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Taylor Doubles Up Bennett Memorial

By BZ

(Macon, IL) Guy Taylor is at it again and again. Sounds like a broken record. But its true. Taylor took the checkered flag in two of the six features ran during the special 4th Annual Diane Bennett Memorial--a night dedicated to all drivers racing in the features with bonus money handed out to all racers--some $12,000 in cash and prizes.

Taylor won his fifth-straight and ninth Pro Modified feature to begin the night. The race was won from the pole position after he also took the checkered flag in the heat race. Taylor led all 15 laps. During the BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds, Taylor was faced with a more challenging scenario as Highland's Mike Harrison was at Macon to race and was flying around the high banks with no troubles at all. Taylor entered the evening tied for first place in the point standings with Rodney Standerfer. Midway through the race, Standerfer was running second & third behind and in front of David Shain, with Taylor right behind running a top five place. He was bumped and nudged by Alan Crowder which led to a stop at the bottom of the fourth turn. Usually those bumps don't cause much problems. This wasn't one of those times. Taylor's 4T ended up with a flat left rear tire and was sent to the infield. Standerfer would continue on and claim the point standings lead by the race's finish.

Harrison took all 20 laps and netted the special $1,000 first place check. Taylor's next success would come in the Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Model race while racing in the 10CE car, a racecar normally driven by Curtis Eller. Early success led to his front row starting spot along with Braden Johnson--who has won the last two feature races and three of the last four main events. Taylor's success was on the top where he moved past Timmy Dick for the lead on lap 18 and then held on the next 22 laps of the special 40-lap feature which was for $2,050-to-win.

This would make the second time that Guy Taylor has won two features on the same night in different divisions: July 9th in the BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds and the Pro Modifieds.

Luckily, Bobby Beiler didn't have to contend with Guy Taylor in the 51 Bistro Street Stocks class. Beiler had enough on his plate with Dave Crawley, Jr., Terry Reed and Jeremy Nichols racing for the special $675-to-win main event. Nichols looked unbeatable but as the laps were adding up, Beiler closed the gap and then lapped traffic came into play. Coming out of the second turn on the white flag lap, Nichols, Beiler and the lapped car all got tangled and then mangled. With Nichols in the middle of the beating, his car wouldn't be able to continue and Beiler would assume the lead for the final lap and the checkered flag. Beiler and Nichols are the only winners in the Street Stock class on the Diane Bennett Memorial night with Nichols taking the wins in 2019 & 2021 while Beiler has won in 2020 & 2022.

An added bonus to the auto racing was the PureMax HART Micro Sprint Series Presented by EMi. 24 non-winged Micro Sprints took to the 1/5th mile track for a 20-lap battle. As Hayden Harvey and Kyle Barker were back and forth for the lead with both high and low grooves being run cleanly, a Micro flipped and landed on Harvey's car which knocked him out of the feature. Barker was positioned as the leader and on the restart with Daryn Stark, Barker lost the lead to Stark and took off for the final six laps. Stark won for the second straight week after winning in the POWRi Micro Sprint Series at Macon Speedway a week ago.

The finale of the evening was the $695 Hornet feature race that was a tribute to long-time supporter of the Diane Bennett Memorial and fallen racer Joe Reed. The race was started and ended abruptly by Billy Mason, who was racing in Joe Reed's car. A broken rod led to Mason rolling it in the third turn on the opening lap. As he was brought into the infield and the race restarted, Allan Harris and Brady Reed took off. Reed was back for the first time since the birth of his son and used the high side of the track to pass and go for the win. While Brady Reed was enjoying the bonus payday, last place finishing racer Bridget Fulton took home $250 extra money--$200 from Rich, Terry & Scott Webb--son, daughter-in-law and grandson of Macon Speedway pioneer Wayne Webb, and also $50 from Ryan Murray, a long time Macon Speedway track official.

The night was full of smiles and happiness in honor of Diane Bennett, the long time hand scorer of Macon Speedway for nearly 40 years. The Bennett family once again went above and beyond to provide for racecar drivers and teams through the donations. Many events get built on winning and finishing first but this event gets put together on bonus money for all who race and finish.

