Garrett Alberson announced that he is retiring from the Prairie Dirt Classic after he had a motor failure.

The announcement comes after Alberson failed to take a qualifying lap in Group B. Alberson shared in a post to Facebook, “Alrighty! It appears the universe does not want us to race this weekend. The motor broke while we were warming up, and we are done for the weekend.”

“We’ll be avid race fans for the night and back in action at the North South 100,” he added.

Alberson was not competing with his primary Ken and Beth Roberts Motorsports team, but was competing in the Doug Curless owned No. 99. Alberson and he and his team had previously shared that his team was working on their Frost and Fury cars back at the shop in preparation for the North/South 100.

This wasn’t the first time Alberson had issues with the car. During hot laps during the FLoRacing Night in America Series race at Fairbury on Wednesday night, Alberson pulled into the infield after having issues with the car’s power steering. However, it appeared they got it fixed as he qualified 26th, finished 11th in his heat, and then 8th in his B-Main. He eventually had to take a provisional, which started him in 25th. He advanced three positions to finish 22nd.

This year’s Prairie Dirt Classic set a record for the number of late model entries at 86 as they all vie for one of the most prized crown jewels in the entire sport. The field was first split into two groups for qualifying and it will be split even further into four different Showdown races. Each Showdown race will be 25 laps with the top four drivers from each Showdown locking themselves into Saturday night’s feature. The top two finishers will also lock themselves into the redraw for the first 8 positions for Saturday’s feature.

On Saturday, the redraw will take place following hot laps. Then there will be Last Chance Showdown races with the lineup being set based on how drivers finished in the Showdowns on Friday night. The top 2 from each Last Chance Showdown will advance to the feature. After the Last Chance Showdowns there will be the non-qualifier 25-lap Prairie Dirt Shootout. The winner of the Shootout will have the option to either start at the tail of the Prairie Dirt Classic or take a check for winning the race.

Finally, the 100-lap Prairie Dirt Classic will take place with $50,000 to-win on the line. Additionally, each lap of the 100-lap feature pays $500 to the leader.

NEXT: Drake Troutman To Make His Debut With The Jerry Foster Owned Team At Selinsgrove Tonight