Point Battles Are Tight On Final Night

While many fans will be attending Macon Speedway this coming Saturday, October 3, to see the open wheel stars in the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midgets and Speedway Motors POWRi Micros, a good number will be there watching the championship battles go down to the final laps in the Pro Late Model and B-Mod divisions.

Sheppard Taylor Carry Flags                Just two points separate Berlin, IL driver Tommy Sheppard, Jr. and Springfield, IL driver Guy Taylor in the Macon Speedway Pro Late Model points.  Sheppard claimed the first feature of the year, back on April 18 at the season opener and has held the lead for much of the year.  Taylor, who looks to be on his way to the Midwest Big Ten Series championship, has won six features at the 1/5-mile out of the ten held.  Sheppard’s consistency has been good enough to keep him ahead, though.  Each position on Saturday night awards two more points than the next.  It looks as if it will come down to who finishes ahead of who for the track championship.  It’s that close.

Touching on the Big Ten points a little further, Taylor has a 56 point lead on Sheppard and a 66 point lead on third place point man, Nick Bauman, of New Berlin, IL.  Bauman has competed in one less event than Taylor and Sheppard.  After Saturday night, each drivers best eight point nights will be used.  That will put Bauman right there in the mix, but it doesn’t look like Sheppard or Bauman can garner the points necessary to make it happen.  The likely battle to watch will be for the runner-up spot.

Macon Speedway’s other class running will be the ever growing B-Mod division.  The point Farley And Riech
battle is tight there as well.  Currently, two Springfield drivers are in contention as Thomas Riech has a ten point lead on James Farley, III.  Riech has not found victory lane this season, while Farley won his lone feature of the year on June 6.

While the likelihood is not high, if a tie to occur for a point position, the tie-breaker would go to the driver with the most wins.  If each driver has the same amount of wins, then the next tie-breaker would be second place finishes and on down the line.  Taylor holds the advantage in wins for Pro Late Model competition, while Farley does in the B-Mod class.  However, if Riech wins, that would give he and Farley the same amount of wins, resulting in tie-breakers moving to second place finishes.

It will definitely be a fun sideshow to watch on a great night of POWRi racing at Macon Speedway, where the racing action has been outstanding over the past month.  We’ve seen track records, strong fields of cars in different divisions, two and three wide battles last for many laps, and overall, just good entertainment.

Pit gates will open this Saturday at 3:00, grandstands at 4:00, hotlaps will start at 6:00 when the pill draw ends, and racing will begin at 7:00.  Grandstand admission is $15, while kids 11 and under get in free.

For more information, follow Macon Speedway online at www.maconracing.com, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/maconracing) and Twitter (@maconspeedway). It’s easy to join the Macon Speedway text service. Fans can text MSFANS to 74574 to receive fan information. Drivers text MSDRIVERS to 74574 to receive driver information. Message and date rates apply. Updates are also available by calling Macon Speedway at 217-764-3000.

Macon Speedway is located nine miles south of Decatur on U.S. 51, then 0.6 miles west on Andrews Street and south to 205 N. Wiles. Macon Speedway hosts racing every Saturday night, plus many weeknight specials.

CURRENT STANDINGS

UMP Pro Late Models (Top 10)
1)
Tommy Sheppard, Jr.-Berlin, IL 530 2)Guy Taylor-Springfield, IL 528 3)Bobby Beiler-Blue Mound, IL 434 4)Matt Taylor-Springfield, IL 410 5)Robin Huffman Clinton, IL 404 6)Kevin Crowder-Argenta, IL 380 7)Shawn Ziemer-Boody, IL 320  8)Dakota Ewing-Decatur, IL 308 9)Cody Maguire-Carlinville, IL 294 10)Victor Overlin-Decatur, IL 286

UMP B-Mods (Top 10)
1)Thomas Riech-Springfield, IL 518 2)James Farley, III-Springfield, IL 508 3)Ryan Timmons-Centralia, IL 448 4)Roy MaGee, II-Springfield, IL 382 5)Cody Stillwell-Godfrey, IL 300  6)Justin Durbin-Mulberry Grove, IL 290 7)Tim Hancock-Mt. Olive, IL 254 8)Steve Phillips-Neoga, IL 236  9)Dave Eckel-Lovington, IL 224 10)Jim Lafferty-Carlinville, IL 204

FINAL STANDINGS

Billingsley Towing UMP Modifieds (Top 10)
1)
Rodney Standerfer-Germantown, IL 956 2)Jeff Graham-Stonington, IL 914 3)Curt Rhodes-Decatur, IL 798 4)Clark Robertson-Shelbyville, IL 738 5)TD Burger-Saunemin, IL 666 6)David Crawley, Jr.-Decatur, IL 576 7)Joe Strawkas-Buffalo, IL 570 8)Alan Crowder-Elwin, IL 516 9)Randy Spaugh-Decatur, IL 450  10)Zach Rhodes-Taylorville, IL 422

UMP Sportsman (Top 10)
1)Timmy Dick-Monticello, IL 346 2)Tim Bedinger-Taylorville, IL 308 3)Tom Graham-Stonington, IL 302 4)Jeremy Nichols-Shelbyville, IL 282 5)Danny Smith-Argenta, IL 270 6)Dennis Vandermeersch-Springfield, IL 230 7)Phil Moreland-Assumption, IL 190 8)Scott Landers-Taylorville, IL 150 9)Wes O’Dell-Springfield, IL 104 10)Richie Rich-Pontiac, IL 100

UMP Street Stocks (Top 10)
1)Terry Reed-Decatur, Il 1038 2)Brian Dasenbrock-Decatur, IL 920 3)Kyle Waters-Oreana, IL 916 4)Greg Osman-Macon, IL 898 5)Jeffery Reed, Jr.-Blue Mound, IL 820 6)Jason Scrimpsher-Decatur, IL 764 7)Bobby Beiler-Blue Mound, IL 5728)Dustin Reed-Decatur, IL 466 9)Terry Reed, Sr.-Decatur, IL 462 10)Tharen Reno-Springfield, IL 452

UMP Hornets (Top 10)
1)John Bright, Jr.-Decatur, IL 888 2)Thad Gee-Bloomington, IL 828 3)Adam Webb-Decatur, IL 758 4)Steven Stine-Stonington, IL 748 5)Cook Crawford-Lincoln, IL 596 6)Marty Sullivan-Decatur, IL 584 7)Matthew Reed-Blue Mound, IL 566 8)Michael Gossett-Decatur, IL 558 9)Austin Wickline-Harristown, IL 506 10)Jeremy Reed-Decatur, Il 468