It is championship week, the week that drivers in every division at South Boston Speedway have been racing toward since the season began back in the early spring.
Christian Eckes broke through and won the Southern Illinois 100 for the first time in his career. The Venturini Motorsports driver took the lead on lap 10 and never looked back, as Eckes led 91 laps en route to victory.
Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio/Illinois Truck & Equipment Toyota) scored his third ARCA Menards Series victory of the season with a dominant performance in the Southern Illinois 100 on the Magic Mile at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
Three-time DuQuoin winner Ken Schrader (No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Toyota) became the oldest pole winner in the history of the ARCA Menards Series with his 22nd career General Tire Pole Award in qualifying for this evening's Southern Illinois 100 on the Magic Mile at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
"I had an absolute blast learning how to drive the ARCA car on dirt at Springfield and I'm hoping some of the knowledge I gained there will help out for my first time at DuQuoin."
Four-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner and 18-time ARCA Menards Series winner Ken Schrader will make his first appearance with the ARCA Menards Series since last June when he straps in for the Southern Illinois 100 at DuQuoin on Saturday night.
In the 1960s, a small group of upstart drivers from Alabama earned a deserved reputation whenever they would pull into the dark, dusty short tracks of the south. Bobby and Donnie Allison, Charles “Red” Farmer, and later on Neil Bonnett would travel throughout the big money races and take away the lion’s share of the purse from the local racers. Their dominance was so pervasive that eventually, whenever they pulled through the pit gates the competitors all knew they would likely lose to that “dang Alabama gang.”
Former NASCAR Whelen All American Series national champion Lee Pulliam of Alton, Virginia continued his recent domination of South Boston Speedway Saturday night, winning the 100-lap NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division race that headlined the NASCAR Late Model 100 racing program.
The 33-year-old Hill from Port Tobacco, Maryland, will pilot Team Reaume's No. 2 Ford F-150 entry for the entire 2027 FedEx Freight Truck Series season nearly a week after capping off his career as a driver/owner of Hill Motorsports.
The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series head to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the season-ending races of 2026.
For the Ultré ZX, that process meant competing against some of the industry's best surf and wake boats and demonstrating its strengths in performance, technology, design, and the overall on-board experience.
