MACON—The new class of Late Models arrived at Macon Speedway Saturday and was well-received.
The Pro Late Model class, made up entirely of crate engine cars, made its debut with 15 cars and a heat race finish with side-by-side-by-side racing. The winner was a familiar face to victory lane, however, as Guy Taylor took the 25-lap feature win in the inaugural event. The Pro Late Models expect to be a regular weekly racing class in 2015.
Nick Justice battled and fought off Terry Reed to claim the checkered flag in the Street Stock feature event. It was as difficult as could be for Justice and both Reed and Bobby Beiler challenged him for the top spot but Justice would not be denied on this night.
Jeremy Nichols led all 15 laps as he won in the Sportsman division. Nick Macklin stuck close to Nichols and let him know he was around with a few bumps but Nichols pulled away in the end.
Dave Crawley, Jr. was glued to the bottom of the track in the Billingsley Towing Modifieds feature. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. tried to use the top side but couldn’t make the groove work as well as the bottom did for Crawley. Sheppard would finish second. Danny Smith started 11th and took a third place finish.
The 4-cylinder Hornet divisions were swept by the city of Bloomington as Thad Gee won in the Outlaw Hornet class and William Deavers took his first feature win in the Stock Hornets.
The Illinois Lightning Sprint Series made another appearance at Macon Speedway and had quite a feature finish as Gedd Ross held off Austin Archdale in the fourth turn to secure the win in a back-and-forth final few laps.
Over 100 racecars flooded the pits on a chilly night for racing which also saw a Heinkel’s Packing Company Hot Dog Eating Competition and Dana Damery from Rocco’s win the Bud Light Ladies Night Championship, presented by Y103.
MACON SPEEDWAY RESULTS
Sportsman – 1. Jeremy Nichols (Shelbyville), 2. Nick Macklin (Argenta), 3. Doug Nevill (Dawson), 4. Tyler Roth, 5. Phil Moreland (Assumption), 6. Tom Graham (Stonington), 7. Tim Bedinger (Taylorville), 8. Zach Rhodes (Taylorville), 9. Jim Farley III (Springfield), 10. Stefan Bedinger (Taylorville), 11. Scott Landers (Taylorville), 12. Timmy Dick (Monticello), 13. James Bedinger (Taylorville)
Street Stocks – 1. Nick Justice (Harristown), 2. Terry Reed (Decatur), 3. Bobby Beiler (Blue Mound), 4. Brandon Kessinger (Normal), 5. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur), 6. Josh Smith (Jacksonville), 7. Luke Force (Argenta), 8. Kyle Waters (Oreana), 9. Roy MaGee II (Springfield), 10. Tom Riech (Springfield), 11. Tony Reed (Decatur), 12. Jason Scrimpsher, 13. Tharen Reno (Springfield), 14. Joel Irvin, 15. Greg Osman (Macon), 16. Dustin Reed (Decatur), 17. Jeffrey Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 18. Ronnie Burns (Cerro Gordo)
Billingsley Towing Modifieds – 1. Dave Crawley, Jr. (Decatur), 2. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 3. Danny Smith (Argenta), 4. Guy Taylor (Springfield), 5. Rodney Standerfer (Germantown), 6. Collin Alexander (Clinton), 7. Zack Bunning (Decatur), 8. Jeff Graham (Taylorville), 9. Jeff Ray (Springfield), 10. Randy Huffman (Maroa), 11. Curtis Hartung (Decatur), 12. Lance Johnson (Clinton), 13. Dakota Ewing (Decatur), 14. Curt Rhodes (Taylorville), 15. Billy Gibson, 16. Clint Martin, 17. Eric Hamilton (Macon)
Outlaw Hornets – 1. Thad Gee (Bloomington), 2. John Bright, Jr. (Decatur), 3. Joe McChristy (Mt. Zion), 4. Dillon Justice (Harristown), 5. Garrett Lewis (Decatur), 6. Michael Gossett (Decatur), 7. Cook Crawford (Lincoln), 8. Steven Stine (Blue Mound), 9. Victor Overlin (Decatur), 10. Vernon Carlow (Springfield)
Pro Late Models – 1. Guy Taylor (Springfield), 2. Roben Huffman (Midland City), 3. Brandon Eskew (Ashland), 4. Logan Moody (Catlin), 5. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 6. Matt Beadles (Clinton), 7. Kevin Crowder (Argenta), 8. Shawn Diggs (LeRoy), 9. Danny McGuire (Carlinville), 10. Jeremy McLaughlin, 11. Ken Van Dorn (New Berlin), 12. Jose Parga (Auburn), 13. Myles Moos (Hartsburg), 14. Josh Highley, 15. Braden Johnson (Moweaqua)
Bud Light Ladies Night – 1. Dana Damery (Rocco’s), 2. Jennifer Cramer (Rocco’s), 3. Dawn Reynolds (Starship Billiards), 4. Christine Vogel (Pop’s Place), 5. Holly Vinson (Starship Billiards), 6. Michelle Perry (Pop’s Place), 7. Laurel Phipps (Woody’s), 8. Brianna Livingston (Woody’s).