The first night of the 34th Annual Prairie Dirt Classic brought a stout field, thrilling racing, and a new champion for the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals.
Nearly 60 drivers gather at Fairbury Speedway on Friday to compete in Showdown Features, which locked the top-four finishers in each into Saturday’s 40-lap, $5,000-to-win, main event.
Ray Bollinger, Frank Marshall, Mike McKinney and Michael Long each picked up a Showdown Feature win. McKinney’s held the most significance as he’ll only need to start Saturday’s Feature to officially clinch the 2024 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals title.
Showdown #1
The first Showdown Feature of the night saw Ray Bollinger pick up his second career Showdown Feature victory and first since 2017.
At the start of the 15-lap Feature, polesitter Brad Deyoung struggled in the first corner falling to third after Austin Holcombe drove around the outside of him to take the lead and then Ray Bollinger followed through to move into second.
Before Holcombe could get a firm footing out front, the first caution of the night came on Lap 5. When Holcombe saw the green again, Bollinger stayed in his footsteps.
By Lap 7, Bollinger worked his way underneath Holcombe and the two commenced a side-by-side battle for one lap… two laps… three laps… before Bollinger edged the No. 8A for the lead on Lap 11. Bollinger threw his yellow No. 77 into the first turn and officially cleared Holcombe for the lead.
Two more cautions plagued his chances at running away and after the final caution, Josh Harris snuck his way by Holcombe for second, giving Bollinger a new challenger.
However, Bollinger was too strong and drove away, winning the Showdown and a transfer spot into Saturday’s Feature. Also transferring with him are Harris, Holcombe and Austin Seets.
“I know Austin (Holcombe), he’s a real good friend of mine. I know he’d run me good,” Bollinger said. “We left him plenty of room going through it all. He had the preferred groove, but my [car] hit the bottom with no problem. It was just gone. It felt great. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in Victory Lane…
“I’m happy to be in the show tomorrow, get in the draw. You never know what is going to happen. We wanted to put ourselves in a good spot and we did.”
RESULTS:
Summit Racing Equipment Showdown Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 77-Ray Bollinger[3]; 2. 22-Josh Harris[4]; 3. 8A-Austin Holcombe[2]; 4. 67-Austin Seets[5]; 5. 37-Michael Ledford[6]; 6. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[7]; 7. 01-Billy Knippenberg[9]; 8. J24-Jeremy Nichols[13]; 9. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[12]; 10. 16C-John Clippinger[10]; 11. 21D-Danny Schwartz[14]; 12. 7-Brad Deyoung[1]; 13. 7N-Tim Nash[11]; 14. 83-Kasey Schrock[15]; 15. 757-Bradley Jameson[8]
Showdown #2
For the third time in Frank Marshall’s DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals career, he’s locked himself into Saturday’s Prairie Dirt Classic Feature with a Showdown Feature victory.
In this edition, he did so in dominating fashion, holding a more than four second lead at one point in the 15-lap race.
Marshall started on the pole and launched to the lead at the start of the Feature with Dean Hoffman in tow. However, Marshall grew smaller in Hoffman’s visor lap after lap.
The red No. 28M had a near four second lead by Lap 13 until a caution brought the field back to his bumper. But when the race resumed, Marshall was still untouchable. He resumed his dash while everyone behind him battled for a transfer spot.
Hoffman had a comfortable hold over second, but Jared Thomas, Hunt Gossum and Kyle Hammer argued in the closing laps about who would transfer. Hammer, who started sixth, charged his way forward and snuck his way up to third on the final restart, pushing Gossum to fourth and Thomas out of the final transfer spot.
“I did not know I had a 4.2 second lead, that’s nice to know now,” Marshall said with a chuckle. “The car was just really, really good. I’ve been good lately and it’s all due to this awesome crew.”
RESULTS:
Allstar Performance Showdown Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 28M-Frank Marshall[1]; 2. 1D-Dean Hoffman[2]; 3. 45-Kyle Hammer[6]; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum[4]; 5. 43-Jared Thomas[3]; 6. 5-Steven Brooks[5]; 7. J82-Treb Jacoby[7]; 8. 8-Kyle Strickler[11]; 9. 110-Landen Miller[8]; 10. 18-Ryan Sutter[9]; 11. 3-Mike Brooks[12]; 12. T9-Ryan Thomas[13]; 13. 24T-Trevor Ringle[10]; 14. 14-Caden McWhorter[14]
Showdown #3
Mike McKinney and Trevor Neville entered Friday with six points separating them for the 2024 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified title. And as fate would have it, the championship contenders ended up in the same qualifying group and same Showdown Feature.
