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Thrills, Spills and Chills at Macon Speedway Opener

By BZ

(Macon, IL) The season opener at Macon Speedway was chilly with a north breeze but it didn't stop a good crowd and a car count over 110 from being part of the 77th season opener. Fans draped in blankets sipping on hot chocolate and $2 beer specials were entertained by the full show of racing that featured seven racing divisions.

The feature fun started with former champion Dennis Vandermeersch taking the Weddle Performance Engines Sportsman division. It was a win he won't forget; he was one of the lone drivers to not wear his racing gloves across the cold 1/5th mile dirt track. Vandermeersch accidentaly left them at home. His ten digits were definitely frigid by the end of the 15 laps.

The 51 Bistro Street Stocks was filled with back and forth action with Tanner Sullivan, Terry Reed and Nick Macklin. Sullivan, a Pontiac native, raced to the winner's circle after keeping Reed at bay. The action was great through the turns and looked good for Reed until Sullivan pulled a slide job that gave him the lead with two laps remaining.

Braden Johnson had an exciting 20-lap race in the Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models. After a rough evening of racing on Friday, Johnson returned to action just wanting to make laps and get his car back under control. He ended up winning the race. Start on the front row and keeping ahead of Dakota Ewing and Colby Sheppard, Johnson kept his car running the same groove and locked in the first win of the season.

Rick Conoyer is known for making periodical appearances at Macon Speedway and having solid racing finishes. He just hasn't had that one night where things worked out well enough for victory lane. The Wentzville, MO., driver can scratch that off the Bucket List now as he pulled out the win over Jeremy Nichols and Alan Crowder. Nichols took control of the race but the car felt apart on him with a few laps remaining to put Conoyer back on top.

Guy Taylor is up to his old tricks again. A driver who won multiple championships in 2021, started the Pro Modified season off with a feature win. From the pole position, Taylor navigated his way through the 16-car field and kept away from second-place racer Tommy Gaither.

37 Micro Sprint cars were on hand at Macon Speedway Saturday night with 22 starting in the feature that saw seventh place finisher Craig Ronk take the checkered flag. The Warsaw, IN., driver moved through the top cars and passed Hayden Harvey for the lead and he moved through the lapped traffic to claim the win in the Engler Machines POWRi Micros Presented by Bailey Chassis.

The night was capped off with the 4-cylinder Hornets and Billy Mason rushed by defending division champion Allan Harris to win the first feature of the season. The race started with a heartstopper as leader Tommy Eskew got caught in a rough patch and rolled the car roughly three to four times and was hit by the cars running on the bottom line of the track. Eskew would be OK. He hopped out of the car and jumped up top to receive cheers from the remaining cold crowd.

The night leads us to the beginning of year 77 in the history of Macon Speedway. More excitement is in store for fans next week with six racing divisions plus the return of the popular Spectator Drags. Sister track Lincoln Speedway races on Friday with 305 Sprint Cars and a full stock car racing show. 

Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models 

14J-Braden Johnson[Taylorville, IL]; 2. 27-Colby Sheppard[Williamsville, IL]; 3. 27E-Dalton Ewing[Decatur, IL]; 4. 22-Chris Dick[Deland, IL]; 5. 10C-Colby Eller[Colby Eller]; 6. 25-Dakota Ewing[Warrensburg, IL]; 7. 34-Eric Doran[Clinton, IL]; 8. 11-Ryan Miller[Lincoln, IL]; 9. (DNF) 9B-Brandon Miller[Broadwell, IL]; 10. (DNF) 55-Rockett Bennett[Argenta, IL]

BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds 

14-Rick Conoyer[Wentzville, MO]; 2. 87C-Alan Crowder[Elwin, IL]; 3. 24-Zach Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 4. 4T-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 5. 69-Tristain Loveless[Gillespie, IL]; 6. (DNF) 28-Rodney Standerfer[Summerfield, IL]; 7. (DNF) 24M-Matt Milner[Chatham, IL]; 8. (DNF) 4M-Clint Martin[Ramsey, IL]; 9. (DNF) 10-Adam Rhoades[Clinton, IL]; 10. (DNF) 4G-John Goveia[Riverton, IL]

DIRTcar Pro Mods 

4T-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 2. 14G-Tommy Gaither[Alton, IL]; 3. 24-Zach Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 4. 15C-Kevin Crowder[Argenta, IL]; 5. 444-Logan Dockery[Troy, IL]; 6. 78-Maxx Emerson[Taylorville, IL]; 7. 24M-Matt Milner[Chatham, IL]; 8. 67-Austin Seets[Brighton, IL]; 9. 79-Scott Dunlap[Oblong, IL]; 10. 116-Kevin Rench[Hillsboro, IL]

Weddle Performance Engines Sportsman 

25-Dennis Vander Meersch[Springfield, IL]; 2. 11-Rick Roedel[Shelbyville, IL]; 3. 84L-Jim Farley III[Springfield, IL]; 4. 41-Scott Landers[Taylorville, IL]; 5. (DNF) 21-Ed Cleeton[Tovey, IL]; 6. (DNF) 14-Cole Landers[Taylorville, IL]; 7. (DNS) 12M-Terry Myers [Buffalo, IL]

51 Bistro Street Stocks

20-Tanner Sullivan[Pontiac, IL]; 2. 11-Terry Reed[Cerro Gordo, IL]; 3. 16-Nick Macklin[Argenta, IL]; 4. 17-Bobby Beiler[Blue Mound, IL]; 5. 14-Megan Erwin[Attica, IN]; 6. 67R-Rudy Zaragoza[Jacksonville, IL]; 7. 21-Jaret Duff[Maroa, IL]; 8. 4-Zach Clark[Illiopolis, IL]; 9. 42-Jesse Simmons[Danville, IL]; 10. 28-Ryan Blankenship[Harristown, IL]

DIRTcar Hornets 

357-Billy Mason[Farina, IL]; 2. 3H-Allan Harris[Chatham, IL]; 3. 41-Jaekob Durbin[Ramsey, IL]; 4. 95Q-Tristin Quinlan[Decatur, IL]; 5. 15T-Taryn Page[Decatur, IL]; 6. 98-Ken Reed[Decatur, IL]; 7. (DNF) 34-Jeremy Reed[Decatur, IL]; 8. (DNF) 22-Tommy Eskew[Decatur, IL]; 9. (DNF) 4-Matt Reed[Decatur, IL]; 10. (DNS) K18-Tim Welch [Gillespie, IL]

Engler Machine POWRi Micros By Bailey Chassis 

94-Craig Ronk[Warsaw, IN]; 2. 15U-Willie Urish[Lawrence, KS]; 3. 2B-Garrett Benson[Concordia, MO]; 4. 71-Jake Cheatham[Bethalto, IL]; 5. 1E-Eric Braundmeier[Godfrey, IL]; 6. 85J-Logan Julien[Oconomowoc, WI]; 7. 117-James Scott[Jackson, MO]; 8. 21-Aarik Andruskevitch[Riverton, IL]; 9. 88-Billy Lieb[Hammond, IL]; 10. 00T-Cole Tinsley[Bonne Terre, MO]

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