DAVENPORT, Iowa — Shannon Babb led the entire distance on Friday night at the 34 Raceway to score his second career victory in the 15th Annual Slocum 50.
Due to a chance of weather moving in on Saturday, officials moved the weekends main attraction to the Friday night portion of the weekend, with a total of 41 cars signing in to try their luck at capturing the $10,555 pay day. For the second night in a row, Babb picked up the MyRacePass Fast Time Award with his lap of 15.090 seconds. Babb went on to score the win in his respective heat race, setting him up on the outside front row for the 50-lap affair alongside of polesitter Jake Timm.
Babb took immediate control at the drop of the green, until a pair of quick cautions slowed the race on laps three and seven respectively. Once the field got back underway, Babb would stretch out the advantage to just over two seconds with Brandon Sheppard and Timm pursuing the leader through heavy lapped traffic.
Sheppard used the lapped traffic to close the gap on the Vic Hill powered Longhorn Chassis of Babb to just over .330 seconds as the race worked to under 20 laps to go.
Babb would get an opportunity to reset with clean air, when Billy Moyer slowed and eventually came to a stop on the frontstretch with only 12 laps remaining. The nights final caution would then wave just one lap later when Ryan Unzicker and Bob Gardner collided of the exit of turn four.
The driver from Moweaqua, Ill. cruised to a dominating win in the final 11 laps, lapping all but the top 11 finishers. Babb joins only Bobby Pierce as repeat winners in the coveted Slocum 50 event. Sheppard, who was only laps away from victory on Friday night before a flat tire ended his night came home in the runner up position while Ryan Gustin moved up 13 spots to finished out the podium.
Gustin’s late race charged also netted him the MD3 Hard Charger of the Race Award. For the second night in a row Timm finished in 4th, followed by 2017 Slocum 50 winner Chris Simpson.
“I can’t say enough about this Longhorn Chassis, it’s come to fit me, it’s just more my driving style again,” Babb said. “This is just my second race of the year, I’ve just been sitting on the couch watching everybody race and itching to get out there.”
The three-eighths-mile speedway presented a challenge to drivers on Friday night, with two different tales at each end of the track.
“I was terrible in the bottom of three and four, I just could not rotate that bottom at all, Babb explained. “Starting front row outside gives you the vantage point to be able to drive where ever you want and that helped me through three and four and then one and two obviously the bottom was the best. I could just imagine that Brandon and Garrett (Alberson) and those guys were behind me giving it all they could give me, so I just did the same and kept going as hard as I could.”
Sheppard’s new team has shown great signs of improvement the past two nights.
“It’s been an up and down year for sure, and were really starting to get this thing figured out,” Babb said. “This Longhorn Chassis has been phenomenal all year long, were just trying to get it the way we like it and were definitely getting there.
“This ride and this deal is a dream come true for me really. To be 30 years old and out of the Rocket house car and moving on to what I’m doing now is the end game for me. This is where I want to be, and where having a lot of fun and working really hard.”
For Gustin, it was his first MLRA podium of the season, after coming or so close to victory just like Sheppard did only 24 hours before at the Davenport Speedway.
“We had a really good car there. After that heat race, that was completely on me I messed up on that start trying to fire on the cushion and it bit us big time,” Gustin said. “My guys here, they just keep digging, they are the best there is. TC made some really good calls right there before the feature and made it I think the best it’s ever felt around bottom without having to kill myself up top.”
Feature Results (50 Laps)
1. 18B-Shannon Babb[2]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[16]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[1]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson[11]; 6. 16T-Tyler Bruening[8]; 7. 28-Dustin Sorensen[15]; 8. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 9. 77Y-Jordan Yaggy[7]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 11. 25-Chad Simpson[13]; 12. 11H-Jeff Herzog[14]; 13. 25F-Jason Feger[21]; 14. 22H-Dustin Hodges[19]; 15. 14G-Trevor Gundaker[22]; 16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[23]; 17. 78S-Steve Stultz[26]; 18. 7B-Mark Burgtorf[10]; 19. (DNF) 93-Mason Oberkramer[5]; 20. (DNF) 24-Ryan Unzicker[20]; 21. (DNF) 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[18]; 22. (DNF) 4G-Bob Gardner[12]; 23. (DNF) 51F-Matt Furman[9]; 24. (DNF) 3W-Brennon Willard[25]; 25. (DNF) 2-Tyler Stevens[17]; 26. (DNF) 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[24]