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Knebel Sweeps Double Features at Macon Speedway

By BZ

(Macon, IL) On a night where the racing was intense, the tempers were flaring and the summer heat was getting to everybody, Pro Modifieds driver Billy Knebel took not one but two checkered flags. As a result of a rainout two weeks earlier during the feature events, the Pro Modifieds division was given a make-up feature Saturday night and Knebel, who started on the pole position, and ran alongside Nick Justice for the lead. As Knebel pulled ahead on the back stretch of lap three, he looked as though nothing would slow him down until a spinout on the tenth lap with a lapped car would bump into his car and cause some damage. However, the damage wasn't severe enough to hinder him from finishing the race and he took to the checkered flag. Justice, who ran second in the feature, would slam the back stretch wall and pull up at the top of the third turn and end his feature.

As a result of the heat race finishes, Justice would start on the pole and Knebel right behind him in the second row. The race would get slowed by cautions in the closing laps as Justice was holding on to the lead with the bottom side groove. As the white flag was flying, Knebel got just inside enough of Justice to take the lead away onto the back stretch and take to the win. Justice would race hard to the finish with Kyle Helmick as Helmick got hooked to the rear left tire as both finished the race tangled together.

The Pro Late Models would also complete a make-up feature from two weeks ago as Jose Parga and Aaron Heck would battle neck and neck and pass back and forth for the 20-lap feature. Parga would hold off Heck in the first feature of the night. In the nightly feature, Parga was challenging for the top spots but would have some issues with the drivers in front of him and would cause some collisions and spin outs. Jake Little was in the lead and would hold off the rest of the competitors for the checkered flag. Again, Aaron Heck would be in a position to challenge for the lead but again fell short of the top spot.

In the BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds, the seventh place starter would make a pass with six laps left to grab hold of his first Macon Speedway feature of the season. Ray Bollinger of Kewanee drove two hours south to test the track and get ready for the Summer Nationals race that is coming August 13th. A solid stacked lineup saw him as well as Jeremy Nichols, Curt and Zach Rhodes, defending class champion Tommy Sheppard, Jr. Rodney Standerfer, Alan Crowder, Guy Taylor and Danny Smith compete for 20 laps.

Curt Rhodes was the fastest car at the outset as he ran the bottom. Jeremy Nichols contended for the lead and took off from the top groove into the lead and looked like he would finish off the race until Bollinger cut underneath two drivers on the bottom and took the second spot away. Following a restart on lap 14, Bollinger passed Nichols and the rest was history.

In the Archer's Alley Street Stocks, Bobby Beiler got around Jeff Reed, Jr. and ran away from the 17-car field en route to another feature win. His fast Street Stock coasted along the high banks of the dirt oval and netted his third feature win in the five racing weeks at Macon Speedway.

Dennis Vandermeersch made short work of the Sportsman division 15-lapper. After an early start for former track champion Wes O'Dell, Vandermeersch got past him and blasted off like a rocket with the lead. O'Dell would fall victim to a broken car and pull in to the infield shortly thereafter.

The Hornet division finished off the night with Erik Vanapeldoorn winning the feature event. The win was his second of the season after winning the make-up feature from two weeks ago during last week's program.

The evening was full of excitement and mayhem and racing and was sponsored by CEFCU as the Kids Club was held for the first time in 2020. Six divisions bringing in over 100 racecars were able to bring some enjoyment to the fans of the 75-year-old track. Macon Speedway shifts its attention to next Saturday and the first visit of the season by the POWRi Midgets & Micro Sprints as they race during Illinois Speed Week. Stock car racing classes will also be part of the program. The Illinois Speed Week will wrap up Sunday at Lincoln Speedway with the POWRi divisions.

Feature Rundowns (Top 10’s)

DIRTcar Pro Late Models 

Makeup Feature - 1) 1 - Jose Parga New Berlin, IL 6P 2) 4 +2 Aaron Heck Mt. Vernon, IL 59 3) 2 -1 Chuck Mitchell Jacksonville, IL 75 4) 7 +3 Brandon Eskew Ashland, IL 11E 5) 6 +1 Jake Little Springfield, IL 38J 6) 5 -1 Cody Maguire Carlinville, IL 32M 7) 8 +1 Tommy Sheppard Jr New Berlin, IL 27 8) 9 +1 Brady Lynch Hillsboro, IL 14B 9) (DNF) 3 -6 Blake Damery Blue Mound, IL 10) 10 (DNF) 13 +3 Dakota Ewing Warrensburg, IL 25

