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Different Drivers Get Moment of Glory
By Brett Zerfowski
MACON, IL (August 29) - One thing has certainly been the case at Macon
Speedway in 2009, there is never a minute of boredom. Exciting finishes and
close point races have been apart of the season and it would appear many of
the racers in the championship hunt will have to wait until the season’s
final night to find out who will have the honor of track champion.
It has been a season of peaks and valleys for Decatur’s Mike Pickering.
Starting the season with peaks as he won the first two Touchstone Energy
Sportsman features led to the valleys as a blown motor and some time away
from the racetrack have knocked him back in the point standing. After a
third-place finish in the 2009 Sportsman Nationals race at the Illinois
State Fair, Pickering had the car in sync with the track as he took his
third Touchstone Energy Sportsman feature.
Dave Crawley, Jr. was behind him the entire way and nearly caught up to the
leader heading into the final lap but a caution flag came out and killed any
momentum Crawley had and finished second. Jeff Graham, the defending track
champion, took third while points leader Rick Roedel passed Scott Landers
for fourth and added on a few points to his lead in the division.
Argenta’s Danny Smith has also shared some peaks and valleys in 2009. His
Modified has really been troubled with damage throughout most of the year
but he has also been in line with good runs as well. For Smith, the final
Saturday of August was definitely a night he’ll not soon forget, taking the
Modified feature and holding off points leader Dave Crawley, Jr., Jeremy
Nichols and Brandon Sheppard. Smith took the lead from Mascoutah’s Mike Haas
on lap ten and weaved his way through the lapped traffic. For Smith, the
feature was his first of 2009.
Just call him “Mr. Big Ten.” Steve Sheppard, Jr. has dominated the Late
Model Midwest Big Ten Series races, winning seven-of-nine entering the final
race of the series. He held a 24 point advantage of his son Brandon and had
a 64-point cushion over third-place Kyle Logue. It looked as though Logue
was in line for the feature but the lapped traffic did its damage and cost
Logue the lead coming into the final turn of the 21st lap. Steve Sheppard,
Jr. took over the lead on lap 22 and held off Logue’s pursuit the event’s
final laps. Sheppard would then take eight-of-ten in the Midwest Big Ten
Series. The eight wins, second and third place finishes would be enough to
give him the Series win and the $3,000 first-place prize in the $10,000
point fund.
Nothing in racing comes very easily but for Steve Ewing, having the type of
racecar he does and starting on the pole for the Street Stock feature was
enough to ask the question, “Who’ll finish second?” Ewing continued his
dominance with the 12-lap feature, his tenth of the season, and gained a lot
points on the Street Stock division points leader Blake Shelley who suffered
a flat left rear tire late in the race.
Sam McCoy managed to win his third Amateur Hornet feature of the year. With
the Amateur Hornets, a feature trophy is distributed to the winner, and
McCoy will honor his fallen relative Madison McCoy with the trophy going on
her gravesite.
Fred Reed Jr. wrapped up the fun-filled evening with the Pro Hornet feature
win as he held off Heidi Hames and Brian Offer, both who fell back into the
field, and then the late charge of Zach Dodd. For Reed, it was his first
feature win since the World Hornet Championship of 2008.
Coming up at Macon Speedway on Wednesday, it will be the rain-out make-up of
the June 11th NASCAR Night with track co-owners Tony Stewart, Ken Schrader
and Kenny Wallace as well as Mark Martin in attendance to sign autographs
and get behind the wheel of the racecars and entertain their fans.
Autographs will be held on a first-come, first-served basis. The racing for
the evening will consist of the O’Reilly’s POWRi Midgets and Micro Sprints
as well as the Macon Speedway Modifieds.
Following that show will be the 5th Annual Illinois State Street Stock
Championship as the Street Stocks will be running for big money and the
right to be the champion of the Street Stock division in the state of
Illinois. A full show is scheduled for next Saturday night.
