Story by Tony Baranek
Jake Gille has made the long drive to Grundy County Speedway to compete on Bettenhausen Weekend for the past several seasons.
This time the ride home was more special than the rest.
The Machesney Park native was a powerhouse in Friday night's 58-lap Big 8 Series feature, winning at Grundy for the second time this season.
"It's nice to win one on this weekend," Gille said. "I'm pretty pumped about that. I knew we had a shot at it tonight, but I've also been racing long enough to know that stuff can happen.
"We came here a couple of weeks ago and got a win. That was nice. Then we went back to the shop and went to work a little bit. I haven't had a car this good in a race in a very long time."
Saturday's running of the 65th annual Bettenhausen Memorial was postponed due to weather conditions. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 27.
In Friday's Big 8 race, Gille came from the third row to take the lead on lap 21 from Tanner Berge. The pass was smooth, and from there Gille sailed.
Gille's toughest pass came earlier in the race, when he and Bilderback played bump and run while trying to get to the front.
"Yeah, we started crossing each other," Gille said. "That was just racing. Me and him have been doing that since we were 12, in go-karts. It was a blast. I had fun."
At the finish, Gille beat Josh Nelms by 1.31 seconds. Berge was third, followed by Jon Reynolds Jr., Joshua Lundy and Mike Beyer.
Nelms put on the biggest show of the race, coming from the back of the pack after an early-race incident sent him to the pits for quick repairs.
"Yeah, the hood was up and I couldn't see over it," Nelms said. "They were able to get it back down and get me back out. I knew we had a car good enough. The steering wheel was still straight so the front end wasn't knocked out of whack.
"Coming from the back, I pretty much used what I had. I thought we did a pretty good job getting the car back up to second. It was exciting."
The pure stocks had their big season finale. Dominic Matts was a triple winner, capturing his heat race, the 25-lap feature, and the overall title in the division's special "VRS Challenge Series."
Matts led from start to finish in the main event. It wasn't easy, with Aiden Schultz and Dylan Roberts bunched up right behind him much of the way. But Matts kept his line and his temptation to throttle up and possibly break out.
"This was 100 percent the biggest night of my racing career," Matts said. "Basically, the only thing I was thinking of was staying down on the straights and paying attention to the two people behind me.
"When they caught me and started bumping me I was kind of worried and said, 'All right, let's not break out.' So I was kind of braking a little bit more and letting off the throttle, so I wouldn't. It was fun."
At the finish, it was Matts over Schultz by 0.317 seconds. Roberts was third, followed by Matt Ciara, Mason Meister and Ethan Wolf.
Eddie Ligue wrapped up his Crown Vics championship the same way he did last season - by winning the final feature. It was a power run in which he led 19 of the 20 laps. Eric Ferrara was second, while Ben Goebl, Zoey Czubak, Roger Daigger and Richard Shouse completed the top six.
During his career, Ligue won four street stock titles and two in the Crown Vics class. After the feature, he announced his "retirement" from racing.
Well, maybe.
"It's been a good season, I can't complain at all," Ligue said. "It's been nice. This is my final ride, my last year. I'm done. Unless someone wants to hire me as a driver, I'm good."
In the first Crown Vics feature, Trey Olson took the lead from Eric Ferrara with just three laps remaining and held off a challenge from Czubak at the finish. Ligue was third, followed by Goebl, Owen Wilfing and Roger Daigger.
"I was chasing a feature and I'm super happy we got it tonight," Olson said. "Zoey gave me a little bump toward the end, but I was able to hold on to it.
"I feel like I've been able to wheel the car pretty well this season when I've been tapped. So it's a fortunate thing for me. I'm just really happy we won tonight. I'm beyond happy."
Street stock champion Chad Bayuk finished up the season strong. The long-time veteran took the lead with nine laps remaining, and went on to win the feature race over Eddie Wolf, Zak Chanda, Sal Lozano, Kristi Preisler and Alex Gay.
"We had a great car," Bayuk said. "It came out kind of slow, but at the end it was there for us. This season has been awesome. I probably got up there with the most wins I've ever had in a season. It's a great feeling to go out like this."
