By Jordan Morris
FARMER CITY, Ill. July 11, 2014 One night after Shannon Babb tied Billy Moyer atop the DIRTcar Summer Nationals all-time wins list at 86 career victories, Moyer retook the lead and broke the tie by outlasting the rain and dominating Friday night at Farmer City Raceway.
Brian Shirley started the 40-lap feature event from the pole-position with Mike Spatola starting to his outside. Neither driver managed to lead a lap as third-place starter Billy Moyer rocketed around both front-row starters and claimed the top spot on the first lap.
The six-time champion Moyer had the car to beat all night as he jumped out to a commanding lead early and never looked back. The only thing that dampened Moyers night was when a rain shower temporarily halted the race on lap 27.
Before the caution flew for rain, two race contenders were plagued by flat tires. Shirley, who started from the pole, rode around on a flat right-rear, gambling that the ensuing rain shower would end the race, but his bet didnt pay off as he was caught in the pits when the caution did finally fly. Seventh-place starter Brandon Sheppard was cutting into Moyers large lead when he too suffered a flat tire on lap 27 just before the caution came out.
When the racing resumed, Moyer again proved to be too strong, as he easily dominated the remaining 13 laps, defeating fifth-place starting Bobby Pierce by over two seconds, en route to claiming the $10,000 checkered flag, his fifth win of the season and 87th career DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory,
You just gotta have patience,” said Moyer of the rain-delayed feature event. “Im usually pretty good at that, just trying to hold yourself back and not make any stupid moves. Really, I couldnt see. It was kinda, I guess, raining the whole time, spitting, I think, you know, because the vision wasnt good the whole race really.
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Shannon Babb, Mike Spatola and Kevin Weaver rounded out the top five.
Heat race winners were Moyer, Shirley, Jason Feger and Spatola.
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues on Saturday night at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa.
DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; Farmer City Raceway; Farmer City, Ill.; July 11, 2014;
A-Main (40-laps): 1. 21-Billy Moyer ($10,000), 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 3. 18-Shannon Babb, 4. 89-Mike Spatola, 5. 12B-Kevin Weaver, 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 7. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 8. 7R-Kent Robinson, 9. 81-Brian Shirley, 10. 89F-Daren Friedman, 11. Z-Joe Harlan, 12. 96-Tanner English, 13. 9D-Daniel Flessner, 14. 7T-Steve Thorsten, 15. 4G-Bob Gardner, 16. 10S-Scott Schmitt, 17. 25-Jason Feger, 18. 116-Torin Mettille, 19. 75D-Billy Drake, 20. 42-MCKay Wenger, 21. 81JR-Jason Riggs, 22. 83-Scott Bull.
2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Schedule
Date | Day | Track | Location | Win |
June 11 | Wed | Brownstown Speedway | Brownstown, Ind. | RAIN |
June 12 | Thur | Kankakee Co. Speedway | Kankakee, Ill. | Billy Moyer |
June 13 | Fri | Cedar Lake Speedway | Somerset, Wis. | Rick Eckert |
June 14 | Sat | Cedar Lake Speedway | Somerset, Wis. | RAIN |
June 15 | Sun | Wilmot Raceway | Wilmot, Wis. | Rick Eckert(2) |
June 16 | Mon | Off | ||
June 17 | Tue | Farley Speedway | Farley, Iowa | Shannon Babb |
June 18 | Wed | Spoon River Speedway | Canton, Ill. | Jason Feger |
June 19 | Thur | Quincy Raceways | Quincy, Ill. | RAIN |
June 20 | Fri | Tri-City Speedway | Pontoon Beach, Ill. | Billy Moyer(2) |
June 21 | Sat | Fairbury Speedway | Fairbury, Ill. | RAIN |
June 22 | Sun | I-96 Speedway | Ionia, Mich. | Brian Shirley |
June 23 | Mon | Peoria Speedway | Peoria, Ill. | Brandon Sheppard |
June 24 | Tue | Off | ||
June 25 | Wed | Clarksville Speedway | Clarksville, Tenn. | Shannon Babb(2) |
June 26 | Thur | Clayhill Motorsports | Atwood, Tenn. | Brian Shirley (2) |
June 27 | Fri | Paducah Int. Raceway | Paducah, Ky. | RAIN |
June 28 | Sat | Federated Auto Parts Raceway | Pevely, Mo. | Brian Birkhofer |
June 29 | Sun | Lincoln Speedway | Lincoln, Ill. | Brady Smith |
June 30 | Mon | Off | ||
July 1 | Tue | Belle Clair Speedway | Belleville, Ill. | Bobby Pierce |
July 2 | Wed | Jacksonville Speedway | Jacksonville, Ill. | Jason Feger(2) |
July 3 | Thur | LaSalle Speedway | LaSalle, Ill. | Brian Birkhofer(2) |
July 4 | Fri | Fayette Co. Speedway | Brownstown, Ill. | Brandon Sheppard(2) |
July 5 | Sat | Highland Speedway | Highland, Ill. | Tyler Reddick |
July 6 | Sun | Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, Ind. | Billy Moyer(3) |
July 7 | Mon | Off | ||
July 8 | Tue | Florence Speedway | Union, Ky. | Jason Jameson |
July 9 | Wed | Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, Ind. | Billy Moyer(4) |
July 10 | Thur | Macon Speedway | Macon, Ill. | Shannon Babb(3) |
July 11 | Fri | Farmer City Raceway | Farmer City, Ill. | Billy Moyer(5) |
July 12 | Sat | 34 Raceway | Burlington, Iowa | $10,000 |
July 13 | Sun | Vermilion Co. Speedway | Danville, Ill. | $5,000 |
July 14 | Mon | Off | ||
July 15 | Tue | TBA | ||
July 16 | Wed | Atomic Speedway | Chillicothe, Ohio | $5,000 |
July 17 | Thur | Brushcreek Motorsports Complex | Peebles, Ohio | $5,000 |
July 18 | Fri | Attica Raceway Park | Attica, Ohio | $5,000 |
July 19 | Sat | Oakshade Raceway | Wauseon, Ohio | $10,000 |
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour is brought to fans across the country by many important partners including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Racing Electronics (Official Communication), Velocita (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to these fine Contingency Partners: Beyea Headers, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Mobil 1, MSD, Quartermaster, Superflow Dynos, Summit Racing Equipment and Wrisco Aluminum; Promotional Partners include: Chevy Performance Parts, Indiana Decal, Intercomp and Petroff Towing.