A last Look Back

With the 2010 race season here in the midwest officially in the books, it is time to take one final look at what turned out to be anything but a typical year. My final tally of 45 race nights was the lowest in more than a decade, due exclusively to an incredibly wet summer, with the timing of the inclement weather almost as big a factor as the amount of rain. Still, with some extra travel, and with the help of some double feature nights, I was able to make up for a couple of rained out features and still scored 45 late model main events. In doing so, I visited 16 different tracks, likely a single season high, in three states. Four of these facilities I visited for the first time, including Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Mo., Shepps Speedway in Alexander, Il., Highland, Il. Speedway, and incredibly, Farley Speedway in Farley, Ia. My " home " track of Quincy Raceways, where I do a weekly recap, led the way with 15 nights, and Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was a destination nine times. Out of 334 different late model competitors, well off my personal record of 413, I witnessed 28 different main event winners, lead by local drivers Mark Burgtorf with six, Denny Woodworth with five, and Justin Reed with four. The season began on March 27 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., with Mark Voigt taking the win in a 27 car field, and ended on October 16, with the rescheduled final night of the Liberty 100 at West Liberty, Iowa, with Darren Miller taking both the open and IMCA late model features. We had plans for one more night of racing at Shiverfest, in Donnellson, but in a fitting end to a tough year, the only rainy days of October washed it out. The largest car count of the year was 64 at the Slocum 50 Deery Brothers show at 34 Raceway in April. One benefit to the cranky weather was the variety of series we were able to enjoy as we tried to out run the rain. There was a World of Outlaw show, a couple Lucas Oil Late Model Series events, an MLRA show, one MARS race, three UMP Summernationals, one Northern All Stars, 5 and a half IMCA Deery Brothers shows ( Pepsi Nationals at 34 Raceway ), one Corn Belt series race, IMCA weekly, UMP weekly, and several high dollar non sanctioned events in places like Knoxville and West Liberty, Iowa, and Pontoon Beach, Il. Of all the rainouts, the biggest disappointment was
May 1, which wiped out a planned first race night visit to Paducah, Kentucky International Raceway for the Lucas Oil Series. A few years back buddy Darryl and I stopped at the 3/8 mile venue when promoter Bob Sargent happened to be there, and he let us do a walk around. At that time, we decided a race night there needed to happen, and twice now those plans have been thwarted. We will try again in 2011. Fortunately, the cancellation came in time for us to take in a very good open show in West Liberty, where Brian Birkhofer picked up the checkers. There is no way I could enjoy such a varied schedule without my traveling buddies Darryl and Fred, and this was a special season as grandson Keagan joined me 17 times. Keagan will be 15 next summer, and us " old guys " are hoping he sticks around to share the driving chores when he hits that magic 16 mark. When I think back to those days, many years ago, I remember young ladies by my side on trips to the local tracks, not a group of " Grumpy Old Men, " so we shall see! Also thanks to Jeff Broeg for letting me tag along on a rainy trip to Quad City Speedway in May.
The schedules are starting to trickle in for 2011, and we are already making some plans, starting with the UMP Dirt Car Round Up in Pevely the last weekend in March, but we will wait a while to see how the schedules match up.
Until next time, stay warm and enjoy the holidays, and check back for news and rumors until it gets to be time to go Racin' Down the Road!

Goings On at Quincy Raceways

After hearing about extensive dirt work going on at Quincy Raceways, I paid a visit to the speedway over the weekend and enjoyed a nice visit with co owner Paul Holtschlag. Although bust on the grader, Paul took time to give my wife and I a tour of the improvements made so far. Recognizing that the track had become a mostly one groove, high side venue, he began by taking about three feet of clay from the top of turns three and four. Some of that dirt was moved to the bottom of the track, as it was determined that the infield was actually higher than the track, resulting in water sometimes finding its way on to the track. The immediate benefit will be the ability to move the barrier tires closer to the infield. The top groove has also been cut down on the straightaways, as the cars coming off turn four were actually higher than the retaining wall. On Saturday, work had begun to cut down turns one and two. All this should get things back to a two and three groove surface. The next project will be to improve drainage in the pit area, a persistent problem in 2010.
Meanwhile, the regular Sunday night starting time has been moved to 6:30, as the earlier start often resulted in a dusty track. With that in mind, efforts will be made to start promptly at the advertised time. While the regular classes of IMCA late models and stock cars, UMP modifields, and track rules hobby stocks will return, a fifth class of Lee County Speedway rules 4 cylinder Wild Things will be added. In addition , the payout will be increased for the mods, $500.00 to win, and hobby stocks, $200.00 to win. The Wild Things will pay $100.00 to win. Payouts for the IMCA classes will stay the same. Grandstand admission will stay the same, while pit passes will be $25.00. Former announcer Doug Mealy will be back behind the mic in 2011 after a stint as chief steward.
While some scheduling plans were discussed, I will wait for official word before commenting on that, but things are shaping up nicely.
I came away most encouraged that Quincy Raceways will be able to put a less than stellar season in the rear view mirror and move forward in 2011.
Meanwhile, the spring calender is already becoming dotted with early season specials. April 1 and April 2 is rumored to be the dates for the Illini 100, a previosly World of Outlaw sanctioned $20,000 to win race apparently moving from Farmer City Raceway to Lasalle Speedway. This follows by one week, the 8 class UMP DirtCar Roundup at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. Easter weekend, April 22 and 23 Tri City Speedway in Granite City,Il. hosts a non sanctioned $ 20,000 to win super late model show. With the Lucas Oil schedule already out, we are already making plans for a May 6 and 7 show at Paducah, Ky International Raceway and a May 13 and 14 weekend at 34 Raceway in West Burlington on Friday the 13th! followed by a Saturday night visit to Lasalle. Memorial Day weekend will feature the Lucas stars at Wheatland, Mo. for the Show Me 100. While I will not be able to make all these shows and still remain A) financially solvent, and B) married, it certainly offers some attractive options as the midwest season gets going. Before that happens, I will try to put the wraps on 2010 with a personal season recap in the near future. Thanks for reading!

West Liberty Correction

I promise I was sober as could be when I watched the Saturday night features at West Liberty Raceways Liberty 100, and was in the same condition when I penned my recap, but unfortunately I mixed up my notes. After rereading my post, I realized I incorrectly credited Darren Miller with a flag to flag win in the open late models. While Darren did indeed pick up an impressive win, lapping up to sixth place, it was about lap 30 when he took the lead from second place finisher Brian Birkhofer.
With that said, lets cross our fingers that the weather forecasts improve enough that Shiverfest at the Lee County Speedway helps put a cap on the 2010 season. Hope to see everyone there!

