Mike McKinney (pictured DIRTcar)

FAIRBURY, Ill. – Sixty-two have answered the bell and 16 are blocked for the main event. The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals portion of the 32nd Prairie Dirt Classic kicked off Friday night at Fairbury Speedway and featured four 20-lap individual events.

Similar to his Friday Night victory in 2021, Frank Marshall picked up the win in the evening’s first Showdown feature.

In short, Marshall was dominant, winning the 20 laps without warning without contest in nine minutes and fifteen seconds. He took off from the hollow of the green and crossed the boards with a gap of almost eight seconds on the second Chase Holland.

Marshall held a clinic in traffic, passing slower cars in multiple lanes at a breakneck pace.

“I might have taken less risk if I had known I had that lead,” Marshall said. “I didn’t realize I had that lead until I got back to the trailer; I thought it was Curt Spalding right next to me at the finish line, I thought I beat him by half a car.

In his eyes, a smooth, hammered race track was exactly what he was looking for to claim his second career victory in the Summit Modified Feature and enter the new draw on Saturday.

“We had a perfect race track in the first race, slick and sticky, a little slick at the start and then it veered off,” Marshall said. “The soft tires worked well and everything fell into place.”

In what was the most action-packed Modified Showdown of the night, Mike McKinney emerged victorious after putting a last-lap pass on Brian Shaw at the fourth corner to seal the victory.

McKinney trailed Shaw for 19 laps around the quarter mile, digging harder with each lap to try and find a way around No. 1s.

“Dad said we had room, so I started looking around trying to find a line to pass him,” McKinney said. “I knew getting under him or over him on the entry wasn’t going to be the ticket, so I started opening my entry really high on turn three. I was going in from the top and turning down the hill trying to beat him right away.

A few turns of the new strategy, and McKinney finds himself on Shaw’s back bumper. He had a big run at turn four coming to the white flag and threw it into turn one under Shaw. With the No. 96m right next to his door panel, Shaw slid down the track in turns one and two, creating the lane McKinney needed to get out of it.

McKinney held it low in turns three and four and held off Shaw for his 15th career victory with Summit Modified and his first in the Prairie Dirt Classic.

“It was definitely the hardest I’ve ever worked for $500, but it was great to win in front of those fans and cheer them all on when I came out,” McKinney said. “It’s a race I really want a lot. We’ve achieved a lot here, and that’s the last thing on my list.

Michael Long waited several years to make his first PDC appearance, and made it count on Friday night, winning his feature Showdown from the pole to lock himself into the new draw on Saturday night.

Although he has competed at Fairbury on several occasions in the past, Friday was his first PDC appearance – one he won on Fairbury’s highly rated cushion. But Allen Weisser had to be passed in the opening laps, which he did on lap four with a great run at the top of corner four.

“Once we got rolling the car felt good and the tires warmed up a bit,” Long said. “I gained momentum, was able to regain the lead and held on for the rest.”

Long led the rest of the way to claim his sixth career win with Summit Modified.

He missed out on Prairie Dirt Showdown Victory Lane last year by one spot. This year, Tyler Nicely was not going to be denied.

Now professionally reunited with his former car builder Nick Hoffman of Elite Chassis, Nicely rode his number 25 to Fairbury victory lane on Friday night with authority, leading the 20 laps en route to his fourth career Summit win. Modifieds.

“Since I came back to this Elite [Chassis] car, it suits me and I’m much more comfortable,” said Nicely. “I knew tonight we needed a good qualifying effort, and that put us ahead. We’ll get to that new draw tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be on that stage by the end of the season. night.

Nicely, the 2015 PDC Final winner, hasn’t seen PDC Victory Lane since 2019, when he won a Showdown. Friday’s report showed what he and the car can do, which he will use again on Saturday in pursuit of a $5,000 check.