Allen Makes Final Lap Pass For Mod Victory

It was just a matter of time before young Josh Allen, son of longtime Canton UMP Modified driver Bobby Allen, made his way to Victory Lane after a feature at Spoon River Speedway in the track’s top Modified Division. And when he did, he did it in grand fashion, with a last lap pass of one of the best Mod drivers in the country, Allen Weisser, to take the win Saturday night. After honing his skills in the E-mod division for a couple of years, the younger Allen got a taste of the Open Mods last year, often in the same field as his Dad. This year, to this point, the elder Allen has stepped away from driving to focus on helping his son continue to develop. Josh won the feature Saturday, July 8^th at Charleston, IL for his first Mod feature win, and apparently it felt so good he didn’t want to wait for another.

Read more...

Weisser, Anderson, Elston Roar to Quick Draw Wins

It was just like old times Saturday at Spoon River Speedway, as the annual “Quick Draw” event returned for the night. The Quick Draw is an event that eliminates the heats for the night, instead running races in segments, with a redraw at the end of the segments that could invert the finishing order for the following segment, depending on what was spun on the “Wheel Of Invert!”. This year’s event was modified to make each division run two segments instead of three, meaning just one spin on the wheel, but the chances of starting “straight up” were limited by the odds on the wheel. Sure enough, the three top divisions of racing at the track all ended up inverting the entire field from the first segment, meaning the top finishers had to go all the way to the back of the pack and fight their way through the field to earn enough points to win the Quick Draw.

Read more...

Quick Draw 45 Races Saturday Night July 8th

This Saturday Night July 8^th will feature the Famous Quick Draw Races sponsored by Fulton County Farm Service, at the high banks of Spoon River Speedway. This year cars will run two segments instead of three with points being calculated in both segments to determine the winner and final finishing order after the second segment. Driver’s will draw for their starting spots in the first segment then the winner of the first segment will spin the Wheel of Fortune for the invert from 1 to 8 or whole field for the second segment. If you like passing this is the race you won’t want to miss.

On hand will be the Zane’s Automotive Service UMP Modifieds running a 20 lap segment then a 25 lap segment for $1000 to Win, the Perkins Seed House UMP Pro Late Models running a 20 lap segment then a 25 lap segment for $600 to Win, the Fulton Farm Service E-Mods running two 15 lap segments for $400 to Win and the Farmington Locker UMP Hornets running a 7 and 8 lap segments for a guaranteed $100 to Win. Shooters will run a 3 lap heat and 5 lap feature.

We are looking for sponsors to pay the winners after the first segments and if anyone would like to add to the final segment. If anyone is interested please contact Brad Denney by Thursday.

Its tough for the driver’s but exciting for the fan’s. The Quick Draw, Are you ready?

Pits open at 4 with Grandstands opening at 5

End of Draw 5:30 with driver’s meeting at 5:45

Hot Laps around 6 with racing to start right after hot laps.

LETS DO IT AGAIN THIS WEEK

General Admission $10

As always on regular race night Kids 10 and under are FREE

Coolers 10x14x12 Tall $5 everytime thru gate. (NO FOOD and NO GLASS ALLOWED)

N0 OVERLY LARGE BAGS WILL BE ALLOWED.

Driver Pit Pass $35

Crew Pit Pass $30

Kids Pit Pass 10 and under $20

Transponder rental $5

SUMMER NATIONALS HELL TOUR THURSDAY NIGHT JUNE 22nd

Veteran Drivers Roll To Wins At Spoon

The first “hot” race of the spring, with temps in the high 80’s at the start of the night, happened Saturday at Spoon River Speedway outside of Canton, and surprisingly it was the veteran drivers that handled the heat of the track and the heat of the competition to take victories at the 3/8-mile high banked clay oval

The USAC/IMRA Speed 2 Midgets were in the spotlight for the Aaron Hull Memorial, honoring the driver from the Galesburg area who lost his life while working on his race car last year. Another memorial race happens this coming Saturday, June 17^th, at the track when the E-mods will run their annual Bill Anderson Memorial Race, honoring the longtime car builder/owner/sponsor/track supporter who still has one of three racing sons going at it each week when Mark Anderson takes to the track.