Seeing Double

With the sun shining brightly, Darryl and Fred picked me up Saturday afternoon, and after a mid afternoon meal at the new Dennys at the Fly'n J in Wayland, Mo., we headed north to the West Liberty Raceway for the rescheduled night two of the Liberty 100. This race always gets penciled in as soon as the schedules come out, but the anticipation level was even higher this season with the show split into two late model divisions. Thanks to a detailed internet posting by Kevin Feller - thanks, Kevin, I had the lineups for the evening in hand even though we had not attended night one. On the way north we met the # 44L of Aaron Luke headed towards the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo., but we were hoping that there would be a few " buy ins " to make up for the " no shows. " As it turned out, there were two new cars in the open late model class, with Dave Eckrich, who missed night one while chasing MLRA points, and Paul Parker, from Wisconsin taking a shot from the back of the last chance race. Dave made the show on a track he has raced many times, while Parker failed to transfer to the 50 lap finale. The first night show had 29 entries in each late model class, and on Saturday, there were 27 open cars and 26 IMCA competitors. With one qualified car missing in each class, Chad Simpson in the opens and Ron Brokus in the IMCAs, seven cars were promoted to the feature from each last chance 10 lap event. Jason Utter outdueled Jay Johnson in the opens, while Jay Chenoweth took the IMCA race ahead of Jon Merfeld. Joel Callahan was forced to start both races, and managed to qualify in both, surviving a flat tire in the IMCA version to come all the way back to third. The top six in passing points from night one ran a six lap dash for starting positions, with Darren Miller holding off Brian Birkhofer in the opens, and Ray Guss Jr. besting Miller in IMCA. With the show moving along quickly, Tyler Kelly captured the Flyer feature, while Zach Less topped the B-mods. Scott Walker piloted Matt Greiners # 29 to the stock car win, even as Greiner wheeled his IMCA car to the stock car win in Memphis! The A-mod feature turned in to a runaway win for Ryan Dolan, who had struggled in the dash earlier. Noah Coppess picked his way through the pack for an impressive runner up finish ahead of Jason Schueller. The open lates then took to the track for their 50 lap $3500 to win finale, with national stars Miller - who came out of " retirement " only weeks earlier - and Birkhofer setting on the front row. Brian took the lead at the green, but Darren pulled ahead in his Diercks # 32D out of turn two, and was never headed. A major crash in turn one on lap three took out five cars near the back of the starting order, with Jay Johnson perhaps getting the worst of it. From that point on, the race went green all the way, and Miller lapped all the way up to the sixth place car. Birky held on for second, while Utter made an unbelievable charge from 18th to finish third. Nick Marolf and Chris Simpson completed the top five. Brian Harris, Eckrich brothers Andy and Denny, and Kile brothers Kurt and Kevin rounded out the top ten. The final race of the night was the 50 lap, $3500 to win IMCA main event. The pole position went to three track, Summer Series, and national IMCA champion Guss, with Miller to his right. Although it was a different car on different tires, Miller picked up where he left off. After a scary crash on the front stretch as the filed tried to complete lap one, in which Nate Beuseling landed atop the # 84 of Sam Halstead, this race also went green all the way. If Darren Miller was impressive in the first feature, he was awesome in the finale. Dicing his way through traffic, Miller lapped all but second place Andy Eckrich, and put everyone from seventh on back two laps down! Guss finished third, with Jeff Aikey fourth. Tommy Elston made a second half charge to run fifth, while Mike Garland slipped past Boone Mclaughlin at the end for sixth. Colby Springsteen, Jeremiah Hurst, and Darrell Defrance finished out the first ten.
Several drivers competed in both late model classes. In addition to Miller , Andy Eckrich, and Callahan, Hurst, Mclaughlin, Johnson, and Jonathon Brauns did double duty, although Brauns in his # 22B was turning practice laps only with the IMCA cars. Rob Toland ran the IMCA portion in a backup car borrowed from open driver Rich Bell. A couple of night one cars had substitute drivers, with Andy Nezworski filling in for Matt Ryan in # 07, while Gary Webb took a turn in Rick Dralles'# 4D. Both made the big show.
Miller collected a $1,000 bonus for winning both main events. With an equal turnout of cars in both classes, it will be interesting to see what Simmons Promotions has in store for West Liberty in 2011. With over 140 cars on hand, we were pleasantly surprised to be leaving the grounds by 10:45, although the good feeling was tempered by the notion that we may have seen our last race of 2010. We had already made plans to attend Shiverfest this coming Saturday at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, but we also knew that the likelihood of yet another dry weekend was a long shot, and as I write this, the forecast does not look too favorable. Hopefully, the rain will hold off, and there will be one more night of racin' down the road in 2011. Hope to see you there!

The Last Double Header Weekend?

Saturday morning Keagan and I along with Rick Coats and his son Spencer loaded a mountain of warm clothes in the Impala and headed for Knoxville, Iowa for the final night of the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals. After the Saturday night rainout last year that sent us home without seeing the 100 lap finale, we were happy to take the cold temps as long as clear skies were part of the deal. We arrived at the track before noon, but seemed to keep busy until the grandstands opened at 5:00. Keagan correctly pointed out that you can have a great time at this show before an engine ever fires. Wandering the pits, checking out all the collectables, attending the autograph session, taking in the auction all only feeds the anticipation of the big show. Keagan cut loose with some of his " hard earned " money to purchase a Brian Birkhofer diecast car, which Brian was gracious enough to autograph. When race time arrived 52 cars prepared to do battle for the
$40,000 top prize, while a couple of other competitors remained on the trailer. Quincy racer Rickey Frankel was dominating the 15 lap C-main when the engine began to go sour in his # 33F. Rickey held on for second to Oregon driver John Duty, but he was not able to take his spot in the B- main. Another Quincy driver, Mark Burgtorf had the fifth starting slot in the 20 lap 24 car B-main, which would see six cars transfer to the big dance. Mark ran in a transfer spot for most of the race, holding off Iowa hotshoes Chris Simpson and Andy Eckrich. As the laps wound down, Simpson found his way around Burgtorf, who finished one spot away from a transfer. Jimmy Mars took the win over a field that would have made for a great A- Main on another day. The bad luck for Quincy drivers continued in the IMCA modified main event. We had hoped things were looking up when Michael Long started on the front row in the Jim Gillenwater owned # 18L. Michael jumped out to an early lead, but soon found himself going backwards, eventually retiring from the race, which was captured by former late model pilot Darin Duffy. The late model 100 lapper was historic in the fact that unarguably the two most successful late model drivers of this era lined up side by side on the front row. Predictably, Scott Bloomquist powered to the early lead, bit before long it was Billy Moyer in the drivers seat. While several drivers made runs at the top spot during the caution marred race, it seemed like any time Billy was challenged, he could reach down for a little extra speed. In the end, the Iowa native lapped up to the 12th place car, winning the biggest race in his native state for the first time.
" Kid Rocket " Josh Richards was the last to make a run, and for the second time in three years, he filled the bridesmaid spot. Darrell Lanigan drove a consistent race to take third, while Steve Francis nabbed fourth. Will Vaught started 22nd and made a late charge to capture fifth ahead of shannon Babb, who had climbed as high as second mid race. Jimmy Mars came from the B-main to finish seventh,and 2008 winner Tim McCreadie was eighth. Another former winner, Brady Smith slipped past 18 year old Austin Hubbard to complete the top ten. While it was not the most exciting of the national finals, there is always something special about the race that keeps everyone talking for days after. With a cup of coffee and a splash of fuel, we headed home to get some sleep before the late afternoon scheduled show at Quincy Raceways.
There had been a buzz in the pits at Knoxville that Quincy might well see a big influx of UMP modifieds, as Sunday would be the final night for UMP points, with QR the only track racing. In addition, a combination rules package that would allow crate and steel block late models to compete with the local IMCA cars for a $1,000 top prize for 15 or more cars, a similar gimmick for stock cars and hobby stocks, and a visit from the Ill-Mo winged sprints offered the possibility of a full pit area. But as is so often the case late in the season, the cars did not show, at least not in the numbers hoped for.
Three crate late models and one steel block were part of an 11 car field that also included the season debut of veteran IMCA racer Fred Remley. Vance Wilson had been a QR regular the first half of the season before joining the
United Late Model Association mid season, and winding up as their champion. With the title in the bag, Vance came back and took a flag to flag win for his first late model win at the track were he has won a modified championship. Season points runnerup Jason Perry was alongside Wilson at the checkers. Evan Fink wheeled his crate car to a third place run in a car Jason Frankel piloted earlier this season. Track champion Denny Woodworth finished fourth ahead of Robbie Warner, and 11 year old Jake Griffin, who did double duty in his crate late model and UMP modified.
Only ten modifieds checked inm but one of the two travelers, Jim Black, from Bonne Terre, Mo. took the win. National point contender Devin Gilpin made the trip from Columbus, Indiana, and was running in the front pack before jumping the cushion and retiring early. Although the hobby stocks from QR and Lee county Speedway out up a challenge, it was the IMCA stock cars in the top three spots in the combo class, with track champ Terry Houston nabbing the win. Phil Heavelow made the trip from Buckner, Mo. to take a flag to flag win in the Lightning Sprints. With the early start, the final checkers flew about 7:15. With a small pit and grandstand turnout, QR owners canceled next weeks scheduled finale to begin plans for what will hopefully be a drier 2011 season.
With family activities this weekend, it does not look like I will be able to attend scheduled events at Lee County Speedway or Quad City Speedway,
but hopefully I will be able to get in a couple more shows after that. the forecast looks great for this weekend, so don't waste a chance to take in some racing.

