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Shirley repeats with Summer Nationals at Springfield

Brian Shirley raced to his second $5,000 DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory in as many weeks with a win last Tuesday at Springfield Raceway aboard his Bob Cullen Racing / Thomason Express No. 3s J&J Ventures & Gaming/ Hoker Trucking / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model. (Jimmy Dearing photo | STLRacing.com)

He added three additional Top-5 finishes throughout the week. “It was a pretty good week for us. We went to Victory Lane at Springfield Raceway and had a good car the rest of the week. A flat tire cost us a Top-5 finish at Pevely (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55) on Saturday night, and then we got run KO’d on Sunday night at Jacksonville (Speedway). With the exception of those last two nights, we were pretty pleased with how the week went,” Shirley said. “We’re ready to hit the ground running this week. We’ve got some tracks on the schedule that’ve been really good to us, so hopefully we can win some more big checks.”

Tuesday night saw Brian Shirley return with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Springfield Raceway (Springfield, Mo.) for the seventh round of the Hell Tour.

Drawing 32 cars, Brian advanced one spot in his heat race to pick up the 10-lap victory. Sneaking past early pacesetter Payton Freeman after a lap-17 restart, Shirley led the remainder of the 40-lapper to capture his second-straight victory and 37th -career tour triumph.

He bagged a $5,000 payday ahead of Bobby Pierce, Max Blair, Logan Martin, and Kyle Beard.

In a field of 37 DIRTcar Late Models on Wednesday at Adams County Speedway (Quincy, Ill.), Shirley followed up a third-place finish in his heat with a ninth-to-fifth run in the 40-lap feature.

Battling for another $5,000 payday on Thursday at Spoon River Speedway (Banner, Ill.), Brian’s third-place finish in his heat pinned him on the sixth row for the A-Main. Breaking into the Top-10, Shirley gained six spots to register a fifth-place finish.

On Friday, Shirley headed to Federated Raceway at I-55 (Pevely, Mo.) as the DIRTcar Summer Nationals collided with the World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series for the two-day St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff. Rebounding after a mid-pack qualifying effort, Brian gained four spots in his heat to finish second. With $10,000 on the line in the feature, Shirley clawed forward two positions to finish fifth. He followed Dennis Erb Jr., Billy Moyer Jr., Frank Heckenast Jr., and Jason Feger across the line.

For the $20,000-to-win WoO finale on Saturday, Brian locked his spot into the show with a runner-up finish in his heat. Starting the feature in fifth, Shirley salvaged a 22nd-place finish in the 55-lap affair after drawing the lone caution of the race on the sixth circuit for a flat right-rear tire.

On Sunday, Shirley stopped at Jacksonville Speedway (Jacksonville, Ill.) for the Wild Man Kelly Classic. With a second-place finish in his heat lining him up sixth for the main event, Brian received hard contact from another competitor in opening laps that ended his night immediately.

Brian has climbed to fourth in the latest DIRTcar Summer Nationals point standings.

For complete results, please visit www.DIRTcarSummerNationals.com.

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