In Saturday’s Midget Main, Mason City’s Andy Baugh, with multiple wins over the last few years at Spoon River in both midgets and sprints, grabbed the early lead in the 24 lap feature (24 laps to honor the late Hull’s car number), but he was quickly challenged by a cadre of machines running the high side and picking up ground rapidly on Baugh as he worked the slick inside groove.

Alex Watson, charging from his 8^th starting spot, worked his way past Baugh and into the lead as the race hit the 6 lap mark, but Havana’s Gedd Ross, from 12^th on the grid, ran down Watson and eventually got underneath and around him on the backstretch. It looked like Ross’ race the rest of the way until his #51R machine went up in a huge puff of smoke on the last lap coming out of turn two, allowing Tyson Hart to swoop by and pick up the Hull Trophy and a $700 first place check.

As frustrating as it was for Ross, the first thing he did after getting out of his car was to compose himself enough to do a quick interview over the PA and then hustle to Perkins Seed House Victory Lane to congratulate Hart on his win.

“I could tell the engine was laying down a couple of laps before the finish,” Ross said “I was just hoping it made it to the end, but it didn’t. Hate to lose one that way, but congratulations to Tyson.”

Hart echoed those sentiments for Ross. “I feel awful for him, he had that race won, we were going to settle for second,” the winner said, “but that’s unfortunately how it goes in racing and we will take the win. Aaron (Hull) was a great competitor and gone too soon, I’m honored to win this race named for him.”

The entire Hull family joined Hart for an emotional Victory Lane gathering and a couple of group photos.

Brock Hunnell, another of the drivers to work the top of the track, followed Hart across the line, Ross was able to drop to the bottom of turns 3 and 4 and coast across the line 3^rd, followed by Adam Taylor and Aaron Schuck.

In the Perkins Seed House Pro Late Model Division, the all-time leader in career wins at Spoon River Speedway added another to his total, as Brad Denney grabbed the lead on Lap one and held off hard-charging Allen Weisser for his 299^th career feature win at the track on his family’s property.

“I knew I had to get up high as quick as I could and get the lead,” he said afterwards, “because it would have been hard to pass Allen if he got out there in front. It was a fun race, always fun to race with Allen and he drove his usual clean race. I haven’t won one for awhile, so it’s good to finally get number 299. I think if I get number 300 might be a good time to hang ‘em up.”

Denney got the win in just his second night behind the wheel this year, having concentrated on promotion, concessions and track prep all throughout the spring. But it didn’t take the wily vet long to return to Victory Lane.

Weisser finished second, followed by Josh Jackson in a strong run, AJ May, and Chris Osborne, Jr.

Kewanee’s Ray Bollinger topped a field of 18 to win the Zane’s Auto Service Modified feature race, but he had company at the end of the race.

“Whew, happy to get that one,” said Bollinger, “I tell you what, Josh [Allen] was coming, man, I could hear him back there and knew he was creeping up on us. Just glad to get to that flag first.”

Josh Allen, his car the best of those trying to run the bottom, powered his way to second and might have been able to challenge if there had been another five laps of racing. Zac Oedewaldt, Brandon Roberts and Todd Bates rounded out the top 5.

In the Fulton FS E-mod division, Canton veteran Mark Anderson was running well behind leader Kevin Morrow at mid race, and had made his mind up that it would take a caution to win, or he would end up second, until he started to do the math as he suddenly made up huge chunks of ground.

“Yeah, I thought it would take a caution…then I gain about two car lengths two laps in a row and I’m doing the math and looking at the laps on the scoreboard, and I said to myself ‘I’m going to catch him at this rate’,” Anderson said, “so I told myself to stay calm and drive my line, and maybe we’d reel him in. Of course, passing would be a different story, but I knew when I got that run that I had to make the pass right when I did it, because if I let up and waited a lap, Kevin was going to move up and protect.”

Anderson wheeled around Morrow just before the white flag and then pulled away in the final lap for the win, Morrow finishing second ahead of Matt Dobey, Dawson Cook (who earlier won his first ever heat race) and Bob Goodin.

