Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Fairbury adds ambiance for PDC event
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: An extremely cool addition to Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway ahead of this weekend’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned Prairie Dirt Classic is something that goes unseen by the general public. When I entered the media room inside the track office building at the pit entrance, I found it had been transformed into a visual delight. Splashed across one wall is a brand new mural — much like the one that’s been in the office’s lobby for several years — featuring a huge photo of 2025 PDC winner Brian Shirley standing atop his car and excitedly pumping his fist in front of Fairbury’s backstretch grandstand. A variety of other shots from throughout Fairbury’s history are also included. And at one end of the rectangular room there are framed photos of the last 11 PDC winners posing in the Bank of Pontiac drive-thru lane a few blocks from the track. “When the race ends the tradition begins” appears on the wall above the pictures, which have been a post-race rite of passage for PDC victors since 2014.
No. 2: Two other neat pieces of Fairbury memorabilia now adorn the media room’s wall. One is an old lineup board made of wood that was used at the track years ago. Another is the white and blue No. 44 door from the car driven by 1965-66 Fairbury track champion Lynn Wilson. Fairbury promoter Matt Curl said he and his partner in FALS’s ownership, Michael Rigsby, went through a large stash of Fairbury artifacts in a local facility and picked out the lineup board and race car door for display.
No. 3: On Friday afternoon while I was in Fairbury’s media room discussing the Lynn Wilson race car door, a well-known local racer walked in and offered some in-depth knowledge of that particular machine. Larry Redenius — better known simply as Budda, the friendly 80-year-old who operates the Bert Transmissions by Budda business in his hometown of Minonk, Ill. — said Wilson’s title-winning car was built by Bill Krieghauer, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 87. Budda also said he “fooled” with the car a bit as a friend of Krieghauer and Wilson those years.
No. 4: Speaking of Budda, it was great to see him at the track and feeling good. He said he suffered a stroke at his home in late April, but he was hospitalized for only three days and was treated quickly enough that he’s been able to make a nearly complete recovery. Budda related that he sometimes gets a bit tongue-tied talking if he’s tired and he forgets things from time-to-time, but he quipped with a smile, “I’m gonna be 81 pretty soon.”
No. 5: Before the start of the WoO portion of Fairbury’s race week on Friday, Amanda Francis, the wife of WoO Late Model Series director and Hall of Fame driver Steve Francis, had two days to take in the racing (Wednesday’s FloRacing Night in America event) and ambiance (Thursday’s charity auction and evening concert) before donning her WoO apparel to work the tour’s fan-engagement display. She dug into her closet to break out some awesome Steve Francis throwback shirts. On Wednesday I spotted Amanda wearing a shirt from 2014 commemorating her husband’s induction in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame. She went even more retro on Thursday, pulling out a deep-cut Steve Francis T-shirt from what she thinks was 1990. She noted that Steve had even signed it. With Amanda, who is 16 years younger than Steve, being a young race fan when she got her Steve Francis shirt, I joked that they might have never become a couple, married and had a daughter if Steve had made a bad impression on her during that meeting so many years ago. They both laughed and nodded knowingly at the thought.
