By BZ
(Macon, IL) Bobby Pierce challenged for the lead early in the 2021 edition of the Herald & Review 100 Thursday night at Macon Speedway but it wasn’t a pass for the lead that gave him the advantage, it was a caution flag and a flat tire on leader Brian Shirley that allowed Pierce to claim the lead.
With debris in the fourth turn and a slowing Shirley, the caution came out and fans watched as the Chatham, IL driver pulled to the turn two gate and off the track for a tire change. With 23 laps complete, the second-place car became the first place car.
It wasn’t an easy ride for Pierce around the 1/5th mile dirt oval for his third Herald & Review 100 trophy, however, as former winners Ryan Unzicker and Shannon Babb closed in for the lead midway through the event. Lapped traffic began to slow Pierce around the top of the track and that allowed Unzicker and Babb a chance to close the gap and offer a chance for themselves to advance their positions.
The crowd started to really sense the moment and the opportunity, especially for fan favorite and former track star in Babb. But once the traffic was cleared, Pierce opened the lead back up and never looked back.
The race saw nine caution flags over the 100 laps and three different leaders as Unzicker, the pole sitter, had the lead for the first two laps before Shirley controlled the race from lap three until the unfortunate end to his lead on lap 23. The 100-lapper was completed in 45 minutes. Pierce’s payday was a little sweeter as instead of just a $5,000 check, he also scored an additional $500 from Decatur Battery.
Pierce’s night was a total success. He was scored fastest in his group for qualifying. He started on the pole and won and began the 100-lap feature from the second row inside starting position.
Another driver who succeeded because of fast qualifying time and heat race victory was Highland’s Mike Harrison. Harrison, no stranger to the Macon Speedway winner’s circle, took the top honor in the BillingsleyRewards.com/Summit Equipment Modifieds division. Harrison also enjoyed a second row starting assignment for his feature and won the 25-lapper as he grabbed the lead away from Ray Bollinger with four laps to go and both drivers side-by-side and changing track grooves.
The third division to race Thursday during the 41st Annual Herald & Review 100 was the Pro Modified class. The Pro Modifieds have had a good season and was given the opportunity to showcase their class during the track’s biggest race of the summer. The race did not fair well for the division as the cars were not set up for the dry slick track conditions. From the initial green flag to begin the race until the race scored its first official lap completed, it took 24 minutes and 10-to-11 restarts. The track officials were left with no choice but to cut laps off the feature race in an effort to make up time. As the Pro Modified class hit the first lap, the full house crowd let out a Bronx cheer. The race did pick up consecutive green flag laps and get back to normal and while that was happening Kyle Helmick pulled through win the 10-lap victory.
Macon Speedway will be in action this coming Saturday, July 10, as Air King presents Fireman’s Ball & 1st Responders Night in addition to the Chris Oberheim Memorial. All seven divisions will be in action with free grandstand admission for 1st responders who show proper ID.
