Nichols Goes Topless in Win

Macon, IL (September 19, 2015) Jeremy Nichols had a rough start to his night in the North Grand Auto & Ritz Lil Fryer Topless 40 in the Sportsman division, the night where Sportsman race without their roof. He was unable to finish his heat race and was taken off the historic track with a towtruck. Nichols and his crew managed to put the car back together and after a quick test, started the 40-lapper at the end of the field. Within 12 laps, he passed everybody and was the leader. The field consisted of former division track champions and Springfield Mile Nationals winners like Wes Odell, Dennis Vandermeersch and Timmy Dick. Nichols nearly knocked down the wall through the turns but got the top spot. Side-by-side racing with Timmy Dick led to a close battle after a caution but Nichols had too much and won the event.

Matt Taylor took away Tommy Sheppard, Jr.’s quest for the clean sweep in the Pro Late Model class. Sheppard came into the feature race owning the night’s fastest lap in qualifying and winner of his heat race. He drew the pole position in the frisbee formation but just couldn’t keep Matt Taylor away from the lead. Taylor was the leader and kept Sheppard from regaining the top spot.

The World Hornet Championship was won by Adam Webb, coming from 11th position to bypass Jeremy Reed. Reed started sixth and took the lead from Jerad Matherly on lap four and then Webb flew through the field to take the lead from Reed on lap 15 and held on with Reed clinging to his 4-cylinder as best as possible for a chance with five laps left but it would not be able to happen.

Larry Russell, Jr. made his return to the winner’s circle in the Street Stock class. The former multi-time division champion looked like the champion of old as he ran away from the competition. Greg Osman was the closest car behind Russell but still managed to finish seconds behind the leader. Jeffrey Reed, Jr. was the hard charger of the class, starting in the last row and finishing third.

Dave Crawley, Jr. of Decatur got back to victory lane in the Billingsley Towing Modified feature. Starting seventh of 18 cars, Crawley took his time to make the pass for the top spot as Cory Daughtery, who led through the first 16 laps. Crawley’s top side was working and it was enough to grab the lead.

BJ Deal used a slide job to take the lead from Jerry Thompson with five laps left in the B-Modified main event. The former Street Stock driver had just enough to keep in front of Thompson and Jim Farley III in a close battle.

Luke Verardi was just looking to get some laps at Macon Speedway to prepare for the season finale involving the POWRi Midgets & Micro Sprints. The Micro Sprint driver did more than that when he led all 15 laps and won the Beach House Micro Sprint feature race.

Sportsman–1. Jeremy Nichols (Shelbyville), 2. Timmy Dick (Monticello), 3. Dennis Vandermeersch (Springfield), 4. Tim Bedinger (Taylorville), 5. Wes Odell (Springfield), 6. Richie Rich (Pontiac), 7. Scott Landers (Taylorville), 8. Danny Smith (Argenta), 9. Tom Graham (Stonington), 10. Tharen Reno (Springfield)

Pro Late Models–1. Matt Taylor (Springfield), 2. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 3. Guy Taylor (Springfield), 4. Dakota Ewing (Decatur), 5. Jeffrey Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 6. Bobby Beiler (Blue Mound), 7. Roben Huffman (Midland City), 8. Nick Justice (Harristown), 9. Larry Bunning (Mt. Zion), 10. Cody Maguire (Carlinville)

Street Stocks–1. Larry Russell, Jr. (Harristown), 2. Greg Osman (Macon), 3. Jeffrey Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 4. Terry Reed, Sr. (Decatur), 5. Terry Reed (Decatur), 6. Kyle Waters (Oreana), 7. Dustin Reed (Decatur), 8. Kevin Lewis, 9. Tom Riech (Springfield), 10. Matthew Reed (Blue Mound)

Billingsley Towing Modifieds–1. Dave Crawley, Jr. (Decatur), 2. Cory Daughtery (Blue Mound), 3. Clark Robertson (Shelbyville), 4. Alan Crowder (Elwin), 5. Cullen Breeden (Collum), 6. Jeff Graham (Taylorville), 7. David Henderson (Danville), 8. TD Burger (Saunemin), 9. Danny Odell (Springfield), 10. Troy Dodson (Cerro Gordo)

Hornets–1. Adam Webb (Decatur), 2. Jeremy Reed (Decatur), 3. Jared Matherly (Decatur), 4. Thad Gee (Bloomington), 5. John Bright, Jr. (Decatur), 6. Justin Hall (South Roxanna), 7. William Kidman (Edwardsville), 8. Tim Luttrell (Riverton), 9. Matthew Reed (Blue Mound), 10. Austin Wickline (Harristown)

B-Modifieds–1. BJ Deal (Brownstown), 2. Jerry Thompson (Troy), 3. Jim Farley III (Springfield), 4. Jim Lafferty (Carlinville), 5. Tom Riech (Springfield), 6. Ryan Timmons (Centralia), 7. Cody Stillwell, 8. Roy MaGee II (Springfield), 9. Brad Bedinger (Taylorville), 10. Ronnie Flanigan (South Roxanna)

Beach House Micro Sprints–1. Luke Verardi (Taylorville), 2. Paul Day (Atwood), 3. Michael Bustamante (Blue Mound), 4. Gabe Verardi (Taylorville), 5. Evan Turner (Jacksonville), 6. Tyler Day (Atwood), 7. Brian Nance (Mayfield, KY), 8. Dustin Clary (Belleville), 9. Jeff Matta, 10. Paul Shelton (Decatur)

Category: Illinois, Macon Speedway