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Pierce Rules on Night 1 at Farmer City

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Burbank, IL (September 4, 2020) – Thursday night the Mars Racing Series presented by Rip It Energy Fuel kicked off a three day race weekend at Farmer City Raceway with night 1 of the Farmer City 74.

Twenty-nine late models signed in for Mars Racing Series competition on Thursday night for a shot at the $5,000 payday to kick off Labor Day weekend. The fourth annual event has become an instant tradition for the quarter mile facility in Farmer City, Illinois.

In qualifying Jason Feger laid down the quickest lap in Group A qualifying with a lap of 13.061. But overall fast time came from group B as Wisconsin’s Taylor Scheffler broke into the twelve second bracket with a lap of 12.989 seconds. Qualifying set the stage for the four heat races to start setting the field for the nights 40 lap main event.

Heat race one was all Jason Feger who got out to the early race lead and won putting himself in the redraw. Bob Gardner also put himself in the redraw with his runner up finish. Mike Spatola moved up two stops to transfer in the third position. After jumping the cushion early on Kevin Weaver rallied in the closing laps to grab the last transfer into the feature event.

During heat race two the fans saw Hall of Famer Billy Moyer get out front after starting on the pole to cruise to a heat race win. His only real challenge came from runner up Tim Manville who was able to get to the back bumper but was never able to mount a bid for the top spot. McKay Wenger and Jason Wagner picked up the third and fourth place finishes to move on to the main event.

The fans got their moneys worth in heat race number three. After lining up third Bobby Pierce put the move of the night on Taylor Scheffler and Ryan Gustin with two laps to go. Splitting the two down the front stretch and taking the lead into one. Pierce put himself in the redraw with the win. Ryan Gustin came home runner up and fast qualifier Taylor Scheffler third. The final transfer spot went to Frank Heckenast Jr.

In the final heat race Shannon Babb was able to hold of challenges from El Paso, IL driver Ryan Unzicker. Babb and Unzicker both advanced to the nights redraw. Mitch McGrath and Indiana’s Scott James picked up the final two spots from heat races.

The Mars Racing Series RIP IT Energy Redraw took place on the front stretch just before the B-Main rolled on to the track. After making his debut with the new car named Lucky, Oakwood, IL driver Bobby Pierce pulled the #1 RIP It can out of the cooler. Jason Feger got the #2 and lined up on the outside of row number one.

In the B-Main it was all former Farmer City track champion Eric Smith that drove away with the win. Donny Walden came home runner up, Steven Roberts and Mike Glasscock also moved on to the nights 40 lap event. Provisionals went to Rich Bell and Allen Weisser.

Bobby Pierce battles early on with Jason Feger. (Tyler Carr Photo)

Bobby Pierce started on the pole and on lap one he slid up in front of Jason Feger coming off four on the first lap and never looked back. The race went caution free until we got down inside 10 laps to go. The yellow flew for the spin of #99 Frank Heckenast Jr. At that point Pierce had put an eight second lead on the field and lapped up to the eighth place car.

On the restart Jason Feger tried to send it in on the bottom before making contact with the infield tire as Pierce tried to protect his top spot and squeeze Jason down. Jason spun and brought out the second caution of the forty-lap event. On the second restart Bobby motored away from the field to pick up his tenth career Mars Racing Series win. Ryan Unzicker came home runner up with Ryan Gustin rounding out the podium.

In victory lane Bobby said he did not know how much of a lead he had cause his crew had left the sticks back in the pit area. Bobby claimed it was different at the track without his dad there who is serving a month suspension from DIRTcar events after events at Cedar Lake Speedway last month. Ryan Unzicker who has had a trying month with his wife’s health issues was all smiles as he was interviewed for his runner up finish. Ryan Gustin told series announcer in this interview for third that he needs to get just a little bit better as he has been knocking on the door for a win in Mars Series action.

The Mars Racing Series presented by Rip It Energy Fuel will be in action again tonight at Farmer City Raceway for the finale of the Farmer City 74. Saturday night for round seven of the 2020 Season at Fairbury Speedway. All weekend long the action can be found on FloRacing and DirtonDirt.com.

