Hornets Get Top Billing at Macon Speedway
By Brett Zerfowski
Macon, IL (July 13,2013) – In the shadows of an exciting 33rd Annual Herald & Review 100 UMP Super Late Model showdown, the Outlaw Hornets got the chance to showcase their talents with a double feature night at the 1/5th mile dirt track.
Former Hornet champion Adam Webb claimed the first of the two features for the Outlaw Hornets, starting from the pole and leading all laps. He was followed by Brian Deavers and 2012 Pro Hornet champion Jeremy Reed. The victory was Webb was very somber as he lost a family member earlier in the week and dedicated the race and the trophy to him.
The second feature started with the top six cars of the first feature being inverted (sixth place finisher was the pole sitter and the winner started third row outside). That aided for Elden Hemken, who made his first trip to Macon Speedway, and won the second trophy.
Jeremy Nichols of Shelbyville led wire-to-wire for the full 15 laps of the Street Stock feature. He started on the pole and used the high groove as he has done plenty of time before. Nichols blew through the competition and lapped traffic to come out with the checkered flag. He was followed by Mike Pickering, Mike Pundt, Jr., Gene Reed and Terry Reed.
The Billingsley Towing Modifieds feature event was full of excitement as former champion Danny Smith of Argenta came away victorious. On the white flag lap, Smith got tangled with a lapped car and led to his driver side sheet metal to become mangled. He was worrisome that the car may have broke but did come away with minimal damage and finished the race. He took the lead away from Joe Strawkas midway through the 20-lap event. Strawkas would finish second. Guy Taylor had a rotten heat race and ended up starting dead last of the 16-car field and stormed towards the front and finished third, clipping Eric Hamilton at the finish. Cory Daugherty managed to take fifth.
Dave Crawley, Jr. made it two in a row in the Sportsman division with a 15-lap victory. Last week was a tough one for Crawley, who raced 40 laps without power steering and managed to win despite the handicap. Saturday night was much easier with power steering available to his racecar. Mike Pickering netted a second-place finish, DJ Smith in third with Rick Roedel and Nick Macklin finishing out the top five.
Macon Speedway welcomed the Mini Sprints to the track once again with a feature win from Garrett Duff. Started fourth position, Duff breezed by the front row and won the 20-lap feature race. Kyle Schuett was second with Clayton Duff in third.
The final race of the evening was the Stock Hornets and it was won by Matthew Reed, who also claimed a heat for the sweep. With his grandfather passing away earlier in the week, and with tears filling his eyes, Reed dedicated the victory to him saying the Reeds wouldn’t be racing if it was not for him.
Nearly 100 cars were in the pits for the night of racing which saw seven feature races. Macon Speedway will prepare to host the make-up of the 95Q Firecracker 40s next week with 40-lap features for the Big Ten Late Models and the Billingsley Towing Modifieds. Also, a huge fireworks display with light up the sky. In two weeks, it’s the return of co-owner Tony Stewart as he will compete in a MOWA Sprint during the annual double header night with MOWA Sprints and Big Ten Late Models.
Category: Illinois, Macon Speedway
