MARS cars will be stars Friday night at Broadway Bullring, but local fans will keep eye on Fowler’s Long

QUINCY — The season’s first major night of dirt-track racing is about to arrive.

Both the MARS super late models and modifeds will make their way to Quincy Raceways for a rare Friday night date at 8000 Broadway.

The late models will be running for $5,000 to win. The modifieds’ top prize will be $2,000. 

The late models will be competing in the Lotus 40 and the modifieds in the Baja Blast 30. Both events will be presented by Pepsi Refreshment Services. The MARS series has been idle since May 2 when both series ran at Kankakee.

The late model division will showcase plenty of big-name firepower, the name many in attendance at the Bullring will be following the closest will be modified driver Michael Long. The Fowler resident is the two-time defending champion of the MARS series, having won 14 of the series’ 34 events since the start of the 2023 season. Long is transitioning this season to more of a Longhorn Chassis baseline after running a Bob Pierce centerpiece he utilized a year ago.

Long cut his teeth on the .297-mile dirt surface in Quincy, earning track titles in 2015, 2008 and 2007, plus posting runner-up points finishes in four other years.

Long will enter Friday night third in MARS points:

1. Cole Falloway, Owensboro, Ky., 267 points
2. Michael Ledford, Pontiac, Ill., 263 points
3. Michael Long, Fowler, Ill., 241 points
4. Chase Holland, Success, Miss., 213 points
5. Ray Bollinger, Kewanee, Ill., 199 points
6. Kyle Hammer, Clinton, Ill., 193 points
7. Beau DeYoung, DeMotte, Ind., 191 points
8. Trevor Neville, Mackinaw, Ill., 181 points
9. Austin Friedman, Fairbury, Ill.,172 points
10. Damian Kiefer, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., 162 points

Holland, Neville and Kiefer have frequented Quincy on a regular basis over the past few years, including this season.

MARS modified winners at Quincy

• 2024: Will Krup, Mount Carmel, Ill.
• 2023: Kyle Steffens, St. Charles, Mo.
• 2022: Kyle Steffens, St. Charles, Mo.

When the late models hit the track Friday night, the lineup has the potential to feature a who’s who of regional superstars. However, series points leader Bobby Pierce of Oakwood and third-ranked driver Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin will be missing. Pierce will be competing a big(ger) money event that night in Marion Center, Pa. Sheppard has nothing on his docket for Friday night, but is scheduled to run Thursday evening in Eagle, Neb.

Expected to be in the pits in Quincy are Brian Shirley of Chatham, Jason Feger of Bloomington, Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ryan Unzicker of El Paso and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua. Erb won last year’s MARS race in Quincy, while Unzicker captured the 2023 MARS run at the Bullring.

The current MARS late model points standing:

1. Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill., 370 points
2. Brian Shirley, Chatham, Ill., 292 points
3. Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, Ill., 280 points
4. Jason Feger, Bloomington, Ill., 277 points
5. Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, Ill., 273 points
6. Tony Jackson Jr., Lebanon, Mo., 269 points
7. Ryan Unzicker, El Paso, Ill., 251 points
8. Justin Duty, Molalla, Ore., 247 points
9. Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, Ill., 242 points
10. Bob Gardner, Washington, Ill., 232 points

MARS late model winners at Quincy:

• 2024: Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, Ill.
• 2023: Ryan Unzicker, El Paso, Ill., 
• 2022: Tommy Sheppard Jr., New Berlin, Ill.

Running with the MARS series Friday night will be “B” modifieds and Crown Vics.

Here’s a rundown on times and prices:

• Pits open at 3:15 p.m.
• Grandstands open at 5:30 p.m.
• Drivers meeting at 6 p.m.
• Hot laps at 6:30 p.m.
• Adult general admission: $30
• General admission for students ages 11-16: $20
• General admission for seniors ages 65-up: $20
• General admission for kids 10 and under: $5
• Pit pass: $45
• Pit pass for kids 10 and under: $20

Jackson Frankel this week’s 10-star recipient

Late model driver Jackson Frankel is Muddy River Sports’ third 10-star recipient of the season for his dominating performance en route to winning last Sunday’s feature at Quincy Raceways. Here’s a breakdown of this week’s “star squad”:

• 10 stars: Jackson Frankel, crate late models. That was one dominating showing, kind of like what we saw not that many years ago from another Frankel. Hmm… what his name again? I think it rhymed with Racin’.
• 9 stars: Logan Cumby, sport mods. Cumby stepped up his game for the third week of the season and now looks like he did in 2023 when he won the track title.
• 8 stars: Rick Conoyer, modifieds. We need to see more of what we witnessed Sunday night when The Destroyer and Austen Becerra battled hammer and tong for that feature lead. The mods are one strong series right now.
• 7 stars: Spencer Coats, 4-Cylinders. Hats off to Coats for that first checkered flag. That was a memorable battle between him and Kim Abbott.
• 6 stars: Glen Wiley, Crown Vics. Flag to flag in any series is impressive. Nice job, Mr. Wiley.
• 5 stars: Kyler Girard, sport mods. Hopefully, Girard will be on hand for the whole season. His second-place sport mod showing was his second straight runner-up performance, following an opening-night checkered flag.
• 4 stars: Kim Abbott, 4-Cylinders. It’s safe to say Slim Kim is officially back. That runner-up feature showing unofficially propelled her to first place in points, and that up-and-down 2024 campaign is in the rear-view mirror.
• 3 stars: Austen Becerra, modifieds. He’s proven he can candle a late model. He’s proven he knows his way around in a modified. What’s next? And speaking of questions, if he had a few more laps last Sunday, could he have run down The Destroyer?
• 2 stars: Chase Holland, modifieds. He led the first six laps of the mod main event before settling for a strong third behind Conoyer and Becerra.
• 1 star: Jacob Rexing, stocks. The stock count (7) was a little thin last week, and once Rexing got the feature lead on lap four it was curtains for the rest of the field.