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Feger Holds On for Farmer City 74 Win

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Burbank, IL (September 5, 2020) – Friday night the Mars Racing Series presented by Rip It Energy Fuel continued the three day race weekend at Farmer City Raceway with night 2 of the Farmer City 74.

Twenty-six late models signed in for Mars Racing Series competition on Friday night for a shot at the $5,000 payday to end the season for the Farmer City Raceway. The fourth annual event has become an instant tradition for the quarter mile facility in Farmer City, Illinois.

In qualifying Illinois veteran driver Eric Smith from Bloomington put down the quickest lap in qualifying with a lap of 12.987 seconds. During his interview Eric talked about being happy to be able to compete with the top racers and was surprised with his fast lap. Qualifying set the stage for the three heat races to start setting the field for the nights 47 lap main event.

Jason Feger, for the second night in a row dominated heat race number one. After starting in the third position it didn’t take long for Jason to get out front. Fast qualifier Eric Smith came home second. Mars points leader Frank Heckenast Jr came home third, Taylor Scheffler fourth and the final transfer went to Donny Walden.

During heat race two Ryan Unzicker drove to the win. The El Paso, IL driver held off Brian Shirley for a shot at the pole position in the redraw. Mike Spatola and Ryan Gustin took the third and fourth positions. Washington, IL driver Bob Gardner took the final spot that moved into the feature event.

In the final heat race Shannon Babb started out front and that is where he stayed. Excitement during the middle stages of the race as Jason Wagner climbed the turn four wall and took out the speed shot camera. He was ok and the race continued. Bobby Pierce came home runner up and grabbed the last spot in the redraw. Scott James, Billy Moyer and Kevin Weaver were the other drivers that transferred from heat three.

The Mars Racing Series RIP IT Energy Redraw took place on the front stretch just after the B-Main rolled on to the track. After his runner up finish Thursday night and heat race win Ryan Unzicker had his boy draw the pole position for him. Jason Feger got the #2 and lined up on the outside of the front row.

In the B-Main it was all Mars Series regular Rich Bell that drove away with the win. Mitch McGrath came home runner up. McKay Wenger who had issues earlier in the night came from the 10th starting spot to finish third and move to the feature event. Tim Manville and Farmer City Track Champion Mike Glasscock transferred into the show. Provisionals went to Jake Miller and Russ Adams.

A four car battle for the lead in the middle stages of the Farmer City 74. (Tyler Carr Photo)

Ryan Unzicker led the field to the green for the forty-seven-lap event. Ryan took the race lead early and set the pace. Jason Feger settled into second with Shannon Babb riding in the third spot. Jason Feger, no stranger to the high side, ran that groove trying to find an advantage to hunt down Unzicker. Bobby Pierce and Brain Shirley were the other drivers in the mix early on.

At the midway sections of the race fans sure got their money’s worth. The top 6 cars were all in the same corner and all running different lines searching for speed to take the top spot. Cars were three and nearly four wide as they had ran down Unzicker. Shannon Babb drove in deep as the adrenaline was pumping and made slight contact with Unzicker. Tire smoke began to come from the #24 machine as they went down the back straight away. The yellow would fly as things were getting good for a left rear flat tire for Unzicker.

On the restart Shannon Babb used the low line to take the race lead from Jason Feger. For lap after lap Shannon and Jason ran side by side battling for the race lead. Bobby Pierce ran in the third spot trying to run down the top two. Brain Shirley and Billy Moyer ran along in the top five.

With less than five laps to go Babb, Feger, & Pierce were nearly three-wide for the race lead. The fans were on the edge of their seat as Feger took the lead for good with around three to go. Bobby Pierce gave it all he had closing in on the back bumper of Feger with two to go. Jason would hold on and take the checkered flag winning the fourth edition of the Farmer City 74. In victory lane Jason said he loved taking the victory lap here at Farmer City. The fans here are electric and the feeling is sacred. Jason talked about how great the track was and gave hats off to the Farmer City crew for giving them a great track to race on.