SUPER LATE MODELS
Feature (100 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[7]; 4. 36-Logan Martin[9]; 5. 11-Gordy Gundaker[12]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[2]; 7. 16-Rusty Griffaw[10]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 9. 38J-Jake Little[18]; 10. 12-Ashton Winger[19]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath[22]; 12. 25-Jason Feger[8]; 13. 81E-Tanner English[5]; 14. 51-Dean Carpenter[13]; 15. 27-Greg Kimmons[17]; 16. 19X-Cody Bauer[16]; 17. 11M-Ryan Miller[21]; 18. 11H-Jeff Herzog[14]; 19. 14G-Joe Godsey[15]; 20. 4-Jason Suhre[11]; 21. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 22. (DQ) 84-Myles Moos[6]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 27-Greg Kimmons[1]; 2. 38J-Jake Little[4]; 3. 48-Tim Lance[2]; 4. 74-Mitch McGrath[6]; 5. 334-Billy Hough[5]; 6. 22-Dan Jacober[9]; 7. 35-Claude Walker[8]; 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker[11]; 9. 33H-Roben Huffman[10]; 10. 11M-Ryan Miller[15]; 11. 4D-Doug Tye[14]; 12. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[3]; 13. 1H-Josh Heuiser[7]; 14. 30-Mark Voigt[13]; 15. (DNS) 52-Ryan Warren; 16. (DNS) 248-Brandon Lance
Consolation Race (10 Laps): 1. 30-Mark Voigt[6]; 2. 4D-Doug Tye[1]; 3. 11M-Ryan Miller[2]; 4. 248-Brandon Lance[3]; 5. 148-Tim Lance Jr[9]; 6. 16W-Tony Wolf[5]; 7. 13-Brayton Laster[10]; 8. (DNS) 14R-Jeff Roth; 9. (DNS) 12-Ashton Winger; 10. (DNS) 7-Drake Troutman; 11. (DNS) 17-Todd Rehg; 12. (DNS) 15-Blake McClain
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[3]; 4. 51-Dean Carpenter[4]; 5. 27-Greg Kimmons[6]; 6. 334-Billy Hough[7]; 7. 22-Dan Jacober[5]; 8. 4D-Doug Tye[9]; 9. 16W-Tony Wolf[10]; 10. 148-Tim Lance Jr[8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 4-Jason Suhre[4]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey[6]; 5. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[10]; 6. 1H-Josh Heuiser[9]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[7]; 8. 248-Brandon Lance[8]; 9. 7-Drake Troutman[3]; 10. 14R-Jeff Roth[5]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[2]; 2. 84-Myles Moos[1]; 3. 16-Rusty Griffaw[6]; 4. 11H-Jeff Herzog[8]; 5. 48-Tim Lance[7]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[3]; 7. 33H-Roben Huffman[5]; 8. 11M-Ryan Miller[9]; 9. 30-Mark Voigt[4]; 10. (DNS) 13-Brayton Laster
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[3]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 3. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 4. 19X-Cody Bauer[7]; 5. 38J-Jake Little[1]; 6. 35-Claude Walker[5]; 7. 52-Ryan Warren[9]; 8. 12-Ashton Winger[10]; 9. 15-Blake McClain[8]; 10. (DNS) 17-Todd Rehg
Qualifying Group 1 (2 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:10.675[4]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:10.706[11]; 3. 81E-Tanner English, 00:10.728[8]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:10.750[20]; 5. 36-Logan Martin, 00:10.984[5]; 6. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:11.170[15]; 7. 51-Dean Carpenter, 00:11.241[12]; 8. 4-Jason Suhre, 00:11.255[7]; 9. 22-Dan Jacober, 00:11.339[16]; 10. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:11.342[10]; 11. 27-Greg Kimmons, 00:11.420[9]; 12. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:11.470[14]; 13. 334-Billy Hough, 00:11.676[3]; 14. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:11.869[17]; 15. 148-Tim Lance Jr, 00:11.889[13]; 16. 248-Brandon Lance, 00:11.917[1]; 17. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:12.075[2]; 18. 1H-Josh Heuiser, 00:12.088[6]; 19. 16W-Tony Wolf, 00:12.305[19]; 20. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[18]
