Another exciting night of racing is in store on Saturday with the FALS Cup weekly championship. Because of the projected heat and temperatures, Fairbury Speedway officials are pushing back start times for the evenings races.

General Admission Gate (2) & Pit Gate (3) will open at 4:00 p.m.
General Admission Gate (1) will open at 6:00 p.m.
Driver's Meeting at 6:30 p.m. – Registration closes at 6:30 p.m.
Hot Laps / Qualifying will start at 7:00 p.m.
Racing at 8:00 p.m.

Results | Points | Story and Pictures by Rocky Ragusa

After thunderstorms cancelled last week’s racing action at the Fairbury Speedway, the track resumed Saturday night with a FALS Cup weekly program. Ryan Unzicker (Late Model), Mike McKinney (Modified), Steve Mattingly (Sportsman), Pete Odell (Stock Car), and Mason Duncan (Hobby-Modified) claimed feature wins.

The annual Eden-Piercy Memorial race for the Sportsman class had 19 cars on hand for their 25-lap, $1,550 to win special. Fairbury’s Tyler Roth toured the speed plant at 14.560 seconds for quick time. Wes Odell and Steve Mattingly took heat race wins. A trophy dash was held for the six fastest qualifiers and Rick Roedel took the win. Odell led the first three laps before surrendering it to Mattingly with Michael Ledford following. Cautions plagued the early going keeping the cars in tight formation. Mattingly, running the top side to perfection, kept a five-car-length lead over Ledford, with Odell, Tommy Duncan, and Dustin Mounce trailing. Following a caution on lap 18, Ledford made an attempt for the lead, but mechanical failure ended his bid as he struck the wall on the next lap. Mattingly stretched his lead in the final laps and was able to claim his second straight win of the year, two consecutive Eden-Piercy trophies, and with lap money, $1,600 richer. “It was pretty easy driving,” Mattingly said. “There were a couple of times I messed up on the top. I got a little nervous but calmed back down. The car got junked at the first race of the year. Brian Dunn reclipped it and I have to give him a lot of credit.” The rest of the top ten went to Odell, Duncan, Mounce, 16th starter Dennis Vandermeersch, Roedel, Blake Reid, Brian Albus, Matt Ramer, and Scott Williams.

El Paso’s Ryan Unzicker secured fast time honors with a lap of 12.984 seconds as 25 Late Model drivers made qualifying attempts for their 30-lap feature. Allen Weisser, Ohio’s Kody Evans, and Billy Drake took heat race wins, while Bill Hough was the semi-feature winner. Polesitter Weisser took the lead on the start with Drake, Evans, Unzicker, and Dan Flessner following. Unzicker picked cars off working his way to the front. On the 16th lap, Unzicker did a slide job on Weisser to move to the lead. Unzicker was able to open up his lead before encountering slower cars. Weisser was able to close in on Unzicker and took the lead on lap 24 before Unzicker reclaimed the top spot. Unzicker, with a fast cat, stretched his lead in the waning laps to pick up his second win of the year. “We started off the first five races finishing in the top three and then we struggled a bit,” Unzicker said. “Now we got our groove back.” Weisser took second, with Drake, Evans, McKay Wenger, Flessner, Kevin Weaver, Mike Spatola, Scott Schmitt, and Mike Mataragas completing the top ten.

Printable Information Guide | Overflow Camping

Ticket Prices

Weekend General Admission Wristband - $55.00
Weekend Pit Pass Wristband - $75.00
Friday Only General Admission - $25.00
Friday Only Pit Pass - $35.00
Saturday Only General Admission - $35.00
Saturday Only Pit Pass - $45.00
Overflow FALS Camping - $55.00
FALS Tent Camping - $15.00
Golf Cart Registration - $20.00

• General admission or pit pass wristbands must be purchased at time of arrival. (NO EXCEPTIONS)
• No one will enter fairgrounds without paying for a ticket.
• If you lose your wristband, you will have to purchase a new one.
• Anyone entering the grounds before Friday, July 28th must purchase a weekend general admission ticket. (NO EXCEPTIONS)
• Children 12 and under are free with paying adult!
• Minors in the pits will be $15.00 per night. (12 and under)
• Any person 17 years of age and under must have a parental consent form signed before entering the pit area.
• Reserved seating is sold out.
• Reserved camping is sold out.
• Overflow camping ($55.00) – See camping section
• Tent camping ($15.00) – See camping section