The Mars Racing Series presented by Rip It Energy Fuel will be in action again tonight at Fairbury Speedway for the finale of the Mars Racing Series Labor Day weekend. Saturday night for round seven of the 2020 Season at Fairbury Speedway will be LIVE on FloRacing and DirtonDirt.com.

Feature (47 Laps) 1. 25-Jason Feger [2][]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce [4][]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb [3][]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley [6][]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer [12][]; 6. 24-Ryan Unzicker [1][]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [7][]; 8. 9-Eric Smith [5][]; 9. 74-Mitch McGrath [17][]; 10. 83-Scott James [9][]; 11. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [10][]; 12. 30-Mike Glasscock [20][]; 13. 21B-Rich Bell [16][]; 14. 4G-Bob Gardner [14][]; 15. 42-McKay Wenger [18][]; 16. 19R-Ryan Gustin [11][]; 17. 1W-Donny Walden [13][]; 18. B12-Kevin Weaver [15][]; 19. 74A-Russ Adams [22][]; 20. 28M-Jake Miller [21][]; 21. 89-Mike Spatola [8][]; 22. 33M-Tim Manville [19][]; 23. 21-Billy Moyer [12][] Hard Charger: 74-Mitch McGrath[+8]

Jason Feger takes the checkered flag Friday night at Farmer City. (Tyler Carr Photo)

Qualifying 1. 9-Eric Smith, 12.987; 2. 89-Mike Spatola, 13.11; 3. 18-Shannon Babb, 13.126; 4. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.182; 5. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 13.241; 6. 83-Scott James, 13.243; 7. 25-Jason Feger, 13.246; 8. 4G-Bob Gardner, 13.293; 9. 21-Billy Moyer, 13.338; 10. 1W-Donny Walden, 13.362; 11. 3S-Brian Shirley, 13.382; 12. 32-Bobby Pierce, 13.397; 13. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 13.463; 14. 74-Mitch McGrath, 13.472; 15. B12-Kevin Weaver, 13.543; 16. 42-McKay Wenger, 13.57; 17. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 13.606; 18. 33M-Tim Manville, 13.657; 19. 21B-Rich Bell, 13.675; 20. 111-Steven Roberts, 13.793; 21. J12-Jason Wagner, 13.918; 22. 30V-Mark Voigt, 13.937; 23. 30-Mike Glasscock, 14.008; 24. 28M-Jake Miller, 14.243; 25. 74A-Russ Adams, 14.464; 26. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 99.999

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 25-Jason Feger [3]; 2. 9-Eric Smith [1]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [5]; 4. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [2]; 5. 1W-Donny Walden [4]; 6. 21B-Rich Bell [7]; 7. 30V-Mark Voigt [8]; 8. 74A-Russ Adams [9]; 9. 42-McKay Wenger [6]

Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker [2]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley [4]; 3. 89-Mike Spatola [1]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin [6]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner [3]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath [5]; 7. 30-Mike Glasscock [8]; 8. 111-Steven Roberts [7]; 9. 1M-Mike Mataragas [9]

Heat #3 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 18-Shannon Babb [1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce [4]; 3. 83-Scott James [2]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer [3]; 5. B12-Kevin Weaver [5]; 6. 28M-Jake Miller [8]; 7. 33M-Tim Manville [6]; 8. J12-Jason Wagner [7]

B-Main #1 (12 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 21B-Rich Bell [1][]; 2. 74-Mitch McGrath [2][]; 3. 42-McKay Wenger [10][]; 4. 33M-Tim Manville [6][]; 5. 30-Mike Glasscock [5][]; 6. 111-Steven Roberts [8][]; 7. 30V-Mark Voigt [4][]; 8. 74A-Russ Adams [7][]; 9. 28M-Jake Miller [3][]; 10. J12-Jason Wagner [9][]; 11. 1M-Mike Mataragas [11][]

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

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