The “Dauminator” Zach Daum from Pocahontas returned to Macon Speedway with his Built Ford Tough 410 MOWA Sprint Car with ambitions of taking the checkered flag. He did with relative ease on Saturday night.
During his untimed and unofficial hot laps, Daum crossed with his best time of nearly half a second off the track record. Zaum pushed across a 10-lap heat race win. The re-draw for the front rows ended up having Friday night winner Steven Russell and Daum paired together in the first row. The race looked to be decided between them as they pushed free of the 19 starters in the 25-lap A-Main feature.
Russell fought solidly with the same vigor he had to win at Jacksonville the night before and looked well poised for back-to-back features. The first half of the race was Russell’s to lead but as the laps added and the track took more tires and rubber, Daum started to close in and make his move. Lap 16, Daum took over the lead from Russell and pulled away for the final remaining laps.
Daum is not a stranger to Macon Speedway Victory Lane as he formally won with the POWRi Midgets over the last many years.
Wes O’Dell and Dennis Vandermeersch put on a thrilling show in the Weddle Performance Engines Sportsman division. Paired in the front row, O’Dell blasted off like a rocket to get ahead of Vandermeersch. Within the first five laps, O’Dell caught up to the back of the 15-car field and started to slow from his eager pace. As Vandermeersch closed the distance, O’Dell zigged and zagged through the cars to hold the lead and never let himself fall to second place. The two almost lapped the field of cars as they raced solidly during the 15-lap race. O’Dell pushed through and scored his third feature win of 2023.
The Pro Modified feature race saw Guy Taylor win for the first time in 2023. Bothered by tough starts and unlikely finishes, Taylor has started to put together his car for the summer run and took care of the heat race and started on the pole. 4-time feature winner Dalton Ewing started sixth and charged his way up the field to pull close to the leader but ran out of laps as Taylor grabbed the checkered flag.
Tristin Quinlan won in the Hornets for the first time since mid-April. The defending division champion faced tough competition in last week’s winner Billy Mason and former Hornet champion John Bright, Jr. but pulled ahead late to win.
Macon Speedway introduced a new division on Saturday night—the High School Racing Association. High Schoolers aged 14-through-19 are racing in 4-door Sedans to get seat time and begin their racing careers. Two drivers made the trip to Macon Speedway for the inaugural event, Westervelt’s Garet Martz and Shelbyville’s Austin Adams. Adams would be plagued by liquid leaking from his car which allowed Martz to run with the win. The HSRA will return July 22 and August 12.
Macon Speedway owner Chris Kearns debuted a new winner’s circle on Saturday night. The Victory Lane banner is now positioned in the infield by the first and second turns. Dubbing his race track “The Coolest Bullring in the Country,” he has named his new Victory Lane winner “Top Wrangler of the Night.” The new look winner’s circle pictures are available for viewing, courtesy of Aggressive Business Dynamics’ Andrew Sims, on Macon Speedway’s Facebook page.
Another week of open wheel racing returns next Saturday with the Illinois Speedweek for the POWRi National Midgets and Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chassis. The Red’s Place Modifieds and 51 Bistro Street Stocks will also highlight the program.
Macon Speedway is just weeks away from its biggest summer show—a three-day event featuring the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals race on Thursday, July 6th, The Herald & Review 100. The USAC/AMSOIL National Sprint Cars will be at Macon Speedway on Friday, July 7th and Saturday, July 8th for a two-day race event. Advance Reserved and General Admission tickets are available now for the three-day show as well as just the two-day USAC National Sprint special. Purchase your tickets now at maconracing.com.
Feature Rundowns (Top 10’s)
Built Ford Tough MOWA Sprint Cars
1. 31-Zach Daum[Pocahontas, IL]; 2. 1JR-Steven Russell[Rochester, IL]; 3. 77U-Chris Urish[Elkhart, IL]; 4. 99-Bret Tripplett[Lincoln, IL]; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman[New Berlin, IL]; 6. 7A-Will Armitage[Athens, IL]; 7. 55T-McKenna Haase[Des Moines, IA]; 8. 52F-Logan Faucon[Elkhart, IL]; 9. 42-Preston Perlmutter[San Antonio, TX]; 10. 12-Adyn Schmidt[Haubstadt, IN]
DIRTcar Pro Mods
1. 4T-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 2. 27-Dalton Ewing[Decatur, IL]; 3. 24M-Matt Milner[Chatham, IL]; 4. 15C-Kevin Crowder[Argenta, IL]; 5. 22-Darrell Dick[Monticello, IL]; 6. 1-Chris Erwin[Bement, IL]; 7. X75-Dylan Turpin[Unknown, IL]; 8. 10-Adam Rhoades[Clinton, IL]; 9. 11-Amanda Adams[Shelbyville, IL]; 10. 7B-Brian Burns[Bethany, IL]
Weddle Performance Engines Sportsman
1. 87-Wes O’Dell[Springfield, IL]; 2. 25-Dennis Vander Meersch[Springfield, IL]; 3. 46-Randy Huffman[Maroa, IL]; 4. 21C-Ed Cleeton[Tovey, IL]; 5. 18-Jeff Ray[Springfield, IL]; 6. 55-Tim Riech[Petersburg, IL]; 7. 14-Cole Landers[Taylorville, IL]; 8. 11-Roy Magee[Springfield, IL]; 9. 15-Josh Hetherington[Fairbury, IL]; 10. 12M-Terry Myers[Buffalo, IL]
High School Racing Association
1. 52IL-Garet Martz[Westervelt, IL]; 2. (DNF) 74-Austin Adams[Shelbyville, IL]
DIRTcar Hornets
1. 95Q-Tristin Quinlan[Decatur, IL]; 2. 357-Billy Mason[Brownstown, IL]; 3. 7-John Bright Jr[Long Creek, IL]; 4. 37M-Cole Martz[Findlay, IL]; 5. 10-Colin Reed[Decatur, IL]; 6. 13G-Gage Rusher[Stonington, IL]; 7. 63-Paul Peters[Pana, IL]; 8. 98-Ken Reed[Decatur, IL]; 9. (DNS) 20B-Bridget Fulton; 10. (DNS) 37-Lukas Robison
Track Enterprises PR