The Farmington Locker Hornet feature win went to Brett Ragon, ahead of Joey Davis and Kyle Dearing, who had a physical battle that had officials watching closely, only to find out later the two buddies were bumping and banging and having fun racing together.

All results and upcoming events are available at www.spoonriverspeedway.com.

After Saturday’s 8^th Annual Bill Anderson Memorial for E-mods, the next event at the track will be the annual visit from the UMP Super Late Model Summer Nationals Tour, coming to the track Thursday, June 22^nd, and bringing the top Super Late Model drivers from around the Midwest to the track, along with the UMP Modified Summer Nationals tour, which has attracted NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace and David Stremme in recent seasons. Filling out the racing card Thursday night will be the E-Mods.

Read more...

Aaron Hull Memorial Set For This Saturday Night June 10th

The Aaron Hull Memorial is scheduled for this coming Saturday Night June 10th. A large field of the USAC/IMRA Speed2 Midgets co-santioned with the POWRI D2 Midgets are expected as they compete for $700 to win the 24 lap feature event in a 24 car starting field in honor of Aaron. Lap money will also be handed out for the Midgets. A handsome Purse for the Midgets is as follows, 700,500,400,300,200,175,160,160,160,150,150,150,13th-22nd 125, 23rd and 24th 105.
Also on hand will b...e the Zane's Automotive Service UMP Modifieds, the Perkins Seed House UMP Pro Late Models, The Fulton Farm Service E-Mods, the Farmington Locker UMP Hornets and 6-Shooters.
General Admission $15
Kids 10 and under are FREE
Pit Passes $35
Kids 10 and under Pit Pass $20
Pits open at 4
Grandstands at 5
End of Draw 530
Hot laps around 6
Racing to follow after Hot Laps

Gary Cook Jr Memorial Sunday Night May 28th

Autism Awareness Saturday Night, Gary Cook Jr Memorial Sunday Night

Big weekend set for Memorial day weekend at the Spoon!!
First up on Saturday Night the UMP Pro Late Models will have the night off. It will be Austism Awareness Night, $1.00 Hot Dog Night, while they last and we will be giving away 6 bicycles for the kids. 3 girl and 3 boys bikes, two for ages 5 and under, 2 for ages 6-8 and 2 for ages 9-12. On hand will be the Zane's Automotive Service UMP Modifieds running for $1000 to win, the Monical's Pizza USAC/IMRA Speed 2 Midgets, t...he Fulton Farm Service E-Mods, the Farmington Locker UMP Hornets and the Spoon 6-Shooters.
Pits open at 3, Grandstands at 4
End of Draw 4:45, Hot Laps 5:15
Racing to begin around 6
General Admission $13
Kids 10 and Under are FREE
Driver's Pit Pass $35
Crew Pit Pass $30
Kids 10 and Under Pit Pass $20

Read more...

Pennsylvania’s Satterlee Triumphs at Spoon

“It’s always tough to beat the boys from Illinois, so yeah, this one feels good,” said Greg Satterlee of Indiana, Pennsylvania Sunday evening at Spoon River Speedway. Satterlee spoke from Perkins Seed House Victory Lane after he hauled in a $5,000 check and a big trophy to go with it for winning the 40-lap Mother’s Day ALMS/MARS Super Late Model Special at the 3/8-mile high banked track outside of Canton.

The “boys from Illinois” he was referring to were some of the best Super Late Model drivers in the nation, like Bobby Pierce, Shannon Babb, Ryan Unzicker, and Jason Feger, all Illinois based and all former winners of big shows at the legendary oval.

Satterlee jumped out front from the opening lap of the Main Event and led until getting caught up in traffic on lap 13, when Pierce ducked inside Satterlee’s #22 and grabbed the lead.

“I knew Bobby was right there and I kinda got hung up trying to pick my way through there,” Satterlee said, “but I knew we had a good car and hoped I’d get a shot at getting back by him.”

