MACON, Ill. – Aiming for redemption after he lost last year’s trip to Macon Speedway in a nail-biting finish, Jake Neuman found exactly what he was looking for on Saturday night.
Neuman powered around polesitter Daniel Adler in turns three and four on lap five, using the momentum from the top groove to take a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
The driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture-backed No. 3n for Jim Neuman Motorsports led the final 21 laps uncontested for his second win of the season and the fourth of his POWRi career.
Neuman defeated Friday night winner Thomas by 1.788 seconds, with Adler holding on to complete the podium.
The Macon feature was slowed just twice, once for a caution flag with six laps scored and again for a red flag on lap 13, after Holley Hollan flipped in turn four. Both times, Neuman held serve on the ensuing restarts, escaping from the competition effortlessly.
“I had some kids up here telling me I had a pretty good gap, and then later, I saw him (Thomas) throw a slider … I don’t know if it was on me or a lapped car, but I started pushing a little harder after that,” said Neuman in victory lane. “This one was about being consistent and not messing up on the cushion.
“It was pretty treacherous out there tonight, but I love this place and I’m glad we made it happen tonight,” Neuman added. “We should have had one last night, but we got this one done tonight.”
Despite his win on Friday , Thomas couldn’t quite complete the weekend sweep, coming home second for a one-two punch on the weekend in his familiar, Toyota-powered No. 91t.
“Lap traffic was pretty challenging tonight. Guys weren’t sure where they were going to go, and I was trying to zig when they were zagging,” Thomas noted. “It makes it tricky, but Jake did a good job. I thought we had something had there not been traffic, but it was what it was.
“We’ll go on to Pevely and try to get two more wins next weekend in front of the Outlaws.”
Behind Adler, point leader Jesse Colwell and Daison Pursley crossed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Terry Babb, Zach Daum, Karter Sarff, Daniel Robinson and Shelby Bosie capped off the top 10.
The finish:
1. 3N-Jake Neuman (3); 2. 91T-Tyler Thomas (4); 3. 50-Daniel Adler (1); 4. 71-Jesse Colwell (5); 5. 9-Daison Pursley (2); 6. 88-Terry Babb (19); 7. 5D-Zach Daum (10); 8. 37X-Karter Sarff (16); 9. 11-Daniel Robinson (14); 10. 3B-Shelby Bosie (12); 11. 103-Broc Hunnell (20); 12. 97K-Jesse Love (9); 13. 37-Max Guilford (17); 14. 97A-Austin O’Dell (13); 15. 37T-Ronnie Gardner (11); 16. 17C-Devin Camfield (18); 17. 86C-David Camfield (6); 18. 21D-Justin Dickerson (23); 19. 28-Ace McCarthy (15); 20. 67-Holley Hollan (8); 21. 00-Cannon McIntosh (7); 22. 09-Robby McQuinn (22); 23. 5T-Presley Truedson (21).