|
Fans Show Appreciation During Fan
Appreciation Night
By Brett Zerfowski
MACON, IL (August 15) - With the rough stretch the economy has gone through
recently, finding good, quality entertainment at reasonable prices has been
something not easy to find. The ownership of Macon Speedway partnered with
the Cromwell Radio Group of Decatur, IL., to bring a Fan Appreciation Night
in which adult fans who normally pay $10 to enter the gate would be able to
watch the exciting action for half-price.
After a two-week layoff because of an August 1st rain-out and the Hartung
Powerwash Midwest Go-Kart Summernationals the following week, the drivers
and fans felt very energized and ready to return to the track and get back
to exciting racing. Maybe the drivers were a little too energized and
excited to come back.
The Touchstone Energy Sportsman feature was another special 20-lap
Springfield Sportsman Nationals qualifier race. All 23 cars started the race
vying for the top four spots which would grant entry to the Nationals event
on the Illinois State Fairgrounds during the Fair’s final day (Sunday,
August 23). The race would get out to an unbelievable start as the first lap
would not be completed until after the eighth caution. Dennis Vandermeersch,
who won the last Sportsman feature, started on the pole and led the first 14
laps. He lost control of the car going into the second turn and that forced
yet another caution flag.
For the spinout, he would be sent to the back of the field and the
second-place car Alan Crowder would take over as the leader. As they were
preparing to come to the green flag from the backstretch, Crowder’s car
suddenly stopped and he would be pushed into the infield, thus giving the
new second place car Scott Landers the lead. For the final six laps, Landers
hung on to give his son Cole an excellent fifth birthday gift, a checkered
flag feature win.
Randy Myers hadn’t been in victory lane in the Modifieds since May 17, 2008.
A long draught came to a close Saturday as he defended the inherited lead
from all comers including Jeremy Nichols, Guy Taylor and Mike Haas. Myers
took over after leader Brian Bielong blew up coming into the third turn from
the backstretch during the race’s sixth lap. Myers used the bottom of the
track to keep the pesky Nichols away and grabbed the glory.
Steve Ewing returned to victory lane with a Street Stock feature win in
convincing fashion. Starting from the number one spot, Ewing led all 12 laps
en route to feature win number eight.
A rough night for the Sheppard family ended with both father and son sitting
in the infield by lap 11 with broken racecars. Steve Sheppard, Jr. came out
of the race first on the fifth lap when a wreck occurred on the backstretch
and there was nowhere for him to go but into the rear end of the car in
front of him. Brandon Sheppard, who was running second behind the leader
Brian Diveley, got caught up at the top of the track and had brake problems.
On the 11th lap, Sheppard’s car finally gave way to the turn three wall as
he plowed into it only be smacked in the rear end by the oncoming Chris
Dick. Brian Diveley, a long-time racer at Macon starting in the Modifieds as
a young driver, finally reached the plateau he had been looking for with a
dominate win over second place Kyle Logue and third place Dick Taylor.
Joe Reed made it three in a row in the Pro Hornets and seven features
overall as he beat out Michael Webb, Nick Lowe and Heidi Hames. In a very
classy gesture, Reed dedicated the race and the evening to car owner Sam
McCoy and his family, who had lost a young family member.
The Amateur Hornet Feature was magical for both Sam McCoy and Kenneth Reed.
As both came out of the fourth and final turn of the final lap, a lapped car
slowed the leader McCoy down and Reed wound up taking the top honors. The
win for Reed was his first-ever feature.
The drivers and fans were certainly feeling appreciated as the pits were
full of 127 racecars and a very full bleacher audience saw the return of
stock car racing to Macon Speedway. A huge weekend awaits as Macon Speedway
will host the O’Reilly POWRi Midgets and Micros Friday night (Modifieds will
also be apart of the show) and the Macon County Farm Bureau will be in
attendance Saturday night for another full show as it will be a two-day
event with the POWRi Micros, who will take the place of the Touchstone
Energy Sportsman as they prepare for their important race Sunday at the
Illinois State Fair.