UMP Late Model - Feature
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Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 5S Steve Sheppard New Berlin, Il 50
2 1 21 Kyle Logue Cisco , Il 48
3 3 B5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, Il 46
4 5 82 Roger Brickler Springfield , Il 44
5 9 22 Chris Dick Deland , Il 42
6 7 525A Douglas Ridley - 40
7 8 117 Chuck Mitchell Jacksonville , Il 38
8 10 16H Mike Hammerle St Charles, Mo 36
9 2 F15 Brian Diveley Springfield , Il 34
10 20 1 Jim Moon Zionsville , In 32
11 16 18 Shane Tomlin Virden , Il 30
12 12 C4 Jason Cleaver Mechanicsburg , Il 28
13 15 17B Matt Beadles - 26
14 14 38 Doug Hemer Moweaqua , Il 24
15 13 3W Bill Wilhour Taylorville , Il 22
16 11 67 Michael Durbin Jr. Decatur , Il 20
17 18 B1 Bobby Brandon - 18
18 19 25C Steve Lance - 16
19 6 7MX Adam Mefford Jacksonville , Il 14
20 17 14 Nathan Lynch - 12
UMP Modified - Feature
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Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 D98 Danny Smith Argenta , Il 50
2 5 37 David Crawley Jr. Decatur , Il 48
3 9 01 Jeremy Nichols Decatur , Il 46
4 15 5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, Il 44
5 2 128 Mike Haas Mascoutah , Il 42
6 1 44 Aaron Burcham Decatur , Il 40
7 20 18 Randy Myers Springfield , Il 38
8 7 0 Brad Crosby Decatur , Il 36
9 11 31 Steve Ewing Decatur , Il 34
10 19 78 Lenny Bryant - 32
11 22 64 Donny Koehler Jr. Macon , Il 30
12 6 89EK Norm Wood Sullivan , Il 28
13 10 22 Scott Jones Macon , Il 26
14 13 3B Tyler Blankenship Vandalia , Il 24
15 18 35 Clark Robertson Shelbyville , Il 22
16 8 96 Greg Nelson - 20
17 16 42 Katie Lord Chatham , Il 18
18 17 19H James Hankins Taylorville , Il 16
19 21 35S Randy Spaugh Decatur , Il 14
20 12 32 Todd Kirkland - 12
21 3 28 Joe Strawkas Buffalo , Il 10
22 14 T2 Mark Tullis Taylorville , Il 8
UMP Sportsman - Feature
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Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 9 Mike Pickering Decatur , Il 50
2 7 C25 David Crawley Jr. Decatur , Il 48
3 3 71 Jeff Graham - 46
4 9 11 Rick Roedel Shelbyville , Il 44
5 8 41 Scott Landers Taylorville , Il 42
6 5 14C Alan Crowder Elwin , Il 40
7 17 4 Travis Martin Ramsey , Il 38
8 10 3B Stefan Bedinger Taylorville , Il 36
9 11 60 Kenny Hayes Macon , Il 34
10 16 B88 Jim Bedinger Taylorville , Il 32
11 12 22J Tony Clinton Dawson , Il 30
12 2 11K Terry Reed Decatur , Il 28
13 4 B99 Tim Bedinger Taylorville , Il 26
14 6 07 Phil Moreland - 24
15 14 22S Timmy Dick Monticello , Il 22
16 13 72 Tom Graham Stonington , Il 20
17 15 F1 Frank Reed Jr Blue , Il 18
18 19 8K Ken Fustin Springfield , Il 0
19 18 53R Jeff Reed, Sr - 0
UMP Street Stock - Feature
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Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 95 Steve Ewing Decatur , Il 50
2 4 11 Terry Reed Decatur , Il 48
3 2 88 Albert Crawley Sr. Decatur , Il 46
4 10 99 Mike Pickering Decatur , Il 44
5 8 36 Nick Justice Harristown , Il 42
6 11 21 Troy Dodson Cerro Gordo, Il 40
7 7 X7 Larry Russell Jr. Harristown , Il 38
8 13 33 Justin Hill Lovington , Il 36
9 22 35 Gene Reed Shelbyville , Il 34
10 14 19E Bobby Eskew - 32
11 16 77 Brandon Bechtel - 30
12 5 30 Blake Shelley Oakley , Il 28
13 19 52R Jeffery Reed Jr. Blue Mound, Il 26
14 23 14 Kurtis Ater Macon , Il 24
15 21 33C Josh Robb Decatur , Il 22
16 3 15C Kevin Crowder Argenta , Il 20
17 20 23 Jason Hazlet - 18
18 17 4G Cody Wickline - 16
19 6 22 Shade Eskew - 14
20 15 1 Cale Chandler Decatur , Il 12
21 18 46 Bruce Dulgar Decatur , Il 10
22 9 08 Brian Dasenbrock Decatur , Il 0
23 12 34 Jeremy Reed Decatur , Il 0
UMP Amateur Hornet - Feature
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Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 7 Sam Mccoy Decatur , Il 50
2 10 98 Kenneth Reed Decatur , Il 48
3 9 83 Steven Dulgar Decatur , Il 46
4 8 62 Kevin Brown Pana , Il 44
5 1 88 Brian Offer Springfield , Il 42
6 2 52 Jonathan Drake Decatur , Il 40
7 7 B52 Ben Medaris Decatur , Il 38
8 4 72G Jack Goodman - 36
9 15 34 Kelly Bright - 34
10 5 07 Cody Fleming Decatur , Il 32
11 11 210 Brett Embry Decatur , Il 30
12 14 X28 Jake Sutheard - 28
13 13 12 Austin Harbin - 26
14 12 4SQ Matt Tangman - 24
15 6 1X Joe Mcchristy Mt Zion, Il 22
16 16 4 Ashlee Gatons - 0
17 17 43X Karyl Slack - 0
UMP Hornet - Feature
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Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 O Fred Reed Jr. Decatur , Il 50
2 3 21Z Zach Dodd Riverton , Il 48
3 7 19 James Hankins Taylorville , Il 46
4 18 XX Nick Lowe Springfield , Il 44
5 4 98X Michael Webb Decatur , Il 42
6 9 71 Todd Rush Pawnee , Il 40
7 10 4G John Goveia - 38
8 19 7 Joe Reed Decatur , Il 36
9 6 B52 Steven Stine Macon , Il 34
10 11 43X Cook Crawford - 32
11 8 07 Tony Reed Decatur , Il 30
12 17 X28 Nathan Chandler Decatur , Il 28
13 14 6 Justunn Hilton Lovington , Il 26
14 16 4SQ Stephanie Eskew Springfield , Il 24
15 2 15 Heidi Hames Decatur , Il 22
16 13 4 Matthew Reed Decatur , Il 20
17 5 34 Billy Justice Harristown , Il 18
18 12 83 Bruce Dulgar Decatur , Il 16
19 15 1X Mike Mcchristy Mt. Zion, Il 0
20 20 77G James Grant Ii Springfield , Il 0
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