Cold Night at Macon Speedway Yields Success for Logue, Schnapp & Roedel
By Brett Zerfowski
MACON, IL (April 21, 2012) – Weather is amazing. In January & February, central Illinois enjoyed temperatures in the 70s and 80s, including lows in the 50s and 60s but in mid-April, the temps have been frosty as of late. That didn’t stop the die-hard race fans from visiting the 67-year-old dirt oval in Macon for their second show of 2012.
It was another win for Kyle Logue in the Late Model division as he went back and forth with Ryan Little for the lead during their 25-lap A-Main event. Lapped traffic caused problems all evening plagued Little, who took the lead from Logue on the sixth lap, as he lost the lead to Logue by the tenth lap and ran away with the rest of the show. As the race drawn on, the upper groove lost it’s stick and Little started to fall behind while Logue sizzled on the bottom. Logue crossed the line first with Joseph Hughes coming in second with a terrific run, Greg Kimmons grabbed third and Chris Dick in fourth. Jim Moon was fifth and then Little finished sixth.
Ethan Schnapp has been racing for a while but hasn’t gotten to Victory Lane at Macon Speedway. Cross that off the Bucket List. Thanks to broken cars and cautions, Schnapp took the lead and stayed ahead for the checkered flag in the Billingsley Towing Modified feature event. The early race favorites included Jeremy Nichols and Shane Tomlin but they would not play a factor in the final lap as Tomlin left the track on the 17th lap and Nichols had to work his way back through the field after bringing out the caution early in the event. He would finish fifth, however. As for Schnapp, it was a long time coming and he is grateful to have a feature win. Joe Strawkas trailed Schnapp most the race and took second place. Randy Huffman was third, Guy Taylor and Nichols rounded out the top five.
Rick Roedel is back. After disappointing seasons after winning a championship in the Sportsman, Roedel appears to have found his groove again after placing in the top five on Opening Night and netting his first feature of 2012 and first feature since May 21, 2011, his only feature of the season. Roedel led all 15 laps and kept ahead of defending champion Nick Macklin as well as he possibly could. Nick Justice, moving up from the Street Stock division, was fast enough to make the move for second but wasn’t enough to catch the leader. After Roedel crossed the line, Justice was runner-up, Macklin was third, followed by Opening Night feature winner Mike Pickering and Dave Crawley, Jr.
Steve Ewing made it two-for-two in the Street Stock class with a feature win. He started in the front row and led all 12 laps but did have to hold off former champions Mike Pickering and Larry Russell, Jr. to be able to get the top finish. Mike Pundt, Jr. and Terry Reed wrapped up the top five in the event.
It was another two-for-two for the Pro Hornets feature winner Jeremy Reed. He battled with Adam Webb, the defending division champion, for all eight laps but had just enough to win the race. In the Amateur Hornets feature, Jerad Matherly, driving his brother Nick Matherly’s 4-cylinder, was the top finisher. Garrett Lewis was second in the race.
The full show ended just before 10pm and featured 112 racecars on a chilly night to enjoy racing. Race fans and drivers are hoping for weather to heat up for the next show featuring the POWRi Midgets & Micro Sprints. Macon Speedway stock car classes will also be on the show including the Billingsley Towing Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pro & Amateur Hornets.
Category: Illinois, Macon Speedway, News