UMP Late Model - Feature
________________________________________
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 2 11D Brian Diveley Springfield , Il 50
2 4 91B Kyle Logue Cisco , Il 48
3 11 24 Dick Taylor Riverton , Il 46
4 7 16H Mike Hammerle St Charles, Mo 44
5 1 82 Roger Brickler Springfield , Il 42
6 9 22 Chris Dick Deland , Il 40
7 15 17B Matt Beadles - 38
8 16 7M Kevin Moffett Moweaqua , Il 36
9 12 38 Doug Hemer Moweaqua , Il 34
10 8 67 Michael Durbin Jr. Decatur , Il 32
11 14 13 Mike Fannin - 30
12 5 B5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, Il 28
13 3 5S Steve Sheppard New Berlin, Il 26
14 6 25 Dennis Vandermeersch Springfield , Il 24
15 10 70 Brian Bielong - 22
16 13 00 Shawn Bohm Decatur , Il 20
UMP Modified - Feature
________________________________________
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 18 Randy Myers Springfield , Il 50
2 4 01 Jeremy Nichols Decatur , Il 48
3 2 77 Guy Taylor - 46
4 7 128 Mike Haas Mascoutah , Il 44
5 11 0 Brad Crosby Decatur , Il 42
6 8 D98 Danny Smith Argenta , Il 40
7 10 37 David Crawley Jr. Decatur , Il 38
8 12 44 Aaron Burcham Decatur , Il 36
9 9 22 Scott Jones Macon , Il 34
10 14 T2 Mark Tullis Taylorville , Il 32
11 15 42 Katie Lord Chatham , Il 30
12 18 64 Donny Koehler Jr. Macon , Il 28
13 13 31 Steve Ewing Decatur , Il 26
14 20 19H James Hankins Taylorville , Il 24
15 16 28 Joe Strawkas Buffalo , Il 22
16 19 25 Jeffrey Wallace - 20
17 17 16H Eric Hamilton Macon , Il 18
18 1 73 Brian Bielong - 16
19 5 5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, Il 14
20 6 11 Kyle Logue Cisco , Il 12
UMP Sportsman - Feature
________________________________________
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 8 41 Scott Landers Taylorville , Il 50
2 9 11K Terry Reed Decatur , Il 48
3 14 C25 David Crawley Jr. Decatur , Il 46
4 23 11 Rick Roedel Shelbyville , Il 44
5 2 9 Mike Pickering Decatur , Il 42
6 3 4 Travis Martin Ramsey , Il 40
7 10 3 Bill Berghaus - 38
8 15 72 Tom Graham Stonington , Il 36
9 19 3B Tim Bedinger Taylorville , Il 34
10 11 22S David Slade Seymour , Il 32
11 18 22J Tony Clinton Dawson , Il 30
12 1 B99 Dennis Vandermeersch Springfield , Il 28
13 6 14C Alan Crowder Elwin , Il 26
14 20 X Phil Moreland - 24
15 22 55 Kevin Cook Iblue Mound, Il 22
16 21 53R Jeff Reed, Sr - 20
17 12 15 Rick Lowe - 18
18 4 22 Timmy Dick Monticello , Il 16
19 7 71 Jeff Graham - 14
20 5 60 Kenny Hayes Macon , Il 12
21 16 90 Justin Ater Moweaqua , Il 10
22 17 B88 Jim Bedinger Taylorville , Il 8
23 13 8K Ken Fustin Springfield , Il 6
UMP Street Stock - Feature
________________________________________
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 95 Steve Ewing Decatur , Il 50
2 7 30 Blake Shelley Oakley , Il 48
3 3 X7 Larry Russell Jr. Harristown , Il 46
4 2 11 Terry Reed Decatur , Il 44
5 5 15C Kevin Crowder Argenta , Il 42
6 6 99 Mike Pickering Decatur , Il 40
7 4 36 Nick Justice Harristown , Il 38
8 18 77 Brandon Bechtel - 36
9 15 08 Brian Dasenbrock Decatur , Il 34
10 11 34 Jeremy Reed Decatur , Il 32
11 10 1 Cale Chandler Decatur , Il 30
12 13 33 Justin Hill Lovington , Il 28
14 19 37 Rick Rush Brownstown , Il 24
15 9 K14 Ryan Blair Edinburg , Il 22
16 12 25 Greg Osman - 20
17 14 53R Jeff Reed, Sr - 18
18 17 33C Josh Robb Decatur , Il 16
19 20 70 Joe Younker Brownstown , Il 14
20 21 35 Gene Reed Shelbyville , Il 12
21 16 14 Kurtis Ater Macon , Il 10
UMP Amateur Hornet - Feature
________________________________________
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 98 Kenneth Reed Decatur , Il 50
2 15 83 Steven Dulgar Decatur , Il 48
3 5 7 Sam Mccoy Decatur , Il 46
4 4 B52 Ben Medaris Decatur , Il 44
5 7 210 Brett Embry Decatur , Il 42
6 2 3 Joe Mcchristy Mt Zion, Il 40
7 17 62 Kevin Brown Pana , Il 38
8 10 20 Mike Ward - 36
9 18 3V Kristopher Vincent - 34
10 12 2K Kyle Vandorn New Berlin, Il 32
11 13 52 Jonathan Drake Decatur , Il 30
12 20 12 Austin Harbin - 28
13 11 43X Karyl Slack - 26
14 9 205 Michael Gossett - 24
15 16 28 Cody Fleming Decatur , Il 22
16 8 B1 Gary Waterman, Jr Decatur , Il 20
17 1 25 Kelsie Gustus Decatur , Il 18
18 14 21R Haily Embry - 16
19 6 4SQ Matt Tangman - 14
20 19 XO Gary Justice Harristown , Il 12
21 21 1F Fred Mifflin Mount Zion, Il 10
UMP Hornet - Feature
________________________________________
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 7 Joe Reed Decatur , Il 50
2 3 98X Michael Webb Decatur , Il 48
3 7 XX Nick Lowe Springfield , Il 46
4 6 15 Heidi Hames Decatur , Il 44
5 12 19 James Hankins Taylorville , Il 42
6 14 83 Bruce Dulgar Decatur , Il 40
7 8 77G James Grant Ii Springfield , Il 38
8 9 43X Cook Crawford - 36
9 5 4SQ Stephanie Eskew Springfield , Il 34
10 15 3 Mike Mcchristy Mt. Zion, Il 32
11 11 18X Casey Jones - 30
12 18 04S Steven Stine Macon , Il 28
13 16 2M Julie Marshall Springfield , Il 26
14 10 4 Matthew Reed Decatur , Il 24
15 4 4G John Goveia - 22
16 2 08 Mikel Wright Ramsey , Il 20
17 13 71 Todd Rush Pawnee , Il 0
18 17 6 Justunn Hilton Lovington , Il 0
19 19 28 Tony Reed Decatur , Il 0
20 20 XO Billy Justice Harristown , Il 0
 |
