Macon's 67th Season is Off and Running
(4/7/2012)
The off-season was much different entering 2012. A warmer winter had racers and racing fans more eager than usual or the start of the season and as the first Saturday in April arrived, Macon Speedway was ready to welcome a large number of racecars (116) and a full crowd was in attendance for the 5th Annual Spring Fling, presented by Sun Drop Citrus Soda.
The start of the season also marked the return of Macon favorite Kyle Logue. Logue has dedicated his 2012 to racing around the state and trying out other tracks but Opening Night is special to him and he came back to his home track with a purpose to get off to a great start. He was the second fastest qualifier, behind Ryan Little's fast time (10.503, Logue was 10.671), he won his heat starting from the pole and was slated front row outside with Decatur's Terry Babb, who was also a heat winner.
Logue looked dominate from the open and pulled away early leaving Babb and Little to fend for runner-up. Logue's victory seemed overshadowed by the great race for second as Babb and Little hung side-by-side through the turns and straightaways. In the end, Logue prevailed as Little took advantage of a Babb miscue in the second turn of the final lap to place second. Babb took third. Springfield's John Beck was fourth and Greg Kimmons rounded out the top five.
There was an extra bonus to Opening Night for the Street Stock division as SNS Auto Sales of Decatur chipped in to offer $500 for the first place prize of the feature. 25 Street Stock drivers came with that goal in mind and Decatur's Steve Ewing, driving his brother's car, took top honor showing his dominance once again. Mike Pickering tried to catch up to the leader but would settle for second place. Mike Pundt, Jr., was good enough for third over Larry Russell, Jr., and Terry Reed.
In his 15th anniversary of stock car racing, Jeremy Nichols of Decatur has won some races, some championships and suffered his share of broken down cars, but Opening Night was another night for him to live happy as he led wire-to-wire in the Billingsley Towing Modified Feature. The race seemed to go at a snail's pace due to caution flags and inability to stay green-flag racing but when the racing was going on, it was good. Nichols took to the low groove well and held off Guy Taylor, who was also trying the bottom, but couldn’t get enough to pass the leader. Jeffrey Curl settled for third in his mangled Modified after an early race accident. Joe Strawkas and Danny Smith rounded out the top five.
Mike Pickering may have only netted a second place finish in the Street Stock feature but was more than proud of his Sportsman feature victory. Passing defending champion Nick Macklin on the fifth lap, Pickering owned the remainder of the event and only drew challenge from former Street Stock competitor and new Sportsman division driver Nick Justice. Pickering was no match and won over Justice. Rick Roedel of Shelbyville was impressive with his ability to make moves late in the race and finish third ahead of Dennis Vandermeersch. Scott Landers was good for fifth. Macklin, who came off the track on the seventh lap with a bad tire returned to finish sixth.
Jeremy Reed got his championship-hopeful season off to a good start with a feature win in the Pro Hornet class. Reed finished second in points in 2011 and was really after a good start to 2012. He couldn't have asked for a better start and was better than 19 other drivers in the eight-lap A-Main. His cousin Brady Reed took top honors in the Amateur Hornet class as he drove the same car.
The season is off and running in Macon as the 67th consecutive season of stock car racing is now in full swing. A full show with all racing classes is expected next week.
This article posted by Macon Speedway. Click here for more track information.