Scheduled Feature - 1) 1 - Jake Little Springfield, IL 38J 2) 4 +2 Aaron Heck Mt. Vernon, IL 59 3) 2 -1 Brandon Eskew Ashland, IL 11E 4) 7 +3 Chuck Mitchell Jacksonville, IL 75 5) 9 +4 Brady Lynch Hillsboro, IL 14B 6) 12 +6 Luke Damery Blue Mound, IL 10 7) (DNF) 3 -4 Jose Parga New Berlin, IL 6P 8) (DNF) 5 -3 Dakota Ewing Warrensburg, IL 25 9) (DNF) 8 -1 Colby Sheppard Williamsville, IL 27 10) (DNF) 6 -4 Cody Maguire Carlinville, IL 32M

BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds 

1. 7 +6 Ray Bollinger Kewanee, IL 77 2) 6 +4 Tommy Sheppard Jr New Berlin, IL T6 3) 9 +6 Rodney Standerfer Summerfield, IL 28 4) 1 -3 Guy Taylor Springfield, IL 77T 5) 14 +9 Billy Knebel Pocahontas, IL 52 6) 3 -3 Curt Rhodes Taylorville, IL 10 7) 4 -3 Alan Crowder Elwin, IL 87C 8) 16 +8 Joe Strawkas Buffalo, IL 28S 9) 8 -1 Danny Smith Argenta, IL 98D 10) 10 - Bryan Leach Harvel, IL 12L

DIRTcar Pro Modifieds

Makeup Feature - 1) 1 - Billy Knebel Pocahontas, IL 52 2) 4 +2 Kevin Crowder Argenta, IL 15C 3) 7 +4 Kyle Helmick Smithton, IL 27X 4) 5 +1 Maxx Emerson Taylorville, IL 78 5) 13 +8 Dalton Ewing Decatur, IL 27 6) 11 +5 Billy Justice Jr Cerro Gordo, IL 43 7) 6 -1 Brian Burns Bethany, IL 7B 8) 12 +4 Kevin Rench Hillsboro, IL 116 9) 3 -6 Jeff Wallace Decatur, IL 25 10) 8 -2 Josh Robb Mt.zion, IL 33

Scheduled Feature - 1) 3 +2 Billy Knebel Pocahontas, IL 52 2) 9 +7 Kevin Crowder Argenta, IL 15C 3) 1 -2 Nick Justice Decatur, IL 85 4) 4 - Kyle Helmick Smithton, IL 27X 5) 6 +1 Dalton Ewing Decatur, IL 27 6) 7 +1 Brian Burns Bethany, IL 7B 7) 8 +1 Maxx Emerson Taylorville, IL 78 8) 5 -3 Justin Reynolds Hillsboro, IL 3X 9) 11 +2 Kevin Rench Hillsboro, IL 116 10) 12 +2 Adam Rhoades Clinton, IL 10

DIRTcar Sportsman

1. 3 +2 Dennis Vander Meersch Springfield, IL 25 2) 6 +4 Rick Roedel Shelbyville, IL 11 3) 5 +2 Scott Landers Taylorville, IL 41 4) 1 -3 Phil Moreland Assumption, IL 07 5) 4 -1 Jim Farley III Springfield, IL 84L 6) 9 +3 Terry Myers Buffalo, IL 12M 7) 7 - Bill Berghaus Chapin, IL 44 8) 11 +3 Carter Dart Springfield, IL D7 9) (DNF) 2 -7 Wes O'Dell Springfield, IL 87 10) (DNF) 12 +2 Matt Reed Decatur, IL 4

Archers Alley Street Stocks

1. 1 - Bobby Beiler Blue Mound, IL B26 2) 2 - Jeff Reed, Jr Blue Mound, IL 53R 3) 5 +2 Darrell Dick Monticello, IL 22 4) 3 -1 Nick Macklin Argenta, IL 16 5) 4 -1 Terry Reed Cerro Gordo, IL T5 6) 6 - Guy Taylor Springfield, IL X7 7) 9 +2 Zach Clark Illiopolis, IL 4 8) 11 +3 Brian Dasenbrock Jr Decatur, IL 80 9) 21 +12 Rudy Zaragoza Jacksonville, IL 67 10) 13 +3 Tommy Pickering Cerro Gordo, IL 199

DIRTcar Hornets

1. 4 +3 Erik Vanapeldoorn Clinton, IL E77 2) 5 +3 Jimmy Dutlinger Hanna City, IL 28 3) 10 +7 Brady Reed Decatur, IL 32B 4) 2 -2 Billy Mason Brownstown, IL 357 5) 6 +1 Bill Basso Athens, IL 44 6) 8 +2 Cook Crawford Lincoln, IL 64CK 7) 12 +5 Marty Sullivan Decatur, IL 39M 8) 3 -5 Ken Reed Decatur, IL 98 9) 9 - Casey Eskew Springfield, IL 20 10) 14 +4 Jessica Lowe Springfield, IL X

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