CANTON, Ill. — The “North Pole Nightmare” Bill Balog was the man to beat Saturday night at Spoon River Speedway, collecting the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 for an $8,000 payday.
Balog led all 35 laps, holding back Friday night winner and current All Star driver points leader Zeb Wise. Balog, who started from the pole position as the result of a dash victory, withstood five cautions and a red flag in his victory march, driving on to secure the fourth All Star triumph of his career.
Rudeen Racing’s Zeb Wise finished second in the NOS Energy Drink presents The Rumble on the River, followed by Greg Wilson, who started ninth, Kraig Kinser, and a hard charging Chris Windom, who commenced his forward progress from 22nd in the running order.
Balog was relatively unchallenged in his 35-lap campaign, still feeling some late race heat from Wise. Wise actually got the best of Balog, driving around the ten-time IRA champion following a lap-28 restart, but caution flags waved again giving the top spot back to Balog. Balog went on to switch his restart approach and he never looked back.
“With a guy like Zeb [Wise] behind me, I knew I had to switch things up. But we were just so good. Even in traffic, I felt really good. I was able to switch things up and it all worked out,” Balog, ace of the Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup/Gibbsville Cheese No. 17B sprint car, said. “It feels so good to get an All Star win outside of Wisconsin. These races are so hard to win and there’s so much pressure. I really don’t know what to say.”
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise [5]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 4-Chris Windom [22]; 6. 91-Cale Thomas [11]; 7. 55-Kerry Madsen [6]; 8. 51B-Joe B. Miller [8]; 9. 7BC-Anthony Macri [2]; 10. 16TH-Parker Price Miller [4]; 11. 28M-Conner Morrell [12]; 12. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [7]; 13. 45-Tim Shaffer [23]; 14. 96-Jake Blackhurst [14]; 15. 97-JJ Hickle [17]; 16. 17AU-Jamie Veal [10]; 17. 21T-Cole Macedo [15]; 18. 3N-Jake Neuman [21]; 19. 35-Zach Hampton [18]; 20. 6-Mario Clouser [20]; 21. 29-Sye Lynch [13]; 22. 37-Bryce Norris [16]; 23. 9K-Kyle Schuett [19]; 24. 23B-Brian Bell [24]