Open Wheel Star To Race Saturday

This coming Saturday, April 23, the open wheel stars from POWRi will be setting blistering laps at the Might Macon 1/5-mile, for the second week of the 2016 racing season. On the card are the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midgets, Lucas Oil POWRi Division II Midgets, the Speedway Motors POWRi Winged Micros, and the UMP Street Stocks. Over 100 competitors are expected to compete with a number of favorites set to battle.

Leading the list of stars entered is two-time Chili Bowl champion and current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, Rico Abreu. Abreu has the weekend off in the Truck Series so he’s making the weekend double for Keith Kunz Motorsports, which includes the visit to Macon Speedway on Saturday. The Californian has also won the Eldora 4 Crown and has an amazing resume built up in open wheel cars.

The series that Abreu will be racing with, the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midgets, kicked off 2016 in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a duel against the Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget Series at Port City Raceway. Both nights, drivers from the West division cleaned house with Matt Sherrell taking night number one, while Jason McDougal thrilled the crowd with his Saturday night victory. Look for the National drivers to come back with a renewed head of steam at the next round of co-sanctioned events in May. Coming out of the Turnpike Challenge, 2013 and 2014 Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget Series champion Zach Daum sits atop the standings with a 20 point lead over Monrovia, Indiana’s Justin Peck. Spencer Bayston sits in third, trailing Peck by 30 points. Veteran Keith Kunz Motorsports driver Tanner Thorson holds fourth, while rookie Logan Seavey rides in fifth.

After their season opener at Belle-Clair Speedway, Nathan Benson picked back up right where he left off in 2015, claiming victory after battling with Jeremy Camp and fending off Joe B. Miller. Joe B. Miller sits in second for the Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series standings, with Jeremy Camp in third. Matt Howard currently holds fourth, while Slater Helt rounds out the top five.

Heading into this weekend, Patrick Bruns holds the top spot after the Lucas Oil POWRi Division II Illini Midget Series season opener at Lincoln Speedway. Hunter Lane holds down second in the standings, followed by Jake Neuman, Tyler Vantoll, and Max Pozsgai.

In the UMP Street Stock opener at Macon, a large field of 20 cars were pitside with 16 taking the green flag in the feature. Nick Justice, of Decatur, IL came out on top of the strong field, while Aaron Cole, Jeff Watts, Terry Reed, and Luke Force finished off the top five. The Street Stocks have a big weekend planned with the Midwest Big Ten Series season opener at Lincoln Speedway on Friday night.

Pit gates open at 3:00, grandstands at 5:00, and racing will take the green at 7:00. Grandstand admission will be $15 for adults and kids 11 and under are free.

For more information, follow Macon Speedway online at www.maconracing.com, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/maconracing) and Twitter (@maconspeedway). It’s easy to join the Macon Speedway text service. Fans can text MSFANS to 74574 to receive fan information. Drivers text MSDRIVERS to 74574 to receive driver information. Message and date rates apply. Updates are also available by calling Macon Speedway at 217-764-3000.

Macon Speedway is located nine miles south of Decatur on U.S. 51, then 0.6 miles west on Andrews Street and south to 205 N. Wiles. Macon Speedway hosts racing every Saturday night, plus many weeknight specials.

CURRENT STANDINGS
UMP Pro Late Models (Top 10)
Pos Car Driver Points Gap
1 24 Matt Taylor 60 0
2 4T Guy Taylor 58 2
3 B1 Nick Bauman 56 4
4 38J Jake Little 54 6
5 25 Dakota Ewing 52 8
6 33H Roben Huffman 50 10
7 52R Jeffrey Reed 48 12
8 Z23 Shawn Ziemer 46 14
9 77 Patrick Younger 44 16
10 71 Jim Reynolds 10 50

UMP B-Mods (Top 10)
Pos Car Driver Points Gap
1 0 Tim Hancock 60 0
2 32 Brett Page 58 2
3 57R Tom Riech 56 4
4 23 Ryan Timmons 54 6
5 15L Nick Lowe 52 8
6 33 Dave Eckel 50 10
7 16E Todd Eyman 48 12
8 2 Eric Brackett 46 14
9 44 John Lewis 10 50
10 60 Tharen Reno 10 50
11 55 Tim Riech 10 50
12 40 Adam Webb 10 50

Billingsley Towing UMP Modifieds (Top 10)
Pos Car Driver Points Gap
1 37 Dave Crawley, Jr 60 0
2 96 Cory Daugherty 58 2
3 25 Brett Korves 56 4
4 10A Shawn Vaughn 54 6
5 3 Wade Glover 52 8
6 24S Jacob Steinkoenig 50 10
7 11 Zach Rhodes 48 12
8 71 Jeff Graham 46 14
9 15L Jim Farley III 44 16
10 14C Alan Crowder 42 18
11 99 David Luttrell 40 20
12 28 Rodney Standerfer 38 22
13 517 Rick Hamilton 36 24
14 10 Curt Rhodes 34 26
15 32B TD Burger 10 50
16 28S Joe Strawkas 10 50

UMP Sportsman (Top 10)
Pos Car Driver Points Gap
1 22 Timmy Dick 60 0
2 J24 Jeremy Nichols 58 2
3 98 Danny Smith 56 4
4 25 Tim Bedinger 54 6
5 41 Scott Landers 52 8
6 12M Terry Myers 50 10
7 18 Jerry Myers 48 12
8 72 Tom Graham 46 14
9 93 Ty Nation 44 16
10 51 Jamie Riech 10 50

UMP Street Stocks (Top 10)
Pos Car Driver Points Gap
1 36 Nick Justice 60 0
2 33 Aaron Cole 58 2
3 J1 Jeff Watts 56 4
4 5 Terry Reed 54 6
5 45 Luke Force 52 8
6 22 Chris Dick 50 10
7 52R Jeffrey Reed 48 12
8 26 Kyle Waters 46 14
9 7 John Bright, Jr. 44 16
10 21R Dustin Reed 42 18
11 3T Kevin Lewis 40 20
12 #1 Terry Reed, Sr 38 22
13 4 Matthew Reed 36 24
14 55S Jason Scrimpsher 34 26
15 17 Jamie Suddarth 32 28
16 R23 T Elam 30 30
17 08 Brian Dasenbrock 10 50
18 51 Jeremiah Hoadley 10 50
19 28 Greg Osman 10 50
20 11 Cecil Tippit 10 50

UMP Hornets (Top 10)
Pos Car Driver Points Gap
1 40 Adam Webb 60 0
2 G3 Mike Gossett 58 2
3 1R Tony Reed 56 4
4 J4 Jerad Matherly 54 6
5 55 Troy Newberry 52 8
6 6G Thad Gee 50 10
7 39M Marty Sullivan 48 12
8 87 Ryan Contrell 46 14
9 2S Travis Sumpter 44 16
10 88 Brian Offer 42 18
11 20 Dakota Osborne 40 20
12 25C Caleb Branch 38 22
13 X Dillon Justice 36 24
14 66 Mike McChristy 34 26
15 02 Roger Reed 32 28
16 64CK Cook Crawford 10 50
17 20 Torry Lyons 10 50
18 911 Brad Rexroat 10 50