Qualifying Group 2 (2 Laps): 1. 84-Myles Moos, 00:10.582[1]; 2. 38J-Jake Little, 00:10.822[9]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:10.834[2]; 4. 25-Jason Feger, 00:10.915[5]; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:10.947[14]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:10.970[7]; 7. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:11.067[6]; 8. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:11.174[8]; 9. 33H-Roben Huffman, 00:11.287[12]; 10. 35-Claude Walker, 00:11.342[15]; 11. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 00:11.361[18]; 12. 17-Todd Rehg, 00:11.398[13]; 13. 48-Tim Lance, 00:11.435[19]; 14. 19X-Cody Bauer, 00:11.460[11]; 15. 11H-Jeff Herzog, 00:11.632[16]; 16. 15-Blake McClain, 00:11.734[4]; 17. 11M-Ryan Miller, 00:11.892[3]; 18. 52-Ryan Warren, 00:12.951[10]; 19. 13-Brayton Laster, 00:14.256[20]; 20. 12-Ashton Winger[17]
BILLINGSLEYREWARDS.COM MODIFIEDS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[4]; 2. 53-Bobby Stremme[7]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 4. 7-Drake Troutman[3]; 5. 77T-Guy Taylor[12]; 6. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie[1]; 7. 27X-Kyle Helmick[21]; 8. 28-Rodney Standerfer[11]; 9. 21M-Willy Myers[9]; 10. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 11. 11-Zach Rhodes[5]; 12. 27-Dalton Ewing[8]; 13. 28S-Joe Strawkas[18]; 14. 87C-Alan Crowder[16]; 15. 43-Ed Roley[17]; 16. 19T-Travis Thrasher[22]; 17. 19-Chad Bauer[13]; 18. 57-Tim Hamburg[14]; 19. 4G-Bill Griffith[20]; 20. 88L-Rob Lee[15]; 21. 36-Kenny Wallace[10]; 22. 45-Kyle Hammer[19]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 43-Ed Roley[1]; 2. J82-Treb Jacoby[5]; 3. 19C-Carter Sinkhorn[2]; 4. 9C-Russ Coultas[8]; 5. 52-Billy Knebel[7]; 6. 13S-Jason Scrimpsher[6]; 7. 27X-Kyle Helmick[4]; 8. 22P-Wil Prater[3]; 9. 19T-Travis Thrasher[9]; 10. (DNS) 14C-Rick Conoyer; 11. (DNS) 117E-Mark Enk
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28S-Joe Strawkas[1]; 2. 5T-Rob Timmons[5]; 3. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[4]; 4. 4M-Clint Martin[8]; 5. 78-Maxx Emerson[2]; 6. 4G-Bill Griffith[6]; 7. 4JG-John Goveia[10]; 8. (DNS) 87Z-Zeb Moake; 9. (DNS) 45-Kyle Hammer; 10. (DNS) 0-Travis Kohler
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 11-Zach Rhodes[2]; 3. 21M-Willy Myers[3]; 4. 19-Chad Bauer[4]; 5. 43-Ed Roley[6]; 6. 22P-Wil Prater[5]; 7. J82-Treb Jacoby[8]; 8. 52-Billy Knebel[9]; 9. 19T-Travis Thrasher[7]; 10. (DNS) 14C-Rick Conoyer
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 2. 53-Bobby Stremme[1]; 3. 28-Rodney Standerfer[3]; 4. 88L-Rob Lee[5]; 5. 19C-Carter Sinkhorn[4]; 6. 27X-Kyle Helmick[7]; 7. 13S-Jason Scrimpsher[9]; 8. 9C-Russ Coultas[6]; 9. 117E-Mark Enk[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie[2]; 2. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[1]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace[5]; 4. 57-Tim Hamburg[3]; 5. 28S-Joe Strawkas[9]; 6. 87Z-Zeb Moake[4]; 7. 5T-Rob Timmons[7]; 8. 45-Kyle Hammer[6]; 9. (DNS) 0-Travis Kohler