Feature (40 Laps) 1. 32-Bobby Pierce [1][]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker [5][]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin [8][]; 4. 18-Shannon Babb [3][]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer [4][]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [14][]; 7. 33M-Tim Manville [6][]; 8. 25-Jason Feger [2][]; 9. 89-Mike Spatola [9][]; 10. 4G-Bob Gardner [7][]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath [12][]; 12. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [10][]; 13. 9-Eric Smith [17][]; 14. 111-Steven Roberts [19][]; 15. J12-Jason Wagner [15][]; 16. 30-Mike Glasscock [20][]; 17. B12-Kevin Weaver [13][]; 18. 42-McKay Wenger [11][]; 19. 83-Scott James [16][]; 20. 21B-Rich Bell [21][]; 21. 25W-Allen Weisser [22][]; 22. 1W-Donny Walden [18][] Hard Charger: 99JR-Frank Heckenast[+8]

Bobby Pierce and crew pose in victory lane after his $5,000 win. (Tyler Carr Photo)

 

Qualifying Flight-A 1. 25-Jason Feger, 13.061; 2. 21-Billy Moyer, 13.25; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver, 13.269; 4. 33M-Tim Manville, 13.364; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner, 13.37; 6. 42-McKay Wenger, 13.392; 7. 9-Eric Smith, 13.397; 8. 21B-Rich Bell, 13.404; 9. 89-Mike Spatola, 13.589; 10. J12-Jason Wagner, 13.614; 11. 25W-Allen Weisser, 13.696; 12. 111-Steven Roberts, 13.81; 13. 48T-Phil Taylor, 15.093; 14. 3S-Brian Shirley, 99.999; DQ. 1W-Donny Walden, 13.118

Qualifying Flight-B 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 12.989; 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 13.071; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 13.102; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 13.15; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce, 13.174; 6. 83-Scott James, 13.233; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, 13.326; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath, 13.499; 9. 30-Mike Glasscock, 13.515; 10. 30V-Mark Voigt, 13.774; 11. 118-Mike Fenton, 14.154; 12. 74A-Russ Adams, 14.276; 13. 28M-Jake Miller, 14.569; 14. 84-Myles Moos, 99.999

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 25-Jason Feger [1]; 2. 4G-Bob Gardner [3]; 3. 89-Mike Spatola [5]; 4. B12-Kevin Weaver [2]; 5. 9-Eric Smith [4]; 6. 25W-Allen Weisser [6]; 7. 48T-Phil Taylor [7]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley [8]

Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 21-Billy Moyer [1]; 2. 33M-Tim Manville [2]; 3. 42-McKay Wenger [3]; 4. J12-Jason Wagner [5]; 5. 1W-Donny Walden [7]; 6. 21B-Rich Bell [4]; 7. 111-Steven Roberts [6]

Heat #3 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 32-Bobby Pierce [3]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin [2]; 3. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [1]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [4]; 5. 30-Mike Glasscock [5]; 6. 118-Mike Fenton [6]; 7. 28M-Jake Miller [7]

Heat #4 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 18-Shannon Babb [1]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker [2]; 3. 74-Mitch McGrath [4]; 4. 83-Scott James [3]; 5. 30V-Mark Voigt [5]; 6. 74A-Russ Adams [6]; 7. 84-Myles Moos [7]

B-Main #1 (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer 1. 9-Eric Smith [1][]; 2. 1W-Donny Walden [3][]; 3. 111-Steven Roberts [11][]; 4. 30-Mike Glasscock [2][]; 5. 30V-Mark Voigt [4][]; 6. 118-Mike Fenton [6][]; 7. 74A-Russ Adams [8][]; 8. 28M-Jake Miller [10][]; 9. 48T-Phil Taylor [9][]; 10. 21B-Rich Bell [7][]; 11. 25W-Allen Weisser [5][]; 12. 84-Myles Moos [12][]; 13. 3S-Brian Shirley [13][]

For more information and news concerning the Rip It Energy Fuel Mars Racing Series, please visit us at www.marsracingseries.com Back to News