Thursday night Fred and I made the drive to Lincoln,Il Speedway for night two of the Flo Racing Night in America events, a part of Illinois Speedweeks. Originally a three race swing, the opener at LaSalle Speedway was weathered out on Tuesday, making the Spoon River Speedway Wednesday show the first of the limited Made for T.V. series. Following Lincoln, many of the cars and stars will move on to Farmer City, then Fairbury with the Lucas Oil Late Models to conclude what was scheduled as a five night mini tour across the Land of Lincoln.
The Super Late Model headliner at Lincoln would pay a cool $20,000 to win supported by only one division, open Modifieds chasing a $2,000 payday. As an added attraction, burgeoning NASCAR star Carson Hocevar would be in competition wheeling his #77 Late Model.
Lincoln Speedway is a quarter mile facility located on the Logan County Fairgrounds. The covered grandstands retains that old time fairgrounds feel while still offering a good view of the action, with a set of open air bleachers and a sizable area for lawn chair type viewing.
Brandon Sheppard led flag to flag to pick up the win at Spoon River on Wednesday, topping a thirty nine car field while Trevor Neville did the same over a group of twenty five open Mods.
There was sight chance of showers in the forecast, normally not enough for concern. However, this is 2026.
We arrived early enough to see several changes in the weather, from sprinkles to sunshine, to a drop in temps due to a very chilly breeze, even as a solid field of thirty seven (minus one who left early?) Super Late Models and twenty seven open Modifieds rolled through the gate. Noticeably absent in that latter group was Wednesdays' winner, Neville.
The advertised hot lap time of 6:00 came and went as the track crew worked diligently to repack the racing surface after one of the passing showers. Warm ups finally began just a few ticks after 7:00 followed by group time trials for both divisions. Michael Ledford was quickest of the Mods with a lap of 14.239 seconds. Late Models qualified four at a time in groups "A" and "B". Hudson Oneal was tops in the first group at 12.748 seconds while local favorite Brandon Sheppard paced the second flight just a tick slower at 12.750.
With opening ceremonies complete. the first Late Model eight lap heat race hit the track. Oneal bested Brandon Overton, Shannon Babb and seventh starting Jason Feger. Just as heat two took the green flag, another more persistent shower hit the grounds. As pack vehicles continued to circle the oval, the first announcement came that when action resumed, the Late Model show would run off completely ahead of any Modified action. However moments later, as rain continued to fall, came word that between the track conditions and the local curfew, all racing was postponed with hopes of resuming at an as yet undetermined future date. A disappointing ending for the large gathering of spectators.
This year has not been kind thus far to racing in the midwest, and as I do this report on Friday morning, it continues to sprinkle here in Canton. As of 11:00 racing for tonight is still on at Lee County Speedway, so we shall see what happens!
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