Butterfield Banks $1,000 in Ed Cain Trucking Hornet Challenge; Bollinger, Ewing, Eller, and Davis Also Victorious Friday at Lincoln Speedway

 

LINCOLN, IL (June7, 2025) – The annual Ed Cain Trucking Hornet Challenge brought the best 4-cylinder racers to Lincoln Speedway Friday night for their lone appearance of the year at the 1/4-mile oval. A solid field of 20 Hornets showed up to chase the $1,000 winner’s payday in the 25-lap special, and as always, the division delivered on excitement.

Kenny Butterfield, who rolled off from the fourth starting position, made his way to the front early and never looked back. The Kingston Mines, IL driver set a strong pace out front while perennial favorite Matt Mackey shadowed his every move. Mackey began to close in during the late stages, but Butterfield responded, picking up speed and stretching the advantage to the checkered flag. Mackey settled for second, followed by Jeffrey DeLonjay, Ryan Harbaugh, and Billy Mason in the top five.

The show-stealer of the night came in the DIRTcar Modified division. Ray Bollinger and Austin Lynn, both past Lincoln Speedway champions, put on a jaw-dropping duel over the final ten laps, trading the lead in a thrilling display of clean and aggressive driving. Slider after slider and crossover after crossover, the duo brought the fans to their feet. Ultimately, it was Bollinger who emerged ahead at the line to grab the win. Lynn finished a close second with Zach Taylor — who ran a strong third all race long — watching the fireworks unfold ahead of him. Brian Diveley and Mike Brooks completed the top five.

The DIRTcar Pro Late Models featured another strong field and a multi-groove racing surface. Dakota Ewing jumped out front early with Colby Sheppard in tow. While Ryan Miller was also in the hunt, his night ended early with a cut right rear tire. Sheppard made a few late charges, but Ewing kept him at bay to claim his third Lincoln win of the season. Sheppard finished second, with Braden Johnson, Denny Woodworth, and Brandon Sweitzer rounding out the top five.

Colby Eller scored a dramatic first career Lincoln Speedway victory in the DIRTcar Sportsman class. After taking the lead early, a caution for debris erased his pass and gave the lead back to Ed Cleeton. The veteran Cleeton began to pull away, but Eller stayed persistent. On the final lap, Cleeton was boxed in behind slower traffic on the bottom, and Eller powered around the outside to steal the win in thrilling fashion. Cleeton, Tim Riech, Randy Huffman, and Zach Taylor finished second through fifth.
The open wheel MARA Midgets capped off the evening with a solid feature of their own. Young Dominic Bruns led early, but the experienced trio of Mitchell Davis, Adam Taylor, and Mario Clouser worked their way forward. Davis, from Auburn, IL, charged from sixth to first and never looked back. Taylor and Clouser completed the podium with Jace Sparks and Tyler Roth in fourth and fifth.

Lincoln Speedway will return to action on Sunday, June 22 with the highly anticipated DIRTcar Summer Nationals, featuring the Hell Tour Super Late Models, DIRTcar Modifieds, and Crown Vics. For complete event info, visit www.lincolnspeedwayil.com.

FEATURE RUNDOWNS

DIRTcar Hornets
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 24-Kenny Butterfield[4]; 2. 501-Matt Mackey[2]; 3. 32-Jeffrey DeLonjay[8]; 4. 79-Ryan Harbaugh[1]; 5. 357-Billy Mason[5]; 6. 30J-Nick Johnson[12]; 7. 3-Jaden Delonjay[14]; 8. J28`-Jeremy Hancock[16]; 9. B66-Ben McChristy[9]; 10. 38-Ryan Johnson[7]; 11. 01JR-Matthew Mackey Jr[18]; 12. 17K-Hunter Kelley[6]; 13. 61-Casey Eskew[11]; 14. B55-Haylee Mackey[13]; 15. 17T-Tim Scranton[17]; 16. 6K-Klayten Abbott[15]; 17. 20-Casey Eskew Sr[19]; 18. B5-Brandon Justice[10]; 19. (DNS) 18-Jay Orr; 20. (DNS) 41-Danny Oates

DIRTcar Pro Late Models
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Dakota Ewing[2]; 2. 27-Colby Sheppard[4]; 3. 14-Braden Johnson[6]; 4. 45DW-Denny Woodworth[3]; 5. 5B-Brandon Sweitzer[5]; 6. 17-Ian Logan[8]; 7. 7H-Jacob Hillyer[7]; 8. 7Z-Michael Maestas[9]; 9. 19-Quynten Lewis[10]; 10. 11-Ryan Miller[1]; 11. 45X-Melvin Linder[11]; 12. (DNS) 56-Jacob Doolen

DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77-Ray Bollinger[3]; 2. 72A-Austin Lynn[1]; 3. Z24-Zach Taylor[5]; 4. 11D-Brian Diveley[6]; 5. 3-Mike Brooks[4]; 6. 9-Ken Schrader[10]; 7. 10-Mike Chasteen Jr[8]; 8. 19C-Carter Sinkhorn[7]; 9. 3R-Caleb Siegel[14]; 10. J13-Justin Coffey[9]; 11. 98-Shawn Vaughn[15]; 12. 14-Brian Lynn[13]; 13. 97G-Jason Crose[11]; 14. 71-Jeff Graham[12]; 15. 35-Brandon Roberts[2]

Sportsman
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 10C-Colby Eller[2]; 2. 21-Ed Cleeton[1]; 3. 55-Tim Riech[4]; 4. 46-Randy Huffman[6]; 5. Z24-Zach Taylor[5]; 6. 17-Barry Bell[9]; 7. 58-Brandon Hamm[7]; 8. 11-Roy Magee[8]; 9. 87-Wes O’Dell[3]; 10. (DNS) 35-Tom Davidson

MARA Midgets
Ag Venture / Wehmeyer Seed A – Feature (20 Laps): 1. 7X-Mitchell Davis[6]; 2. 5X-Adam Taylor[5]; 3. 75-Mario Clouser[8]; 4. 40-Jace Sparks[4]; 5. 18-Tyler Roth[11]; 6. 12C-Dominic Bruns[1]; 7. 4K-Charles Kunz[7]; 8. 36-Ian Creager[3]; 9. 11J-Todd Jackson[13]; 10. 11K-Mark McMahill[9]; 11. 77-Patrick Bruns[10]; 12. 19E-Daltyn England[2]; 13. 3A-Chris Adrien[12]; 14. (DNS) 51-Chris Young

Category: Illinois, Lincoln Speedway