If at First You Don't Suceed...

Saturday morning began with me working as I must do on the occasional Saturday, and buddy Fred staying close to the weather channel. Leaving work about 10:30, I made a call to the Littons in Iowa City, who let me know that the rain appeared to be on the way to the West Liberty area. Heading home, I took up the watch, and soon after a return call from Bob Litton, word came down that Donnellson, West Burlington, and West Liberty had all called off their races. Although the forecast was far from reassuring, Fred and I met up and headed south to Kevin and Tammy Gundakers Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Il. for the final night of the three night Modified Mania combined with the Monster Midwest late models. 64 UMP type mods checked in for the third $3,000 to win purse, while 31 late models showed up for a $2,000 top prize. 28 UMP Pro Crate late models and 22 street stocks filled out the stout field. An interesting format had the two premier classes putting four or five cars on the track at a time, running a couple of hot laps followed by two time trial laps. Frank Heckenast Jr. recorded the fastest lap in his late model at 14.780 around the 3/8 mile oval, while Brent Mullins paced the mods. Mullins needed that fast lap to earn a prvisional start in the main event. Eight modified heat races, two C-mains, two B-mains and a top eight dash sert the field for the 30 lap finale, while the late models ran four heat races, captured by Heckenast, Brian Shirley, Ryan Unzicker, and Jason Feger,and a B-main won by Tim Rataczyk. A track provisional for the " Salty Dog " Rick Salter set the 21 car field. At one point it seemed unlikely that we would see any feature racing, as a light but persistent rain fell for more than 30 minutes. The track officials kept wheels going around the speedway throughout, and when the rain let up, we went back to racing.
With more rain on the horizon, the modified feature was moved to first in the running order, with Quincy, Il. standout Michael Long sharing the front row with southern Ill. star Chad Kinder. When Kinder jumped the start, the front row was moved back to row two, and row two assumed the front. It took just 12 laps until Long and Kinder were battling up front, and Michael soon began to open up a sizable lead in his # 18L. Although Kinder closed in a bit in traffic, Long was never seriously challenged, taking the win to go along with a runnerup finish on Thursday. Mike Harrison made the run of the night, starting 15th and charging to third, Jeff Leka took fourth, and Kevin Weaver, who led in the early going, brought the # 128 home in fifth. Next up was the the 30 lap late model main event. after a short delay while weaver climbed in his # B12, Dennis Erb Jr. and Shirley brought the field to the green. A light rain began to fall again, but the Super late models raced on, with Shirley assuming the top spot. Unzicker kept pace early as Erb fell back to fifth. As the laps wound down, Erb moved back to the second spot, but could not overtake Shirley. Feger started eight and crossed the stripe in third, Unzicker claimed fourth, and UMP national point leader Rusty Schlenk took fifth in his # 91. Chad Zobrist started and finished sixth, Heckenast took seventh, Scott Weber ran eighth in Randy Kortes #00, while young Bobby Pierce and Weaver completed the top ten.
Quincy drivers Mark Burgtorf, Dustin Griffin, and Rickey Frankel also made the show, while Jason Frankel, out with a new ride he purchashed from Clint Kirkham, grazed the while while running in a transfer spot in the B- main. With the weather threatening and the time nearing 11:30, we headed to the car as the crates came to the track.
I hesitate to offer up this weeks plans, as I seem to be jinxing myself, but Saturday night in Knoxville,Iowa is on the agenda.
On Saturday I learned that midwest dirt track racing lost a true friend, as Gary Storey passed away in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Before his illness, Gary, often in the company of Bob Litton, could be seen at tracks all over the middle of the country. My last visit with him was at Independence, Iowa in the summer of 2009, and although in failing health, he was talking racing as always. RIP, my friend.

