ST. LOUIS – Shannon Babb was the overall fast qualifier among 86 dirt late models on the opening night of the Gateway Dirt Nationals Thursday inside The Dome at America’s Center.

Babb led the way thanks to his 11.098-second lap on the temporary fifth-mile dirt oval, which allowed him to top the second qualifying group. Scott Ward and Patrik Daniel were second and third in the second qualifying group, respectively.

Freddie Carpenter paced the first qualifying group thanks to an 11.174-second lap. Mike Spatola and Billy Moyer followed in the first qualifying group.

By leading their respective groups, Babb and Carpenter earned poles for their heats on Friday at the Gateway Dirt Nationals. Friday’s late model program includes heats, last chance races and two 20-lap features paying $5,000.

The top-three finishers in each feature on Friday will lock themselves into the redraw for Saturday’s $30,000-to-win finale.