Thinkin’ Dirty: 2022 Illinois Speedweek at Spoon River/Lincoln

The Headline(s)

Brandon Sheppard and Dennis Erb Jr. defend the house turf in scoring function wins on the opening two nights of the inaugural Illinois Speedweek. 

The way it Occurred

2022 Illinois Speedweek (Flo Racing Evening in America Sequence)
The place: Lincoln Speedway – Lincoln, Unwell. (streamed on Flo Racing
Winner’s Purse: $22,022

World of Outlaws late mannequin factors chief Dennis Erb Jr. scored his greatest win of 2022 on home-state turf, dominating Thursday’s Flo Racing Evening in America after which holding on by his fingernails to maintain a hard-charging Brandon Sheppard at bay within the closing 4 laps. 

Erb regarded untouchable up entrance, however Sheppard made up over a second within the closing 5 laps to catch the race chief in heavy lapped visitors. Sheppard had two photographs to make the profitable cross, however clipped both the cushion or the wall in flip 2 on every of the ultimate two laps to gradual him down simply sufficient for Erb to prevail.

Erb’s win scored the largest purse within the historical past of the Lincoln Speedway.

2022 Illinois Speedweek (Flo Racing Evening in America Sequence)
The place: Spoon River Speedway – Lewistown, Unwell. (streamed on Flo Racing)
Winner’s Purse: $22,022

The opening night time of a shocking journey to Illinois for the Rocket home automobile noticed New Berlin, Unwell.’s Brandon Sheppard rating a dominant win to open the inaugural Illinois Speedweek, main the ultimate 30-odd laps of Wednesday’s function to attain his eighth late mannequin win of 2022.

Sheppard’s power out entrance solely got here beneath fireplace as soon as courtesy of Bobby Pierce. Pierce, working absolutely the excessive aspect of the observe, erased a 1.5-second lead in two laps earlier than a lap 37 warning reset the sector after Brian Shirley went off observe. Pierce was by no means in a position to totally regain his momentum, dropping the runner-up spot when he went over the lip in flip 2 and spun with 5 laps to go.

Success Tales

I normally don’t name out the function winners once more on this part, however each Sheppard and Erb deserve shout-outs for his or her midweek performances. Sheppard, along with scoring a median end of 1.5 throughout the 2 opening nights of Illinois Speedweeks, additionally introduced Wednesday night time that he and his spouse predict one other baby. 

As for Erb, who has grow to be the de facto WoO championship favourite after Sheppard dropped off the tour, scoring a $22,022 function win will go a good distance in direction of silencing doubters in regards to the power of the No. 28. Erb has received 4 races already in 2022, as many as he received in all of  2021.

Alongside the 2 function winners, Tanner English, Hudson O’Neal and Tanner English every scored top-10 finishes in each tremendous late mannequin options of Illinois Speedweeks.

Nick Hoffman’s dominant 2021 marketing campaign is broadly believed to be the explanation for an intensive revamp of the UMP modified rulebook for this season. Regardless of all of the modifications, Hoffman proved untouchable, simply profitable Wednesday’s function at Spoon River and Thursday’s at Lincoln. I nonetheless say DIRTcar could be higher off sponsoring an excellent late mannequin simply to cease Hoffman from turning each UMP modified function he enters right into a sure-gone conclusion.

Any modified driver that began a B-main at Lincoln Thursday night time and was nonetheless working on the end to inform the story.

Vexed, Villains & Victims

Ashton Winger. Hold studying.

Wednesday night time’s villain was undoubtedly Bobby Pierce. All the nice work he did using the excessive aspect of the observe to catch Brandon Sheppard for the race lead went out the window on a lap 37 restart the place Pierce went method too excessive exiting flip 4, turning Winger on the frontstretch as he tried to appropriate his mistake. It was maybe karma that Pierce each spun out on the identical excessive aspect of the observe to price himself a shot on the win Wednesday, then missed the function at Lincoln Thursday night time.

Thursday night time’s villain was one Tanner English, who completely used up Ashton Winger (see a sample right here?) of their warmth race. The video speaks for itself.

Whereas there have been quite a lot of modifieds that landed on their roofs over the beginning of Illinois Speedweek, Wellsburg, W.V.’s Corey Conley was the one driver to do the deed in a late mannequin, flipping coming to the beginning of Wednesday’s second B-main after contact with a uke tire.

NASCAR Regulars

Cup Sequence common Justin Haley had a disastrous return to modified competitors this week. Haley did handle to win his warmth race Wednesday night time at Spoon River, however solely after being returned to the entrance after being taken out by Tyler Weiss. After ending in the back of Wednesday’s function, Thursday noticed Haley flip his modified throughout his warmth race at Lincoln, an episode he took accountability for.

Former Cup Sequence common Kenny Wallace received his warmth race and completed fifth within the modified function Wednesday at Spoon River. He completed thirteenth in Thursday’s function at Lincoln.

Fanning the Flames

Sure, the whole lot of the Illinois racing season to this point has been rained out previous to Wednesday at Spoon River. Nonetheless, dammmnnnn if that automobile depend wasn’t spectacular. Love Flo Racing or hate them, the promotion of their racing collection is doing one thing proper.

I used to be actually torn on the alternate that noticed Justin Haley get returned to the lead in his modified warmth race Wednesday. There’s no ambiguity in regards to the incident, Tyler Weiss completely took Haley out, and it was arguably justice served to see Haley not lose the lead due to such a blatant miss. Downside is, not all calls are that apparent, and a rulebook that defers to race management charging a warning is ripe for abuse.

And let’s not neglect that Haley, sizzling beneath the collar from the alternate, threw a slide job beneath yellow taking the lead again on observe that just about took out the second-place automobile. Perhaps confining victims to the again of the sector is a good suggestion simply to have them take it out on the suitable events.

Ashton Winger had each motive to be sizzling beneath the collar after Tanner English smacked him throughout Thursday’s warmth race at Lincoln, however Winger’s determination to throw a steering wheel at English’s automobile solely to have it boomerang at him, adopted up by his knocking his personal hood off his towed No. 89 automobile after attempting to toss mentioned steering wheel again into his machine, turned a capital L right into a bold-faced loss.

Anybody that’s pushed previous Route 66 in Illinois is aware of {that a}) the previous street typically sits to the aspect of right this moment’s trendy surfaces, overgrown and fading into the panorama and b) that Lincoln Speedway sits a literal stone’s throw off the previous 66 route. If there’s any observe the place it’s a becoming aesthetic to have a contemporary racing floor surrounded by the previous half-mile observe now getting used as parking, it’s this one.

Numbers Sport

5 – seconds that Nick Hoffman received his Thursday modified warmth by (a race that was eight laps lengthy on a quarter-mile)

14 – years in the past that Brandon Sheppard scored his first profession tremendous late mannequin win at Lincoln Speedway.

60 – high Illinois Speedweek tremendous late mannequin automobile depend, at Spoon River on Wednesday night time.

The place it Rated (on a scale of 1 to 6 cans with one a stinker and a six-pack an prompt traditional): We’ll give the openers of Illinois Speedweek 4 Wango Mango IPAs from Lincoln’s Limerick Brewing Firm. Each options had some doldrums earlier than attending to eventful finishes, however booming automobile counts and storylines on each nights made Flo Racing’s newest creation really feel like an enormous occasion. A welcome midweek distraction.

Up Subsequent: Thinkin’ Soiled pivots away from Illinois Speedweek this weekend to move to the Grime Monitor at Charlotte to catch the Colossal 100 race weekend with the XR Tremendous Sequence. Protection may be discovered on RaceXR.

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