Shirley Tops I-96 Speedway

Shirley Scores First Win of 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Season at I-96 Speedway

By Jordan Morris

LAKE ODESSA, Mich. – June 22, 2014 – Brian Shirley rallied from a blown engine in hot laps, and then held off a red-hot Shannon Babb to capture his first victory of the 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals season Sunday night at I-96 Speedway.

 

Shirley, the 2012 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion, dominated the 40-lap main event, leading every lap from flag-to-flag, as well as setting quick time for the night and winning his heat race.

 

 

Shirley started the feature from the pole-position and grabbed the lead early. Babb, who started four positions behind Shirley, needed only eight laps to make his way to second and 20 laps to reach Shirley’s back bumper. Babb, who has dominated I-96 Speedway, winning four of the last five races held there during the Summer Nationals, found no luck getting around Shirley as lapped traffic came into play in the battle for the lead.

 

Shirley held a firm grip on the top spot, managing to lead every lap in a caution free feature, capturing the $5,000 checkered flag, his first of the season and 13th of his career.

 

“Tonight I was a little heartbroken,” said a relieved Brian Shirley in victory lane. “We were fast in hot laps I felt like, and had to pull that car out because of mechanical problems, but glad it all worked out.”

 

Ryan Unzicker, Brandon Sheppard and Dona Marcoullier rounded out the top five.

 

Heat race winners included Shirley, Unzicker and Ryan Vanderveen.

 

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues on Monday night at Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Ill.

 

DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; I-96 Speedway; Lake Odessa, Mich.; June 22, 2014

A-Main (40-laps): 1. 81-Brian Shirley ($5,000), 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 5. 6M-Dona Marcoullier, 6. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 7. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen, 8. 14M-Brandon Thirlby, 9. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 10. 27S-Eric Spangler, 11. 81JR-Jason Riggs, 12. 111-Curt Spalding, 13. 77K-Steve Kester, 14. 32J-Jason Jaggers, 15. 1M-Jim Moon, 16. 2-Bry Sloan, 17. 34-Herb Reich, 18. 41-Jason Playter Jr, 19. 15A-Phil Ausra, 20. 52X-Brad Harden, 21. 42*-Bob Mayer, 22. 49-Brian Ruhlman.

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

Lake Odessa, Mich.

Brian Shirley

June 23

Mon

Peoria Speedway

Peoria, Ill.

$5,000

June 24

Tue

Off

   

June 25

Wed

Clarksville Speedway

Clarksville, Tenn.

$5,000

June 26

Thur

Clayhill Motorsports

Atwood, Tenn.

$5,000

June 27

Fri

Paducah Int. Raceway

Paducah, Ky.

$10,000

June 28

Sat

Federated Auto Parts Raceway

Pevely, Mo.

$10,000

June 29

Sun

Lincoln Speedway

Lincoln, Ill.

$5,000

June 30

Mon

Off

   

July 1

Tue

Belle Clair Speedway

Belleville, Ill.

$5,000

July 2

Wed

Jacksonville Speedway

Jacksonville, Ill.

$5,000

July 3

Thur

LaSalle Speedway

LaSalle, Ill.

$5,000

July 4

Fri

Fayette Co. Speedway

Brownstown, Ill.

$7,500

July 5

Sat

Highland Speedway

Highland, Ill.

$10,000

July 6

Sun

Tri-State Speedway

Haubstadt, Ind.

$5,000

July 7

Mon

Off

   

July 8

Tue

Florence Speedway

Union, Ky.

$5,000

July 9

Wed

Terre Haute Action Track

Terre Haute, Ind.

$5,000

July 10

Thur

Macon Speedway

Macon, Ill.

$5,000

July 11

Fri

Farmer City Raceway

Farmer City, Ill.

