MACON - There wasn't a lot of rain that rolled through Central Illinois on Thursday.

Unfortunately, some big showers settled directly over Macon Speedway for 20 minutes, turning "The World's Fastest 1/5-mile Speedway" into the world's only 1/5-mile mud pit.

It also delayed the start of the 25th annual H&R 100 almost two hours. Qualifying didn't begin until about 9:30 p.m.

The rain delay, combined with some rock-'em, sock-'em heats in the modified division, delayed the start of the 100-lap late model feature until almost midnight.

The 25th annual H&R 100 started well past midnight and the race was still ongoing at presstime.

But the bigger story was who didn't run. This is the only stop at Macon Speedway on the UMP Summer Nationals series, and 10 of the top 11 drivers on the Summer Nationals, including Moweaqua native Shannon Babb, decided not to participate.

"It's very disappointing, and it's very rude to the fans, too. The thing about it is, there ain't nothing wrong with the track," Macon Speedway owner Rich Webb said. "They thought it was going to be too slick, and it turned out just perfect. I've been here all my life, and I told the, I'm not going to turn you loose out there if it's too bad.

"I said, 'Hell, give me 20 or 30 minutes and I'll show you. If you guys work with me, I'll show you how to do this.' But that's pretty disrespectful to the fans. Very disrespectful. And I'll tell you what, I'm going to call UMP in the morning."

The rains didn't come until 5:30 p.m., turning the prepared track into a muddy mess. As many as 11 trucks and SUVs ran counterclockwise on the speedway in an attempt to get it prepared. There was some discussion as to whether to even have the races, given the sloppy track. But modified and late model cars made their way onto the track in an effort to pack the dirt down and make it raceable.

Qualifying for the main event was uneventful. The same could not be said for the modifying qualifying heats. Most of the trouble seemed to come in turn 3, where drivers continually spun out. The worst incident in turn three happened in the late model dash, won by Matt Taylor. Macon native Kerby Damery flipped his car, but was unhurt in the accident.

There were two late model semifinals prior to the main event, and they were won by Steve Sheppard (who ran the fastest lap in qualifying) and Don Hammer.

Todd Engle can be reached at tengle@;herald-review.com or 421-7970.