Continue reading »]]> Ken Schrader: experience best teacher at Toledo; already enters next race – Akona 250 at Elko Speedway

Schrader: experience the best teacher at Toledo
Ken Schrader raced his way back into the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards history books yesterday at Toledo Speedway with his 16th career series victory in his 61st series start. By doing so, Schrader, who led a whopping 163 of 200 laps, surpasses Iggy Katona (winner at Daytona in 1974 at 57) as the oldest winner in series history. Katona turned 57 just two months prior to his win at Daytona; Schrader, on the other hand, will be 58 upcoming on May 29. The win was Schrader’s fifth at Toledo, and first on the northwest Ohio half-mile oval since 2006. Further, Schrader had not driven an ARCA car prior to his victory at Toledo Sunday since September of 2010. By leading the majority of Sunday’s race, the Fenton, Missouri veteran has increased his overall laps-led total to 2,226 laps-led in 35 races. Schrader is already entered for the next ARCA event on tour – the Akona 250 presented by Federated Car Care at Elko (Minn.) Speedway on June 1.

Benjamin also makes ARCA history as youngest polesitter
While Ken Schrader became the oldest driver to ever win an ARCA race, 15-year-old Kyle Benjamin became the youngest driver in ARCA history to ever earn the Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell on Saturday afternoon, circling the half-mile oval in 15.872 seconds, for an average speed of 113.407 mph. Benjamin, who finished second in his series debut at Mobile, surpassed Clint King as the youngest polesitter in series history. King won the pole at Madison Int’l Speedway on his 16th birthday in 2011.

From 15 to 78, driver diversity stands out at Toledo
The front row of polesitter Kyle Benjamin and Ken Schrader at Toledo provided an interesting look into the contrast and the diversity in drivers in most any ARCA field. A full 42 years (almost 43) separated 15-year-old Benjamin and nearly 58-year-old Schrader. Benjamin, who led the first 22 laps, no doubt would have been a bigger factor in the race had a gear not failed on his Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet. A similar comparison in row two was also noteworthy. Thirty-three years separate rookie and third placer qualifier Mason Mingus from fourth place qualifier Frank Kimmel, who turned 51 on April 30. A full 63 years separated the youngest driver in the field (Kyle Benjamin/15) and James Hylton, who will be 79 in late August.

Five in, five different winners
With five races down in 2013, there have been five different winners – John Wes Townley at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Grant Enfinger at Mobile Int’l Speedway, Tom Hessert at Salem Speedway, Frank Kimmel at Talladega Superspeedway, and Ken Schrader at Toledo Speedway. The year that produced the most different winners was in 2006 when 17 different drivers raced their way into Victory Lane.

Veteran Kimmel, SCOTT Challenge Rookie Mingus battling for title
Win Tron Racing’s Mason Mingus inched closer to Frank Kimmel in the championship points battle with his second place finish in Sunday’s Menards 200. Mingus chopped 10 points off Kimmel’s lead by finishing one spot ahead of Kimmel in the race, and by qualifying third, which earned the Brentwood, Tennessee rookie driver and extra five points. Mingus is now just 20 points away from Kimmel headed into the next event on tour at Elko (Minn.) Speedway on June 1. Mingus’s runner-up run also ties his career-best finish of second that he had just earned last time out at Talladega Superspeedway. Mingus was also awarded the SCOTT Challenge Rookie of the Race award at Toledo.

Kimmel spins and battles back to third
Frank Kimmel recovered from an early-race spin off turn four to finish third in Sunday’s race. “I think we had a brake-bleeder come loose on the right-rear midway through the race and I spun the thing out one time,” Kimmel said. “But the guys fixed it on our next pit stop and we fought back in a great short-track battle. What a great crowd we had at Toledo (Sunday). I’m sure they got their money’s worth.” Kimmel also commented on his current points battle with rookie Mason Mingus. “Mason does a great job; he did it again (Sunday) and it’s going to be like that all year long. There’s some other competitors out there who are going to be tough, too — so there’s no way this is a two-man race, by any means.”

Points battles tight further back
While the championship points battle is plenty tight up front between leader Frank Kimmel and Mason Mingus – just 20 points between – the points battles further back are also quite close. Currently, just 85 points unofficially separate third through seventh. Hessert, who finished 10th at Toledo, leads the aforementioned group with 1105 ahead of rookie Mason Mitchell (1055), Josh Williams (1050), Grant Enfinger (1045), and Justin Boston (1020).

