MACON, IL (September 9, 2023) Four months after returning to Victory Lane with Morrow Brothers Ford MOWA Sprint Car Series, Springfield, Illinois driver Korey Weyant added his name to the list of winners at Macon Speedway with his fourth-career series victory. A perfect night for the driver of the Samonds Racing number 47 entry was also a bittersweet night for the team.
Saturday’s victory was the first race held for the MOWA Sprints not won by Zach Daum dating back to 2019. The winner of the 2019 event? The late Terry Babb, of nearby Decatur, Illinois. Babb’s back-to-back victories at Macon came aboard the same number 47 entry driven by Korey Weyant.
A heat race win for Weyant punched his ticket to the redraw, where he found the number three pill, rolling off from the inside of the second row. By lap five, Weyant had found his rhythm and moved past polesitter Shelby Bosie and pulled ahead to a comfortable lead. A caution at lap 14 slowed the field and erased Weyant’s lead. 8th-starting Paul Nienhiser had quickly worked forward through the field of cars and had his sights set on Weyant. Returning to green flag conditions, Weyant muscled ahead over Nienhiser, and answered back to the attempts by the #9X machine to overtake the top spot.
Working the 20th-circuit, Nienhiser slid past Weyant on the exit of turn two but a caution for Ben Brown, slowed the field and reverted back to the last completed lap, giving the lead back to Korey Weyant with just five laps remaining. Weyant held serve over the field over Nienhiser and Joe B. Miller in third. Previous race winner Zach Daum, who had started in fourth was running fifth when he spun around on lap 22, slowing the field once more, and ultimately ending his chance for a fourth-straight win at the ⅕-mile oval.
A three lap shootout was going to be the deciding factor for the 25-lap affair. As the green flag fell over the field, Weyant powered ahead while Nienhiser chased, but was never able to overtake the position as he settled for second behind winner Korey Weyant. Joe B. Miller, Jake Neuman and Shelby Bosie completed the top five.
The Morrow Brothers Ford MOWA Sprint Car Series looks forward to a two-day double header weekend in Central Illinois, beginning next Friday with the Carolyn Schuh Memorial at Jacksonville Speedway before heading to Spoon River Speedway for the 36th Annual Tom Knowles Memorial.
The finish: 1. 47-Korey Weyant, 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 3. 51B-Joe B. Miller, 4. 3N-Jake Neuman, 5. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 6. 1JR-Steven Russell, 7. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 8. 10S-Jeremy Standridge, 9. 7A-Will Armitage, 10. 56-Mitchell Davis, 11. 33$-Shane O’Banion, 12. 2-Hayden Harvey, 13. ?-Robbie Standridge, 14. 00R-Patrick Ryan, 15. 31-Zach Daum, 16. 37-Bryce Norris, 17. 7B-Ben Brown, 18. 1T-Trevin Littleton, 19. 14M-Jordan Masson, 20. 8-Cory Bruns