.E. Wing)
Fans at Markleysburg, Pa.'s Roaring Knob Motorsports Comlex were treated to dual LM features Saturday - one a makeup from a May 5th rainout. (Above) Tim Senic challenges eventual regular feature winner Chuck Harper, while Jared Hawkins (below) claimed the makeup race. (Tommy Micheals)
Henley, Missouri's Jason Russell leads the way to Victory Lane in the ULMS Late Model feature at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday. (Chris Bork)
Some fierce racing action at Lucas Oil speedway. (Chris Bork)
Dalton, Ga.'s Craig Reece returned to Dixie Speedway Saturday and led all the way to win the Crate LM victory. (Steve Hixson)
Ray Guss Jr. races last week's Quad City Speedway winner, Mike Murphy, Jr. This time, it was advantage Guss. (Chris Damitz)
With a strong motor back into his mount, Veteran Lamar Scoggins claimed last Friday's Crate LM victory at Boyd's Speedway. (Steve Hixson)
Veteran racer Lance Matthees navigates Spring Lake, Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway before taking Saturday's WISSOTA Late Model checkers. (Jason Durst)
Racing hard at mid-pack, it's the dueling 55s of Cory Mahder (inside) and Greg Nippoldt at Deer Creek. (Jason Durst)
Ryan King (above and below) swept both the Ltd. Late Model and Crate Late Model features Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (Chad Wells)
Still riding his wave in Iowa, Mike Murphy, Jr. in early action before taking the main event win at Davenport last Friday. (Chris Damitz)
Jason Jameson ran a gauntlet to finally capture another win Friday night at Moler
Raceway Park (see main page). (Roy
Walker)
After holding back a charge from Alex Ferree, Chub Frank drove home with a Friday night win at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (John Stivason)
Bobby Pierce, Brett Sievert, and Mike Glynn race in a tight pack in Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway's "Crosstown Cup", but (below) it was ultimately Shawn Toczek (42) here racing the high side of Mike Provenzano, who sailed to the win. (Dan Simpson)
NALMS Suspends Remaining Season
In a statement released to the racing media Monday, Northern All All Stars Late Model Series (NALMS) owners Shawn Hall and Bob Mooney relased the following statement:
To all NALMS drivers and fans,
Northern Allstars Late Model Series regrets to inform all of our drivers and fans that as of today (May 14, 2012) we will suspend all series races for the remaining 2012 season. The primary reason for the decision to discontinue the series was mainly economics. Tracks, teams and fans are having a hard time these days with the cost of living in general. With the cost of fuel, parts, tires, tickets and lodging, many people just cannot afford to travel to our shows, so we feel it's best to stop for now and try to regroup for the 2013 season.
Our series needs to be able to have at least 18 to 20 shows to cover our cost of putting on these shows and our drivers point funds. With many tracks cutting back on their special events and other tracks just choosing not to have specials at all, it's has really cut our options for race tracks down to a very few unless you are willing to travel several hours away from the Central Illinois area, and that is not cost effective for the racing teams or fans.
In closing we would like to thank all of the drivers and fans whom have supported the series over the years and we hope to be able to come back with a bigger and better season for everyone in 2013.
A-Team Leaders from 1997-2011 (Click on link for complete rundown)
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