Saturday night action at Macon Speedway
MACON, IL (August 23) - The rain went out of its way to miss Macon
Speedway Saturday night, and the result was some fiery on-the-track action.
Macon Speedway got to host is Firecracker 50's, two 50 lap features races
for the Chevrolet Late Models and the BARBECK Communications Modifieds. The
Late Models ran tonight for $1,500 to win with the modifieds shooting for a
$750 top prize. The Hogan Grain/KUBOTA Sportsman, Streets Stocks and Hornets
were also on hand to put on a great Saturday night show.
After following Kyle Logue’s bumper for 39 laps, 15-year old Brandon
Sheppard finally took the lead away. Thousands of fans cheered for Sheppard
as he crossed the finish line in first place. Sheppard has had several good
runs at Macon Speedway, including two second place feature finishes and a
fifth place finish in the 2008 Herald and Review 100. Brandon’s dad, Steve
Sheppard Jr. was running third before a flat tire caused him to leave the
race. But he did get to watch his son pass the Late Model points leader and
drive on to his first feature win.
Jeremy Nichols dominated the Modified Firecracker 50, earning himself a nice
$750 prize. Nichols' closest competition was the underdog Joe Strawkas, who
passed Jim Leka on lap 45 to grab second. Nichols started in the back in his
heat race and had some trouble passing cars. But the changes his team made
were the right ones. One of the top Macon Speedway regulars, Nichols ended a
winless streak that stretched back to July 5th.
Scott Landers started from the pole and held on to win. Alan Crowder led one
lap as he scooted underneath the leader, but Landers' car was too strong to
hold off. Bryan Diulio ran a smart race and took second. Norm Wood, winner
of the Sportsman season opener, worked his way up to third.
Steve Ewing has his street stock in last season’s form. Ewing got a six race
feature winning streak going. He’s likely to challenge last year’s streak of
nine that only ended because the season was over. Heidi Hames and James
Hankins won it the hornets.
Late Models
1. Brandon Sheppard; 2. Kerby Damery; 3. Kyle Logue; 4. Terry Babb; 5. Mike
Hammerle; 6. Chris Dick; 7. Jeremy Nichols; 8. Shawn Bohm; 9. Jason Cleaver;
10. Brent Helmkamp
Modifieds
1. Jeremy Nichols; 2. Joe Strawkas; 3. Jim Leka; 4. David Crawley Jr.; 5.
Steve Ewing; 6. Marty Hiser; 7. Aaron Burcham; 8. Mark Tullis; 9. Randy
Huffman; 10. Scott Jones
Sportsman
1. Scott Landers; 2. Bryan Diulio; 3. Norm Wood; 4. Rick Roedel; 5. Mike
Pickering; 6. Tim Bedinger; 7. Phil Moreland; 8. Tom Graham; 9. Alan
Crowder; 10. Jeff Graham
Hornets (pro)
1. James Hankins; 2. Fred Reed; 3. Todd Rush; 4. Jon Grubb; 5. Bruce Dulgar;
6. Brian Dasenbrock; 7. Steven Dulgar; 8. Joe Reed; 9. Frank Reed; 10. Jason
Detterline
Hornets (amateur)
1. Heidi Hames; 2. Jeff Gill; 3. Brett Embry; 4. Dale Mellinger; 5. James
Kitchens; 6. Jesse Manuel; 7. Kevin Clutter; 8. Cody Fleming
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