14 cars stopped in at the Mighty Macon Speedway this evening, paying a visit to "the little track that could" and fans were not to be disappointed as the feature was a barnstormer with plenty of passing!

Kerby Damery started the evening by setting the fast time with a lap of 11.018.

The dash was topped by Roger Brickler over Mike Mudd, Brad Shelley, Damery, Marvin Burton and Virgil Bilbry.

The first heat was won by Ed Bauman over John Graham, Matt Beadle, Chris Dick, Brian Shirley and Lonnie Franklin.

The second heat was won by Matt Taylor over Bilbry, Mudd, Brickler, Shelley, Damery and Burton.

The feature got off to an exciting start with Mike Mudd from his pole position taking the point ahead of Shelley, Burton, Brickler and Damery completing the top 5.

After leading the first 3 laps, Marvin Burton found his way around Mudd on lap 4. The whole time Taylor from his 7th starting position and Shirley from the 8th starting position were working the field and gaining positions.

The first caution of the event would fly on lap 5 as Beadle spun on the front stretch. On the same caution, before the field could get restarted, Butch Smith exited the track with a ruptured fuel cell.

At the restart it was Burton, Taylor, Mudd, Shirley and Shelley filling the top 5 positions.

The running order remained the same until lap 8 when Shirley worked his way underneath Mudd to overtake 4th place.

On lap 9 the second caution of the event would fly as Graham came to a halt on the backstretch after contact with the outside wall. The restart was aborted as the caution once again flew for debris on the track as track officials removed a chunk of metal off the track.

On the restart it was Taylor showing his strength as he pulled away over Burton, Shirley, Roger Brickler and Shelley.

Lap 18 would be the demise of Bricklers path to the front as he spun in turns 3 and 4 attempting to pass Shirley on the high side. Ed Bauman in an attempt to keep from hitting Brickler stopped also after making contact with the outside wall in turns 3 and 4, bringing Baumans end to a premature halt.

At the restart it was again Taylor, Burton, Shirley, Shelly and Damery in the top 5.

Before the 19th lap could be completed Shirley motored past Burton to take over the runner up position.

On lap 23 the final caution of the event would be displayed as Brickler spun entering turn 1.

When the checkered fell on the field it was Matt Taylor in the Boogity Boogity Enterprises #73p normally occupied by Pee Wee Smith going to victory lane followed by current Macon Speedway point championship leader and UMP Rookie of the Year points leader Brian Shirley earning his 5th consecutive runner up position at the track, Marvelous Marvin Burton, Damery, Shelly, Bilbry, Dick, Lonnie Franklin and Brickler.

On a sidenote Kyle Logue earned a hard fought battle for the win in the UMP Modified Division over Matt Goulden.

Steve "Weedhopper: Ewing, current points championship leader in the street stock division made a clean sweep of the evenings card in that division after earning the win in both the heat and feature events, padding his lead in the quest for the track points crown.

STORY  BY  SMASH

Joe Ross, Jr. who has been running a limited schedule this season, made the most of his two outings this weekend by winning both Farmer City Raceway on Friday night and doubling up with a win at the mighty MACON Speedway on Saturday night.

Ross, Jr. led a field of cars under an almost full moon to the checkered flag.

The evening began wioth Roger Brickler turning the tiny speedplant with a time of 11.380, fastest among the 13 cars on hand.


The dash was won by the young midwestern rookie Donnie Walden as he held off veteran Ed Bauman, Ross, Jr., Brickler, Virgil Bilbry and Brian Shirley.

The first heat was topped by Mike Mudd over Nick Bauman, Butch Smith, Kerby Damery and Jeff Wallis.

The second heat was won by Ross, Jr. over Bauman, Walden, Brian Shirley, Bilbrey and Brickler.

The feature took several attempts to get underway after the initial start when Mike Mudd and Jeff Wallis got together entering turn 1 to complete lap 1. Mudd was able to restart while Wallis was attended to at the track ambulance with a suspected arm injury.

On the next restart, when the field was about to complete a lap, turn 1 and 2 seen Roger Brickler get together with Ed Bauman and Butch Smith as Brickler spun in fron of the field from his outside front row starting position. Baumans car suffered suspension damage and was forced to a spectator position in the infield while Brickler and Smith restarted the event.

On the third and final attempt at getting the race underway the cars were relegated to a single file start and it was Virgil Bilbry taking the point ahead of Ross, Jr., Shirley, Smith and Nick Bauman completing the top 5.

On lap 8 Bauman completed a pass on Smith moving himself into 4th position.

The running order remained the same until lap 17 when Shirley got into the rear of Bilbry shaking him loose and completed a pass of Bilbry on lap 18.

When the gren flag fell it was Ross, Jr. followed by Shirley, Bilbry, Bauman, Walden, Smith, Brickler and Brad Shelley.

Brian Shirley by virtue of his second place finish tonight in addition to both Matt Taylor and Steve Sheppard, Jr. being no shows, extended his points lead in his quest for the 2002 Late Model track championship at the speedway. Additionally, he also continues to lead the 2002 U.M.P. Rookie of the Year points chase.

An honorable mention is due Rick Scott who won his first feature at the Macon Speedway tonight in the modified division after years of competition at the facility.