Photo: David Stukins
By Tyson Graves (Farmer City Track Announcer)
(April 9, 2021) - It has only been a matter of time before the young driver from Pontiac, IL would find his way to Farmer City victory lane. Last year Michael Ledford picked up the Modified track championship without a win, his consistency of running up front gave him enough points to claim the title. Many runner up finishes over the past couple seasons made Mikey more hungry than ever to win at the track he called in victory lane his favorite in the country.
Last weekend during the American Modified Series special during the Illini 100 he drove from mid pack to nearly running down Tyler Nicely for the win. But the drought at Farmer City ended last night after a solid qualifying effort, a heat race win set him up to dominate and lead all 20 laps of the DIRTcar feature event. In victory lane Ledford said "I finally qualified well." It wasn't but a couple years ago that when he made his modified debut at Farmer City that he told me he would be through the roof just to make the show.
Mikey is turning into a real threat to win no matter where he unloads, at just sixteen years old he has a bright future ahead of him. Get used to the nickname "The Madman" as he will won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
In Late Model action it was Kevin Weaver who picked up the opening night points feature win. McKay Wenger had the race lead until just past halfway when a flat time took him out of the race. It was his flat tire that erupted the drama for the night. Second place driver Jeffery Ledford made contact with Wenger trying to avoid his slowing car. The damage left a spoiler and entire right rear quarter panel flapping in the wind. Track officials tried to remove the hanging body parts off the car to no avail. After failed attempts to remove the damage Ledford was black flagged and removed from the race track. It was a tough deal as it looked like it was gonna be a Ledford sweep on Friday night. Track officials determined it was a safety concern for the other drivers to let Ledford continue on.
Jose Parga continued his early season dominance at Farmer City in the Pro Late Model division. Jose won last Friday night during the Illini 100 opener and once again found himself in victory lane. Aaron Heck came home runner up as he couldn't quite make a run at Parga in the closing laps.
Last year's What Up Dog 40 winner Nick Macklin returned to victory lane on Friday night in the Stock Car Division. It wasn't easy for Nick at all as he had to battle with other Bullet Chassis competitors Megan Erwin and Lance Evans early on. On the final restart a charging Bobby Beiler made it tough on Macklin but he held him off for one the more exciting race finishes of the night.
The Pro Modified division was the last feature event of the night and it was Nick Justice who finally got the monkey off this back. In nearly ten years of coming to Farmer City he was able to find his way to victory lane.
Modified Feature Results
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown
1 2 37L Michael Ledford Pontiac, IL
2 1 62 Randy Shuman Danville, IL
3 6 Z1 Zac Odedewaldt Hanna City, IL
4 4 88S Alan Stipp Forrest, IL
5 3 22C Nick Clubb Coal City, IL
6 5 K67 Ian Keller West Lebanon, IN
7 8 14 Caden McWhorter Fairbury, IL
8 7 27 Dalton Ewing Decatur, IL
9 10 98 Shawn Vaughn Springfield, IL
10 12 62S Blaise Shuman Danville, IL
11 11 25B Braiden Bohlmann Kankakee, IL
12 9 4M Clint Martin Ramsey, IL
13 DNF 16 3 Mike Smith Waverly, IL
14 DNF 13 1 Nash Hilmes Walnut, IL
15 DNF 15 B97 Marvin Burton Georgetown, IL
16 DNF 14 36 Curtis Hartung
Late Model Feature Results
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown
1 2 B12 Kevin Weaver Gibson City, IL
2 4 162 Logan Moody Catlin, IL
3 6 0 Dewayne Kiefer Bloomsdale, MO
4 13 15B Jay Brendle Sycamore, IL
5 12 33H Roben Huffman Clinton, IL
6 9 11 Matt Ramer Mendota, IL
7 11 Z61 Alex Wilson Chenoa, IL
8 DNF 1 18 Jeffrey Ledford
9 DNF 3 42 Mckay Wenger Fairbury, IL
10 DNF 8 J12 Jason Wagner East Peoria, IL
11 DNF 5 30 Mike Glasscock Leroy, IL
12 DNF 10 1 Greg Cantrell Dekalb, IL
13 DNF 14 56 Rodney Hamblin Downs, IL
DNS 7 12 Jeff Curl Fairbury, IL
Pro Late Model Feature Results
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown
1 1 6P Jose Parga New Berlin, IL
2 3 59 Aaron Heck Mt. Vernon, IL
3 8 11E Brandon Eskew Ashland, IL
4 4 45 Kyle McMahon Mt Vernon, IL
5 11 25 Dakota Ewing Warrensburg, IL
6 7 22D Chris Dick Deland, IL
7 6 2C Colton Billington Mclean, IL
8 9 1 Bill Knippenberg Channahon, IL
9 20 M14 David Marlow Heyworth, IL
10 12 33 Devin McLean Mt Vernon, IL
11 19 10M Austin Mccarty Bourbonnais, IL
12 13 46 Eric Wilson Downs, IL
13 18 97M Michael Marden Monee, IL
14 DNF 17 21 Jarrod Shasteen Macon, IL
15 DNF 16 7 Christian Davis Mahomet, IL
16 DNF 14 7S Jeremy Sebens White Heath, IL
17 DNF 2 130 Chase Osterhoff
18 DNF 15 51A Amber Crouch Cullom, IL
19 DNF 10 05B Josh Boller Greencastle, IN
DNS 5 818 Matt Hammond Bourbonnais, IL
Stock Car Feature Results
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown +/-
1 2 16 Nick Macklin Nick Macklin Argenta, IL 1
2 6 29 Bobby Beiler Bobby Beiler Blue Mound, IL 4
3 4 37 Lance Evans Lance Evans Westville, IL 1
4 10 11 Terry Reed Terry Reed Cerro Gordo, IL 6
5 8 55 Zane Reitz Zane Reitz Veedersburg, IN 3
6 11 71J Justin VanDrunen Justin VanDrunen Crown Point, IN 5
7 7 77A Randy Akers Randy Akers Hovert, IN -
8 13 63 Andy Thompson Andy Thompson Paxton, IL 5
9 9 42 Jesse Simmons Jesse Simmons Danville, IL -
10 16 2Z Andy Zahnd Andy Zahnd White Heath, IL 6
11 14 4Z Zachary Zuberbier Zachary Zuberbier Kingston, IL 3
12 3 01 Rudy Zaragoza Rudy Zaragoza Jacksonville, IL -9
13 18 35 Tom Davidson Tom Davidson Springfield, IL 5
14 DNF 5 99 Jarrod Krick Jarrod Krick Earl Park, IL -9
15 DNF 1 14 Megan Erwin Megan Erwin Attica, IN -14
16 DNF 12 19 Matthew Yaden Matthew Yaden Monticello, IL -4
17 DNF 15 22 Darrell Dick Darrell Dick Monticello, IL -2
18 DNF 17 5 Ryan Taylor Ryan Taylor Danville, IL -1
DNS 19 69 George Ewing George Ewing Decatur, IL -
DNS 20 73 Todd Musick Todd Musick Assumption, IL -
Pro Modified Feature Results
Finish Start # Competitor Hometown
1 1 36 Nick Justice Decatur, IL
2 3 21.5 Jake Montgomery East Peoria, IL
3 6 33 Josh Robb Mt.zion, IL
4 4 24S Steve Phillips Neoga, IL
5 5 7 Brian Burns Bethany, IL
6 7 1 Chris Erwin Taylorville, IL
7 2 37 Billy Justice Jr Cerro Gordo, IL