From Adam Mackey
LINCOLN, Ill. (July 13, 2017) — The MOWA Sprint Cars, a fan favorite at Lincoln Speedway, will be flying around the 1/4-mile dirt oval this coming Friday, July 14. It’s the second and final event this season for the full size, winged, 410 sprint cars at the Central Illinois track this summer. Lincoln Courier night will also feature the Midwest Big Ten UMP Pro Late Models, UMP Modifieds, POWRi Lucas Oil DII MIdgets presented by Nutech Seed, and UMP Hornets. Fan giveaways will take place throughout the night, sponsored by Melling Performance.
Springfield, IL’s Jimmy Moughan currently leads the standings in the series, which has numerous drivers not only from Central Illinois but from Lincoln as well. St. Louis, MO driver and open wheel standout, Brad Loyet, is second in points coming into the event. Lincoln’s own AJ Bruns is third in points, while Logan Faucon of Springfield, IL and Jacob Patton from Bethalto, IL complete the top five. Last season, a full field of sprint cars were at Lincoln with Californian, Willie Croft taking the exciting victory. Croft was followed by Price-Miller, Paul Nienhiser, Ryan Bunton, and Jake Blackhurst.
The Midwest Big 10 Series Pro Late Models will be back in action for the first time in a few weeks. Event #6 of the tour will have Springfield, IL driver, Jake Little, leading the way by 24 points over Carlinville, IL’s Cody Maguire. Tommy Sheppard, Jr., Andy Minett, and Ryan Little complete the top five in standings. Jake Little has won three of the five races so far this season, with victories at Macon, Jacksonville, and Lincoln. Guy Taylor won the Lincoln Big 10 opener, while Ryan Little claimed the most recent win at Macon. The division will be racing for $600 to win.
The strong UMP Modified class will be on track with Ashland, IL driver, Brandon Roberts leading the list of big name Mod drivers. Roberts has won two features this season and is up by 30 points on Mason City, IL driver Brian Lynn. Kewanee, IL’s Ray Bollinger, who has had a great Summit Modified Nationals run is third, followed by Austin Lynn and Mike Brooks. Bollinger, Roberts, and Allen Weisser have claimed Modified victories at the speedway so far this season.
Belleville, IL driver Tyler Vantoll has been at the top of the POWRi Lucas Oil DII Midgets presented by Nutech Seed standings at the track since early in the year. Vantoll has claimed three feature wins but is up by just four points on Waterman, IL’s Jack Routson. Local favorite, Andy Baugh, from Mason City, IL is third in points, while Gedd Ross, and Dave Baugh complete the top five.
Rounding out Friday’s action will be the UMP Hornets. While not originally on the schedule for this coming Friday, a lot of interest was shown from drivers wanting a place to run this week, so the date was added. Hopedale, IL competitor Shane Kelly heads into the event leading the way in this year’s points, four up on Springfield, IL’s Mike Eskew. Lincoln, IL driver Cook Crawford is third, while Vernon Carlow and Adam Webb complete the top five. The Hornets will be running for at least $100 to win but as much as $120 based on 16 cars or more.
Pit gates will open at 4:00 this Friday, grandstands at 5:00, local division pill draw will end at 5:50 when the drivers meeting begins, and hotlaps will start around 6:00. Racing will take the green at 7:00. Grandstand admission will be $20, while children 11 and under are free.