The 2024 racing season is officially underway at Lincoln Speedway after three rainouts to start the season. Believe it or not, despite little to no rain in the forecast, several small spots of heavy rainfall were popping up in Central Illinois making everyone at the track nervous. Fortunately, we made it through the night unscathed and five drivers celebrated season opening victories.
In the 305 Sprint Cars, veteran Aaron Andruskevitch jumped out to an early lead and fended off a strong challenge from youngster John Barnard. Barnard followed him closely at times ready to pounce but was never able to overtake the #21. Following the pair were Evan Turner, Kyle Barker, and Joe Jiannoni.
The MARA Midgets brought another strong field of nearly 20 cars to the track for their 20-lap feature event. Alex Midkiff led early before Patrick Bruns got by for the lead. Bruns lead, however, was short lived as he got into the wall after a couple of laps out front. Midkiff went on to lead the final five laps to claim the victory. Following him at the finish were Mark McMahill, Mitchell Davis, Jace Sparks, and Tyler Roth.
Longtime Lincoln racer, Mike Brooks led early on in the DIRTcar Modified feature before sliding a little to sideways on the fourth circuit in turn one. Brooks was relegated to the tail for the restart, handing the lead to Jared Thomas. Thomas led for a couple laps before Michael Ledford snuck by to race out front and hold off Mike Chasteen, Jr. for the victory. Brian Lynn, Tim Luttrell, and Guy Taylor completed the top five.
In what may have been the best race of the night, the DIRTcar Pro Late Models had an edge of your seat type race. While the battle wasn’t for the lead, the battles from second on back were outstanding. Dakota Ewing, who is off to a good start this year, arrived late at the track and was racing through the field. Braden Johnson, last year’s champion, and Ewing put on an epic back-and-forth battle of slider after slider going for second. The racing attorney, Denny Woodworth, was also involved as was Ryan Miller. On a late race restart, the four put on a great show racing for podium spots. Meanwhile, Chase Osterhoff was cruising at the front, hitting his marks and going on to the convincing victory. Ewing took second with Johnson, Woodworth, and Miller completing the top five.
Rounding out the night’s action was a pint-sized field of DIRTcar Street Stocks. Jaret Duff, of Maroa, IL raced out front early but didn’t have it easy as Lincoln, IL’s own, Justin Crowell followed closely in second. Eventually Duff was able to get away and claim the feature win. Crowell, Rudy Zaragoza, and Jeremy Madsen completed the top four.
June 7 will be the next event at Lincoln Speedway with the Crown Vic class debuting and the Hornets getting their chance in the Ed Cain Trucking Hornet Challenge. In addition, the Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Sportsman, and MARA Midgets will race.
For more information, including the full 2024 schedule, visit www.lincolnspeedwayil.com.
