For only having raced the Mighty Macon Speedway twice before in his career, you wouldn’t have known it watching Mike McKinney’s night of domination at the 1/5-mile bullring Thursday night.
McKinney, 30, of Plainfield, IL, bagged his first career Feature win at Macon and his first DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals win of the season with a clean sweep of the evening – setting Quick Time and a new track record in Qualifying, winning his Heat Race and leading all 25 laps of the Feature to collect his 17th career Summit Modified trophy. Not bad for a driver who hadn’t graced the black dirt high banks in some time.
“I came in here with zero expectations,” McKinney said. “We were gonna come here and just say we were here; I was just hoping to make it out of here in one piece. To set that new track record, win the Heat Race and lead every lap in the Feature, it was the last thing on my mind, for sure.”
McKinney (96M) holding off McKenzie (24) and Bollinger (77) (Josh James Artwork)
Though no driver was able to seriously challenge him for the lead, McKinney endured race-long pressure from podium finishers Zeke McKenzie and Ray Bollinger, which he fended off, though it was no cakewalk.
“The bottom had a lot of grip,” McKinney said. “I figured if I could marry myself down there, it would take a hell of an effort to drive around me.”
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds are back in action Friday, July 7 at Farmer City Raceway in Farmer City, IL. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming is available at DIRTVision.com.
FEATURE RESULTS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie[3]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 4. 4T-Guy Taylor[6]; 5. 24T-Trevor Ringle[7]; 6. J24-Jeremy Nichols[17]; 7. 130-Chase Allen[14]; 8. 13-Charlie Mefford[9]; 9. 94-Tom Pasek[12]; 10. 72A-Austin Lynn[22]; 11. 19-Chad Bauer[15]; 12. 82S-Todd Sherman[10]; 13. 82-Dalton Lane[8]; 14. 99-Tim Luttrell[20]; 15. 18S-Jarrett Stryker[13]; 16. 87C-Alan Crowder[21]; 17. 37L-Michael Ledford[11]; 18. 43-Jared Thomas[5]; 19. 21-Steve Myers[16]; 20. 5CS-Curt Spalding[23]; 21. 28S-Joe Strawkas[18]; 22. 99B-Blake Brown[4]; 23. 54-Zachary Hawk[19]