$10,000

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

 

2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Championship Standings

Rank

Car

First

Last

Points

1

24

Ryan

Unzicker

449

2

18

Shannon

Babb

440

3

81

Brian

Shirley

408

4

B5

Brandon

Sheppard

405

5

1

Rick

Eckert

391

6

32

Bobby

Pierce

308

7

21

Billy

Moyer Jr

298

8

81

Jason

Riggs

284

9

22

Gregg

Satterlee

278

10

21

Billy

Moyer

269

11

10

Scott

Schmitt

261

12

15b

Brian

Birkhofer

173

13

25

Jason

Feger

172

14

28

Jimmy

Mars

171

15

2

Brady

Smith

163

16

96

Tanner

English

163

17

1m

Jimmy

Moon

162

18

89

Mike

Spatola

125

19

32j

Jason

Jaggers

118

20

17

Jim

Shereck

111

21

B12

Kevin

Weaver

104

22

Oo

Randy

Korte

98

23

1cj

Gary

Christian

95

24

83

Scott

Bull

86

25

32

Chris

Simpson

86

26

98

Jason

Rauen

86

27

2

Allen

Murray

74

28

99

Franky

Heckenast

73

29

58

A J

Diemel

72

30

10

Pete

Parker

71

31

77

Jason

McBride

71

32

5m

Mike

Fryar

71

33

20

Rodney

Sanders

70

34

25

Steve

Lance

69

35

45

Kyle

Hammer

65

36

21

Rich

Bell

65

37

33h

Billy

Hough

64

38

6m

Dona

Marcoullier

56

39

77

Jay

Morris

55

40

33

Tim

Manville

53

41

42

Mckay

Wenger

51

42

9r

Curtis

Roberts

51

43

15

Brian

Harris

50

44

77

Tim

McCreadie

49

45

7s

Jay

Spark

49

46

6k

Michael

Kloss

49

47

23

Ryan

Vanderveen

49

48

33

Kevin

Cole

47

49

M14

Brandon

Thirlby

47

50

55

Jeep

Vanwormer

45

51

116

Torrin

Mettille

44

52

58

Ray

Guss

44

53

7k

Jason

Krohn

43

54

Oov

Kolby

Vandenbergh

43

55

27

Eric

Spangler

43

56

10

Don

Hilleary

42

57

74

Mitch

Mcgrath

42

58

7b

Mark

Burgtorf

42

59

1w

Wendell

Wallace

41

60

42

Shawn

Toczek

41

61

33

Adam

Hensel

41

62

7

Steve

Thornsten

40

63

111

Curtis

Spalding

40

64

77

Steve

Kester

39

65

90

Lance

Mathees

38

66

9d

Dan

Flessner

36

67

D7

Jim

Letizia

36

68

2

Bry

Sloan

36

69

56

Andy

Eckrich

35

70

B1

Nick

Bauman

35

71

27

Rodney

Melvin

35

72

34

Herb

Reich

35

73

11

Pat

Doar

34

74

8

Bill

Rezetek

34

75

92

Scott

Weber

34

76

41

Jason

Playter

34

77

15a

Phil

Ausra

33

78

75

Billy

Drake

32

79

52

Brad

Harden

32

80

M27

Mike

Provenzano

31

81

42

Bob

Mayer

31

82

28

Jeff

Provinzino

30

83

4g

Bob

Gardner

30

84

33

Rickey

Frankel

30

85

49

Brian

Ruhlman

30

86

2

Mike

Nutzmann

29

87

16

Tyler

Bruening

29

88

94

Evan

Fink

29

89

6r

Carl

Ries

29

90

40

Joel

Callahan

28

91

11

Rachel

Carpenter

28

92

6

Nick

Herrick

27

93

20

Jake

Meier

27

94

28

Clint

Kirkham

27

95

610

Blaine

Hendrick

27

96

14

Glen

Thompson

26

97

15

Caley

Emerson

26

98

21

Joel

Collins

25

99

82

Billy

Laycock

25

100

65

Lucas

Peterson

24

101

16h

Mike

Hammerle

24

102

38

Ryan

Little

23

103

74

Russ

Adams

22

104

0

Dewayne

Kiefer

22

105

17x

Matt

Santel

21

106

20

Alan

Westling

20

107

71

Trace

Westling

18

108

38

Jake

Little

17

109

3

Scott

Henseler

16

110

94

Austin

Rettig

14

111

9

Eric

Smith

10

112

Z

Joe

Harlan

10

113

35

Derek

Chandler

10

114

89

Daren

Freidman

10

115

36

Eric

Vaughn

10

116

D2

Snooky

Dehm

10

117

4

Mike

Mullvain

10

118

1w

Donny

Walden

10

119

15

Jon

Henry

10

 

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.