Zaragoza’s Last Lap Pass Steals FeatureÂ
By BZ
(Macon, IL) Rudy Zaragoza’s Street Stock was all over the place most of the night at Macon Speedway. The car was loose and sometimes out of control. An 11th-place starting spot in the 15-lap Archer’s Alley Street Stock feature didn’t look too likely that his 67R would be gracing victory lane but things changed and the car got together at just the right time. In fact, the car found itself faster and faster as the green flag laps added up. With the white flag waving, an accident happened in the fourth turn to slow the momentum that Terry Reed was taking all the way to the winner’s circle. When the restart came, Reed found himself only a bumper’s length ahead of Zaragoza and as the cars restarted and Reed chose to stay on top, Zaragoza ran the bottom and came up on top of Reed out of the fourth turn and crossed the line ahead of Reed to steal the win away.
Dakota Ewing passed Blake Damery on the fifth lap of the 20-lap Decatur Building Trade Pro Late Model feature to run away and win the race. Thanks to a dice roll to reset the first three rows of the feature, Damery found himself in the front row just as he was during his lone feature win. While it looked as if lightning may strike twice, Ewing caught up to Damery and seized the lead on the backstretch of lap five and coasted away with the checkered flag.
Rodney Standerfer also took total control of his feature as he won the BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds event. The more exciting back-and-forth action took place behind Standerfer, who built a many car-length lead over the runner-up spot, as Trevor Neville, Nick Neville, Tommy Sheppard, Jr., Alan Crowder and Blake Thompson all traded and ran through the second place through sixth place spots. Nick Neville bested Alan Crowder to the finish place for the second-place position.
Tim Hancock, Sr. stayed ahead of Billy Knebel to take the Neal Tire & Auto Pro Modified feature. Knebel was close to Hancock until the race got midway through and then as the green flag laps mounted, Hancock just kept pulling further away.
Dennis Vandermeersch made quick work of the Sportsman feature and the 15-lap event. Scott Landers raced closely with Rick Roedel to pull into the second place finishing spot.
Paul Day from Atwood was lightning quick and sprinted away from the group in the Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chassis.
The night was finished off with Erik Vanapeldoorn racing in his wife’s Hornet and racing past Mike Gossett to win again. The Hornets were also used Saturday night in the annual Faster Pastor race. Defending champion Ryan Lutz with D1 Church of the Nazarene in Decatur raced again and took the checkered flag in a six-car, eight-lap adventure. Church members from D1 were in attendance with signs made up for their favorite church and pastor. For a second-straight year, D1 reigns supreme.
Macon Speedway takes a Saturday night off next week as action will begin at the DuQuoin State Fair as the ARCA Racing Series and Modifieds will make up the Saturday action and then the USAC Silver Crown cars and Modifieds will race Sunday. Macon Speedway ramps back up on September 7 with a full show featuring the Hornet World Championship and the Spectator Drags event. More information can be found at maconracing.com. The final show of August at Macon Speedway was sponsored by Phoenix Tile & Distribution as well as Richmond Gear.
Archer’s Alley Street Stocks–1. Rudy Zaragoza (Jacksonville), 2. Terry Reed (Cerro Gordo), 3. Jeff Reed, Jr. (Blue Mound), 4. Wes Biesenthal (Athens), 5. Andy Zahnd (Whtie Heath), 6. Brian Dasenbrock, Jr. (Decatur), 7. Larry Russell, Jr. (Decatur), 8. Jaret Duff (Maroa), 9. Ben Medaris (Decatur), 10. Brian Dasenbrock (Decatur)
Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models–1. Dakota Ewing (Warrensburg), 2. Blake Damery (Blue Mound), 3. Colby Sheppard (Williamsville), 4. Donny Koehler (Macon), 5. Colby Eller (Taylorville), 6. Tony Harter (Sherman), 7. Storm Beiler (Decatur), 8. Cody Maguire (Carlinville), 9. Kyle Van Dorn (New Berlin), 10. Jacob Franklin (Pinckeyville)
BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds–1. Rodney Standerfer (Summerfield), 2. Nick Neville (Mackinaw), 3. Alan Crowder (Elwin), 4. Tommy Sheppard, Jr. (New Berlin), 5. Blake Thompson (Troy), 6. Trevor Neville (Mackinaw), 7. Tim Hancock, Sr. (Mt. Olive), 8. Zach Rhodes (Taylorville), 9. Kyle Helmick (Smithton), 10. Joe Strawkas (Buffalo)
Neal Tire & Auto Pro Modifieds–1. Tim Hancock, Sr. (Mt. Olive), 2. Billy Knebel (Pocahontas), 3. Nick Justice (Decatur), 4. Kyle Helmick (Smithton), 5. Rob Timmons (Centralia), 6. Owen Steinkoenig (Highland), 7. Jim Stevens (Belleville), 8. Tim Riech (Petersburg), 9. Roy Magee (Springfield), 10. Brady Lynch (Hillsboro)
Sportsman–1. Dennis Vandermeersch (Springfield), 2. Scott Landers (Taylorville), 3. Rick Roedel (Shelbyville), 4. Connor Klay (Stonington), 5. Terry Myers (Buffalo), 6. Wes Odell (Springfield), 7. Stefan Bedinger (Taylorville), 8. Tim Bedinger (Taylorville)
Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chassis–1. Paul Day (Atwood), 2. Jacob Tipton (Decatur), 3. Molly Day (Atwood), 4. Chad Baldwin (Lincoln), 5. Kyle Barker (Cooksville), 6. Hayden Harvey (Warrensburg), 7. Shania Alexander (Humboldt), 8. Daryn Stark (Springfield), 9. Larry Drake (Terre Haute, IN), 10. John Barnard (Sherman)
Hornets–1. Erik Vanapeldoorn (Clinton), 2. Mike Gossett (Decatur), 3. Mike Eskew (Springfield), 4. Brady Reed (Decatur), 5. Steve Stine (Stonington), 6. Michael McKay (Springfield), 7. Matt Reed (Decatur), 8. Marty Sullivan (Decatur), 9. Ken Reed (Decatur), 10. Bill Basso (Athens)