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Moyer Blazing Fast In ‘Illini 100’ Qualifying, But Richards Pulls Off Impressive Victory In Dash On Friday Night At Farmer City Raceway

FARMER CITY, IL (April 4) – Billy Moyer continued his scorching early-season tear by setting a new track record and winning a heat during Friday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Illini 100’ qualifying program at Farmer City Raceway.

But 20-year-old Josh Richards gave Moyer – and the big crowd on hand for the start of the history-making weekend – something to think about when he overtook the 50-year-old dirt-track legend to win the 8-lap Douglas Pontiac-GMC-Dodge Dash.

Batesville, Ark.’s Moyer, who enters the weekend riding a two-race WoO LMS win streak and leading the tour points standings, shattered the two-year-old dirt Late Model track record during Friday’s 55-car time-trial session. His qualifying lap of 11.973 seconds – the first sub-12-second circuit in the history of the quarter-mile oval – lowered the standard of 12.348 seconds that Ryan Dauber of Tonica, Ill., had established on April 14, 2006.

Moyer also rolled to victory in the first of six 10-lap heat races driving his battle-tested Victory Circle M1 Chassis. He had spent the previous night practicing exclusively with his other Victory Circle car, which had just one race on its ledger, but decided to run the machine that has carried him to seven of his eight wins this season.

“The newer car felt good last night,” said Moyer, “but I just couldn’t keep this one in the trailer. I just feel too good in this car.

“I think I probably ran the wrong tires in the heat, but we hung on. I think we’ll have a good shot at (Saturday’s ‘Illini 100’).”

Shinnston, W.Va.’s Richards, who won the WoO LMS season opener and sits second in the tour points standings, was second-fastest in time trials and won the second heat. He then pulled off the move of the night in the dash for the night’s heat winners and two fastest qualifiers, squeezing between Moyer and the outside wall off turn four to seize the lead and march to victory.

“When I got up there (Moyer) started to squeeze me, but I was like, ‘I’m already committed now,’” described Richards. “I stayed up there and had barely enough room to get by him.”

Richards, who prefers big tracks but calls Farmer City his favorite bullring because “it’s all about momentum,” drove a Mark Richards Racing Enterprises Rocket car with a swing-arm suspension. His pass of Moyer gave him a big-time confidence boost heading into Saturday night’s $20,000-to-win ‘Illini 100.’

“He’s definitely been on top of his game all year,” Richards said of Moyer. “I feel like if we can run with him, we can run with anybody.

“I feel pretty good about our chances. I think as long as we make the right adjustments, we should be able to get a good finish and maybe even win (the 100).”

Joining Moyer and Richards as heat-race victors was Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., defending WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., and Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa.

The six heat-race winners will redraw on Saturday night for the top-six starting positions in the ‘Illini 100,’ which is billed as the biggest dirt Late Model race ever run in the state of Illinois.

Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who cut his teeth racing at Farmer City and won last year’s WoO LMS event at the fairgrounds track, failed to qualify in the third heat. He was outgunned for the lead at the start by Shirley and ended up at the rear of the field a few circuits later after sliding off the backstretch, but he rallied to make a bid for the final transfer spot before a flat left-rear tire caused his Bowyer Dirt Motorsports No. 18 to slow on the last lap.

No driver had a more trying night than Richie Hedrick of Urbana, Ill. He flipped his car during hot laps, then brought out a backup car and crashed it during the sixth heat in an incident that left him with a hand injury.

Saturday night’s action is scheduled to begin at 6 o’clock. The program includes two B-Mains, a 25-lap Non-Qualifiers Race paying $1,000 to win and the 24-car ‘Illini 100,’ plus an undercard of UMP DIRTcar Modified racing.

For more information, visit www.farmercityraceway.net or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):

1. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 11.973 (New Track Record)
2. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 12.128
3. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 12.196
4. 19-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 12.200
5. 28d-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 12.207
6. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 12.268
7. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 12.304
8. 24U-Ryan Unzicker/El Paso, IL 12.335
9. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 12.361
10. 25J-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 12.370
11. 9-Eric Smith/Bloomington, IL 12.414
12. 15-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 12.424
13. 25-Shane Clanton/Locust Grove, GA 12.443
14. 5s-Steve Sheppard Jr./New Berlin, IL 12.447
15. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 12.498
16. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 12.510
17. J1-Wes Steidinger/Fairbury, IL 12.514
18. 99J-Jimmy Dehm/Lexington, IL 12.546
19. 32d-Darren Miller/Chadwick, IL 12.562
20. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 12.568
21. 83-Scott Bull/Fairbury, IL 12.572
22. 16-Tony Izzo Jr./Utica, IL 12.599
23. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 12.633
24. 39x-Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY 12.664
25. S10-Junior Shickel/Bloomington, IL 12.666
26. 23L-Ted Loomis/Kingston, IL 12.678
27. 89-Daren Friedman/Forest, IL 12.682
28. 32-Chris Simpson/Oxford, IA 12.688
29. 75-Tim Lance/Peoria, IL 12.695
30. 64-Ryan Dauber/Tonica, IL 12.713
31. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 12.730
32. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 12.750
33. 19T-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 12.869
34. B12-Kevin Weaver/Gibson City, IL 12.880
35. 7L-Kyle Logue/Cisco, IL 12.918
36. B5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 12.921
37. Z-Joe Harlan/El Paso, IL 12.980
38. 12-Jordan Bland/Campbellsville, KY 12.988
39. 92-B.J.. McCammon/Danville, IL 13.004
40. 56-Ace Ihm/Hazel Green, WI 13.008
41. F15-Jeremy Conaway/Springfield, IL 13.011
42. 0-Richie Hedrick/Urbana, IL 13.012
43. 1W-Donny Walden/Towanda, IL 13.019
44. 22-Chris Dick/Deland, IL 13.061
45. 96-Cory Daugherty/Blue Mound, IL 13.099
46. 3L-Matt Taylor/Springfield, IL 13.167
47. 27J-Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY 13.196
48. 61-Jon Rogers/German Valley, IL 13.250
49. 5-Johnny Waters/Jonesboro, AR 13.296
50. 21b-Rich Bell/Sheffield, IL 13.362
51. JP7-Mike Petersak/Danville, IL 13.515
52. 9z-Jayme Zidar/Greenfield, WI 13.635
53. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, WI 13.926
54. 74-Russ Adams/Princeville, IL 18.029
55. 7J-Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY N/T

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Moyer, Miller, Clanton, Blankenship, Isabell, Walden, Lanigan, Waters, Shickel, Harlan

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Richards, S. Sheppard, C. Smith, McCreadie, Dick, Loomis, Bland, Unzicker, Bell

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Shirley, Fuller, B. Smith, Bull, Babb, McCammon, Daugherty, Petersak, Friedman

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Francis, Simpson, VanWormer, Weaver, Taylor, Feger, Zidar, Izzo, Ihm

Heat No. 5 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Frank, Erb, Steidinger, Lance, E. Smith, D. Johnson, Logue, Conaway, George

Heat No. 6 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Birkhofer, Eckert, Dauber, Coffey, Dehm, Rogers, Adams, Hedrick (DNS) B. Sheppard

LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series 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.