Croft Works His Craft In MOWA Sprint At Lincoln IL Speedway

admin | July 17, 2016

LINCOLN, ILL (July 15, 2016) – For the first time in nearly a month, Lincoln IL Speedway was back in action and Friday’s entertainment did not disappoint. In front of a sizable crowd hungry for racing, the Neal Tire MOWA Sprint Cars, UMP Midwest Big Ten Pro Late Models, Midwest Technical Institute Modifieds, and POWRi/Illini D-II Midgets Presented By Nutech Seed were all in action. Fans were treated to a great show, featuring late race passes, last lap thrillers, and extremely fast paced action.

The headlining show of the night was the Neal Tire MOWA Sprint car 25-lap A-Main. AJ Bruns, a Lincoln native, led early in the event and looked as though he would be a threat for victory. However, on lap ten, Bruns was involved in a tumble that ended his evening. At that point, California competitor, Willie Croft put his #26 out front. Croft was wicked fast, coming from the eighth starting position to take over the lead, no easy feat. At about the halfway mark, when Croft was cruising out front, he got a bit high in the fourth turn, climbing the concrete retaining wall. In amazing fashion, Croft came out of the two wheel “Chitwood-like” exhibition and somehow maintained the lead. As the laps wore down, Parker Price-Miller stayed within striking distance but could never mount the challenge needed to go after the win. At the checkered, it was Croft followed by Price-Miller, Paul Nienhiser, Ryan Bunton, and Jake Blackhurst. The rest of the top ten were Chris Urish, Korey Weyant, Logan Faucon, Jeremy Standridge, and Aaron Andruskevitch.

The Midwest Technical Institute Modified division put on a really good show, which is no surprise for that class at Lincoln. Taylorville, IL driver Curt Rhodes drew the #1 frisbee to start on the pole of the 20-lap event. Rhodes immediately raced into the lead, while Brian Lynn was dicing his way from the sixth starting position. Lynn, who is always a track favorite to win, was outstanding on this night. However, it looked like being outstanding wasn’t going to be enough, as he raced his way into the second spot by lap five but could not get past the #10 of Rhodes. Rhodes ran the high lane, while Lynn was working the bottom. As the duo worked through turns three and four with the white flag about to wave, Rhodes made his only mistake of the race with a slight bobble. It was just enough for Lynn to race to the bottom and scoot by. With the checkered out, Lynn crossed in first, while Rhodes, Donovan Lodget, Kelly Kovski, and Kyle Byerline were in the top five.

The Midwest Big Ten Series Pro Late Models were also on hand for a 20-lap A-Main. While 16 cars were pitside, 14 took the green. Jake Little and Matt Taylor had the fortunate redraws, putting them on the front row. When the race began, Taylor raced out front, while Little dropped into second. Guy Taylor, last weekend’s winner at Farmer City and Macon, started the event in fourth but had moved into third on lap three and took over second from Little just three laps later. Much like last week at Macon, Guy was being a pesk to his brother on the inside lane. Lap-after-lap, the brothers Taylor ran in side-by-side formation with Guy on the inside and Matt on the outside. While Matt led the most laps, Guy crossed out front by just a nose on laps 14 and 15. Matt took over for the next few but on lap 20, the decisive circuit, Guy worked three and four just a little better, pulling out front for his third straight victory. The Taylors were followed by Little, Gary Turpin, and Roben Huffman. Cody Maguire, Kevin Crowder, Andy Minett, Matt Beadles, and Kenny VanDorn completed the top ten.

In the POWRi/Illini D-II Midgets Presented By Nutech Seed, 17 cars took the green flag. With good track conditions, Patrick Bruns, national point leader, raced out front looking for yet another victory. Already claiming several on the POWRi tour, Bruns was error free racing out front as Tyler Vantoll, Lincoln point leader, followed in his tire tracks. A long green flag run was slowed by a late race caution which bunched up the field and gave Corey Weyant a chance at victory. However, Bruns again pulled away for the checkered flag. Vantoll, Weyant, Austin Archdale, and Gedd Ross completed the top five.

Lincoln Speedway be back in action on Friday, July 29, as the Raminator Monster Truck will be there to crush some cars for the kids, courtesy of Lincoln Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram. Divisions in action will include Pro Late Models, Modifieds, KidsModz, DII Midgets, and Hornets.

Pit gates will open at 4:00, grandstands at 5:00, competitor pill draw will end at 6:00, hotlaps will begin at 6:20, and racing will take the green at 7:00. Grandstand admission will be $12 for adults and free for kids 11 and under.

For more information on the track, follow Lincoln Speedway online at www.lincolnspeedwayil.com, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LincolnILSpeedway), and Twitter (@LincolnILSpdwy). Updates are also available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200.

Lincoln Speedway is located at the Logan County Fairgrounds, in Lincoln, IL. The physical address is 1408 Short 11th St., Lincoln, IL 62656. Lincoln Speedway races a number of UMP classes as well as specials on a near bi-weekly schedule of Friday and Sunday evenings.
Lincoln Speedway Results (Top 10’s)

MOWA Sprints – 1. #26 Willie Croft; 2. #2 Parker Price-Miller; 3. #9 Paul Nienhiser; 4. #6R Ryan Bunton; 5. #25 Jake Blackhurst; 6. #77U Chris Urish; 7. #99W Korey Weyant; 8. #52F Logan Faucon; 9. #10s Jeremy Standridge; 10. #83 Aaron Andruskevitch

UMP Pro Late Models – 1. 4T-Guy Taylor; 2. 24T-Matt Taylor; 3. 38J-Jake Little; 4. 75-Gary Turpin; 5. 33H-Roben Huffman; 6. 32M-Cody Maguire; 7. 15-Kevin Crowder; 8. 1M-Andy Minett; 9. 147-Matt Beadles; 10. 22K-Kenny VanDorn

UMP Midwest Technical Institute Modifieds – 1. 14-Brian Lynn; 2. 10-Curt Rhodes; 3. 32-Donovan Lodge; 4. 10K-Kelly Kovski; 5. 11B-Kyle Byerline; 6. 72A-Austin Lynn; 7. 83-Austin Charron; 8. 97-John Barnard; 9. 87-Wes O’Dell; 10. 14C-Alan Crowder

POWRi/Illini DII Midgets presented by Nutech Seed – 1. 10B-Patrick Bruns; 2. 30T-Tyler Vantoll; 3. 7X-Corey Weyandt; 4. 2-Austin Archdale; 5. 51R-Gedd Ross; 6. 7-Adam Taylor; 7. 10R-Jack Routson; 8. C7-Mike Cusack; 9. 40-Chase McDermand; 10. 6B-Andy Baugh

Category: Illinois, Lincoln Speedway