FAIRBURY, Ill. – The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series is gearing up for one of its highest-paying races of the year — the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway.
The highly anticipated crown jewel has two nights of action July 30-31, with one driver collecting $50,000.
It starts Friday, July 30, with Slick Woody’s Qualifying, followed by four 25-lap showdowns, paying $3,000-to-win. They will help set the lineups for Saturday’s 100-lap Prairie Dirt Classic.
Drivers who don’t punch their tickets into the Feature on Friday have an opportunity to get in through Last Chance Showdowns on Saturday. If they still haven’t made the show, they’ll have one more chance in the Prairie Dirt Shootout. The winner can either collect $2,500 or start last in the Prairie Dirt Classic.
Joining the World of Outlaws on the card is the DIRTcar Summit Equipment Modified Nationals.
Brandon Sheppard found victory lane the last time the Prairie Dirt Classic was held in 2019. He’s one of only five multi-time winners of the event, along with Shannon Babb, Bob Pierce, Jimmy Mars, and Billy Moyer. If the New Berlin, IL driver wins again, he’ll join Moyer and Pierce as the only back-to-back winners in the history of the event.
A trip to victory lane would also give him a piece of World of Outlaws history. Sheppard’s next win will tie him with Darrell Lanigan for second on the all-time wins list.
Sheppard enters Fairbury Speedway with the Series points lead—88 points ahead of Chris Madden.
The driver Sheppard beat to win the 2019 Prairie Dirt Classic is fellow Illinois competitor and DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Bobby Pierce.
The Oakwood, Ill., driver earned his first two World of Outlaws wins this season—both in events more than 50 laps.
Pierce brings a ton of momentum into Fairbury, having won 11 times on the Summer Nationals tour, so far. He finished fifth at Fairbury Speedway when the Summer Nationals visited the Illinois track in June.
When there’s big money up for grabs, Kyle Larson isn’t usually far behind. The Elk Grove, Calif., driver will make his World of Outlaws Late Model return this weekend at the Prairie Dirt Classic.
In two starts with the series, Larson has one top-10 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Larson’s last two crown jewel starts were during the Dirt Late Model Dreams at Eldora Speedway in June. He finished 13th and sixth in those two events.
In 2021, the words crown jewel and “Brandon Overton” have been a perfect match.
The Evans, Ga., driver swept the both Dreams at Eldora Speedway earlier in the year – collecting more than $270,000 during the event – and backed that up with his second Firecracker 100 win at Lernerville Speedway at the beginning of the month.
Overton enters the Prairie Dirt Classic with 19 total wins this season and 16 career World of Outlaws wins overall. Of them, Fairbury Speedway is not on that list. He’ll aim to change that this week and add another notch to his impressive run on crown jewel dominance.
While the top names in late model racing will take their shot at $50,000, you can never count out the drivers from the Prairie state.
Dennis Erb Jr. has been on a hot streak since the beginning of June. Erb has three World of Outlaws wins in the last 11 races — two of them coming on quarter-mile tracks like Fairbury Speedway.
Shannon Babb is another driver to keep an eye on at the Prairie Dirt Classic. Babb has won the event three times and found victory lane when the DIRTcar Summer Nationals visited Fairbury in June. Babb also won a World of Outlaws race at Boone Speedway in April.
Some of Fairbury’s weekly competitors may have something to say about Saturday’s outcome, as well.
Mike Spatola leads the track points standings this season with three wins. Spatola also scored his first World of Outlaws victory earlier in April when the series visited Farmer City Raceway.
Another driver to watch out for is Fairbury’s own McKay Wenger. He owns a win at the speedway in 2021 and is second in track points.