Lincoln Speedway Season Opener Results
305 Sprints – Winged 11 Entries
A Feature 1 18 Laps | 00:11:54.956
1. 21-Aaron Andruskevitch[1]; 2. B8-John Barnard[2]; 3. 14-Evan Turner[5]; 4. 27-Kyle Barker[3]; 5. 41J-Joe Jiannoni[8]; 6. 007-Brady Barker[6]; 7. 22K-Kelli Harter[9]; 8. 99-Jarrett Weyant[10]; 9. (DNF) 88-Riley Scott[4]; 10. (DNF) 42-Kevin Battefeld[7]; 11. (DNS) X-Robbie Standridge
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:50.734
1. 21-Aaron Andruskevitch[5]; 2. 27-Kyle Barker[2]; 3. 14-Evan Turner[1]; 4. 42-Kevin Battefeld[4]; 5. 22K-Kelli Harter[3]; 6. X-Robbie Standridge[6]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:31.503
1. B8-John Barnard[5]; 2. 88-Riley Scott[2]; 3. 007-Brady Barker[1]; 4. 41J-Joe Jiannoni[4]; 5. 99-Jarrett Weyant[3]
DIRTcar Pro Late Models 11 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:11:50.641
1. 130-Chase Osterhoff[2]; 2. 25-Dakota Ewing[6]; 3. 14J-Braden Johnson[1]; 4. 45DW-Denny Woodworth[4]; 5. 11-Ryan Miller[3]; 6. 5B-Brandon Sweitzer[5]; 7. 77-Blaise Baker[8]; 8. 17-Ian Logan[10]; 9. 14-Derek Smith[9]; 10. 16C-Tristan Coleman[11]; 11. (DNF) 7Z-Michael Maestas[7]
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:14.056
1. 45DW-Denny Woodworth[1]; 2. 130-Chase Osterhoff[2]; 3. 5B-Brandon Sweitzer[4]; 4. 7Z-Michael Maestas[3]; 5. 14-Derek Smith[5]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:01.787
1. 11-Ryan Miller[1]; 2. 14J-Braden Johnson[3]; 3. 25-Dakota Ewing[6]; 4. 77-Blaise Baker[2]; 5. 17-Ian Logan[4]; 6. 16C-Tristan Coleman[5]
Qualifying 1
1. 45DW-Denny Woodworth, 00:13.810[2]; 2. 130-Chase Osterhoff, 00:14.030[4]; 3. 7Z-Michael Maestas, 00:14.182[5]; 4. 5B-Brandon Sweitzer, 00:14.246[1]; 5. 14-Derek Smith, 00:14.480[3]
Qualifying 2
1. 11-Ryan Miller, 00:14.030[5]; 2. 77-Blaise Baker, 00:14.311[2]; 3. 14J-Braden Johnson, 00:14.382[1]; 4. 17-Ian Logan, 00:14.583[4]; 5. 16C-Tristan Coleman, 00:15.509[3]; 6. (DNS) 25-Dakota Ewing
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds 16 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:15:45.933
1. 37L-Michael Ledford[3]; 2. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[4]; 3. 14-Brian Lynn[5]; 4. 99-Tim Luttrell[9]; 5. 19C-Guy Taylor[7]; 6. 3-Mike Brooks[1]; 7. 24T-Trevor Ringle[8]; 8. 96C-Marshall Call[11]; 9. 71-Jeff Graham[10]; 10. Z24-Zach Taylor[12]; 11. RED1-Dan Wheeler[13]; 12. 15-Cody Young[15]; 13. (DNF) 9-Austin O’Dell[6]; 14. (DNF) 11-Bryce Cunningham[14]; 15. (DNF) 43T-Jared Thomas[2]; 16. (DNS) 21P-Michael Mennel
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:51.349
1. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[1]; 2. 43T-Jared Thomas[3]; 3. 14-Brian Lynn[2]; 4. 19C-Guy Taylor[5]; 5. 99-Tim Luttrell[8]; 6. 96C-Marshall Call[4]; 7. RED1-Dan Wheeler[6]; 8. 15-Cody Young[7]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:06:18.595
1. 37L-Michael Ledford[1]; 2. 3-Mike Brooks[2]; 3. 9-Austin O’Dell[3]; 4. 24T-Trevor Ringle[4]; 5. 71-Jeff Graham[8]; 6. Z24-Zach Taylor[5]; 7. 11-Bryce Cunningham[7]; 8. (DNF) 21P-Michael Mennel[6]
