SMOOTH OPERATION: Pierce Uses Late Race Pass to Score Illini 100 Win

A World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Feature win has plagued Bobby Pierce for years.

But in Saturday night’s Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway, he finally got the monkey off his back in front of his home crowd and became the second first-time winner in a row during the prestigious Illinois event.

The Illinois-driver took off from the start of Saturday’s 75-Lap, $20,000-to-win Feature, and never looked back.

He dominated the first 70 laps of the race, smoothly sailing through traffic on the high side. Ricky Thornton Jr. challenged Pierce toward the end of that run, but every time Thornton dove low, Pierce easily rose to the challenge up high.

Thornton suffered an issue late in the race, bringing out the only caution of the 75-lap race.

The yellow flag set up a five-lap shootout and put Cade Dillard on Pierce’s back bumper for the single-file re-start.

“When a caution comes out, it’s kind of hard to get back into your rhythm,” Pierce said.

When the green came back out Dillard went low and snuck by the Pierce’s #32 machine on the bottom. He pulled away by about three car-lengths before Pierce rocketed off the top once again.

When the two drivers took the white flag, Pierce carried his momentum on the cushion and nosed out ahead to lead Lap 74. He held the top spot on the final lap to snag the victory.

“Luckily, I didn’t fall back to third (on the restart) and it gave me a chance to get around [Dillard],” Pierce said.

“The thing that helped me the most was [Dillard] going to the bottom every corner. When I passed him back and made a good last lap, and crossed the checkers, it was probably one of the most exciting finishes I’ve ever had.”

While it was triumph for Pierce, it was heartbreak for Dillard. He used the bottom for most of the race, picking off cars one-by-one.

The Louisiana campaigner says he wished he tried something different on the final restart.

“I knew [Pierce] was probably on the top, so I should’ve moved up those last few laps,” Dillard said. “I stayed conservative, and it cost us a win.”

Three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard finished third. The New Berlin, IL driver started 18th for the second straight night, and found his way into the top five again.

Sheppard said the car was good in the Feature but getting there is a struggle.

“We were just off in qualifying again tonight, so we have to work on that,” he said. “I think we had a car that could’ve won tonight if we started a little bit better.”

Sheppard’s third place finish also cut another chunk out of Kyle Strickler’s point lead. Heading into next weekend’s races at Bristol Motor Speedway, he’s only 24 points behind the Silver Springs, PA driver who finished 13th.

Up Next: The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models are heading to Bristol Motor Speedway April 8-10, for the Bristol Bash.

Friday April 9, teams will run a 40-lap Feature, paying $10,000-to-win.

On Saturday April 10, they’ll run 40 laps again, but this time the winner will collect $25,000.

Teams will also get a practice session on Thursday April 8.

For tickets to the Bristol Bash, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.

Morton Buildings Feature (75 Laps)-1. 32P-Bobby Pierce [2][$20,000]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard [6][$10,000]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard [18][$5,000]; 4. 44-Chris Madden [4][$4,000]; 5. OE-Rick Eckert [15][$3,500]; 6. 18B-Shannon Babb [3][$3,000]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson [17][$2,800]; 8. 89-Mike Spatola [7][$2,700]; 9. 3S-Brian Shirley [19][$2,600]; 10. 99JR-Frank Heckenast [11][$2,500]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb [8][$2,000]; 12. 29V-Darrell Lanigan [25][$490]; 13. 8-Kyle Strickler [23][$1,600]; 14. O-Scott Bloomquist [26][$190]; 15. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [5][$1,400]; 16. 28M-Jimmy Mars [20][$1,300]; 17. 7-Ricky Weiss [24][$1,200]; 18. B12-Kevin Weaver [1][$1,200]; 19. 16-Tyler Bruening [14][$1,200]; 20. 99B-Boom Briggs [9][$1,200]; 21. B1-Brent Larson [28][$110]; 22. 11T-Trevor Gundaker [16][$1,200]; 23. 20RT-Ricky Thornton [10][$1,200]; 24. 19R-Ryan Gustin [21][$1,200]; 25. 81E-Tanner English [12][$1,200]; 26. 2-Allen Murray [22][$1,200]; 27. 25-Shane Clanton [13][$1,200]; 28. 6-Blake Spencer [29][$110] Hard Charger: 1-Brandon Sheppard[+15]

