(Macon, IL) Three championships were on the line Saturday night in the Macon Speedway season finale. The Sportsman division was separated by four points; the Hornets were separated by eight points and the B-Modifieds by 42. Cody Stillwell made appearance on the track during the feature to clinch the B-Modified track title. That left two divisions left for the championship.

Tim Bedinger of Taylorville won the Sportsman track championship because he made one last pass to move an extra position ahead of Scott Williams to move to a tie in the points. By virtue of Bedinger’s one feature win, he would be crowned champion over Williams in the tiebreaker. Williams was battling a deflating right rear tire during the race’s end and was losing speed and momentum as Bedinger was flying fast from fourth to third. As the checkered flag was in the air, Bedinger went side-by-side with Brandon Pralle and connected sides coming out of the corner. Bedinger flew ahead to take third as Dennis Vandermeersch bypassed Wes Odell for the checkered flag.

In the Hornet division, Mike Eskew led by eight points over Jeremy Reed. Reed blasted away to the lead and sealed a victory lane feature win. His biggest question was where Eskew finished. Eskew started 11th because of his win the previous week. (Hornet rules stipulate that the winner driver cannot start any higher than tenth when returning after the following feature) Eskew knifed his way through the field and closed in to make it a third place finish and take the Hornet Championship by two points over Jeremy Reed.

Tim Hancock won in the B-Modifieds to take a top five points finish and claimed the B-Modified National points. Cody Stillwell took ninth to win the divisional championship.

Jeremy Nichols looked as smooth as usual with a top side run and a checkered flag at night’s end. The points champion had anything but a smooth night. Shawn Ziemer started the night with a championship locked up and looked to just finish the night. The race ended with Ziemer on the back of the tow truck after the car broke down in the race’s closing laps.

Tommy Sheppard, Jr. also had his championship locked up coming into the night’s action but still looked to finish the night on a high note. He would lead the first 18 laps of the BillingsleyRewards.com feature but switched grooves which opened the chance for McKay Wenger to take over with one lap left. Sheppard would finish second but still end the night with a smile on his face.

Trevin Littleton, a 13-year-old from Jacksonville, won his fourth-straight Micro Sprint feature event. He cruised past Jeremy Camp to make it happen midway through the race as his car got locked in on the dirt track.

Macon Speedway hosted special races during the evening of the ladies with a Powder Puff race with women competing in Hornets cars and Street Stocks cars. Melissa Nichols, wife of Jeremy Nichols, won the Street Stock race and Paige Eskew, wife of Mike Eskew took the Hornet race. There were also Mechanics races in the Sportsman/Street Stocks competition and the Modifieds/B-Modifieds classes. Tom Graham, Speedway veteran, took his son Jeff’s Modified into victory lane and Alex Wilson won in the Sportsman/Street Stocks Mechanics race.

Macon Speedway thanks all of the sponsors for the 73rd season of stock car racing and plans are already in line for the 2019 season with the season opener scheduled in April. The staff and officials at Macon Speedway were pleased with the way the season was ran and look forward to another successful run when springtime comes around next year.

Sportsman–1. Dennis Vandermeersch (Springfield), 2. Wes Odell (Springfield), 3. Tim Bedinger (Taylorville), 4. Brandon Pralle (Ashkum), 5. Scott Williams (Leroy), 6. Ty Nation (Taylorville), 7. Terry Myers (Buffalo), 8. Rick Roedel (Shelbyville), 9. Brad Bedinger (Taylorville), 10. Robert Saltzman (Chatsworth)

Hornets–1. Jeremy Reed (Decatur), 2. Andrew Dudash (St. Louis, MO), 3. Mike Eskew (Springfield), 4. Michael McKay (Springfield), 5. Adam Webb (Decatur), 6. David Lauritson (Normal), 7. Ken Reed (Decatur), 8. John Lewis (Cerro Gordo), 9. Paul Peters (Pana), 10. Carter Dart (Springfield)

BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds–1. McKay Wenger (Fairbury), 2. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 3. Tim Luttrell (Riverton), 4. Guy Taylor (Springfield), 5. Tim Hancock (Mt. Olive), 6. Jeff Graham (Stonington), 7. Jimmy Cummins (Highland), 8. Cody Stillwell (Godfrey), 9. Brian Burns (Bethany), 10. Michael Kettler (Millstadt)

Street Stocks–1. Jeremy Nichols (Lovington), 2. Nick Macklin (Argenta), 3. Timmy Dick (Monticello), 4. Terry Reed (Decatur), 5. Rudy Zaragoza (Jacksonville), 6. Justin Crowell (Lincoln), 7. Jeff Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 8. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur), 9. Ben Medaris (Decatur), 10. Darrell Dick (Monticello)

B-Modifieds–1. Tim Hancock (Mt. Olive), 2. Rob Timmons (Centralia), 3. Jimmy Cummins (Highland), 4. Michael Kettler (Millstadt), 5. Kevin Crowder (Argenta), 6. Jerry Thompson (Troy), 7. Tyler Blankenship (St. Elmo), 8. Dante Brown (Morrisonville), 9. Cody Stillwell (Godfrey), 10. Jeramie Fowler (Decatur)

Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chasis–1. Trevin Littleton (Jacksonville), 2. Rob Cook (O’Fallon, MO), 3. Tyler Day (Atwood), 4. Jeremy Camp (Sullivan), 5. Aidan Roosevans (O’Fallon), 6. Nick Worley (St. Charles, MO), 7. Garrett Duff (Weldon), 8. Wyatt Simpson (Lerna), 9. Will Armitage (Athens), 10. Jeremyn Brown (Decatur)