Pepsi Nationals Times Two

This past weekend was pretty much representative of the entire 2010 racing season, as rain played a major role in the festivities. With a vacation day on Friday, I was able to get to 34 Raceway plenty early to wander the pit area and catch up with some old friends while getting a good roster of the 51 late models that showed up to attempt to qualify for the $10,000 to win Saturday Pepsi Nationals IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series finale. The car count was down a bit from the past few seasons, but that is a trend I have been seeing most places I go, surely a bi product of a tight economy. Still, the best of the best in IMCA late model racing was on hand, and anticipation was high for the weekend. Despite my prediction, the track stayed pretty consistent throughout qualifying, and although most of the top times came during the first half, Quincy Raceways point champion Denny Woodworth set quick time with a lap of 16.575 late in the time trial round, locking him in to a starting spot for Saturday. Things got a little strange when I went back to the pits to record the heat race lineups. Tommy Elston was checking out his starting spot and mentioned to me that he did not see Mark Burgtorf on the lineups. After some conversation it was determined that Marks # 7B had been listed instead as 70. Although officials corrected the board apparently no one from the track contacted Mark, and his team had thought he was in the second heat instead of the opening one. As a result, he was late to staging, and would be relegated to a Saturday night B-main. Meanwhile, last years winner, Jason Frankel, driving Bill Genenbachers # 72 took the first qualifier to earn the pole for the money race. Nate Beuseling, Lonnie Bailey, Boone McLaughlin and Summer Series rookie of the year Andy Eckrich also captured the 12 lap preliminary events in which 15 cars qualified. While I missed the 305 Sprint event, I was back in the grandstands to see Jeff Mueller capture the IMCA stock car 20 lapper, leaving only the late model Ironman 20 lap feature to be contested. This race is a special event for the drivers who attend each Summer Series race throughout the season, and pays $750 to win. Former rookie of the year TJ Criss from Oskaloosa parlayed a front row start into a flag to flag win. While TJ had the field covered, there was plenty of action behind him, with Terry Neal advancing from ninth to take second in the 12 car field. Mark Preston, Eckrich, and series champion Ray Guss Jr. completed the top five.
Jeff Aikey finished sixth in another Guss car. Jeff broke his engine in hot laps, and the Roberts - Guss team loaned him their new # 58 car, which they brought along as a back up, electing to use the red # 58 as their primary car for the weekend. We left the track knowing that rain was a possibility for Saturday, and made some backup plans on the ride home.
Saturday morning was spent close to the phone and computer, and it was a bit after noon that the official word came that Saturdays racing was posponed until Sunday. At the same time, Quincy Raceways cancelled their Sunday races to avoid any conflict with 34. With the radar looking good to the south, Keagan and I met up with buddies Darryl and Fred and we headed south to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. for the Pepsi Nationals World of Outlaws late model $10,000 to win 55 lap one day event. 124 cars signed in for the four class program, including 31 World of Outlaw late models. It was grandson Keagan first WoO show, and he was filled with anticipation. Happily, he was not disappointed. Steve Francis set quick time around the 1/3 mile oval with a lap of 12.768 seconds. Heat race wins went to Francis, point leader Josh Richards, and Billy Moyer, while Chub Frank captured the B-main. The two ladies in the field, April Farmer and Jill George collected provisionals to fill out a 24 car field. The announcement was then made that rain - what else? - was headed our way, and the late model feature would be run first. Why can't more tracks make such good decisions? As the field rolled out, with Darrell Lanigan and Tim McCreadie on the front row, we all made our picks - I picked last and took T-Mac. The first 29 laps went non stop, with McCreadie, then Lanigan holding the top spot. The yellow came only because the ambulance was needed in the outside pit area. On the restart, T- Mac, who was second, spun in turn four. When racing resumed, ninth starting Shannon Babb charged to third, and began to work on second running Moyer, who had been swapping the lead with Lanigan. By lap 39, Babb had the runnerup spot, and after one last caution, 13th starting Brady Smith powered in to third. Babb worked the low line to take the lead and the win, with his mentor Moyer in second and Smith third. Lanigan took fourth over 11th starting Clint Smith. The second fiver included Richards, Francis, McCreadie, Frank, and 18 year old Austin Hubbard. Lanigans finish gave him the series points lead over Richards. With lightening flashing around us, we headed for the car, and barely made it to the interstate before the rains came. They were able to get the UMP modified feature in, with Mike Harrison taking the $1,000 win, but the sportsman and Pro 4 feature were apparently washed out. The late model feature may have been the best we have seen in 2010, with an excellent track and plenty of passing.
It was Sunday morning when we learned what we suspected on the trip home, that 34 Raceway would be unable to race on Sunday. It was a surprise however to learn the event would not be rescheduled.
Plans for this weekend include a Saturday night visit to the West Liberty Raceway for the Liberty 100 50 lap features for open and IMCA late models. Then on Sunday Quincy Raceways will try again to kick off their fall series featuring $1,000 to win late models with rules allowing the ULMA steel block late models and the UMP crate lates to compete with the IMCA cars. also racing are the UMP modifieds, IMCA stock cars and hobby stocks, with hot laps scheduled for 4:00 PM. Hope to see you at the races!

"O" For The Weekend

The past weekend was a grim reminder of things to come, as I did not get in any racing for the first weekend since early June. Saturday night was taken up with our annual hog roast at church, and although I was plenty busy, I was also wondering what I was missing at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton,Ia. Last season was my first ever visit there for the Dhouly - Devore race, and I definitely hated to miss it this year. An inch and a half of rain rolled through our area Friday night, so I was only mildly surprised when Quincy Raceways pulled the plug on Sunday night racing even though Saturday and Sunday were sunny and breezy. Unfortunately, there were some new cars arriving at the speedway , not thinking to call ahead.
With that in mind, I am eagerly anticipating the upcoming weekend, easily the busiest of the " postseason. " It would be a disservice to try and list all the special events slated for this Saturday and Sunday, as I counted at least ten shows within a couple hundred miles worthy of any race fans hard earned money. I will say that my plans are to attend the Pepsi USA late model Nationals at 34 Raceway in West Burlington. As long as this race has been held, and this will be year 19, I have missed only the 1997 edition due to work commitments. Should the weatherman interfere, there is a non sanctioned open late model show paying $7,000 to win at Pontoon Beach, Il on Friday, and a now one day only World of Outlaw late model show at I-55 Raceway in Pevely,Mo. on Saturday. So much good racing on the same weekend!
Quincy Raceways will try again on Sunday, with the Sprint Invaders, late models for $1,000 to win, UMP modifieds and hobby stocks. Start times have been moved up, with hot laps scheduled for 4:00 P.M.
The season is winding down way too fast, so take in some action this weekend wherever you are!

The Boys Are Back In Town

The pop song lyric that titles this article was the theme of the IMCA late model Deery Brothers Summer Series a few seasons back, and seemed to me to be the perfect anthem for the traveling show. There is something special for late model fans to see the big out of town rigs rolling through town and down pit road at the local track. On Friday, that track was Quincy Raceways, and 29 competitors made the trip to the Broadway Bullring. The sun was out and the breeze was blowing on a beautiful Friday evening, as we anticipated the make up of the $3,000 to win Titan Wheel Classic which had been postponed during a rainy June. Unfortunately, there had been some heavy rain move through the Quincy area on Thursday evening, and the track was left a sloppy, muddy surface. Track personnel worked feverishly before the races, and again following heat race action, but the best they could do was a smooth and fast top groove around the .29 mile oval, while the lower grooves were choppy and treacherous. This is not to say that there was no passing, as heat one proved. 14 time track champion Mark Burgtorf drew the # 100 pill for heat race action, putting him last on the eight car starting grid. Mark caught a break when both Rob Toland and Kevin Blum were late to staging, moving him up to the third row. From there, Burgtorf used his knowledge of his hometown track to pick up the third and final transfer spot for the scheduled 50 lap finale. His luck continued to improve as he drew the number two slot for the money race. Jeff Aikey, Joey Gower, Terry Neal, and Jay Johnson captured heat race wins, while Bill Genenbacher and Andy Eckrich nabbed the two B- mains.Four
provisionals filled the field, including former track regular Nick Ingalls in Terry Gallahers # 0. Nick destroyed his car in a late June rollover. An announcement was made before the feature that the race would be cut to 40 laps, presumably due to track conditions. No one could have known what a dramatic effect this may have had on the final outcome. Burgtorf set sail from the outside pole and never looked back, leading all 40 laps. Ray Guss Jr. added to his storybook season by moving to the runner up slot at the checkers. As everyone surely knows by now, the " River City Hustler " has captured three track championships, the IMCA national title, and was now well on his way to the Summer Series title in his second season driving for Hershel roberts Motorsports. In fact, just before the drivers meeting, members of the team rolled in with a brand new Mastersbilt by Stuckey chassis they had just picked up in Mississippi. Track champion Denny Woodworth finished third, with Toland, Mark Peston, Gower, Charlie McKenna, Johnson, T.J. Criss and Jason Perry. rounding out the top ten. In talking to the top four after the races, all expressed doubts that they could have made the additional ten laps. Burgtorf had lost the belts off his engine and was overheating, Guss gad broken suspension, Woodworth had no brakes, and Toland had a broken radiator!
Support class action saw James Leffew capture a UMP modified win after the top two made contact on the final lap. Jason Cook made a trip south pay off with a flag to flag IMCA stock car win, while Bobby Anders paced the hobby stocks.
Saturday night, the " Boys " rolled into the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, 34 strong. Heat race winners included Tyler Bruening, Criss, Aikey, who had exited the feature early on Friday, and Tom Goble. Eckrich nabbed his second B-main in two nights, along with Guss. Interestingly, Ingalls in the Gallaher machine again took the hard charger provisional.Quincy Raceways points runner up, jason perry, who finished tenth on Friday, took off from row two and grabbed the top spot on the first lap. Through several early restarts he held on, including one for 15th starting Josh Most, who went pitside with what he thought was a flat tire. His crew waved him back out, and he tagged the tail of the field. While the action was going on up front, including Toland and Aikey dueling for second, Most began picking off cars on the high side of the speedway. Lonnie Bailey charged from 19th to fourth before his engine grenaded, ending his night. Lonnie says it was his first blown engine in 21 seasons! Mark Burgtorf was running the high side of the track before breaking the brace bars on the nose of his ride, hampering his steering and sending him to the trailer. Guss also fell victim to a flat tire, and had to restart at the back. Through all of this, Most traveled the high groove, until with a handful of laps to go he used an inside move to nudge Toland to the third spot. Back on the top at the while flag, he used a all or nothing move through the final turns to try and overtake Perry. a surprised Perry missed his mark ever so slightly, and Most won the drag race to the line to take his second ever Summer Series win and leave Jason still looking for his first. Toland , Aikey and Justin Reed were top five finishers, while Terry Neal, who qualified for but failed to start the feature on Friday claimed sixth over Tom Darbyshire, Jay Johnson, eighth for the second night in a row, Boone McLaughlin, and Guss. The five class program ended about 10:30, and although the corners developed some holes, the track was plenty racy all night long.
On Sunday night it was back to Quincy for a King of the Hill challenge format featuring time trials in all four regular classes and three lap elinination races involving between three and five cars per round. The time trial winner in each class received a $100 bonus, led by Denny Woodworth with a lap of 14.097. The King of the Hill runoff winner in each class had the option of giving up their feature pole position for a chance at a 50% bonus should they come through for the feature win. Late model ace Jason Perry accepted the challenge for a shot at a $1,500 payday, as did stock car driver Wes Mayfield for a possible $600. Before the feature races, the UMP modifieds staged the River City Rumble, a 35 lap event for the top 12 in points in attendance for a $1,000 top prize. Drawing for starting positions, second generation driver Steven Delonjay parlayed a front row spot in to a flag to flag win. The IMCA late models race a trophy dash each week all season to accumulate points for a 20 lap finale at years end paying $600 to win. The late model lawyer Woodworth came from row two to grab the lead on lap three and held on for his second check on the night.
With a much better track than Friday, the features looked to be top notch, and that was proven out as the four finales were run. Visiting Matt Greiner used a rare for QR low groove to outlast Mayfield for the stock car win, while Michael Long came back from a sixth in the Rumble to take the big hardware over Tony Dunker. Bobby Anders nabbed his second main of the weekend over point champion Steve Carlin.
Woodworth definitely had his # 45DW late model dialed in, as he led all 30 laps of the IMCA late model finale to take his fifth win of 2010. The $1,000 payoff left him with a sweep of the nights events and a $1,700 payday. Justin Reed, Perry, Burgtorf and Joey Gower trailed Denny at the checkers.
This week the Sprint Invaders will be in action at QR, and the stock cars will get a night off.
Congratulations to Ray Guss Jr. and Roberts Racing on their Summer Series victory at the Boone Supernationals and their fifth championship of 2010.
It may be September, but there are still a lot of choices for racing fans, so even if you are not going to Eldora, take in some racing this weekend!