Next week, Macon Speedway brings the return of the CEFCU Kids Club and the Spectator Drags along with a full program of stock car racing with the Decatur Building Trades Pro Late Models, BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds, 51 Bistro Street Stocks, Pro Modifieds, Micro Sprints Presented by Bailey Chassis and the Hornets. 

Feature Rundowns (Top 10’s) 

Decatur Building Trades Big 10 Pro Late Models 

10CE-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 2. 22-Chris Dick[Deland, IL]; 3. 14J-Braden Johnson[Taylorville, IL]; 4. 122-Timmy Dick[Monticello, IL]; 5. 34-Tommy Sheppard Jr[New Berlin, IL]; 6. 11-Ryan Miller[Lincoln, IL]; 7. 77-Blaise Baker[Clinton, IL]; 8. 10-Blake Damery[Macon, IL]; 9. 5B-Brandon Sweitzer[Lincoln, IL]; 10. T22-Curtis Eller[Taylorville, IL]

BillingsleyRewards.com Modifieds 

24H-Mike Harrison[Highland, IL]; 2. 87D-David Shain[Humboldt, IL]; 3. 28-Rodney Standerfer[Summerfield, IL]; 4. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[Highland, IL]; 5. 52-Billy Knebel[Pocahontas, IL]; 6. 10-Zach Rhodes[Taylorville, IL]; 7. 72W-Kaleb Wood[Sullivan, IL]; 8. 99-Tim Luttrell[Riverton, IL]; 9. 13-Jason Scrimpsher[Decatur, IL]; 10. 78-Maxx Emerson[Taylorville, IL]

DIRTcar Pro Mods

4T-Guy Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 2. 24Z-Zach Taylor[Springfield, IL]; 3. 78-Maxx Emerson[Taylorville, IL]; 4. 27X-Bobby Beiler[Blue Mound, IL]; 5. 52X-Kyle Helmick[Smithton, IL]; 6. 10-Adam Rhoades[Clinton, IL]; 7. 7B-Brian Burns[Bethany, IL]; 8. 24M-Matt Milner[Chatham, IL]; 9. 59-JD Evans Carter[Mattoon, IL]; 10. 12-Dean Holt[Decatur, IL]

51 Bistro Big 10 Street Stocks

17-Bobby Beiler[Blue Mound, IL]; 2. 11-Terry Reed[Cerro Gordo, IL]; 3. 16-Nick Macklin[Argenta, IL]; 4. 38-Dave Crawley Jr[Decatur, IL]; 5. R1-Jim Ransom[Williamsport, IN]; 6. 2Z-Andy Zahnd[White Heath, IL]; 7. 21-Jaret Duff[Maroa, IL]; 8. 4-Zach Clark[Illiopolis, IL]; 9. J98-Jordan Smith[Argenta, IL]; 10. 80-Brian J Dasenbrock[Decatur, IL]

DIRTcar Hornets

324-Brady Reed[Decatur, IL]; 2. 3H-Allan Harris[Chatham, IL]; 3. E77-Erik Vanapeldoorn[Clinton, IL]; 4. 74-Joe Laws[Hillsboro, IL]; 5. DA28-Jimmy Dutlinger[Peoria, IL]; 6. 95Q-Tristin Quinlan[Decatur, IL]; 7. 37-Lukas Robison[Sullivan, IL]; 8. 39M-Marty Sullivan[Decatur, IL]; 9. 20-Casey Eskew[Springfield, IL]; 10. 20B-Bridget Fulton[Marissa, IL]

HART Non-Wing Micros 

1. 55S-Daryn Stark[Springfield, IL]; 2. 27-Kyle Barker[Cooksville, IL]; 3. 92-John Plotner[Decatur, IL]; 4. 57V-Matt Veatch[Macedonia, IL]; 5. 1E-Eric Braundmeier[Godfrey, IL]; 6. 72-Hunter Pruitt[Washington, MO]; 7. 18X-Michael Brummitt[Mount Zion, IL]; 8. 18-Aidan Leingang[Coal Valley, IL]; 9. 00-Joe Taft[Dawson, IL]; 10. 11-Alex Midkiff[Belleville, IL]

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