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Macon Speedway Celebrates Life of Fallen Driver
By Brett Zerfowski
MACON, IL (August 22) - Decatur’s Shawn Bohm had been racing at Macon
Speedway for quite a few years in the Modifieds and most recently the Late
Models. Earlier in the week, his life was taken from him, stunning his
family, friends and the central Illinois racing community. On Saturday,
August 22nd, his life was celebrated and honored during the Macon County
Farm Bureau Night.
A memorial speech from area pastor Rick Berg started the evening’s program,
followed by the release of balloons in Bohm’s racing colors red and white.
His best friend and Street Stock driver Josh Robb took the honor of being
behind the wheel of Bohm’s 00 Late Model for the National Anthem. Joining
him were other close friends Terry Reed, Jonathon Drake and Cody Wickline.
It wasn’t a regular full show as the Late Models and Touchstone Energy
Sportsman were given the night off while the POWRi Micro Sprints were added
to the show as part of their eight-race Summer Series. (It was scheduled to
be a two-day show but rain washed away Friday evening’s program.)
Another fantastic racing evening saw 107 racecars, which included 32 Micro
Sprints, try their best in memory of their fallen racing competitor.
With a revamped lineup, the Street Stock division started the main event and
from start to finish, it was all Steve Ewing. The “Lightning McQueen” 95
from the Disney-Pixar animated hit “Cars” led off from the pole and never
looked back. The racing was challenging for the cars chasing Ewing as Brian
Dasenbrock was holding off points leader Blake Shelley, Terry Reed and Larry
Russell, Jr. Shelley tried to maneuver into second place on the backstretch
of the race’s final lap as Dasenbrock went for the block and Shelley kept on
going. It resulted in Dasenbrock suffering a broken left-front axle and him
forced off the track. Shelley would take over as the second-place car behind
Ewing but wouldn’t be able to catch him. Ewing took his ninth feature win of
2009 but still trails in the standings to Shelley.
Carbondale’s Brad McDaniel showed to be the fastest and most dominate POWRi
Micro Sprint of the 32 who signed in at the gate. Easily winning his heat
placed him on the pole for the feature. From there, McDaniel weaved his way
out of lapped traffic and into victory lane. The POWRi Micros have raced six
features at Macon Speedway and all features have had different winners.
The Modified race was certainly one to remember for Brad Crosby. A
front-row-outside starter, Crosby has been in the seat a few times before. A
top contender for the win only to have the checkered flag slip through his
fingers has been his luck. Finally, it all changed.
The pole sitter Steve Ewing raced hard and clean with Crosby but couldn’t
seem to catch up. Crosby started pulling away through the lapped traffic but
Ewing caught a break on lap 18 when a caution flag came out. As they resumed
to the green, Ewing made his move to the outside and as they came to the
white flag at the line, Ewing and Crosby bashed into one another sending
Ewing into the front stretch wall. Ewing kept racing but was unable to get
close to Crosby again for another challenge and as the checkered flag was
waving, Crosby sighed relief. A feature win at Macon Speedway was finally
his.
Ewing was pleased with the race and both drivers exchanged smiles and thumbs
up in the post-race interview. Ewing was the Best Fan in the Stands driver
which awarded him $100.
Brett Embry has been achieving well in the Amateur Hornet class. A heat win
paved the way to a feature win, his second of the year. Following the race,
he and Sam McCoy (a relative of Embry) took a second victory lap in honor
and memory of Madison McCoy, a five-year-old who recently passed away after
a bout with cancer.
The Pro Hornets was a memorable feature but really only after the checkered
flag was done waving. Joe Reed took his eighth feature win and as he
received the Hornet trophy he dedicated it to the Bohm family and then ran
over to the turn four gate and into the stands to award to trophy to Shawn
Bohm’s daughter Morgan.
The class acts continued as the Blue Mound Lions Club, the evening’s 50/50
sponsor, agreed to share their cut of the money as did the Speedway to the
Bohm family and the Shawn Bohm Memorial Fund. 50/50 winner Sheryl Sloan won
the 50/50 prize and donated it all back to the Bohm family.
Though many checkered flags were waved over the course of the evening and
many winners were decided, the real winners of the show were the family and
friends of Shawn Bohm. Generosity and remembrance was what Saturday night’s
program was about. Though Bohm will be dearly missed, his memory will carry
on at Macon Speedway.
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