Crowning Champions

For those of us who reside in IMCA country, the last weekend in august means championship weekend, and with cooperation from the weatherrman, that is what we had. Friday night the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was able to finish their points season after a couple weeks of late day rain outs. Something close to 100 cars in six classes checked in for the nights racing, which saw no heat races run in five of the six classes. Only the late models ran heats, as they are the only group that offers points for the preliminary events. The IMCA Sport Mods also ran a ten lap King of the Crate race for cars that ran at least half of the point shows and used a crate engine rather than a 9 to 1 power plant. What seemed like it should have been a quick program ran longer than usual, with driver introductions and multiple on track interviews in all classes. I cannot say if it is a good thing or not, but my personal preference is to " just race. " 18 late models started off the evening with three heat races, then it was feature time. The 18 car IMCA modified finale was an edge of your seat race, with 15th starting Michael Long picking off cars in bunches before he landed in fourth spot on a lap ten restart. The Quincy pilot then wrestled his way past Jeff Waterman and Wyatt Lantz, setting up a battle with leader Brandon Rothzen. Michael used a big time slide job to take the point on lap 15, then outpowered Brandon down the front chute to take the lead, and five laps later, the win. Davenport driver Rich Smith exited the track in the early laps, but had enough cushion to win the season title.
Multi class racer Jason Cook held only a one point lead over Phillip Cossel as the two took off from the front row in the Sport Mod 15 lapper. While Cossel got shuffled back, Jason shot to the front and stayed there the entire time, winning both the nights feature and the class championship.
Jason came back in the next event, the IMCA stock car finale, but he had some heavy hitters in front of him. Number two point man Jeff Mueller grabbed the lead as the green flag flew, claiming a lead he would not relinquish. While Jeff took the checkers in the caution free race, it will be Matt Greiner on the podium come banquet time.
The Sport Mod special event, with a purse of $1,000 courtesy of Shottenkirk, saw six cars qualified for the ten lap dash. Veteran Jim Gillenwater, who finished second to Cook in the title race, ran off with the win, collecting a first place check of $400. Ironically, this was $150 more than the feature win was worth!
The 4 cylinder Wild Thing feature was next, and the action was wid and wooly. When the checkers waved, it was longtime driver Wayne Noble in victory lane. However Waynes # 95x failed post race inspection, giving the hardware to Michael Grossman. Bill Michel captured the points title.
As 10:00 approached, the late models lined up, with Mark Burgtorf on the pole and three time winner Jeff Aikey on the outside. WQhile Jeff has made a living on the high side in recent weeks, the lower groove was the place to be on Friday, and Mark wasted no time in grabbing the lead and hugging the low groove. Just last weekend Burgtorf had picked up his freshened IMCA spec engine, and the change in power was pronounced. The 25 lap main event ran caution free, and Mark lapped up to the 12th place car to take the win and the track title. Denny Woodworth wheeled a car borrowed from the Warner race team out of Quincy, opting to save his IMCA car for championship night at Quincy on Sunday. Though racing the car for the first time, Denny powered around Aikey to take the runner up spot. Giving up on the high groove, Aikey settled for third, while Justin Reed came from seventh to fourth ahead of Gary Russell. The Woodworth car was one campaigned earlier this season by Tony Dunker.
After a long day at work, I headed for the car as the hobby stocks rolled out for introductions, however I want to also congratulate feature winner Matt Tucker, and track champ Tanner Thoman.
LCS notes: The only late model not starting the feature was Tom Goble, who was the feature winner Saturday night at 34 Raceway in west Burlington. Russell captured the point title at 34, overtaking Joey Gower on the final night. This Saturday night will be the yearly visit of the Derry Brothers Summer Series, with 15 drivers eligible for the $3,000 winners bonus. To qualify, a driver may have missed only one late model show at LCS all season. Last year, only about six drivers were eligible, but Burgtorf came fro deep in the field to grab the top prize. Check out the LCS website for the list of eligible drivers. Five classes will be in action, with only the IMCA mods getting the night off.
Saturday night found me away from the race track, but Sunday night it was back to Quincy Raceways for more championship action. The car count was down a bit, but the drama and action was intense. At QR, all classes ran heats, and following each divisions qualifiers, the respective point leader came to the front stretch and flipped a coin to determine if the feature would line up in the regular invert, or straight up with point leaders up front. The exception was the UMP modified class which had to follow UMP line up procedures.
The first feature out was for the IMCA stock cars, where point leader Terry Houston had flipped an invert. Kevin Tomlinson had come to the track having borrowed the # 14 of Jason Leaply, and Kevin took off like a rocket. During a mid race caution, Tomlinson suddenly went pitside, ending his night. Houston drove a patient race, taking over the top spot to claim both the race and the title, with Steve Steinkuhler and Jerry Jansen filling out the top three for the night.
Although Jared Schlipman had a bit of breathing room in the UMP modified division, the always dangerous Michael Long still had a shot. Steven Delonjay, who had to rebuild much of his # 35 after last weeks flip, took off along with Dave Weitholder. As the two duled up front, Long slipped past Schlipman for third. Just as quickly Long headed to the pits with something wrong with the rear end of his mount. Schlipman the decided to throw caution to the wind, inserting inself in the duel for the win. Delonjay held on for the feature victory, with Schlipman and Ryan Meyer picking up trophies as well. The track title for Jared came just days before father Terry celebrated a milestone birthday.
13 IMCA late models were on hand, and point leader Denny Woodworth wanted to take no chances. So " retired " driver Jerry Weisenberger dug out his suit and helmet and qualified the same # 79 Warner Racing ride that Denny raced on Friday, making sure the racing attorney would have a back up car for the feature if needed. Woodworth had flipped a straight up start, and he sat on the pole alongside number two man Jason Perry. As the green flag flew, Perry took off, and Woodworth settled into second. With a nine point lead, Woodworth played it cool, staying on the high side of the oval, counting cars and laps, as his first late model title at QR came ever closer. At the checkers, Perry had his third feature win of 2010, and Woodworth had the track title, as well as second in the 30 lapper. Number three point man Justin Reed chased Denny to the checkers, while Keith Pratt edged Joey Gower in an entertaining battle between the fourth and with place points cars. Woodworth has one other QR championship to his credit, in the " A " modified division way back in 1993.
While the other three classes were crowning first time champs, wily veteran Steve Carlin was looking for championship number four. He took a nine point lead over Bobby Anders into the action, and flipped an inverted start. Things got off to a rough start, with a collision sending Mike Wiley into a hard flip on the backstretch. Mike emerged unhurt after several minutes, but his # 26 suffered heavy damage. As the laps clicked off, Carlin came to the front with Anders trailing behind. the feature finish mirrored the points finish, with Carlin first and Anders second. Hard luck Jake Powers picked up a third for the night.
QR notes: The Deery Brother Summer Series late models visit QR for a rae Friday night show this week. The date is a rescheduled of the rained out Titan Classic from June. The feature event pays an inflated $3,000 to win, and $300 to start. Added to the Donnellson show on Saturday, one driver could pocket $8,000 for the two nights. QR will also be racing on Sunday, with a King of the Hill format in all four classes, featuring time trials, and a bracketed run off to determine feature qualifying. Late models will run for $1,000 to win, with a chance for the pole sitter to start in the back for an extra $500 to win. The there will be extra money and a challenge in all classes, plus the late model trophy dash finale paying something around $500 to win, and a modified River City Rumble for the top points cars.
QR has an aggressive fall schedule going into October, including Sprint Invaders on September 11. Check the website for more details.
Plans for this weekend include Quincy of Friday, Donnellson on Saturday, back to Quincy on Sunday, then???. Hope to see you down the road.