Career-best finishes for three of top-10 at Toledo
Among the top-10 finishers in Sunday’s Menards 200 at Toledo, there were three drivers who earned career-best finishes. They are Baltimore, Maryland’s Justin Boston, who finished fourth in a Venturini Motorsports Toyota; Hinckley, Ohio’s Matt Tifft, who finished fifth in his series debut in a second Win Tron Racing Chevrolet; and Austin, Texas’s Austin Wayne Self, who finished sixth in a Cunningham Motorsports Dodge. It’s also worth noting that Springfield, Illinois’s Kelly Kovski finished ninth in his first-ever series start on pavement in an Allgaier Motorsports Dodge. Kovski, who started 26th, also earned the CGS Imaging Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions. 2008 ARCA champion and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier sat atop Kovski’s pit box during the race.

Flat right front spoils Enfinger’s Victory Lane hopes
Grant Enfinger was the closest competitor to Schrader for most of the Menards 200. A flat right front tire late in the race took away any chance he had at the win. For several laps, however, he and Schrader were side-by-side, racing through and around lapped traffic. It made for a lot of cheers from the packed house at Toledo Speedway. “That was so much fun racing against him,” Enfinger said. Schrader said he knew Enfinger’s car was smoking a lot. “I didn’t think he was going to make it to the end of the race,” Schrader said. “When he went off, I thought it would be a little bit easier.”

ARCA heads to Elko Speedway next; discount tickets on sale at area Menards stores
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will head north next – to Elko, Minnesota for the sixth race of the 2013 season at Elko Speedway on Saturday, June 1. Race tickets are currently available at 36 Menards stores throughout Minnesota, and will be on sale for $20 – a $10 discount off the at-track price – until Friday, May 31, the day before the race. The ARCA Racing Series will hold two practices on June 1, from 2-2:45 p.m. and 3:15-4. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell will follow at 5:30, and every driver in the starting field will sign autographs for fans on the track from 6:30-7:30. The 250-lap race will begin at 8. All times are Central. ARCAracing.com will feature live audio and live timing and scoring of all on-track activity. Ken Schrader has already filed an entry for the race.

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Mobile: 765 721-7599
timetuttle@aol.com

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Austin Brown seeking to bounce back from rough start in POWRi Midgets at Macon Speedway this Saturday night.

Austin Brown will try to rebound from an unfortunate start to the season when the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series races at Macon (Ill.) Speedway on Saturday (May 18).

Brown won his heat at Jacksonville, Ill., in the sole event of 2013 on April 26, but was caught up in an early accident and crash damage took him out. He finished 22^nd.

The 23-year-old from Millstadt, Ill., won his first feature in POWRi National Midgets at Belle-Clair Speedway, Belleville, Ill. last Oct. 6 and also had sixth- and 10^th-place finishes at the one-fifth mile track last season. Brown’s prospects at Macon for a solid result are also good. He finished third and sixth in features there a year ago.

Brown finished third in 2012 and fourth in 2011 in the POWRi Midget championship. He has raced in 43 straight features, no easy feat in a series where 10 or more cars regularly go home early. His goals for 2013 are to win more races and win his first championship.

“I think the first win is always the hardest one to get,” Brown said. “Even in my Micro career, it took me a while to get the first and the next two definitely came easier. I’m hopeful it’s the same in Midgets. And the championship is what we’re running for.”

The POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series also are racing at Macon. Brown won’t be driving, but he’ll also have a keen interest in the events. It will be the debut of BOSS chassis, car built and produced by a partnership between Brown’s KBR Performance and renowned Spike Midget and Sprint Car builder John Godfrey. Kyle and Derek Schuett of Philo, Ill., have taken delivery of the BOSS and will drive them at Macon.

“John and I have worked together for two years designing them,” Brown said. “He welds up the frames and a lot of the parts and I put them together. We’ve sold seven and I’m putting them together with the front axle, rear axle, plumbing, motor, wiring for the first few cars. I’m trying to finish Jacob Patton’s car for this weekend.

“I graduated from college (Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville) in December with a business degree and I always liked working on race cars. John always wanted to build a Micro and thought we could build a successful Micro.”

Brown, who has three wins in POWRi Micros, will be driving a BOSS in some events this season.

“I haven’t had time to put mine together,” Brown said. “Once I get a break and get it built, I want to try to race it as much as I can when we run with the Midgets.”

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series top-10 points standings (after one of 33 events; 1.  Shane Cockrum 200, 2. Andrew Felker 190, 3. Tyler Thomas 150, 4. Jake Blackhurst 130, 5. Brad Kuhn 120, 6. Justin Peck 110, 7. Colten Cottle 100, 8. Garrett Aitken 90, 9. Terry Babb 70, 10. Levi Jones 60.

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series 2013 race winners: Jacksonville, Ill.—Shane Cockrum.

POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series top-10 points standings (after one of 22 events: 1. Dereck King 200, 2. Joe B. Miller 190, 3. Jacob Patton 180, 4. Travis Senter 170, 5. Jeremy Camp 160, 6. Jason Harms 140, 7. Max Pozsgai 130, 8. JB Gilbert 120, 9. Kyle Schuett 110, 10. Jeremy Zumwalt 100.

POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series 2013 race winners: Jacksonville, Ill.—Dereck King.

Continue reading »]]> MACON SPEEDWAY HOSTS POWRi LUCAS OIL NATIONAL MIDGETS & POWRi SPEEDWAY MOTORS 600cc OUTLAW MICRO SPRINTS THIS SATURDAY!

        (Macon, IL)  Macon Speedway is proud to bring open-wheeled action to the track this weekend May 18, with the 2013 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midgets and POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micros! The POWRi cars should put on quite a display this Saturday night with well over 100 cars expected to battle it out on the super fast 1/5 mile oval. Dereck King from Vienna, IL is leading the points in the Micros series, while Shane Cockrum from Benton, IL leads the Midgets. This will be the first showing for the Micros and Midgets at Macon Speedway, followed by three more dates this season – June 8, August 17 and September 21.

        Also racing that night will be the Billingsley Towing UMP Modifieds, UMP Street Stocks, UMP 4-cylinder Outlaw Hornets and Stock Hornets.

        Don’t forget to sign up for the Macon Speedway Crazy Kid’s Club this week from 5-7 pm under the reserved seating section. The first Kids Club will be Saturday May 25th when the “Raminator” Monster Truck, sponsored by Bob Brady Auto Mall, makes its return to Macon Speedway. There will also be a Pinewood derby race open to both Boy and Girl Scouts at 1pm on Saturday May 25th. The Kids Club theme on May 25th will be Cubs vs. Cards. They are encouraged to wear their favorite team’s colors. The Macon Speedway Crazy Kids Club is sponsored by Kids Castle, SavMor Pharmacy, and Highside Graphix.

        Macon Speedway will open their pits at 3:00 pm with driver registration from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. National Midget drivers’ meeting is at 5:15 pm with the 600cc Outlaw Micro drivers meeting at 5:30 pm.  Hot laps are at 6:00 pm with racing at 7:00 pm.  Adult general admission tickets are $15 and kids 11 & under are still free.

        Macon Speedway is located 9 miles south of Decatur, IL on US 51 then 1/2 mile west on Andrews Street, then South on Wiles. 

               For information, call 217-764-3000. Visit www.maconracing.com  or www.trackenterprises.com for a complete 2013 race schedule and additional information. For quick convenient updates, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/maconracing and Twitter @maconspeedway.

Continue reading »]]> Sheppard Cruises to Late Model Victory

(Macon, IL) In the first Midwest Big Ten Series Late Model event at Macon Speedway in 2013, New Berlin’s Steve Sheppard, Jr., ran away with the show and won his third Midwest Big Ten Series event of the season. Starting from the front row outside position, Sheppard bolted to an early lead and carried away the checkered flag after 25 laps. Trailing him the entire race was Cisco’s Kyle Logue and Springfield’s John Beck.

In the Billingsley Towing Modified feature event, defending champion Guy Taylor led wire-to-wire en route to his first win of the season. He was able to maintain the lead and win the race in front of Macon’s Eric Hamilton and Argenta’s Danny Smith.

Dave Crawley, Jr. had an easy win Saturday night in the Sportsman division. A late charge by former champion Nick Macklin made this interesting but the 15 laps weren’t enough for Macklin’s effort. Trailing for the night was Scott Landers and former Sportsman champion Doug Nevill.

Mike Pickering was poised to finished second in the Street Stock feature until Brian Dasenbrock fell off the track with two laps to go with a broken car on the restart. Pickering dropped to as low as fourth, after starting second, and battled his way back to the top, passing both Terry Reed and Gene Reed. Pickering was followed by Gene Reed, Terry Reed and Kyle Waters.

The two hornet divisions did not disappoint the race fans as Thad Gee won the eight-lap race in the Stock Hornet class and the Outlaw Hornets saw a winner in Adam Webb as he took the lead coming out of the fourth turn to the checkered flag.

In an added attraction, Jamie Justice passed Jackie Smith to win the annual Crazy Chicks N Cars race.

Next Saturday night will feature the return of the POWRi Midgets & Micro Sprints, plus stock car racing at Macon Speedway.

Continue reading »]]> Big Ten Late Models, Teacher Appreciation Night & Huge Mother’s Day Celebration This Saturday Night at Macon Speedway

This Saturday May 11th, will be Teacher’s Appreciation Night presented by Teachers Lounge, Mother Dear plus Crazy Chicks n Cars. Teachers will be admitted into the races for half price, general admission, with their school ID card.