Qualifying Flight-A -1. 28-Dennis Erb, 12.926; 2. 44-Chris Madden, 13.06; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs, 13.103; 4. 89-Mike Spatola, 13.235; 5. 25-Shane Clanton, 13.266; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley, 13.318; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb, 13.339; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, 13.34; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 13.388; 10. B1-Brent Larson, 13.442; 11. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 13.513; 12. OE-Rick Eckert, 13.527; 13. 32-Chris Simpson, 13.543; 14. 44S-Colin Shipley, 13.561; 15. 15-Kolby Vandenbergh, 13.596; 16. 18L-Jeffrey Ledford, 13.616; 17. 58-Jeremiah Hurst, 13.767; 18. 20-Dustin Vandermeir, 13.822; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 13.844; 20. 9-Devin Moran, 13.874; 21. 6-Blake Spencer, 14.067; 22. 8-Kyle Strickler, NT

Qualifying Flight-B-1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.051; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 13.178; 3. B12-Kevin Weaver, 13.221; 4. 97-Cade Dillard, 13.261; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening, 13.299; 6. 81E-Tanner English, 13.319; 7. 2-Allen Murray, 13.349; 8. 83-Scott James, 13.396; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, 13.419; 10. 28M-Jimmy Mars, 13.428; 11. 29V-Darrell Lanigan, 13.433; 12. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 13.453; 13. O-Scott Bloomquist, 13.514; 14. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 13.606; 15. 18-Chase Junghans, 13.62; 16. 59-Garrett Alberson, 13.657; 17. 7-Ricky Weiss, 13.657; 18. 25F-Jason Feger, 13.664; 19. 91-Rusty Schlenk, 13.69; 20. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 13.807; 21. 162-Logan Moody, 13.865

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Illini 100
April 1, 2021 to April 3, 2021
Farmer City Raceway
850 N Grove St.
Farmer City, IL 

Event Description
After two thrilling weekends in Tennessee and South Carolina, the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series makes a quick turnaround for one of the biggest races on its schedule, the 13th annual Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway. The Illini features one of the most unique formats in dirt Late Model racing. Things kick off with a night of practice, preceding a 25-lap, $6,000-to-win Morton Buildings Feature on Friday, which will set the stage for a 75-lap, $20,000-to-win finale on Saturday.

Series Racing
DIRTcar Pro Late Models, DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, World of Outlaws Late Model Series, DIRTcar Late Models

Late Model Track Record
11.750 seconds by Brandon Sheppard on 4/5/19

To Win Amount
$20,000.00

Event Schedule
Thursday
Pits open at 4
Practice 5-8

Friday
Pit Gates at Noon
Front Gates at 1 PM
Drivers Meeting at 5:30 PM
Hot Laps at 6:00 PM
1 DIRTcar Pro Late Model Hot Laps
2 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Hot Laps
3 American Modified Series Hot Laps
4 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Qualifying - 2 Cars/2 Laps
5 American Modified Series Qualifying - 1 Lap
6 DIRTcar Stock Car Hot Laps
7 Opening Ceremonies
8 DIRTcar Pro Late Model Heats - 8 Laps
9 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Heats - 10 Laps
10 American Modified Series Qualifying Feature 1 - 15 Laps
11 DIRTcar Stock Car Heats - 8 Laps
12 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Redraw
13 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model LCS - 10 Laps
14 American Modified Series Qualifying Feature 2 - 15 Laps
15 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Feature - 25 Laps
16 American Modified Series Qualifying Feature 3 - 15 Laps (if needed)
17 DIRTcar Pro Late Model Feature - 20 Laps
18 DIRTcar Stock Car Feature - 15 Laps
19 American Modified Series Qualifying Feature 4 - 15 Laps (if needed)

Saturday
Pit Gates at Noon
Front Gates at 12:30 PM
Autograph Session from 3:00pm 4:00pm
Drivers Meeting at 4:30 PM
Hot Laps at 5:00 PM
1 DIRTcar Pro Late Model Hot Laps
2 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Hot Laps
3 American Modified Series Hot Laps - Cars in LCS only
4 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Qualifying - 2 Cars/2 Laps
5 Opening Ceremonies
6 DIRTcar Pro Late Model Heats - 8 Laps
7 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Heats - 10 Laps
8 American Modified Series LCS - 10 Laps
9 American Modified Series Hot Laps - cars qualified for feature on Friday only
10 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Redraw
11 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model LCS - 10 Laps
12 American Modified Series Feature - 30 Laps
13 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Feature - 75 Laps
14 DIRTcar Pro Late Model Feature - 20 Laps

**Flex Scheduling**


*All times Central

Options And Prices
ADVANCED TICKET PRICE:
Trackside Parking: $75 (SOLD OUT)
2-Day Reserved Package: $70
2-Day General Admission Package $60; Children 12-and-under $25
Friday Reserved: $35
Friday General Admission: $30; Children 12-and-under $15
Saturday Reserved: $40
Saturday General Admission: $35; Children 12-and-under $15


