What won the race: After outdueling Brian Shirley for the lead and waiting out a short delay for rain, Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., kept Jimmy Mars at arm's length for the final 27 circuits to capture Saturday night's American Ethanol Late Model Tour-sanctioned POET 40 at Fairbury Speedway. Heckenast beat Mars to the finish line by 1.996 seconds for his first-ever American Ethanol triumph in the series's debut at the quarter-mile oval.

Quotable: “We first pulled out there and that’s probably the slickest it’s been here all year," said Heckenast. "That was one goal, to get ahead of (Brian) Shirley before the rain. Then the rain hit and I didn’t know if we were gonna pull off the track or keep going. We were really good on the bottom. I know we started up there, but still we were really good. When the rain came I was searching the whole time and I’m like, ‘Oh boy, there’s traction everywhere … this is gonna be anyone’s race.’”

Key notes: Heckenast recorded his second win of 2019 at Fairbury; he topped a FALS Cup event on May 18. ... Heckenast spent the early circuits swapping the top spot with Brian Shirley, who led laps 2-5 and 8-10 before Heckenast seized command for good on the 11th circuit. ... After a caution flag flew on lap 12 for a short burst of rain, the race resumed; Mars overtook Shirley for second on a lap-13 restart but couldn't summon the speed to seriously challenge Heckenast over the remaining distance. ... Jason Feger reached third on lap 18 and finished there. ... Shirley slowed with a flat tire on lap 20 while running fourth, bringing out the fourth and final caution flag. He didn't return. ... Brandon Thirlby was the highest-finishing Ethanol regular, placing seventh. ... Tim Manville was fifth when he spun in turn two to bring out a caution on lap 15; he was towed off.

On the move: Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., charged from the 17th starting spot to finish fourth, reaching fourth with two laps remaining.

Winner's sponsors: Heckenast’s Rocket Chassis is sponsored by St. Louis U-Pic-A-Part, Chicago U-Pic-A-Part, Storage Squares, Petroff Towing, Jim Weber Motorsports, Chase Decals, Dragon Racing Fuels, Hoosier Racing Tire, TeamDemo.com, Maxwell Industries, DirtOval66.com and Allstar Performance.

Points chase: Entering the weekend, Brandon Thirlby (692 points) led Travis Stemler (654), Logan Arntz (619), Rich Bell (583) and Eric Spangler (487).

Current weather: Partly Cloudy with Light Drizzle, 65°F

Car count: 35

Polesitter: Frank Heckenast Jr.

Heat race winners: Travis Stemler, Brian Shirley, Mike Spatola, Frank Heckenast Jr.

Consolation race winners: Mike Mataragas, Allen Weisser

Provisional starters: Logan Arntz