Qualifying 1
1. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr, 00:14.040[3]; 2. 14-Brian Lynn, 00:14.153[1]; 3. 43T-Jared Thomas, 00:14.223[2]; 4. 96C-Marshall Call, 00:14.837[7]; 5. 19C-Guy Taylor, 00:14.918[4]; 6. RED1-Dan Wheeler, 00:15.793[5]; 7. 15-Cody Young, 00:15.921[6]; 8. (DNS) 99-Tim Luttrell
Qualifying 2
1. 37L-Michael Ledford, 00:14.158[7]; 2. 3-Mike Brooks, 00:14.398[6]; 3. 9-Austin O’Dell, 00:14.609[4]; 4. 24T-Trevor Ringle, 00:14.622[1]; 5. Z24-Zach Taylor, 00:15.520[8]; 6. 11-Bryce Cunningham, 00:15.936[3]; 7. 21P-Michael Mennel, 00:16.283[2]; 8. (DNS) 71-Jeff Graham
MARA Midgets by AgVenture/Wehmeyer Seed 19 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:24:52.474
1. 05-Alex Midkiff[1]; 2. 57M-Mark McMahill[7]; 3. 6B-Mitchell Davis[4]; 4. 40-Jace Sparks[8]; 5. 18-Tyler Roth[6]; 6. 15C-RJ Corson[11]; 7. 41-Parker Jones[13]; 8. 53M-Miles Doherty[3]; 9. 10C-Daltyn England[2]; 10. 12C-Dominic Bruns[17]; 11. 71H-Michael Hermacinski[14]; 12. 5-Jacob Sollenberger[12]; 13. 51-Chris Young[18]; 14. (DNF) 75-Patrick Bruns[5]; 15. (DNF) 20H-Reuben Haslett[10]; 16. (DNF) 34-Ken Hanson[16]; 17. (DNF) 73W-Luke Wackerlin[19]; 18. (DNF) 77-Tim Siner[9]; 19. (DNF) 00-John Heitzman[15]
AgVenture/Wehmeyer Seed Heat 1 8 Laps | AgVenture/Wehmeyer Seed
1. 10C-Daltyn England[7]; 2. 40-Jace Sparks[5]; 3. 05-Alex Midkiff[6]; 4. 77-Tim Siner[3]; 5. 20H-Reuben Haslett[2]; 6. 5-Jacob Sollenberger[4]; 7. 71H-Michael Hermacinski[1]; 8. 12C-Dominic Bruns[8]; 9. 00-John Heitzman[9]
Simpson Race Products Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:05:51.930 | Simpson Race Products
1. 6B-Mitchell Davis[2]; 2. 75-Patrick Bruns[3]; 3. 53M-Miles Doherty[1]; 4. 57M-Mark McMahill[6]; 5. 18-Tyler Roth[4]; 6. 15C-RJ Corson[5]; 7. 41-Parker Jones[7]; 8. 51-Chris Young[9]; 9. 34-Ken Hanson[10]; 10. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[8]
Group Qualifying
1. 41-Parker Jones, 00:13.539[15]; 2. 57M-Mark McMahill, 00:13.621[12]; 3. 15C-RJ Corson, 00:13.669[18]; 4. 18-Tyler Roth, 00:13.821[6]; 5. 75-Patrick Bruns, 00:13.984[8]; 6. 6B-Mitchell Davis, 00:14.014[3]; 7. 53M-Miles Doherty, 00:14.045[11]; 8. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 00:14.082[10]; 9. 10C-Daltyn England, 00:14.102[13]; 10. 05-Alex Midkiff, 00:14.134[16]; 11. 40-Jace Sparks, 00:14.228[7]; 12. 12C-Dominic Bruns, 00:14.521[17]; 13. 5-Jacob Sollenberger, 00:14.545[4]; 14. 77-Tim Siner, 00:14.747[5]; 15. 20H-Reuben Haslett, 00:15.117[1]; 16. 71H-Michael Hermacinski, 00:15.457[2]; 17. 51-Chris Young, 00:16.711[19]; 18. 00-John Heitzman, 00:16.896[9]; 19. (DNF) 34-Ken Hanson[14]
Street Stocks 4 Entries
A Feature 1 12 Laps | 00:05:13.907
1. 21-Jaret Duff[1]; 2. 24-Justin Crowell[2]; 3. 67-Rudy Zaragoza[3]; 4. 44J-Jeremy Madsen[4]
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:40.000
1. 21-Jaret Duff[1]; 2. 24-Justin Crowell[3]; 3. 67-Rudy Zaragoza[2]; 4. 44J-Jeremy Madsen[4]
Track Enterprises PR