After a caution bunched up the group on lap 14, the old saying “cautions breed cautions” came into play, as it started a 10—lap stretch filled with short green flag runs and cautions for action in the middle or rear of the field. When the cars finally got loose on a green flag run, Satterlee went to the outside of Pierce to regain the lead and never looked back.

He was asked about running different lines and searching for the quickest way around. “Yeah, the track was good and we had choices, so I was able to up and outside to get around him. It started to rubber up right where I was running towards the end, so I moved a little and it worked good enough,” he said.

Pierce stayed glued to the bottom and finished a solid second, followed by Billy Moyer, Jr., Moweaqua’s Shannon Babb, and Billy Moyer to round out the top five. Satterlee and Pierce started on the front row together and ran either first or second all night, while the Batesville, Arkansas-based Moyers battled each other for most of the event for third, joined by Babb for a thrilling three-car battle in the late stages of the race. Several times Babb shot in the middle of the two Moyer machines, but wasn’t able to clear them both. He finally got around the elder Moyer on a late restart to finish fourth after starting ninth.

The rest of the top 10 were: Ryan Unzicker of El Paso; Arkansas racer Timothy Culp seventh – he set a new track record for Super Lates in qualifying with a blazing 13.59 second lap; Rich Bell of Sheffield, near Kewanee; Bloomington’s Feger and Caleb Ashby from Cunningham, Tennessee. The field of 28 featured drivers from 10 states.

There were three heats in the division, won by Pierce, the elder Moyer, and Satterlee.

Also on the card were the UMP Modifieds, and 23 machines were on hand to go after the $1,000 first place check.

After several weeks of bad luck in the “redraw” to determine starting order for the feature races, Kewanee’s Ray Bollinger finally pulled a #1 out of the jar, on a night when he was in line for a $500 bonus offered by promoter Brad Denney if any driver could pull a double on the weekend and win both the Saturday and Sunday mains. After winning Saturday night, Bollinger was the guy with a shot at the extra $500, and was not looking forward to the redraw.

“I actually get more nervous before the redraw than I do before the racing now,” he laughed in Victory Lane. “Finally pulled a #1 tonight, though, and that’s just what we wanted.” He backed up that draw with a green-to-checkered run out front, and pocketed the $1,500 with bonus.

“This track, so smooth, so perfect, man, that’s why we love it here so much,” he said, effusively praising the track prep of the Denney’s, Brad and his father Morey. “It was smooth and after those late models nice and slick, just how we like it.”

The smooth slick track, noted as a “driver’s track”, is thought by many as the great equalizer in power and equipment, putting the emphasis on the driving, and the Mods put on their usual display of outstanding driving and racing throughout the field.

Nothing came easy for Bollinger, even from the pole, as Indiana’s Josh Harris and Peoria’s Allen Weisser kept pressure on throughout the 25-lap event. They settled for 2^nd and 3^rd, ahead of Quincy’s Michael Long and Canton’s Todd Bates, who made impressive back-to-back top five runs over the weekend as he returns this year to Open Mods after several years running the “E-mods” at the track.

“We’ve raced Josh (Harris) a lot, we know how good he is, and of course Allen (Weisser) and Michael (Long) are as good as it gets, so to win against a field like this is also special,” said Bollinger. The deep field also included Mike Chasteen, Jr. – a feature winner already this year at Spoon - who won his heat early in the evening and ran sixth, along with Mason City’s Flyin’ Brian Lynn (7^th), NASCAR driver/TV commentator/dirt track barnstormer Kenny Wallace, who finished 8^th. Jason Frankel and Brandon Roberts rounded out the top 10.

Along with Chasteen, Jr., heat race wins went to Frankel and Bollinger.

The UMP Hornets were also on hand Sunday, with Normal’s David Lauritson getting around heat race winner Shane Kelley in the feature to take the win, his first of the season. Rick DeFord finished third followed by Jimmy Dutlinger and Tyler Carlyle.

Back to Ray Bollinger to wrap up the night’s events:

“One more thing,” he said over the public address in Victory Lane before heading back to the pits, ”I want to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in the stands and in the pits, and I want to thank each and every one of them for their support and for allowing all of us drivers to come out here and play in the dirt every weekend. Thank you to all Moms, this is your day!”