(Macon, IL) Rain has been a good thing to have around central Illinois but never on race day. Fortunately for Macon Speedway, area tracks were forced to cancel their Saturday programs due to Friday and early Saturday morning rain storms and that allowed Macon to shine with over 100 racecars in the pit area among six racing divisions, including 27 racecars in the B-Modified division.

Guy Taylor thought he had another feature win in the Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Model division. But with two laps to go, Dakota Ewing came on strong and took it away from Taylor. Ewing slipped up with three laps go and fell back to third place behind Brandon Eskew but came back strong and retook the runner up spot and slided in front of Taylor on the white flag lap and dashed away on the final lap.

There are a lot of things a father will do for his son. Give him a feature win isn’t one of them in the Rhodes household. Curt Rhodes, the defending BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds champion, started on the front row outside, opposite to his son Zach Rhodes who started on the pole. Curt took the lead from the green flag and led all 20 laps. Zach stayed with him every step of the way but could not close in enough to put a serious challenge for the lead. With the white flag waving, Zach gave it one more chance out of the second turn to try the top side but lost the momentum and the opportunity as Curt pulled away for the win. Zach would stay strong and take second place with James Walters closing in on the runner-up spot.

Jeremy Nichols was incredibly fast during the Street Stock feature. Starting on the front row opposite to last week’s feature winner Terry Reed, Nichols blasted off like a rocket and carried on the lead during the continuous green flag laps. Nichols was able to survive the hectic lapped traffic during the race and coast to the victory ahead of second place finisher Nick Macklin.

Billy Knebel has won at Macon Speedway in the past in the Sportsman division. He came to the track in a B-Modified and led ahead of Tim Hancock for 20 laps and certainly proved to the fans that he was just as good in a B-Mod as he was in a Sportsman. Normally racing at Highland, very close to his home, Knebel was given the chance to race at Macon Speedway because of a rained out program.

Erik Vanapeldoorn has proved his speed and capabilities for racing at Macon Speedway through the last few months and once again, he made sure to let Hornet dominators like Jeremy Reed, Adam Webb and Mike Eskew know that the orange E77 comes to win when he enters the pit area. In the 15-lap A-Main, Vanapeldoorn flew out to the lead and stayed a comfortable lead from Jeremy Reed, who was the closest competitor to him by race’s end.

Kyle Schuett was untouchable in both his heat and feature race in the Micro Sprints presented by Bailey Chasis. Schuett blitzed the field and raced away with the lead and the checkered flag in a caution-less 15 laps.

Saturday night’s program was sponsored by Miles Chevrolet & Crown Automotive, presented by Melling Performance. The evening was full of excitement and surprises. Seven area church leaders took the track to seek the chance at being the Faster Pastor. D1 Nazarene Pastor Ryan Lutz won the race in the Hornet of Jeremy Reed. Reed was kind enough to offer trophies for the second and third place finishers of the race. Taking second place was Arthur Menonite’s Lamar Miller, who won the event in the past and also used to race in the Bomber division at Macon Speedway. The intermission was capped off with drivers bringing down their race cars and taking children for a ride around the track for the Kids Racecar Ride. Macon Speedway returns Saturday night to start September and the final month of the 2018 season. Bud Light Ladies Night is on tap with $5 admission for women. Seven racing classes will be featured including the Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models, BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, B-Modifieds, Hornets & Micro Sprints. There will also be the CEFCU Kids Club Gold Rush during intermission.

Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models–1. Dakota Ewing (Warrensburg), 2. Guy Taylor (Springfield), 3. Brandon Eskew (Ashland), 4. Roben Huffman (Midland City), 5. Donny Koehler (Macon), 6. Colby Eller (Taylorville), 7. Colby Sheppard (Williamsville), 8. Tegan Evans (Clinton, IA), 9. Patrick Younger (Decatur), 10. Cody Maguire (Carlinville)

BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds–1. Curt Rhodes (Taylorville), 2. Zach Rhodes (Taylorville), 3. James Walters (Brazil, IN), 4. Robert Lee (Sorento), 5. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 6. Treb Jacoby (Wentzville, MO), 7. Danny Smith (Argenta), 8. Blake Thompson (Troy), 9. Tim Hancock, Jr. (Mt. Olive), 10. Jeff Graham (Stonington)

Street Stocks–1. Jeremy Nichols (Lovington), 2. Nick Macklin (Argenta), 3. Terry Reed (Decatur), 4. Darrell Dick (Monticello), 5. Michael Jackson (Concord), 6. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur), 7. Wes Biesenthal (Athens), 8. Larry Long (Tuscola), 9. Justin Crowell (Lincoln), 10. Shawn Ziemer (Boody)

B-Modifieds–1. Billy Knebel (Pocohontas), 2. Tim Hancock (Mt. Olive), 3. Rob Timmons (Centralia), 4. Tom Riech (Springfield), 5. Owen Steinkoenig (Highland), 6. Cody Stillwell (Godfrey), 7. Jerry Thompson (Troy), 8. Jordan Smith (Villa Grove), 9. Nathan Schmitt (Trenton), 10. Michael Kettler (Millstadt)

Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chasis–1. Kyle Schuett (Philo), 2. Tyler Duff (Weldon), 3. Cailin Hunt (Dalton City), 4. Garrett Duff (Weldon), 5. Chad Baldwin (Lincoln), 6. Michael Brummitt (Mt. Zion), 7. Alex Midkiff (Belleville), 8. Daryn Stark (Springfield), 9. Trent Mulligan (Springfield), 10. Toby Midkiff (Belleville)

Hornets–1. Erik Vanapeldoorn (Clinton), 2. Jeremy Reed (Decatur), 3. Adam Webb (Decatur), 4. Mike Eskew (Springfield), 5. Jerad Matherly (Decatur), 6. Michael McKay (Springfield), 7. Chuck Johnson (Waterloo), 8. John Lewis (Cerro Gordo), 9. Marty Sullivan (Decatur), 10. Carson Dart (Springfield)