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Plenty of Fireworks Wow Macon Speedway Crowd
By Brett Zerfowski
MACON, IL (July 25) - After Kasey Kahne and co-owner Kenny Wallace graced
their presences at the racetrack, Macon Speedway held their make-up 95Q
Firecracker 40s event. Originally scheduled for July 4th, the 95Q
Firecracker 40s was at the mercy of Mother Nature as rain forced the
cancellation of the program and it was rescheduled on a night where there
was nothing but wild and crazy things. Well over 100 racecars filled the
pits and the stands were packed with fans ready to see exciting racing and
fireworks.
As the sun set and darkness began to take over, the ambulance was forced to
leave Macon Speedway because of a medical emergency. As the Decatur
Ambulance left the track, the fireworks, courtesy of USA Fireworks, wowed
and thrilled the capacity crowd. As the amazing and thrilling finale wrapped
up, the ambulance reappeared and the racing continued.
After the engines were fired back up, the second of three Pro Hornet heats
took place and Stephanie Eskew of Springfield, IL., won her first heat race.
In the Modified semi-feature, Chatham’s Katie Lord took top honors to
advance to the 40-lap feature event. It was indeed Ladies Night.
Jeremy Nichols is a streaky driver. He has had his rough weeks where he
doesn’t seem to have the car locked in with the track and then he has his
weeks like June 13-27 when he won three consecutive features. He’s been
trying to work his car back to victory lane and was able to do so in the 95Q
Firecracker 40s.
Starting front-row-outside with Rick Crawford didn’t go very well from the
outset as Crawford and second-row-inside car Dave Crawley, Jr. got tangled
up on the backstretch of the first lap and forced Crawford’s early exit.
Crawley was able to stay in the race and as the inside row shifted up, he
was the new pole sitter.
The race got off to a really slow pace as the 40-lap feature saw five
caution flags over the first six laps. After the fifth caution on lap six,
it was green flag racing with a lot of excitement the rest of the way.
Nichols, Crawley, Kyle Logue and Steve Ewing had worked their way to the
front and ran together in efforts of reaching the checkered flag first. With
smoke puffing out of the back of Nichols’ racecar coming out of the first
and third turns, he held off the three drivers behind him. Ewing worked his
way to second place as Logue finished in front of Crawley. For the Decatur
native, it was Nichols’ fourth feature of 2009.
A full lineup of Late Models were racing about the speedway for more than
just the honor of 40 laps but for the points in the sixth leg of the
ten-race Midwest Big Ten Series. The two heat winners, Springfield’s Brian
Diveley and New Berlin’s Brandon Sheppard, started in the front row and
after the second lap it was obvious who had the fastest car of the night.
16-year-old Brandon Sheppard made it clear that he was out to win a big-lap,
big-money race.
A caution on lap four set the lineup as Brandon Sheppard, Kyle Logue,
Diveley, Dick Taylor, Mike Hammerle and Steve Sheppard, Jr. As the restart
took off, Steve Sheppard, Jr. jumped up to fourth and eventually third. As
the race carried on under green flag racing, the cars started to space
themselves out to a point that the leader Brandon Sheppard was on the verge
of lapping the majority of the field. As the checkered flag began waving,
Sheppard was closing in on the fifth-place car, Brian Diveley. Sheppard,
Logue and Sheppard, Jr., were many seconds ahead of the fourth and fifth
place finishers Taylor and Diveley.
For Brandon Sheppard, it was his first Macon Speedway feature of 2009 and
second overall. The first would come in 2008 as he won the Lite Beer Twin
50s on August 23rd.
The Touchstone Energy Sportsman feature did as the StarTek Intermission
program did with the fireworks, it wowed the crowd. Travis Martin of Ramsey,
IL., started on the pole and led through the first eight laps. As lap nine
came, Dennis Vandermeersch grabbed the lead as Martin got caught up with
lapped track. The former Sportsman track champion had the fast car for this
15-lap race but closing in fast was Dave Crawley, Jr. Crawley, the winner
over the past two weeks, had made his move to grab the lead as he went
side-by-side with Vandermeersch but as they came to the checkered flag out
of turn four, Vandermeersch found himself with the win.
His last Sportsman win was a memorable one, the 2008 Sportsman Nationals at
the Illinois State Fair. Vandermeersch is a three-time winner of that event.
A wild Street Stock feature brought Larry Russell, Jr., back to victory
lane, his first visit since Opening Night. Steve Ewing had the lead and was
riding the top of the racetrack but continued to get caught up in the turns
and it slowed him down enough for “Bub” Russell to make the pass and get
ahead on lap seven. Ewing would eventually break down and be forced off the
track. Following Russell would be Kevin Crowder and Street Stocks points
leader Blake Shelley.
Five-foot tall trophies were up for grabs in both the Pro and Amateur
Hornets and defending UMP National Hornet Champion Joe Reed was able to pick
up his sixth win of the season to extend his Macon Speedway points standings
lead and add on his National points. It was a memorable win for Reed but not
as memorable as it would be for Amateur Hornet feature winner Brian Offer.
With Steve Dulgar on his bumper for nearly the entire race, Offer took
advantage of the lead when Brett Embry was forced to the infield with a
broken Hornet on the fifth lap. Offer had been close to getting the
checkered flag before but was able to starve off Dulgar long enough to cross
the line first and take home the hardware, his own five-foot tall trophy.
The jam-packed Macon Speedway fans were expecting fireworks and they were
certainly able to receive them, both in the sky and on the racetrack. Close
races throughout the night from the 125 racecars kept the fans on the edge
of their seats wondering who would make it to the finish line first. The
fireworks display during intermission may have just been an added bonus.
As Saturdays in July close, August will get kicked off with our next
program, a full evening of exciting racing featuring all six of our UMP
sanctioned divisions. The points races continue to look exciting as they
stay so close. A memorable August it will be.
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