HomeDirt Late Model NewsMacon’s 67th Season is Off and Running

Macon’s 67th Season is Off and Running

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Macon SpeedwayBy Brett Zerfowski

(Macon, IL) The off-season was much different entering 2012. A warmer winter had racers and racing fans more eager than usual or the start of the season and as the first Saturday in April arrived, Macon Speedway was ready to welcome a large number of racecars (116) and a full crowd was in attendance for the 5th Annual Spring Fling, presented by Sun Drop Citrus Soda.

The start of the season also marked the return of Macon favorite Kyle Logue. Logue has dedicated his 2012 to racing around the state and trying out other tracks but Opening Night is special to him and he came back to his home track with a purpose to get off to a great start. He was the second fastest qualifier, behind Ryan Little’s fast time (10.503, Logue was 10.671), he won his heat starting from the pole and was slated front row outside with Decatur’s Terry Babb, who was also a heat winner.

Logue looked dominate from the open and pulled away early leaving Babb and Little to fend for runner-up. Logue’s victory seemed overshadowed by the great race for second as Babb and Little hung side-by-side through the turns and straightaways. In the end, Logue prevailed as Little took advantage of a Babb miscue in the second turn of the final lap to place second. Babb took third. Springfield’s John Beck was fourth and Greg Kimmons rounded out the top five.

There was an extra bonus to Opening Night for the Street Stock division as SNS Auto Sales of Decatur chipped in to offer $500 for the first place prize of the feature. 25 Street Stock drivers came with that goal in mind and Decatur’s Steve Ewing, driving his brother’s car, took top honor showing his dominance once again. Mike Pickering tried to catch up to the leader but would settle for second place. Mike Pundt, Jr., was good enough for third over Larry Russell, Jr., and Terry Reed.

In his 15th anniversary of stock car racing, Jeremy Nichols of Decatur has won some races, some championships and suffered his share of broken down cars, but Opening Night was another night for him to live happy as he led wire-to-wire in the Billingsley Towing Modified Feature. The race seemed to go at a snail’s pace due to caution flags and inability to stay green-flag racing but when the racing was going on, it was good. Nichols took to the low groove well and held off Guy Taylor, who was also trying the bottom, but couldn’t get enough to pass the leader. Jeffrey Curl settled for third in his mangled Modified after an early race accident. Joe Strawkas and Danny Smith rounded out the top five.

Mike Pickering may have only netted a second place finish in the Street Stock feature but was more than proud of his Sportsman feature victory. Passing defending champion Nick Macklin on the fifth lap, Pickering owned the remainder of the event and only drew challenge from former Street Stock competitor and new Sportsman division driver Nick Justice. Pickering was no match and won over Justice. Rick Roedel of Shelbyville was impressive with his ability to make moves late in the race and finish third ahead of Dennis Vandermeersch. Scott Landers was good for fifth. Macklin, who came off the track on the seventh lap with a bad tire returned to finish sixth.

Jeremy Reed got his championship-hopeful season off to a good start with a feature win in the Pro Hornet class. Reed finished second in points in 2011 and was really after a good start to 2012. He couldn’t have asked for a better start and was better than 19 other drivers in the eight-lap A-Main. His cousin Brady Reed took top honors in the Amateur Hornet class as he drove the same car.

The season is off and running in Macon as the 67th consecutive season of stock car racing is now in full swing. A full show with all racing classes is expected next week.

UMP Late Model – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 2 21K Kyle Logue Cisco , Il 50.00
2 3 38L Ryan Little Springfield , Il 48.00
3 1 91 Terry Babb Decatur , Il 46.00
4 4 28B John Beck Springfield , Il 44.00
5 5 27 Greg Kimmons , Il 42.00
6 6 117 Chuck Mitchell Jacksonville , Il 40.00
7 11 12 Rick Standridge Collinsville , Il 38.00
8 8 7 Joseph Hughes Springfield , Il 36.00
9 15 24 Matt Taylor Springfield , Il 34.00
10 9 38J Jake Little Springfield , Il 32.00
11 13 16H Mike Hammerle St Charles, Mo 30.00
12 12 56 Troy Newberry – 28.00
13 7 1 Jim Moon , Il 26.00
14 10 31 Steve Ewing Decatur , Il 24.00
15 14 22 Chris Dick Deland , Il 22.00

UMP Modified – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 15 Jeremy Nichols , Il 50.00
2 3 77 Guy Taylor – 48.00
3 5 C12 Jeff Curl Forrest , Il 46.00
4 9 28 Joe Strawkas Buffalo , Il 44.00
5 4 9 Danny Smith Chillecothe , Oh 42.00
6 12 37 David Crawley Jr. Decatur , Il 40.00
7 21 71 Jeff Graham Stonington , Il 38.00
8 10 37D Nick O Dell Kannapolis , Nc 36.00
9 14 14C Alan Crowder Elwin , Il 34.00
10 15 22X Ryan Blakeman Jacksonvile , Il 32.00
11 18 23 Andrew Barnes – 30.00
12 13 22N Ryan Nettles – 28.00
13 2 4 Cody Bauman – 26.00
14 8 33 Dave Eckel Lovington , Il 24.00
15 11 05 Tom Lambdin Lovington , Il 22.00
16 17 3T Mike Ward Pawnee , Il 20.00
17 7 6X Brock Bauman Eureka , Il 18.00
18 19 43 Brent Gregory – 16.00
19 6 59 Chevy Miller Walpolla , Il 14.00
20 16 T2 Mark Tullis Macon , Il 12.00
21 20 16H Eric Hamilton Macon , Il 0.00 DNS

