9/2/2024
Double Duty Motorsports scores quartet of top-5 finishes in Illinois and Oregon
Over Labor Day weekend, Justin Duty continued his impressive rookie season in the Midwest Auto Racing Series (MARS) Late Model Championship, while his father John contested a pair of Late Model shows in the Pacific Northwest.
The younger half of Double Duty Motorsports had planned to kick off three days of MARS racing on Friday at Farmer City (Illinois) Raceway, but Mother Nature washed out the Chuckwagon Outpost 40. Instead, Justin Duty and his No. 15 Super Late Model first hit the track in the 29-car Triple Down Shootout at Fairbury (Illinois) Speedway on Saturday evening.
Duty grabbed fourth in his heat race at the quarter-mile Fairbury track, then started 11th in the 40-lap, $5,000-to-win feature. He navigated to a fifth-place result behind Shannon Babb, Blaze Burwell, McKay Wenger and Ryan Unzicker.
On Sunday, the MARS schedule shifted to Spoon River (Illinois) Speedway, where 30 MARS Late Model teams took part in the 34th annual Plowboy Nationals paying $5,000 to the victor. A third-place result in his heat put Duty seventh on the grid to begin the A-Main. He climbed three spots on the 3/8-mile oval to finish fourth as he chased Wenger, Unzicker and Jason Feger under the checkered flag. Dennis Erb Jr. rounded out the top five.
Duty picked up one position in the MARS Late Model Championship standings over the weekend and now sits third in points. He also remains first in the battle for Rookie of the Year.
Meanwhile, John Duty raced in Lebanon, Oregon, as his son was taking on MARS competition in the Land of Lincoln.
On Saturday, John Duty drove his No. 5 car among 23 Coors Light Silver Bullet I-5 Series Late Models at the 1/3-mile Willamette Speedway. He qualified with the third-quickest time and finished fifth in his heat race. He started the 40-lap, $1,200-to-win feature from deep in the field in 15th, but motored ahead throughout the race to finish third behind Joey Tanner and Bricen James. Steve Moore and BJ Donofrio were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The next night, the I-5 Series’ 2024 schedule concluded with a $2,000-to-win show that brought 22 Super Late Models to Willamette. A third-place result in his heat put Duty on the second row to start the main event. He slipped two spots in the A-Main and came home fifth in the 40-lapper, following Collen Winebarger, Tanner, James and Rob Mayea across the start-finish line.
Full weekend results from the MARS Late Model Championship and Willamette Speedway are at www.marsracingseries.com and www.trophymotorsports.com.
Article Credit: MARS Racing Series image