MACON, Ill. – Macon Speedway hosted the Diane Bennett Memorial Saturday night, with bonus money added to the purses attracting 104 entries in six division.
One of the top races of the night was the special 25-lap, $1,550-to-win BillingsleyRewards.com Modified feature. Guy Taylor and Rodney Standerfer, former track champions in the division, were the front row with Tommy Sheppard Jr. and Curt Rhodes starting in the second row. The early stretch of the race was controlled by Sheppard with Taylor and Standerfer keeping close.
Going into the third turn on lap nine, Taylor passed Sheppard for the lead and things looked good for Taylor. However, a miscue at the top of the second turn changed things as Sheppard not only regained the lead but Taylor faded to the middle of the field and eventually four laps later was off the track. Sheppard would go on to return to victory lane and take home the big payday.
The Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Model class was also a special 25-lap event with a prize of $1,270-to-win. Jose Parga did go on to win, but it was a fairly close race between him and runner-up Braden Johnson. Parga kept Johnson roughly a car length behind for the better part of the race and led all 25 laps. Dakota Ewing finished third.
Jeremy Nichols won from the pole in the Archer’s Alley Street Stocks. Darrell Dick, Guy Taylor, Nick Macklin and Terry Reed were keeping it close and made for a fun 15-lap race.
The Pro Modified feature was full of unique settings. The start of the race began with a caution flag. Minutes later as the race restarted and the drivers were coming to the first lap, Billy Justice Jr. and Chris Erwin got up on the top of the third turn wall and rolled their cars. Justice’s car sparked into a fiery mess and crew members raced to help with fire extinguishers and get Justice out and away from his race car.
All parties would be safe although Justice’s car would be towed back to the pit area. Once the race got moving again, Kyle Helmick would go from being the third row outside starter to being on the front row outside and drive away from Kevin Crowder and Nick Justice. While Helmick was leading and pulling away, the run of the racing was between Crowder and Justice who traded back and forth and side-by-side action until the race came down to two-to-go and Justice fell victim to a broken racecar after colliding with Crowder.
There were no cautions in the 15-lap feature for the Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chassis. Jeremy Camp took off with the lead from the pole and all 16 cars kept things moving as the full race was completed in 3 minutes.
The night was completed by the four-cylinder Hornet class as Eric Vanapeldoorn won the 14-car race. Much like his six-lap heat race, he had to stop Jeremy Reed from taking the lead from him and he was successful both times.