Someplace New, Then Back " Home "

With the season ending weekend specials fast approaching, I took the opportunity on Saturday to visit a track I had never been to, and it was my 15th different track in 2010. Keagan and I joined buddy Fred as we traveled south and east to the Highland Speedway on the Madison County fairgrounds in Highland, Il. The top draw at this UMP weekly track was a visit from the Northern All Star late models in a 30 lap feature paying $2,000 to win. 30 late models made up the bulk of the 97 car turnout for five classes of racing. The track only offered hot laps to the top two classes, something we do not see closer to home, and qualifying started at 6:30, with only the late models receiving time trials, only one lap per car around the 1/4 mile paperclip shaped track. 13 total heat races and a B-main for the late models saw more than an average share of caution peiods, and combined with a break to do some grading of the track, it was about 9:30 when intermission time arrived. Things looked up for us weary travelers, however, when the call went out to bring the Northern All Star late models to the track. The extra track prep had created a smooth surface, and we anticipated a hard fought main event. Former UMP national champion Rodney Melvin drew the pole position after his second heat win, with heat three winner Ryan Unzicker to his outside. At the drop of the green, the two veterans took off in a side by side duel that had everyone on the edge of their seat. For more than half the race they ran this way, making contact only one time. Adding to the excitement was row two starters Jason Feger and Michael Kloos trying to build a high groove in an attempt to overtake the leaders. Highland is known as a bottom groove track, but Feger is known as the " Highside Hustler " for good reason, and he sent sparks flying off the turn four concrete more than once. Mid race Melvin began to open a lead over Unzicker, and Feger moved in to challenge. Just when he seemed poised to make a move, contact with the wall seemed to mess up his handling just a bit. The race was then for second, as he and Unzicker ran side by side. Coming to the checkers, the steering broke on Fegers # 25, but he stayed in the throttle, putting the ride side tires on the front stretch wall as the cars passed the flagstand. As Jason got out of the gas, the car came down on its top with the remainder of the field bearing down to the checkers. Fortunately, everyone missed the upside down car, and moments later he emerged from his ride to the roar of the big crowd. He had a bent race car and a third place finish behind Melvin and runnerup Unzicker. Kloos held off local driver Frankie Martin to complete the first five. The racing was fast and furious further back and Fred mentioned that he would like to see the race again to be able to watch the mid pack action! Steve Lance Jr. finished sixth, making a scorers nightmare as he was the third # 25 in the top six. Kevin Weaver came from 11th to seventh in the closing laps, followed by Bobby Dauderman, Paul Bailey and Adam Mefford. Kloos captured the first heat, while Mark Faust nabbed the consy. Martin turned the fastest lap at 13.600, well off the track record. Track point leader Chad Zobrist was involved in a heat race accident, was awarded a provisional start in the 21 car field, but retired early. With the clock ticking past 10:00 and a three hour drive home, we took our leave with four features yet to run. Highland is a unique facility, as you enter from high above the track and pit area, which set in a valley. Kudos to the concession workers for some of the best sandwiches and reasonable prices we have seen this season. On our trip south we ran back and forth with Quincy UMP driver Rickey Frankel, who competed at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., where he brought home a fourth place finish in a 32 car field.
Sunday night was back in the familiar digs of Quincy Raceways for the next to last point night of 2010. 13 IMCA late models checked in, and as hot laps wound down, Thad Trump from Kahoka, Mo. rolled through the pit gate as the 14th entry. Thad was making his season debut, as he has had a lot of " irons in the fire " this summer, deciding at 3:30 to load the # 46 and head south. The .29 mile oval offered up a combination of a little rough, a little tacky, and really fast, and the result was lots of action and some bent sheet metal. Clint Kirkham took off from the outside pole in the late model 30 lap finale, and looked like he might get win number one of the year. As the caution flew on lap 23, Clint suddenly pulled to the infield with something wrong under the hood, ending his fine run. Sixth starting Justin Reed had worked his way to the runnerup spot, and he inherited the lead, grabbing his third QR feature win of 2010. Bill Genenbacher ran a sloid second, with last weeks winner Keith Pratt third. Point leader Denny Woodworth gave up a point to second place Jason Perry in the heats, but climbed to fourth at the checkers, gaining two points back on sixth place Perry, with 34 Raceway point leader Joey Gower in fifth. Darin Weisinger and Trump were the only other two cars running at the end.
Last weeks UMP modified feature winner Steven Delonjay, who came in tied for second in points jumped the turn three cushion as the yellow came out for a spinning car at the start of the 25 lap feature. Delonjays # 35 launched off the berm, flipping wildly. Steven walked away from the crash, but his car was not as lucky,his pole position was wasted and his title hopes gone. Point leader Jared Schlipman jumped to the front, and built a lead, but before lap ten sixth row starter Michael Long had moved into second. The tough young drivers then raced side by side and nose to tail for a dozen laps before Long found an opening on the inside on lap 22, taking the lead down the backstretch. The win gave Michael nine wins and a second in ten starts in 2010. However the runnerup finish left Schlipman needing only a fifth place run next week to earn his first ever track championship.
Terry Houston used a second place finish behind winner Aaron Brocksieck to open a commanding lead over Abe Huls in the IMCA stock car chase, while Steve Carlin turned in a third place run in the hobby stocks behind Jim Brown and Nathan Anders to take control of that battle over Bobby Anders, who failed to finish the 20 lap finale.
Quincy Raceways promoters have announced an ambition schedule addition, with racing continuing every Sunday thru October 10. With some special events on the card, the IMCA rules late models are scheduled each week for a top prize of $1,000 to win in a draw redraw format. I will have more details as the time draws near.
This weekends plans are to stay close to home, beginning with season championship night Friday at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Hope to see you there!

