Babb gets by Gustin for victory in Pevely

Saturday night found the No. 19R Gressel Racing team at Ken Schrader's Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. 'The Reaper' timed in fastest overall in qualifying, won his heat race from the pole and start on the pole for the $10,000-to-win main event. Using a lap-28 restart to his advantage, second-starting Shannon Babb overtook Gustin and led the remaining 12 laps to earn the victory while Gustin settled for the runner-up paycheck.

Babb takes St. Louis Showdown at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway

PEVELY, Mo. -- Using a lap-28 restart to his advantage, second-starting Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., overtook polesitter Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, leading the remaining 12 laps to earn $10,000 victory in Saturday’s St. Louis Showdown finale at Federated Raceway at I-55.

Babb, the 2014 Summernationals points champion, charged to an early lead at the drop of the green flag. Gustin cruised to the front of the field on a lap-13 restart, but was unable to hold on to the race lead, as Babb regained the point on lap 28 en route to his first victory at I-55 in two years.

“Ryan was really good tonight,” Babb said. “It looked like his car was turning good, doing everything right. The track was good. There was some obstacles out there, but that made for a good racetrack.

“I knew I had to do something there at the end. Little Bobby (Pierce) was really good. I figured that there was gonna be a lot of action happen there in one and two on the restart. Luckily, it turned out in my advantage.”

Gustin held off late-race challenges from Bobby Pierce and Billy Moyer to notch a runner-up finish. Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., finished third, with seventh-starting Moyer taking the fourth-place spot. In what is expected to be his final start at I-55, retiring driver Randy Korte of Highlands, Ill., rounded out the top five.

“Shannon’s a good racer obviously,” Gustin said after the race. “It’s just a privilege for us to even run second to him as much as he’s been at these tracks and as long as he’s been doing it. I didn’t know it was only going to be 40 laps, or maybe would’ve tried a little harder right there.

“Went up top, kind of got it rolling better again, starting to reel him (Babb) in. Just kind of looking at the board, I figured it was 50 laps. I guess they shortened it. It is what it is. Good racetrack. A lot better than what we had last night. I’ll take that over racing the rubber. All in all a good night for us.”

Pierce advanced nine spots from the 12th starting position, finding himself right in the mix of the action in the race’s final laps.

“It sure was a mess,” Pierce said. “A lot of those guys just fighting for position. It was crazy out there … especially how rough it was … it gets tough to pass here when the track’s like that. You almost just got to be patient, wait for guys to make mistakes. And you can’t make a mistake. It was a crazy night. Just glad we picked up a podium.”

Trace Westling drew the race’s first caution when he spun on lap 13. Another yellow flew for Brian Shirley on lap 22 when he slowed on the racetrack. Jack Sullivan spun on lap 28 for the final caution.

LATE MODEL – FEATURE
Finish Start Car Driver
1 2 18 Shannon Babb
2 1 19R Ryan Gustin
3 12 32 Bobby Pierce
4 7 21 Billy Moyer
5 9 0 Randy Korte
6 17 777 Jared Landers
7 6 28E Dennis Erb Jr
8 10 B5 Brandon Sheppard
9 3 21JR Billy Moyer Jr
10 11 15B Brian Birkhofer
11 5 6M Wendall Wallace
12 23 33M Tim Manville
13 18 6K Michael Kloos
14 19 11G Gordy Gundaker
15 16 11 Jeff Herzog
16 21 17V Mike Vanderriet Jr
17 22 71 Trace Westling
18 8 17M Robert Baker
19 14 18X Jack Sullivan
20 4 81 Brian Shirley
21 15 17 James Shereck
22 13 92W Scott Weber
23 24 5A Paul Schrempf Jr
24 20 16H Mike Hammerle