Price after March 31st:
2-Day Reserved Package: $80
2-Day General Admission Package $70; Children 12-and-under $25
Friday Reserved: $40
Friday General Admission: $35; Children 12-and-under $15
Saturday Reserved: $45
Saturday General Admission: $40; Children 12-and-under $15

PIT PASSES
Thursday - $25
Friday - $40
Saturday - $45
Two-day band - $70
Three-day band- $85
Daily Pit Kids- $25 (12-under)


Pit Pass Price
Thursday - $25 Friday - $40 Saturday - $45 Two-day band - $70 Three-day band- $85 Daily Pit Kids- $25 (12-under)

Parking Cost
Parking on racetrack property is free of charge.

Camping Availability
non-electric, onsite

Camping Cost
$30-$50

To Win Amount
$20,000.00

Reserved Seating
The Top row of Section A, Top 5 rows of section D, and top 12 rows of Section B and C

Type of Grandstand
Farmer City Raceway offers bleacher style grandstands.

Stadium Seating
Farmer City Raceway does no allow the use of chairs for its events.

Handicapped Seating
Handicap seating is available in the front rows of the grandstands.

Pit Age Limit
There is no age limits for the pit area. Minors 17 and younger must have a signed parent waiver form.

Personal Coolers
No coolers are allowed to be brought in to the grandstand area.

Credit Card Use
None

Alcohol Sales
Farmer City Raceway does sell alcohol at its concession stands.

Smoking Policy
Farmer City Raceway does not allow smoking in the grandstands.

Family Section
Farmer City Raceway does no offer a Family Section.

Parking Cost
Parking on racetrack property is free of charge.

Camping Availability
non-electric, onsite

Camping Cost
$30-$50

Closest Airport
Bloomington, IL (BMI / KBMI) Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal

Other Airport
Champaign, IL (CMI / KCMI) University of Illinois Willard Airport

Farmer City Raceway
850 N Grove St.
Farmer City, IL 

Track Phone
(309) 928-9110

Ticket Phone
(844) 347-8849

Track Email
[email protected]

Track Size & Type
0.25

Competitor Downloads
 https://www.dirtcarmembers.com/downloads.php

Competitor Info
Event Format:
1-20 Entries = Overall Qualifying | Two Heats | All Cars Transfer | Top 2 from each heat redraw
21-24 Entries = Overall Qualifying | Three Heats | All Cars Transfer | Top 2 from each heat redraw
25-27 Entries = Overall Qualifying | Three Heats | Top 6 Transfer | Top 2 from each heat redraw | One LCS | Top 4 Transfer
28-31 Entries = A/B Group Qualifying | Four Heats | Top 4 Transfer | Top 2 from each heat redraw |One LCS | Top 6 Transfer
32-47 Entries = A/B Group Qualifying | Four Heats | Top 4 Transfer | Top 2 from each heat redraw |Two LCS | Top 3 Transfer
48+ Entries = A/B Group Qualifying | Six Heats | Top 3 Transfer | Heat Race Winner Redraws | Three LCS | Top 2 Transfer

Friday Event Payout: 25 Laps
1. $6,000; 2. $3,000; 3. $2,000; 4. $1,750; 5. $1,500; 6. $1,400; 7. $1,300; 8. $1,200; 9. $1,100; 10. $1,000; 11.$900; 12. $850; 13. $800; 14. $775; 15. $750; 16. $700; 17. $660; 18. $640; 19. $620; 20. $600; 21. 600; 22. $600; 23. $600; 24. $600 Tow Money: $110 - MUST start LCS in order to receive Tow Money

Saturday Event Payout: 75 Laps
1. $20,000; 2. $10,000; 3. $5,000; 4. $4,000; 5. $3,500; 6. $3,000; 7. $2,800; 8. $2,700; 9. $2,600; 10. $2,500; 11.$2,000; 12. $1,800; 13. $1,600; 14. $1,500; 15. $1,400; 16. $1,300; 17. $1,200; 18. $1,200; 19. $1,200; 20. $1,200; 21. $1,200; 22. $1,200; 23. $1,200; 24. $1,200 Tow Money: $110 - MUST start LCS in order to receive Tow Money

Technical & Safety Rules:
GENERAL RULES: Under the guidelines of Chapter 1
TECHNICAL & SAFETY RULES: Under the guidelines of Chapter 3
Weight Rule is 2350. Pound per lap burn off in the Feature event ONLY

Tire Rules:
ALL FOUR (4) CORNERS: LM-20
RIGHT REAR OPTION: LM-30 & LM-40
GROOVING AND SIPING IS ALLOWED