FAIRBURY, Ill. — Brian Shirley earned his third DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory of the season by holding off Frank Heckenast Jr. to win on Saturday night in Fairbury Speedway’s 30th all-time Summer Nationals event.
Shirley narrowly edged Heckenast in the 50-lap feature to pocket $10,000 and extend his lead in the overall championship as he attempts to capture his third Summer Nationals crown.
Tanner English was third, with Bobby Pierce and Shannon Babb, who started 17th, rounding out the top five.
Mike Harrison won the modified feature.
The finish:
Feature (50 Laps) – 1. 3S-Brian Shirley [1]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, [4]; 3. 96-Tanner English [6]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce [11]; 5. 18-Shannon Babb [17]; 6. 11-Gordy Gundaker [3]; 7. 10-Scott Schmitt [8]; 8. 77M-Kevin Weaver [10]; 9. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk [19]; 10. 89-Mike Spatola [5]; 11. 1W-Donny Walden [15]; 12. 42-McKay Wenger [21]; 13. 25W-Allen Weisser [9]; 14. 22B-Jonathan Brauns [12]; 15. 25-Jason Feger [18]; 16. 24-Ryan Unzicker [20]; 17. 40B-Kyle Bronson [2]; 18. 30-Mike Glasscock [7]; 19. 7R-Kent Robinson [14]; 20. 11H-Jeff Herzog [13]; 21. 31AUS-Paul Stubber [22]; 22. 75-Billy Drake [16]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 18-Shannon Babb [+12]