Dennis Vandermeersch and Wes O’Dell of Springfield, Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Tim Dick of Monticello and Steve Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin are the Illinois drivers that comprise the former winners list of the seventeen previous Illinois State Fair Sportsman Nationals and most, if not all of the five former winners are expected to return for the eighteenth running on Sunday, August 21 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Originally set as a support race for the entire Illinois State Fair weekend in 1994, the Sportsman Nationals quickly evolved into a one day event held in conjunction with the Allen Crowe 100 ARCA race and became the ‘Daytona 500” of Sportsman stock car racing.
Wes O’Dell became the first five time winner with Vandermeersch claiming his fifth win and third consecutive in the 2010 edition leading all 20 circuits along the way. O’Dell challenged but finished second among the 25 starters in 2010 and former winner Tim Dick came home third. By leading all 20 circuits Vandermeersch became the all-time sportsman lap leader at Springfield while O’Dell is the only driver to start all 17 of the Sportsman National events to date.
One qualifying event has been held at Macon Speedway in 2011, Dave Crawley, Jr., Nick MackIm, Vandermeersch and Scott Taylor were the qualifiers for the Sportsman event with others scheduled at press time. A second was held at Fairbury July 16 with Richard Craven, Dustin Mounce, Rod Rusher and Chris Eden taking the top four slots. Other drivers expected to compete include O’Dell, Leka, Mke Pickering of Decatur, Shannon Eskew of Ashland, Jim Farley of Springfield and Phil Moreland of Assumption.
The eighteenth Illinois State Fair Sportsman Nationals is slated to take the green flag at approximately 12 noon on Sunday, August 21 in between ARCA qualifying and the 49th Allen Crowe 100.
Illinois State Fairgrounds
Sportsman National Winners
Year No Driver/Car Dist Time SCN
1994 24 Wes O’Dell/O’Dell Racing Chevrolet Camaro 15MI No time None
1995 24 Wes O’Dell/O’Dell Racing Chevrolet Camaro 15MI No time None
1996 87 Wes O’Dell/O’Dell Racing Chevrolet Camaro 15MI No time None
1997 25 Dennis Vandermeersch/Teamsters 916 Monte Carlo 20MI No time None
1998 25 Dennis Vandermeersch/Teamsters 916 Monte Carlo 20MI No time None
1999 87 Wes O’Dell/O’Dell Racing Chevrolet Camaro 20MI No time None
2000 87 Wes O’Dell/O’Dell Racing Chevrolet Camaro 20MI No time None
2001 31 Jeff Leka/Jungle Jim’s Café Pontiac Grand Prix 20MI No time None
2002 31 Jeff Leka/Jungle Jim’s Café Pontiac Grand Prix 20MI No time None
2003 31 Jeff Leka/Jungle Jim’s Café Pontiac Grand Prix 20MI No time None
2004 31 Steve Sheppard Jr./Jungle Jim’s Café Pontiac Grand Prix20MI No time None
2005 66 Steve Sheppard Jr./Shep’s Bar & Grille Monte Carlo 20MI No time None
2006 66 Steve Sheppard Jr./Shep’s Bar & Grille Monte Carlo 20MI No time None
2007 22 Tim Dick/Davis Farms Chevrolet Monte Carlo 20MI 32:09.38 37.318
2008 25 Dennis Vandermeersch/Midwest Brick Monte Carlo 20MI 27:13.22 44.085
2009 25 Dennis Vandermeersch/B Safe-Lil Fryer Monte Carlo 20MI 26:02.21 46.089
2010 25 Dennis Vandermeersch/B Safe-Lil Fryer Monte Carlo 20MI 36:02.10 33.301