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Drake Troutman[1]; 2. 27-Dalton Ewing[2]; 3. 77T-Guy Taylor[4]; 4. 87C-Alan Crowder[5]; 5. 78-Maxx Emerson[3]; 6. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[7]; 7. 4G-Bill Griffith[6]; 8. 4M-Clint Martin[8]; 9. 4JG-John Goveia[9]
Qualifying Group 1 (3 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison, 00:11.698[1]; 2. 53-Bobby Stremme, 00:11.729[13]; 3. 11-Zach Rhodes, 00:11.774[19]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger, 00:11.806[9]; 5. 21M-Willy Myers, 00:11.833[2]; 6. 28-Rodney Standerfer, 00:11.875[12]; 7. 19-Chad Bauer, 00:11.975[7]; 8. 19C-Carter Sinkhorn, 00:12.138[4]; 9. 22P-Wil Prater, 00:12.141[3]; 10. 88L-Rob Lee, 00:12.177[10]; 11. 43-Ed Roley, 00:12.299[17]; 12. 9C-Russ Coultas, 00:12.354[11]; 13. 19T-Travis Thrasher, 00:12.391[8]; 14. 27X-Kyle Helmick, 00:12.398[14]; 15. J82-Treb Jacoby, 00:12.479[18]; 16. 117E-Mark Enk, 00:12.500[15]; 17. 52-Billy Knebel, 00:12.558[6]; 18. 13S-Jason Scrimpsher, 00:15.414[16]; 19. (DNS) 14C-Rick Conoyer
Qualifying Group 2 (3 Laps): 1. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:11.613[2]; 2. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:11.631[17]; 3. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie, 00:11.655[5]; 4. 27-Dalton Ewing, 00:11.870[8]; 5. 57-Tim Hamburg, 00:11.938[10]; 6. 78-Maxx Emerson, 00:11.942[11]; 7. 87Z-Zeb Moake, 00:11.956[18]; 8. 77T-Guy Taylor, 00:11.960[14]; 9. 36-Kenny Wallace, 00:11.980[6]; 10. 87C-Alan Crowder, 00:12.001[4]; 11. 45-Kyle Hammer, 00:12.039[12]; 12. 4G-Bill Griffith, 00:12.103[13]; 13. 5T-Rob Timmons, 00:12.103[9]; 14. 18S-Jarrett Stryker, 00:12.184[3]; 15. 0-Travis Kohler, 00:12.216[7]; 16. 4M-Clint Martin, 00:12.222[16]; 17. 28S-Joe Strawkas, 00:12.316[15]; 18. 4JG-John Goveia, 00:12.831[1]
DIRTCAR PRO-MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 27X-Kyle Helmick[1]; 2. 52-Billy Knebel[6]; 3. 37-Billy Justice Jr[3]; 4. 15C-Kevin Crowder[12]; 5. 9-Andrew Depper[13]; 6. 14N-Nathan Lynch[15]; 7. 3X-Justin Reynolds[18]; 8. 36-Nick Justice[21]; 9. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[4]; 10. 7B-Brian Burns[16]; 11. 14K-Shane Kelley[23]; 12. 24M-Matt Milner[24]; 13. 24-Guy Taylor[7]; 14. 49-Jack Marion[22]; 15. 5K-Kirby McCormick[19]; 16. (DNF) Z-Zack Bunning[2]; 17. (DNF) 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[5]; 18. (DNF) 81-Garett Schumacher[17]; 19. (DNF) 7M-Dominic Mertzke[20]; 20. (DNF) 01-Chris Erwin[10]; 21. (DNF) 33-Josh Robb[14]; 22. (DNF) 215-Jake Montgomery[8]; 23. (DNF) 10-Adam Rhoades[11]; 24. (DNF) 14E-Evan Lynch[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. Z-Zack Bunning[2]; 2. 24-Guy Taylor[1]; 3. 52-Billy Knebel[6]; 4. 10-Adam Rhoades[5]; 5. 15C-Kevin Crowder[8]; 6. 81-Garett Schumacher[3]; 7. 36-Nick Justice[4]; 8. 14K-Shane Kelley[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Billy Justice Jr[2]; 2. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[5]; 3. 215-Jake Montgomery[4]; 4. 14E-Evan Lynch[7]; 5. 9-Andrew Depper[8]; 6. 3X-Justin Reynolds[3]; 7. 5K-Kirby McCormick[1]; 8. 49-Jack Marion[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 27X-Kyle Helmick[4]; 2. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[5]; 3. 01-Chris Erwin[1]; 4. 33-Josh Robb[3]; 5. 14N-Nathan Lynch[6]; 6. 7B-Brian Burns[7]; 7. 7M-Dominic Mertzke[2]; 8. 24M-Matt Milner[8]