Track Schedules

Macon Celebrates Mothers, America with Frantic Night
By Brett Zerfowski 

MACON, IL (May 7, 2011) - Earlier in the week, the United States of America celebrated in the taking down of Osama bin Laden, and Macon Speedway celebrated America’s victory with a ceremony releasing red, white and blue balloons into the sky.  Macon Speedway also celebrated the mothers on the evening prior to Mother’s Day with carnations, courtesy of Zips Flowers by the Gate. 

The evening consisted of frantic and hectic racing mainly due to a super-fast race track. The track’s features cars saw a full roster of cars. 19 cars made it through the entrance for the Billingsley Towing Modified feature and Wes Odell took the feature as Jeremy Nichols and Joe Strawkas led early in the race but Nichols got caught up in lapped traffic and lost the lead and then the race as he got tangled and mangled. Strawkas lost the lead and Steve Ewing and Odell raced for the leadership. Odell came through the line first and then Ewing. Strawkas came in third and was followed by Eric Hamilton from Macon took forth and then Dave Crawley, Jr. placed fifth. Odell started 12^th. 

The Chevrolet Late Model feature was quick and furious. Steve Sheppard, Jr. won the race as he went down to the wire with Roger Brickler. After a restart, Brickler’s left rear tire flattened and then shredded down the front stretch to open up Sheppard’s lead. Terry Reed, who had a broken racecar during hot laps, came back to finish second. Rick Standridge finished third with Zack Bunning in fourth and Mike Hammerle in fifth. 

The Touchstone Energy Sportsman feature was over from the get-go as Scott Landers led from the pole and took off for 15 laps. He was able to dethrone the only other winner in the division, Nick Macklin, who took second. Defending champion Dave Crawley, Jr. finished third behind Macklin, Bob Sidener and Dennis Vandermeersch rounded out the top five. 

Another feature that was seemingly over from the drop of the green lap was the 12-lap Street Stock feature. Steve Ewing made it two in-a-row with his second feature of 2011. Bobby Beiler beat Blake Shelley for second. Coleman Scott was fourth and Nick Justice was the fifth place finisher. 

The Hornet divisions had exciting racing throughout the show and the features were no exception. Heidi Hames whipped through eight laps of the Pro class and finished in front of a former feature winner in Adam Webb. Jeremy Reed had a third place finish, Jonathon Drake and Matt Maier rounded out the top five. 

The Amateur Feature went down the final turn as Michael Gossett took first place ahead of Zach Perryman in the closest race of the evening. Derek Peters, formerly of the high school class, was the third place finisher. Kyle Maxwell and Jenny Clinton finished up the top five. 

With the fun of Mother’s Day, the traditional Crazy Chicks N Cars race hit new highs with a record number of entrants. So many entrants that two races were needed. Stephanie Hilliard and Chelsea Lappin were dubbed the craziest as they survived the five lap races in the fourth annual event. 

And also with the fun of Cinco de Mayo came another traditional event, the jalapeno eating contest. This year’s winner was Jason Taylor. With his mouth blazing of fire, he could not be reached for comment. 

Another fun evening fulled with more than 100 cars to help honor the mothers and our country came to an end shortly after 10pm. Next week will feature a make-up of the April rain-out POWRi Midgets and Micro Sprints. Macon Speedway’s stock cars will also be on hand with the Billingsley Towing Modifieds, Touchstone Energy Sportsman, Street Stocks and Pro and Amateur Hornets.