The night started off slow with a delay in getting the program up and running due to a pesky drizzle that kept hanging around, but hey, who could blame anyone or anything for wanting to see the action on the highbanks?!
As sign in started, 104 entries made their way to check-in between the 7 classes with the Prairie Farms Non-Wing recording 23 of those, the Williams Autobody Sportsman 21 and the Driven Performance Midwest Wing Outlaws stacking up another 21. The Chemstream Modlites and Ike Family Dealerships Jr Sprints also put double digit entries on the board with 13 and 11 respectively and 8 and 7 coming in for the Maier’s Tidy Bowl Darf class and Bailey Chassis Restrictor division.
As Trey waited out the rain, the track chose to show it’s treacherous side this weekend and really proved to be a rather technical surface to navigate. Once cars hit the track for Heat races, things really began to shake down on who was going to be fast!
In the Bailey Chassis Restrictor division, Jaxton Wiggs started on the point for the only heat race of the night for the group. He would win comfortably over Max Crabdree and Billy Lieb. Wiggswould go one to back up his heat race win win his first victory of the season at SIR over Lieb, who picked up 2 positions, and Braden Pfeiffer in 3rd!
The wingless wonders would take to the track next and the Prairie Farms Non-Wing class would leave nothing to be desired! Heat race wins were picked up by Alex Burgener, gaining 1 position from his outside front row starting position, Tyler Rust, up 4 spots, and LeRoy Carley, winning from the pole. The A-Main saw some tough action as turn one proved difficult to navigate for some. Tyler Rust would go on to lead the main’s first half but would encounter problems in lapped traffic and surrender the lead to Alex Burgener. Burgener would go on to encounter issues himself and get caught up in an accident with only a handful of laps remaining. This turned the lead over to Carley, last week’s winner, who held off a hard charging Jaxon Bishop, up 17 spots, in second and a Cinderella story after his 2020 season in Collin Wece bringing home 3rd.
This little division has truly become one of the premier classes at Southern Illinois Raceway, bringing in stout fields week in and week out. The Williams Auto Body Sportsman heats saw Jaxton Wiggs, take the win in Heat 1 after starting outside front row. Trevor Walker would gain 3 positions to take Heat 2. Rounding out the heat wins would be Garrett Benson taking his W from the pole. As the the field rolled out for their A-Main, mother nature once again showed her face and we were forced to pull the plug fearing additional rain showers, deteriorating track conditions and late hours.
The little guys and gals would take to the highbanks next with the Ike Family Dealerships Jr Sprints. Heat 1 was taken by Kade Mason, up 2 spots, followed by Ethan Ellison, up 3 spots, and Hunter Grimes in 3rd, also up 3 spots. Heat 2 would be won by Lily Walster, who gained 2 spots, followed by Reece Palmisano and Jayden Hiller, who gained 1 spot. The Jr division was also cut short on the night after the postponement due to rain.
The Chemstream Race Fuels Mod Lite division once again pulled an impressive 13 competitors. Heat 1 saw Mike LaBrot take the win from the pole in his #10 car followed by Dustin Ledbetter and Billy Beard. Heat 2 was captured by Matt Filkins who was followed to the line by Jaggar Beard and Jason Billingsley. Once again, the Mod Lite feature was postponed due to rain!
The stars of the night, The Maier’s Tidy Bowl Division saw 8 cars check in for competition. Audie Murphy would take the sole heat race win. Chris Maier gained 4 spots to come home second and Austin Park gained 5 spots to come in 3rd. The Dwarf special A-Main was also postponed due to rain.
The Driven Performance Midwest Wing Outlaw division saw 21 entries check in as the competition begins to heat up before the 9th running of the Highbanks Hustle. Heat 1 saw Craig Ronk absolutely blister the field from his 4th starting position. He was followed to the line by Tyler Rust in 2nd and Brocton Williams in 3rd. Heat 2 was won by Jaxon Bishop, up 3 spots also. Devin Feger and Cole Tinsely rounded out the top 3. The third and final heat was won by Garrett Benson, up 2 spots. Andy Bishop also gained 2 spots and finished 2nd. George Hertter rounded out the top 3 after gaining an impressive 4 positions. the feature for the Driven Performance Midwest Wing Outlaw class was also postponed due to weather.
Make up dates have not yet been announced for the 5 divisions who did not get to run an A-Main. Check back soon for announcements on those dates!
We want to thank everyone for hanging in with us during the weather delays. We sincerely apologize we couldn’t get these in on Saturday. Track work has been scheduled this week as well to repair a few items. We’re pretty pumped about what Saturday has to offer!!!
See yo at the track!