In the Super Cups, Camden Grommes had a big night in the winner's circle, while Mak Regnerus locked up the division title.
Grommes set fast time, won his heat and also captured the 15-lap feature. In the main event he took the lead on lap 3 and eased away from the rest of the field. Second went to Richard Bischof III, ahead of Regnerus, Makayla Hall, Joshua Fritz and Evander Peterson.
"We found out last week that we had a bad bearing and a bad shock," Grommes said. "I didn't know I was driving around like that, and it makes a huge difference when the car rolls right.
"Once I got out in front I was comfortable. I laid down a good line and kept it there."
SUMMARY
Big 8 Late Models
Fast time: Jake Gille (15.629) 1st heat: 1. Jake Gille, 2. Jon Reynolds Jr., 3. Tanner Berge. 2nd heat: 1. Michael Bilderback, 2. Josh Nelms, 3. Joshua Lundy. 58-lap feature: 1. Jake Gille, 2. Josh Nelms, 3. Tanner Berge, 4. Jon Reynolds Jr., 5. Joshua Lundy, 6. Mike Beyer, 7. Wesley Dennis, 8. Zack Meiborg, 9. Garrett Scott, 10. Adam Hebb, 11. Michael Bilderback, 12. Greg Hentrich, 13. Nolan Woods, 14. Kevin Anderson, 15. Cody Houseweart.
Pure Stocks
Fast time: Jakob Slusarczyk (19.200) 1st heat: 1. Edward Davies, 2. Aaron Vines, 3. Ashley Matts. 2nd heat: 1. Dominic Matts, 2. Scotty Gardner, 3. Matt Ciara. rd heat: 1. Mike Glenn, 2. Jeffrey Turner, 3. Ethan Wolf. 25-lap feature: 1. Dominic Matts, 2. Aiden Schultz, 3. Dylan Roberts, 4. Matt Ciara, 5. Mason Meister, 6. Ethan Wolf, 7. Scotty Gardner, 8. Jeffrey Turner, 9. Garrett Evans, 10. Todd Snow, 11. Matthew Arnold, 12. Aaron Vines, 13. Misty Gardner, 14. Edward Davies, 15. Christy Zegar, 16. Phillip Arnold, 17. Connor Madigan, 18. Colten Williams, 19. Marcus Glenn, 20. Mike Glenn, 21. Jason Turner, 22. Ashley Matts, 23. Dustin Massolle. DQ: Jakob Slusarczyk.
Crown Vics
Fast time: Ben Goebl (19.143) 1st 15-lap feature: 1. Trey Olson, 2. Zoey Czubak, 3. Eddie Ligue, 4. Ben Goebl, 5. Owen Wilfing, 6. Roger Daigger, 7. Eric Ferrara, 8. Greg Taylor, 9. Allen Hotoing, 10. Stephanie Nossum, 11. Richard Shouse, 12. Ken Norbut. 2nd 15-lap feature: 1. Eddie Ligue, 2. Eric Ferrara, 3. Ben Goebl, 4. Zoey Czubak, 5. Roger Daigger, 6. Richard Shouse, 7. Owen Wilfing, 8. Allen Hotoing, 9. Stephanie Nossum, 10. Greg Taylor.
Street Stocks
Fast time: Zak Chanda (16.867) Heat: 1. Chad Bayuk, 2. Kristi Preisler, 3. Ryan Dawson .20-lap feature: 1. Chad Bayuk, 2. Eddie Wolf, 3. Zak Chanda, 4. Sal Lozano, 5. Kristi Preisler, 6. Alex Gay, 7. Renee Farren, 8. Ryan Dawson, 9. Aaron Vines.
Super Cups
Fast time: Camden Grommes (19.543) Heat: 1. Camden Grommes, 2. Richard Bischof III, 3. Gavin Salinas. 5-lap feature: 1. Camden Grommes, 2. Richard Bischof III, 3. Mak Regnerus, 4. Makayla Hall, 5. Joshua Fritz, 6. Evander Peterson, 7. Michael Sikord. See less