MORRIS, Ill. — Michael Bilderback raced to victory Saturday night at the Grundy County Speedway, winning the Big 8 Series Chicagoland Showdown.
Bilderback guided the Brian Bagwell Motorsports No. 2 late model to victory in the 38-lap headliner at the third-mile paved oval. The 33-year-old South Beloit, Ill., speedster posted his sixth career win at the Grundy speed plant, which includes this year’s Spring Classic and the track’s annual Bettenhausen 100 in 2020.
Bilderback took the checkered flag with a 0.896-second advantage over Jon Reynolds, Jr., who was followed by fastest qualifier Randy Sargent, Jake Gille, Jerry Mueller and Carson Phillips.
Despite some slight damage to the left rear quarter panel of his car, Bilderback was the class of the field, cutting through traffic after starting 10th in the 16-car lineup.
Moving into the lead around lap 11, Bilderback was headed to victory despite a number of yellow flags that waved.  The race had to be red flagged after four laps for the track crew to make repairs to the speedway’s surface which began to come apart due to temperatures being in the 90s most of the day.
Sargent’s lap of 15.605 seconds was good for fast time honors with Mueller and Gille scoring 8-lap heat race wins.
Three-time division champion Kevin Murphy won the 25-lap Mid-Am sportsman main event.  Racing past Matt Clemens in the final laps, Murphy finished ahead of Clemens, Timmy Stewart, Marqus Hoover, Rickey Mathis Jr. and Vince Cooper.
Trevor Tichy came home the winner of the 20-lap Sixer division feature race.  Setting fast time earlier, Tichy bested Elliott Hawkins and Steve Caven for the win.  With the Midwest Pavement Midget Series feature race cut by two laps because of an accident, 15-year-old Jacob Senerchia was the winner – his second of the year.
Jason Van Hise was the winner of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere as all track lightning was turned off for the 20-lap event, which was part of the Rockford Speedway Reunion.
The finish:
…1. Michael Bilderback, 2. Jon Reynolds Jr., 3. Randy Sargent, 4. Jake Gille, 5. Jerry Mueller, 6. Carson Phillips, 7. Steve Rubeck, 8. Patrick Featherson II, 9. Franc Beldowski, 10. Mike Magnuson, 11. Johua Lundy, 12. Nolan Woods, 13. Brody Beyer, 14. Scotty Gardner, 15. Jeff Wakeman, 16. Trevor Robinson