Racin' on the Home Tracks

While a large part of the racing community spent last weekend at Knoxville watching sprint cars, Darryl, Fred and I stayed closer to home and took in some IMCA action. Saturday afternoon we loaded up and headed for 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. It had been too long since I had visited one of my favorite tracks, and it was good to be back in familiar surroundings. We were fortunate to run into Dick Wood in the parking lot, and the Donnellson business man was gracious enough to offer us some free grandstand tickets. Dick is a diehard race fan, and the father of former late model and modified ace Jody Wood. Thanks, Dick!
Even though Jeff and Amy Laue were offering reduced grandstand admission, local racing was a tough sell up against the Knoxville finals, state fairs in all directions, and the very popular West Point, Iowa sweet corn festival. Still the bleachers filled up nicely, with most arriving a bit late probably due to the high heat. The pits were also a bit sparse, with I believe a total of 96 cars in the six competing classes, but the on track action made up for the smaller than normal fields.
After a dominating heat race win, Quad City area modified ace Jeff Morris took off from the front row in the 20 lap feature, and looked strong before going pitside quickly during a lap two caution. That incident saw Brandon Rothzen caught up in an accident in which he was facing backwards in turn two. Brandon was forced to restart at the back of the 19 car field, and it looked as though his night would not turn out well. However he had his black # 33 hooked up, and on the restart he began picking off cars in bunches. By lap 11 he was up to third, when a caution period allowed him to line up behind the leader with the Delaware restart. Moving to the runnerup spot on the restart, he swapped the lead with Dusty Kraklio before taking the top spot for good on lap 15. Kraklio then held off point leader Scott Hogan for second behind a very happy Rothzen.
The 17 car IMCA stock car feature ran second, and thet ran a high pressure non stop event. Brett Timmerman held the top spot until lap 16, when Jim Redman eased ahead. On the white flag lap, Timmerman was able to get under Redman and reclaim the lead for his first ever stock car win. Point leader Jeff Mueller dropped out on lap nine with a flat tire after advancing to the sixth position.
The KIDZ MODZ ran next, with a sparse six car field. Again the race went non stop,with Logan Moody claiming the win. There was a seven year old competitor in this beginner class!
As with the modifieds, only two caution periods marred the hobby stock 18 car finale. Matt Gavin took a convincing win in his # 45.
12 IMCA late models took the green flag, and while front row starters Matt Bailey and Tom Bowling,Jr. swapped the top spot back and forth, eighth starting Rob Toland moved forfard quickly. As the season has gone on, I was beginning to think I was a bad luck omen for " Rocket " Rob, as he has had no luck at all when I have seen him race, save for the opening weekend of Summer Series events. The hex was off on Saturday, however, as he powered his red # 39 to a win going away from the pack in another flag to flag feature. Bowling held on for second, while Keith Pratt made a second half charge to grab third. Bailey edged Tom Goble for third. Point lead Joey Gower, of Quincy finished two spots behind Gary Russell, who is now just one marker behind. With no late models this coming week at 34, the title will come down to championship night. Best of luck to these two fine drivers!
With the four cylinder feature heading to the track, we headed to the car, and the dash clock read 9:40 when I fired up the Impala. Thanks to the staff at 34 for an entertaing and efficent show that got us all back home before the midnight hour!
Sunday night offered up weekly racing at Quincy Raceways, with the UMP Pro Crate late models added to the four division card. Again, the car count was a bit less than one might like, it is obvious the " dog days " are upon us.
Abe Huls began the night with a slim lead in the IMCA stock cars, but overheating issues sent him pitside late in the 20 lapper. Meanwhile, his closest rival, Terry Houston, took advantage, claiming his second checkered flag of 2010, and moving within one point of the top spot.
The 18 car UMP modified field weathered several early cautions, before finding their rhythm. Steven Delonjay used a front row starting spot, courtesy of a win in the dash to lead all 25 laps for his second win of the year at QR. Michael Long came into the night undefeated in eight feature starts this season, and although he quickly moved to the second slot, he could not find a way past the second generation driver. Point leader Jared Schlipman turned in a third place run, even though his crew chief father Terry was away at the Sprint Cup race in Michigan.
Track semi regular IMCA late model pilot Dustin Griffin brought his crate late model to the track on Sunday and took top honors in the visiting class. Another second generation driver, Gordy Gundaker took the runner up spot in a class that boasted two 11 year old drivers.
Only ten IMCA late models signed in on Sunday, but the action was fast and furious. Keith Pratt, who made a late charge through the pack Saturday at 34 Raceway made his move earlier on Sunday, and overtook Dustin Neese for the top spot on lap six. While Keith checked out for his first win of 2010, the top two point contenders both found themselves spinning at some point in the 30 lapper. While Joey Gower took the runnerup slot, point leader Denny Woodworth recovered to nab third, and number two point man Jason Perry claimed fourth. The late model lawyer holds an eith point lead with two nights of points racing remaining.
Quincy Raceways will host the rescheduled Titan Wheel Shootout for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series paying $3,000 to win on Friday, September 3, with Lee County Speedway in Donnellson hosting the series the following night with a possible $5,000 top prize if the winning driver has been a Lee County regular in 2010.
Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo. reopened this past Saturday night under the direction of new promoter Rick Girard. Talking to some racers who were there, it sounds like Rick had a successful opening night, with 75 cars in five classes and a nice crowd in the grandstand. Memphis will be racing again this weekend, off on August 28, then back in action on Saturdays in September.
This weekend, we are leaning towards the UMP Monster Midwest Series race at Highland, Il. Speedway, a track I have not visited before. Sunday night should find us back at Quincy Raceways. Be sure and take in some racing this weekend. The season is winding down fast!

