(Macon, IL) For the first time in history, Macon Speedway intentionally had a car crash under another car and get decapitated, another car drive head on into a staged vertical car, and a man blow himself up in a minivan. All survived. History Channel’s Mr. Dizzy created memories for fans and left a wake of destruction in his path along with a night of stock car racing at the 70th anniversary celebration of the historical dirt oval.
Guy Taylor of Springfield took advantage of a mistake late in the 25-lap Midwest Big Ten Series for the Pro Late Models. Bobby Beiler was on his way to his first Late Model feature win but with six laps to go coming through the fourth turn, Beiler was hung up in the cushion of mud that was created by the night’s racing event and it slowed the lead allowing Taylor to make the pass. Taylor was untouched for the remaining laps and picked up another victory. Matt Taylor, Guy’s brother, was able to notch second ahead of Beiler.
Terry Reed continued his current domination of the Street Stock division. Hanging in second place behind Kyle Waters, Reed took over with five laps to go and a one-lap dash to the finish kept Reed with the checkered flag.
Luke Verardi was the driver on top of the Beach House Mini Sprints division Saturday night. A wild finish in the heat race, Verardi got a front row start and held on with a hard-charging Zac Taylor taking runner-up. Gabe Verardi finished ahead of Ryan Frantz and Evan Weyant.
Adam Webb went from the tail to the top spot in eight laps and went on for a 12-lap feature win over Nick Jenema. Jenema from Grant Rapids, MI.,drove to central Illinois to purchase Webb’s back-up car. Webb drove away with the checkered flag in a brand new 4-cylinder Hornet.
Huge racing events are lined up for the month of August. Macon Speedway hosts the POWRi Midgets & Micro Sprints next Saturday night. The Billingsley Towing Modifieds and Street Stocks will be part of the program that gets underway after the Tony Bettenhausen 100 USAC Silver Crown race and Sportsman races at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The racing concludes with the SuperChevyStores.com 100 ARCA Racing Series event and Sportsman Nationals event on Sunday.
Pro Late Models–1. Guy Taylor (Springfield), 2. Matt Taylor (Springfield), 3. Bobby Beiler (Blue Mound), 4. Roben Huffman (Midland City), 5. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 6. Tom Krankel, 7. Nick Justice (Harristown), 8. Jeffrey Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 9. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur), 10. Shawn Ziemer (Decatur)
Street Stocks–1. Terry Reed (Decatur), 2. Kyle Waters (Oreana), 3. Jason Scrimpsher (Decatur), 4. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur), 5. Luke Force (Argenta), 6. Greg Osman (Macon), 7. Jeffrey Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 8. Jamie Suddarth, 9. Richard Beiler (Blue Mound), 10. Terry Reed, Sr. (Decatur)
Beach House Mini Sprints–1. Luke Verardi, 2. Zac Taylor, 3. Gabe Verardi, 4. Ryan Frantz, 5. Evan Weyant, 6. Shelby Bosie, 7. Nic Harris, 8. Jeff Beasley, 9. Chad Sellers, 10. Larry Eastin
Hornets–1. Adam Webb (Decatur), 2. Nick Jenema (Grand Rapids, MI), 3. John Bright, Jr. (Decatur), 4. Thad Gee (Bloomington), 5. Steven Stine (Blue Mound), 6. Marty Sullivan (Mt. Zion), 7. Matthew Reed (Blue Mound), 8. Jerad Matherly (Decatur)