McKinney got the early advantage by scoring overall Quick Time, putting him on the pole for Showdown Feature #3.
However, when the Feature commenced, Nick Allen looked to steal the show. The No. 21A powered around McKinney to take the lead on the first lap, while Row 2 competitors Levi Kissinger and Neville battled for third.
Their pace was slowed with a caution on Lap 4. Then, McKinney turned up the wick. After watching World of Outlaws Late Model champion Brandon Sheppard win his Showdown Feature by running up against the cushion, McKinney decided to try to same move when the race resumed. And he used it to the same benefit.
McKinney shot by Allen for the lead on Lap 7 and looked to drive away with a championship clinching win. However, Neville was also worked his way by Allen. He then ran his No. 777 car as hard as he could to try and catch McKinney.
As the flagman counted down the race, Neville inched closer and closer to his championship rival. On the final lap, he tried to throw a last chance slider at McKinney, but the Longhorn Chassis No. 96M was too strong on the top and pulled away with the victory.
“We were really good, I feel like if we maybe had a little better right front or something, you know…” Neville said, pondering what could have been. “I gave her Hell. I did all we could do. I was happy with it… I feel great. This is the best I’ve ever felt at Fairbury.”
With the win, McKinney was also able to clinched the Summit Modified Nationals title. He has a 21-point over Trevor Neville, who can only gain at most 15 points. By starting the event tomorrow, McKinney will officially be crowned the 2024 champion.
“I kept seeing Trevor there at the end and kept driving harder,” McKinney said. “My entry wasn’t the best, but we got a really good exit every lap. It was really just focus on my exit speed. Just railing that top like I’ve done my whole career here and it paid off. Awesome to be in a good spot for tomorrow.”
RESULTS:
HotRod Septic Treatment Showdown Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[4]; 3. 24H-Mike Harrison[6]; 4. 21A-Nick Allen[2]; 5. 89-Austin Friedman[5]; 6. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie[15]; 7. 8S-Kyle Steffens[9]; 8. 54-Zachary Hawk[8]; 9. 20S-Tanner Sullivan[12]; 10. 121-Deece Schwartz[10]; 11. 36-Eric Vaughan[14]; 12. 0F-Matt Fabrizius[11]; 13. 10-Garrett Jameson[13]; 14. 8K-Levi Kissinger[3]; 15. 5CS-Curt Spalding[7]
Showdown #4
The final chance to transfer into Saturday’s Prairie Dirt Classic Feature brought triumph and heartbreak in Showdown Feature #4.
The triumph: Michael Long won his second Showdown Feature, leading every lap from the pole position.
The heartbreak: Charlie Mefford was tracking down Long, looking for his first Showdown win before he had a mechanical issue on Lap 12 that ended his night.
When the race resumed after Mefford’s issue, Long continued to drive away from the field, while Trent Young and Owen Steinkoenig battled for second.
By the checkered flag, Long crossed the line first while the three other transfer spots went to Young in second, Steinkoenig in third and Mike Chasteen Jr. in fourth.
“I feel pretty good,” Long said. “We’ve been good here all year. I have a really good year going. I think we should be pretty good. We’ll see how we do in the Redraw. I’m glad to get a win here and start up front. It’ll definitely help out tomorrow.”
RESULTS:
Collision Concepts Showdown Feature 4 (15 Laps): 1. 18L-Michael Long[1]; 2. 10Y-Trent Young[2]; 3. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[3]; 4. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[11]; 5. 12-Jeff Curl[8]; 6. 88S-Alan Stipp[7]; 7. 3F-Carson Friedman[10]; 8. 14L-Dalton Lane[12]; 9. 15-Chris Smith[6]; 10. 1W-Bob Pohlman[13]; 11. 13-Charlie Mefford[4]; 12. 32-Mason Duncan[5]; 13. 58-Ryan Hamilton[9]; 14. 7M-Jason Markewitz[14]
UP NEXT: The 2024 season for the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals will come to its epic conclusion at Fairbury Speedway during the 34th Annual Prairie Dirt Classic on Saturday, July 27. Tickets are available at the gate.
Can’t make it to the track? Watch all the action live on DIRTVision.