The Midwest’s Big Ten UMP Super Late Model Series will invade Macon Speedway, with Steve Sheppard Jr, of New Berlin, leading the series in points. Also racing that night will be Billingsley Towing UMP Modifieds, UMP Street Stocks, UMP Sportsman, UMP Outlaw Hornets and Stock Hornets.

In honor of Mother’s Day, we will be giving away free prizes and gift certificates and a GRAND PRIZE from Flora Gems – a lady’s 14 karat white gold diamond pendant, with a twist design, set with one round, brilliant cut diamond that weighs .13 karat, G/H color, SI1 clarity. This pendant is hung on a 14-karat white gold 18 inch box chain. Treat Mom to a night of excitement at the track!

We are also pleased to announce every weekend until the end of September, we will be drawing two names and entering them in a drawing for a chance to win his and hers Tissot Limited Edition Nascar Elegant Line watches valued at over $1,500 each. Kenny Wallace, NASCAR star and co-owner of Macon Speedway, will be at Flora Gems to draw the winners himself at the end of September.

For information, call 217-764-3000. Visit www.maconracing.com  or www.trackenterprises.com for a complete 2013 Race schedule and additional information. For quick convenient updates, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/maconracing and Twitter @maconspeedway

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Young Gun Colten Cottle heads to Jacksonville, Macon for POWRi Midgets

Colten Cottle entered his first event in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway late in the 2011 season and drove in his fourth early in 2012. He failed to advance to the feature in both events.

Sixteen events later, the 17-year-old from Kansas, Ill., returned to Jacksonville late last season and finished third. It was substantive evidence of his rapid improvement and the promise of his talent.

Cottle will build on the 24 POWRi National Midget events he’s run in the season-opening events at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway on Friday (April 26) and Macon ((lll.) Speedway on Saturday (April 27).

“Jacksonville is one of my favorite tracks,” Cottle said. “I like to run on top and gas it up. That first race I ran there was my first in a Midget and it was a big difference from where we used to go racing in mini-sprints. It’s a big jump in horsepower and lot different driving. It was a whole new ball game that I had to learn how to do.

“I think having a lot more experience helped me (finish third) at Jacksonville. It helped we had a pretty good heat race and started up front in the feature. We learned a lot through the year, running the top and doing the slide jobs and all that.”

Cottle made his first feature at Macon late in 2011 and finished 12^th. He raced at the one-fifth mile track four times last season and made the feature in all four with best finishes of 11^th and 12^th.

“Macon has not really been one of our strongest tracks, but I enjoy it,” Cottle said. “It’s a lot of close racing. You’ve got to be on your game. There’s a lot of good drivers in POWRi and it takes a lot of experience to run up front.”

Cottle is a second-generation driver. Father Rick, his current crew chief, drove Modifieds. Uncle Shane Cottle of Kokomo, Ind., has had an outstanding career in Midgets and Sprints. He was the USAC Indiana Midget Week champion in 2005 and 2006 and won the prestigious Little 500 Sprint Car race at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway in 2008.

“Uncle Shane goes to the (POWRi) races when he’s not running and helps me quite a bit driving wise,” Cottle said. “He helps me understand what I’m doing wrong and how to correct it. My dad does all the setups on the car (Spike-Esslinger) and he’s a big help, too.”

Cottle was the mini-sprint champion at one-eighth mile Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, Ill., in 2009 and continued to race there through the 2011 season.

Cottle finished second in the feature at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway, like Jacksonville a quarter-mile, in his 10^th POWRi Midget event last season and 13^th overall. He finished 14^th in the national championship and had two top-fives and six top-10s in 21 events. Cottle made the feature 18 times including in 17 of the last 18 events.

“I was pretty happy with it (season),” Cottle said. “It was our first year, just getting started. It was a pretty good year for us.”

Cottle finished fourth and fifth in features against strong Midget fields at Montpieler (Ind.) Motor Speedway on April 5-6.

“I started ninth and ended up fourth the first night and started 14^th and ended up fifth on the second,” Cottle said. “It was a good start to the year.

“I’m hoping to do decent in POWRi again this season. We need to have a little bit of luck and have things go our way. POWRi is tough.”

The POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series also begins its season at Jacksonville and Macon.

Notes: NASCAR drivers Justin Allgaier and Ken Schrader will be competing at Macon. Allgaier of Riverton, Ill., will be in POWRi Midgets and Ken Schrader will be in the Billingsley Towing UMP Modified event. Allgaier of Riverton, Ill., is fourth in the Nationwide Series this season. He has two POWRi Midget victories, at Macon and Du Quoin, Ill., in 2008. Schrader has driven in Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks in a 30-year NASCAR career. He’s also a co-owner of Macon.

For more information, go to www.POWRi.com.