Championships Claimed in Finale
Macon, IL (September 30, 2017) – The 72nd season of Macon Speedway stock car racing came to a finish Saturday night and six division champions were decided in the final races. One division needed the race to finish before a champion could be crowned while other divisions already had their champions figured out before the final lap was scored.
The Sportsman division saw a bittersweet moment on lap three when Timmy Dick who came into the night with a six-point advantage on Danny Smith broke down and came into the infield as the car would not refire. He could only watch as Danny Smith finished the race in the eighth position. Dick would finish tenth which would keep him in the points lead and he would be crowned the champion from the infield next to his broken Sportsman. The final Sportsman checkered flag would go to a former multi-time division champion in Dennis Vandermeersch.
Curt Rhodes went back-to-back in the Billingsley Elite Wash Modifieds with the championship. He would also claim the night’s feature race to make it even better. Cory Daughterty was the early leader but fell back to the third place position as Rhodes got moving up on the high side.
Tim Hancock wrapped up the B-Modified championship with a solid feature race win, his ninth in a row, and also wrapped the National B-Modified Championship. For Hancock, he was his second-straight B-Modified Macon Speedway points championship after taking all 16 features in 2016.
Tommy Sheppard, Jr. also locked up the Pro Late Model championship with his appearance but he did just show up to win a championship, he showed up to win. And he did in a 20-lap A-Main feature race. The championship for Sheppard was his first.
The track didn’t do the Street Stocks drivers any favors with many spinouts and accidents in the early goings but the race got some traction as did the cars’ tires as Nick Macklin worked the bottom of the track and Darrell Dick stayed to the top in a close finish that was won by former Street Stock champion Macklin. The final smile of the night would go to Brian Dasenbrock as he would claim his first dirt track racing championship in the Street Stocks.
Eldon Hemken finished off the night and the season with the 4-cylinder Hornet feature win. The race was Hemken’s first at Macon Speedway this season after sporadically racing at Macon in the past. The championship was wrapped up after last week’s race as Dustin Reed claimed the championship by entering the final night with a lead better than 100 over the second place driver.
Macon Speedway raced 21 consecutive shows after the second of only two rainouts during the 2017 season back on May 20. The only Saturday night not ran between May 27 and September 30 was the first Saturday of August as the track rested silent in the shadows of the Decatur Celebration. Macon Speedway was able to race 25 shows during the season.
Championship Night was sponsored by Decatur Memorial Hospital and Brandt Agricultural Professionals.
Pro Late Models–1. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 2. Jake Little (Springfield), 3. Ryan Little (Springfield), 4. Jeff Ray (Springfield), 5. Greg Kimmons (Pleasant Plains), 6. Roben Huffman (Midland City), 7. Jeff Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 8. Patrick Younger (Decatur), 9. Cody Maguire (Carlinville), 10. Anthony Harter (Sherman)
Billingsley Elite Wash Modifieds–1. Curt Rhodes (Taylorville), 2. Jacob Steinkoenig (Highland), 3. Cory Daugherty (Blue Mound), 4. Dave Crawley, Jr. (Decatur), 5. Danny Smith (Argenta), 6. Zach Rhodes (Taylorville), 7. Tim Hancock, Jr. (Mt. Olive), 8. Austin Lynn (Mason City), 9. Blake Thompson (Troy), 10. Jeff Graham (Stonington)
Sportsman–1. Dennis Vandermeersch (Arlington), 2. Scott Williams (Anchor), 3. Brandon Pralle (Ashkum), 4. Steven Mattingly (Chenoa), 5. Tim Bedinger (Taylorville), 6. Wes O’Dell (Springfield), 7. Tyler Blankenship (St. Elmo), 8. Danny Smith (Argenta), 9. Rick Roedel (Shelbyville), 10. Timmy Dick (Monticello)
Street Stocks–1. Nick Macklin (Argenta), 2. Darrell Dick (Monticello), 3. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur), 4. Wes Biesenthal (Athens), 5. Shawn Ziemer (Boody), 6. Cecil Tippit (Mt. Zion), 7. Roy Beal (Springfield), 8. Rudy Zaragoza (Jacksonville), 9. Fredie Thomas (Macon), 10. Jerit Murphy (Lodge)
B-Modifieds–1. Tim Hancock (Mt. Olive), 2. Cody Stillwell (Godfrey), 3. Tim Riech (Petersburg), 4. Richie Gabriel (Godfrey), 5. Tim Hancock, Jr. (Mt. Olive), 6. Jerry Thompson (Troy), 7. Jim Farley III (Springfield), 8. Amanda Adams (Shelbyville), 9. Jordan Warren (Medora), 10. Kevin Crowder (Argenta)
Hornets–1. Eldon Hemken (Sorento), 2. Matt Reed (Decatur), 3. Dustin Reed (Decatur), 4. John Bright, Jr. (Long Creek), 5. Fred Reed (Decatur), 6. Zach Bowles (Livingston), 7. Jared Cochran (Bethalto), 8. Marty Sullivan (Decatur), 9. Matthew Donaldson (Carlinville), 10. Stacy Stinson (Decatur)
Category: Illinois