UMP Sportsman – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 3 9 Mike Pickering Decatur , Il 50.00
2 2 36 Nick Justice Harristown , Il 48.00
3 4 11 Rick Roedel Shelbyville , Il 46.00
4 15 25 Dennis Vandermeersch Springfield , Il 44.00
5 10 41 Scott Landers Taylorville , Il 42.00
6 1 16 Nick Macklin Argenta , Il 40.00
7 9 72 Tom Graham Stonington , Il 38.00
8 5 4G Cody Wickline Assumption , Il 36.00
9 8 52 Bob Sidener Springfield , Il 34.00
10 12 57 Thomas Riech Springfield , Il 32.00
11 7 93 Ty Nation Taylorville , Il 30.00
12 11 21 Troy Dodson Cerro Gordo, Il 28.00
13 6 B99 Tim Bedinger Taylorville , Il 26.00
14 14 J24 Kenny Patient – 24.00
15 13 22J Tony Clinton Dawson , Il 0.00 DNS

UMP Street Stock – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 20 Steve Ewing Decatur , Il 50.00
2 2 99 Mike Pickering Decatur , Il 48.00
3 7 918 Michael Pundt Jr. Decatur , Il 46.00
4 4 X7 Larry Russell Jr. Harristown , Il 44.00
5 9 11 Terry Reed Decatur , Il 42.00
6 12 15C Kevin Crowder Argenta , Il 40.00
7 13 61 Gene Reed Shelbyville , Il 38.00
8 10 29 Bobby Beiler Decatur , Il 36.00
9 16 01 Jeremy Nichols , Il 34.00
10 18 OO Roy Magee Ii Springfield , Il 32.00
11 6 22 Darrell Dick – 30.00
12 11 29R Rich Beiler – 28.00
13 17 23 Jason Hazlet Moweaqua , Il 26.00
14 14 08 Brian Dasenbrock Decatur , Il 24.00
15 3 T2 Mark Tullis Macon , Il 22.00
16 5 51 Jeremiah Hoadley – 20.00
17 8 14 Kurtis Ater Macon , Il 18.00
18 15 52R Jeffery Reed Jr. Blue Mound, Il 0.00 DNS

UMP Amateur Hornet – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 73 Garrett Lewis Decatur , Il 50.00
2 6 33 Brady Reed – 48.00
3 3 205 Michael Gossett – 46.00
4 8 96 Derek Peters Pana , Il 44.00
5 4 13 John Bright Jr Decatur , Il 42.00
6 2 56Z Zach Perryman Decatur , Il 40.00
7 10 11 Jake Moore – 38.00
8 9 199 Jordan Foraker Taylorville , Il 36.00
9 12 50 Benjamin Mcchristy Mt.zion , Il 34.00
10 13 4 Ashlee Gatons Blue Mound, Il 32.00
11 14 64CK Michael Tucker – 30.00
12 5 81 Timothy Cripe – 28.00
13 18 121 Jerrod Hemingway – 26.00
14 15 39 Marty Sullivan Mt. Zion, Il 24.00
15 17 11J Dillon Justice Harristown , Il 22.00
16 16 2B Renee Hamilton – 20.00
17 7 53 Jackie Booth – 0.00 DNS
18 11 51R Roger Reed Decatur , Il 0.00 DNS
19 19 11D Bradley Dasenbrock Decatur , Il 0.00 DNS
20 20 12 Dean Holt Decatur , Il 0.00 DNS
More Results

UMP Hornet – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 2 33 Jeremy Reed Decatur , Il 50.00
2 1 205 Brett Embry Decatur , Il 48.00
3 3 11 Billy Justice Niantic , Il 46.00
4 5 4 Matthew Reed Blue Mound, Il 44.00
5 4 21R Dustin Reed Decatur , Il 42.00
6 6 81 John Garner Taylorville , Il 40.00
7 10 83 Bruce Dulgar Decatur , Il 38.00
8 9 J4 Jerad Matherly Decatur , Il 36.00
9 7 51 Brian Rush Taylorville , Il 34.00
10 12 71 Todd Rush Pawnee , Il 32.00
11 15 88 Brian Offer Springfield , Il 30.00
12 13 42 Michael Dick Decatur , Il 28.00
13 17 14X Steven Stine , Il 26.00
14 18 7S Steven Dulgar Decatur , Il 24.00
15 19 64CK Cook Crawford – 22.00
16 16 44KIT Michael Kite Decatur , Il 20.00
17 14 C89 Vernon Carlow Springfield , Il 18.00
18 8 98 Kenneth Reed Decatur , Il 16.00
19 11 53 Jenny Clinton Dawson , Il 14.00
20 20 11D Hank Skinner – 12.00

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