Saturday, July 4 finished off the two-night celebration of POWRi Freedom Fest at Macon Speedway. Another stellar field of cars was on hand with POWRi Midgets and Micros, in addition to non-wing Micros and the Billingsley Towing Modifieds. After a free live concert in the parking lot, all attention turned to the thrilling 1/5-mile where racing ensued.
Justin Peck, wheeling the black 5x, took the early lead to pace the 20-car POWRi Midget starting field. The race’s first caution came out with two laps in, as Brandon Lynch had a wild flip in the third turn. Back to green, only one more lap was put on the board before a multi-car parking lot ensued in turn two. The field got rolling during the next run and with ten laps complete, Friday night’s winner, Andrew Felker, moved into second. By lap 12, Felker had run down Peck who was caught in traffic. One lap later, Felker shot by and into the lead. Over the final 16 laps, a few more cautions slowed the pace but racing at the front heated up on the final couple of laps. Spencer Baytson ran down Felker to make a move on the last lap but came up just short at the checkered. It was the second win at Macon during the weekend for the Carl Junction,Missouri wheelman. Bayston took second, while Darren Hagen rallied late for a third place finish.
22 POWRi Micros raced under Joey Webb’s green flag at the start of their 20-lap feature event. As the field raced to the end of lap one, it was Friday night’s winner, Nathan Benson, leading the way. It was clear sailing until about lap nine, when Benson caught a plethora of cars at the end of the lead lap. For the Concordia, Missouri driver, it didn’t matter, as he worked high and low of traffic much quicker than his closest competitors. The sweep for Benson was complete, much like the one for Felker. Christopher Cochran and Jeremy Camp were the other podium finishers.
Benson wasn’t satisfied with just two wins on the weekend. The 2B started toward the front of the pack for the Shelton Wingless special and led the first two laps. Last night’s wingless winner, Tony Clifton moved into the top spot on lap three and remained out front until the race’s midpoint. After a lap ten restart, Benson reassumed the point and held on to the victory, his third of the weekend.
Marc McClintock, making his first Macon Modified start, led the field early on the 20-lap main event. Alan Crowder led for the middle stages of the race before Curt Rhodes took over, despite a damaged car. Rhodes, from Langleyville, IL, drove masterfully over the last handful of laps to fend off challenges from Crowder and Rodney Standerfer, who came from the back after a flat tire.
Racing will continue this coming Thursday, July 9 with the UMP Summernationals Hell Tour coming to town for the Herald & Review 100. In addition to the touring Late Model stars, the Summit National Modifieds will be on hand as well as the B-Mods. Pits will open at 3:00, grandstands at 4:00, hotlaps at 6:00, and racing will begin at 7:00.
For full information, go to www.maconracing.com.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midgets
1. Andrew Felker 2. Spencer Bayston 3. Darren Hagen 4. Justin Peck 5. Daniel Robinson 6. Gage Walker 7. Kyle Schuett 8. Daniel Adler 9. Justin Grant 10. Tucker Klaasmeyer
POWRi Speedway Motors Micros
1. Nathan Benson 2. Christopher Cochran 3. Jeremy Camp 4. Tucker Klaasmeyer 5. Dereck King 6. Ayrton Gennetten 7. Aaron Andruskevitch 8. Christian Ray 9. Zach Taylor 10. Slater Helt
Billingsley Towing Modifieds
1. Curt Rhodes 2. Alan Crowder 3. Rodney Standerfer 4. Jeff Graham 5. Shane Tomlin 6. Steve Kennen 7. Clark Robertson 8. Jeremy Nichols 9. Marc McClintock
Shelton Non Wing Micros
1. Nathan Benson 2. Slater Helt 3. Ayrton Gennetten 4. Daniel Robinson 5. Clayton Duff 6. Michael Brummitt 7. Alex Midkiff 8. Tony Clifton 9. Jeff Beasley 10. Tyler Vantroll