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Crowder Takes Checkered Flag at Macon Speedway

By BZ

(Macon, IL) Alan Crowder has been racing and competing at Macon Speedway for a lot of years, mainly in Sportsman and BillingsleyRewards.com Modified divisions. He's tasted success, failure, wrecks, dirt, all things considered and hasn't been able to win a feature. He's had the chances to be fastest qualifier and heat race winner but when it comes to the feature race, he's only been as high as first runner-up. Until Saturday night. During the BillingsleyRewards.com Modified feature with a caution flag that penalized Tommy Sheppard, Jr. for a spinout that sent him to the back, Crowder had one fewer driver to worry about. Guy Taylor, Curt Rhodes, Jarrett Stryker and Joe Strawkas were moving toward the front and after a handful of caution flags, Crowder opened his lead and took his first feature win in more than ten years.

Braden Johnson looked for a Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Model feature win and after bottom side passing to take the lead away from Ryan Miller, Johnson's car smoked and started to let up. That was the perfect time for Colby Sheppard to charge hard from the top and take the lead away and win as the green flag hit the air for two laps to go.

One of the closest feature finishes of the night came from the Archer's Alley Street Stocks as Darrell Dick narrowly crossed the finished line ahead of Guy Taylor. Rudy Zaragoza started the 15-lapper with the lead but lost it three laps in to Dick. Dick stayed on the top side and ran the best line he could to make sure he stayed in the lead as he saw Taylor, who ran the bottom, close in for the lead. As the race came to the finish, Dick loosened up on the top but still came through with speed to secure the win.

The other close feature finish was in the final race of the night with the $300-to-win "World Hornet Championship" race as the 4-cylinders ran for 15 laps to the finish. Billy Mason charged ahead of Allan Harris, Shelby Beiler, Eric VanApeldoorn and Michael McKay to have the lead. As the race moved through its laps and lapped traffic began to close in with Mason, McKay made his top side move and would steal the lead and the win away on the last turn of the last lap.

The Pro Modified feature saw Kyle Helmick once again claim victory lane. The race started with Helmick in second place behind Nick Justice. As the race hit the early laps, Justice loosened up when a lapped car was in his lane and after making the pass on the lapped car lost control and spun out. Justice went to the back and Helmick took the lead and that helped him extend his points lead with just a few weeks left on the schedule.

Aarik Andruskevitch was the fastest and quickest of the 12-car Micro Sprint field. The division, presented by Bailey Chassis, was a fast moving feature that worked out well for not only Andruskevitch but also John Barnard. The defending points champion would start ninth and finish third to receive a special $100 bonus as the Hard Charger from Roland Machinery in Springfield.

An added feature division Saturday night was the USAC/IMRA Speed 2 Midgets. Springfield's Tyler Roth was lightning quick in his heat race, won the dash to start on the pole and cruised to the feature win in the Durbin Strong 25. The family of Matt Durbin, who was seriously injured in a crash about year ago to the day at Macon Speedway, helped sponsor the event. Matt Durbin, who is on the long road to recovery, was in attendance as a spectator.

Macon Speedway thanks Air King for sponsoring the full night of racing and over 110 entries among the 7 racing divisions. The track rests for a week as crews will work with the Du Quoin State Fair Labor Day races next weekend. The racing returns for the final three scheduled race nights in September with 98.1 GRIZ-FM Night and the Vintage Racing of Illinois cars plus a full stock car racing program. 

Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models

27-Colby Sheppard[Williamsville, IL]; 2. 14J-Braden Johnson[Taylorville, IL]; 3. 7-Steven Reinacher[Pocahontas, IL]; 4. F15-Bob Sidener[Springfield, IL]; 5. 64-Donny Koehler[Macon, IL]; 6. 11-Ryan Miller[Lincoln, IL]; 7. 14-Derek Smith[Decatur, IL]; 8. 55-Rockett Bennett[Argenta, IL]; 9. (DNF) 10-Blake Damery[Blue Mound, IL]; 10. (DNF) 5B-Brandon Sweitzer[Lincoln, IL]

BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds

87C-Alan Crowder[Elwin, IL]; 2. 18-Jarrett Stryker[Millstadt, IL]; 3. 77-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 4. 52-Billy Knebel[Pocahontas, IL]; 5. 9-Andrew Depper[Belleville, IL]; 6. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[New Berlin, IL]; 7. 78-Maxx Emerson[Taylorville, IL]; 8. 71-Jeff Graham[Stonington, IL]; 9. 4G-John Goveia[Riverton, IL]; 10. 33-Josh Robb[Mt. Zion, IL]

DIRTcar Pro Mods

27X-Kyle Helmick[Smithton, IL]; 2. 24-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 3. 9-Andrew Depper[Belleville, IL]; 4. 52-Billy Knebel[Pocahontas, IL]; 5. 15C-Kevin Crowder[Argenta, IL]; 6. 29H-Cale Hartnagel[Pocahontas, IL]; 7. Z-Larry Bunning[Decatur, IL]; 8. 10-Adam Rhoades[Clinton, IL]; 9. 36-Nick Justice[Decatur, IL]; 10. 24M-Matt Milner[Chatham, IL]

Archers Alley Street Stocks

22-Darrell Dick[Monticello, IL]; 2. X7-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 3. 97-Josh Griffith[Charleston, IL]; 4. Z24-Zach Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 5. 56-Ron Hartnagel[Pocahontas, IL]; 6. 08-Brian Dasenbrock[Decatur, IL]; 7. 67R-Rudy Zaragoza[Jacksonville, IL]; 8. (DNF) 53R-Jeff Reed Jr[Blue Mound, IL]; 9. (DNF) 80-Brian Dasenbrock Jr[Decatur, IL]; 10. (DNF) 3J-Jonathon Hall[Harristown, IL]

DIRTcar Hornets

26A-Michael McKay[Springfield, IL]; 2. 357-Billy Mason[Brownstown, IL]; 3. 3H-Allan Harris[Chatham, IL]; 4. 324-Shelby Beiler[Macon, IL]; 5. J13-Justin Coffey[Stonington, IL]; 6. 1-Cook Crawford[Lincoln, IL]; 7. 44-Bill Basso[Athens, IL]; 8. 187-Korey Bailey[Stonington, IL]; 9. 9B-Brandon Miller[Broadwell, IL]; 10. 24M-Kagome Brown[Shelbyville, IL]

Micros By Bailey Chassis

21-Aarik Andruskevitch[Riverton, IL]; 2. 55S-Daryn Stark[Springfield, IL]; 3. 8B-John Barnard[Sherman, IL]; 4. 18-Michael Brummitt[Mt. Zion, IL]; 5. 55H-Hayden Harvey[Warrensburg, IL]; 6. 00-Joe Taft[Dawson, IL]; 7. 10-Jacob Tipton[Decatur, IL]; 8. 87-Collin Shain[Sullivan, IL]; 9. 7H-Jacob Hillyer[Spaulding, IL]; 10. A1-Aarin Squires[Springfield, IL]

USAC/IMRA Speed2 Midgets

18-Tyler Roth[Springfield, IL]; 2. 51R-Will Armitage[Athens, IL]; 3. 11H-Abby Hohlbein[Cloverdale, OH]; 4. 19E-Daltyn England[Springfield, IL]; 5. 127-Michael Armitage[Athens, IL]; 6. 57-Mark McMahill[Peoria, IL]; 7. 5G-Cody Gerdes[Eureka, IL]; 8. 0-Russell Johnston[Monmouth, IL]; 9. 15-RJ Corson[Markham, IL]; 10. 23-Patrick Ryan[Springfield, IL]

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