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Shirley Nets Second Consecutive Mars Racing Series Title

LaSalle, IL (September 29, 2021) - The 2021 Mars Racing Series campaign came to a close this past weekend at Spoon River Speedway and a familiar face was at the top of the standings. For the second year in a row the driver out of Chatham, IL came out on top. Brian Shirley, the driver they call "The Squirrel," used consistency paired with four wins to secure the title for the second straight year. Despite missing one event due to other race commitments he put together 1o top 10 finishes in 13 events to claim the championship.  

Brian started off the year with a pair of runner-up finishes at LaSalle Speedway during the Thaw Brawl weekend but a 18th place finish in the Farmer City 74 put Shirley out of the points lead. But after a pair of wins in May at Kankakee Speedway and Shadyhill Speedway Shirley found himself back on top and off and running towards the title. On Memorial Day weekend Brian missed the event at Fayette County Speedway and this allowed Jason Feger to close in to within 19 points.

Jason Feger remained in striking distance and had a shot to dethrone Shirley until Brian pulled off his third win of the season at Peoria. Then he pretty much put the seal on the deal in his get up on the wheel storm from mid pack to win the Labor Day Weekend kickoff at Farmer City. That gave Brian nearly a whole race lead over Feger with just a couple of events remaining. Brian would close out the season with another top 3 finish at Spoon River this past Saturday night to put the cap on his second straight title.

Brian Shirley is now the fifth driver in the twenty-three years of the MARS Series to win multiple titles. Brian, after his four wins in 2021, has 20 career wins and is sixth on the all time wins list.  13 of those wins have come in the last four seasons.

Jason Feger, who came home second in the 2021 Mars Racing Series standings picked up his 10th career Mars win at Fayette County Speedway in May and broke into the top 10 on the all time series wins list. Ryan Unzicker finished in third for the season standings. Ryan got his fourth career win with the series during the opening night of the 2021 season. 

The 2021 Mars Racing Season campaign was a successful one. 119 different drivers competed in the 13 completed racing events. The series visited 9 different race tracks in three states. A merchandise trailer with official series gear was added along with a series mascot to increase fan interaction and attract young ones to the sport.  A season long contingency program was also added that gave back to the drivers. Those included race fuel, certificates for race parts and more! Through social media nearly 700,000fans were reached which was up 137% from 2020. This does not include fans who were reached through the eight Live Stream events on FloRacing throughout the season. These results along with excitement for the future has the officials with the Mars Racing Series excited to plan for 2022.

Be sure to stay tuned to www.marsracingseries.com and our social media pages for all the latest information on the Mars Racing Series.

Special Thanks to Sponsors: Allstar Performance, Arizona Sports Shirts, Dirt Track Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Flo Racing, Allgaier Racing Shocks, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Racing Performance Media, Git Sidewayz Fuel, Velocita USA, Wilwood Brakes, Keyser Manufacturing, AutoMeter, Five Star Bodies, Ultrashield Race Products, Swift Springs, Wildgraphix, Illinois Army National Guard, Dirt Draft, Engine Masters

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