More Vacation Racin'

With careful planning and a run of good weather, I was able to put together a string of six nights of racing in 11 days, while enjoying some much needed vacation. The final three nights filled this past weekend, and started with the seventh appearance of the IMCA late models at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Promoter Terry Hoenig used one of his draw, redraw nights in conjunction with no racing in Davenport, Iowa due to the county fair. 22 cars signed in, and although my buddies and I had thought there may be a few more travelers, it would have been impossible to be disappointed with the group of drivers that showed up. My thought was that every car there was Deery Series quality. 106 total cars took part in the six class program, and every race was competitive as we awaited the late model finale, which ran last on the card. Michael Long again put on a show in the IMCA modified feature, starting from the 11th spot and taking the lead on lap seven without benefit of a caution flag. Brandon Rothzen gave chase, but settled for the runnerup spot. Longs IMCA car owner, Jim Gillenwater nabbed the sportmod feature after a good battle with Phillip Cossell. Dan Wenig won a spirited match over Jim Lynch in the hobby stocks, and Matt Greiner used a late pass to edge Jim Redman in the stock car main. Mike Hornung Jr. picked up a big Wild Thing win.
The late model redraw found first heat winner Ray Guss Jr. on the pole for the 25 lapper, and as strong as the " River City Hustler " was in the preliminary it would be a tough row to hoe for the rest of the field. However it looked like the # 58 team set up to run the lower groove, and as of late the top side has been the fast side at Donnellson. It was only Guss second trip to LCS this season, so he was at a bit of a disadvantage in that area. Meanwhile, second row starter Jeff Aikey has been highly successful running the cushion in 2010, and he used that groove to overtake Guss. Although Ray stayed close, he was unable to reclaim the top spot, and he soon had his hands full with ninth starting Mark Burgtorf. Mark was trying to coax one more night out of a very tired IMCA spec engine, and in fact did not hot lap to try and save as much as he could. The powerplant did hold up, and Mark maintained his rather comfortable points lead over Denny Woodworth with a third place run. Lonnie Bailey, who has struggled mightily in 2010 went back to the drawing board with his set ups, found something that worked, and rolled to a fourth place run ahead of Woodworth. It was the third feature win for Aikey as he is the only repeat winner. The final checkers flew about 10:30, concluding a very good night of racing.
After a quick trip to the pits, we hustled home, and after a short nights sleep, I headed out along with my wife, daughter and two oldest grandsons for a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. After an afternoon of shopping, grandson Keagan and I left the others around the hotel pool, and we headed
15 miles north to Kevin and Tammy Gundakers Lake Ozark Speedway. It was our first ever visit to the 3/8 mile facility, and my 14th different track of 2010. The featured class was the MARS late models running topless for $3000 to win, and the 30 car field exactly matched my prediction. The track does not run late models weekly, as 360 sprint cars are the weekly attraction. It was obvious by the large and enthusiastic crowd that the super late models are popular none the less. We were a bit concerned with six classes of cars scheduled, including $1,000 to win for the 4 cylinder class, but with several other tracks running within 100 miles, the car counts were in the teens and the show started in good time even though there were several late arrivals. The 9:00 intermission was also a concern, but the crate late model feature clicked off quickly, with track champion Brandon Imhoff holding off visitor Bobby Pierce for the win. The B-mod feature was up next, and as is so often the case, turned into a caution fest. Mercifully, the time limit was finally met, with Lonnie Wyman Jr. collecting the win. The running order was then switched, with the 22 car Mars feature coming to the track. First heat winner Terry Phillips was the pole sitter, and the very popular Springfield, Mo. driver was going to be the man to beat. His front row mate was heat four winner Dave Eckrich, with the first 15 spots set by passing points. Row two was Iowa City driver Matt Furman, and Quincy,Il ace Mark Burgtorf. Mark had headed home from Donnellson and replaced his IMCA engine with his aluminum powerplant before his head hit the pillow. He then brought both of his spec engines with him, while his Arkansas engine builder, Kuntz, met him to take them back to the shop. It was third row starter and Phillips teammate Jeremy Payne who charged to the second spot and began to run down the # 75. Soon however it was Burgtorf who hooked up his #7, and he took up the chase. He stayed on Phillips bumper through two mid race cautions, as the two ran through lapped traffic. Mark may well have had a faster car, but Terry was not giving up the preferred low groove, leading all 35 laps for the win. Brandon McCormick made a late race charge to capture third, with veteran Al Purkey holding off Payne for fourth. Dave Eckrich finished sixth, young Brandon Sheppard was seventh, while Frank Heckenast Jr. wheeled the Randy Korte # 00 to an eighth place run. Mark Voigt and Eric Turner completed the top ten. Denny Eckrich started 15th and finished 12th, with Quincian Rickey Frankel making the show and being credited with 17th. Series points leader 16 year old Gary Christian fell out of the main event early, while former IMCA national champion Justin Wells dropped out of his heat race and could not start the B-main. with the clock easing past 10:30, we headed for the car with three features remaining. The facility which sits along highway 54 is a top notch venue, and I am looking forward to another visit soon.
The weekend concluded with a Sunday night visit to Quincy Raceways for weekly racing. Heat, breakage and dwindling funds hurt the car counts somewhat, with only 11 IMCA late models signed in along with 20 UMP mods, 10 IMCA stock cars, and 13 hobby stocks. The KIDZ Mods also made a special appearance. The 30 lap late model feature was an entertaining one, with only two caution periods slowing the event. First heat winner Darin Weisinger led the first eight laps before Dustin Griffin took over. Point leader Denny Woodworth worked his way from the tenth starting slot, and took over at the halfway mark. From there he stayed in control for his fourth checkers of the season. Number two point man and last weeks winner Jason Perry moved to the second spot, and held off Keith Pratt for the spot. Griffin wound up fourth ahead of " Wild Willy " Genenbacher. Woodworth now leads Perry by six points with three points nights remaining. For 18 laps it looked as though Michael Longs victory streak would end, as he ran a somewhat distant third behind Steven Delonjay and visiting Rusty Griffaw from Festus, Mo. in the modified finale. When the caution flew with seven laps to go, everything changed. With the top two running the bottom groove, Long went up top and charged by both cars. Lapped cars came in to play on the final lap, and Long and Delonjay came to the stripe side by side. The electronic scoring device shows Michael with an edge of less than one second. It made the driver of the #18 eight for eight in feature starts at QR in 2010. Eleven year old Jake Griffin hit the front stretch wall hard in his heat race, badly damaging his UMP modifieds, minutes after being forced to scratch his KIDZ Mod due to mechanical issues. Steve Steinkuhler grabbed the stock car main, with point leader Steve Carlin holding off Bobby Anders in an edge of the seat hobby feature. Logan Moody of Catlin, Ilcaptured the Kidz Mod finale.
Life returned to normal today as I went back to work, and started thinking about the options for next weekend. See you at the track!

Dodging the Raindrops

As vacation continues, the weatherman has so far been cooperating as what for me is an aggressive racing schedule has so far fallen into place. Weekend rain left the pit area at Quincy Raceways a bit tough to negotiate for the weekly Sunday night show, but with two weeks of rainouts, everyone was willing to overlook some mud. 14 IMCA late models signed in, along with 24 UMP modifieds, a sparse field of 9 IMCA stock cars, and 14 hobby stocks. Nebo, Il driver Dustin Neese rolled past rookie Justin Jennings on lap two of the late model main event and held the top spot through a non stop run until lap 19 when Jason Perry made a daring turn four move to blow past both second running Keith Pratt and Neese. Perry then stretched his lead until a lap 27 caution, the only one of the race, for a spinning Neese. On the restart, Jason took off, leading the final three laps, with Pratt grabbing second ahead of Joey Gower and Denny Woodworth. Bill Genenbacher edged Jennings at the checkers for fifth. The win was the second of the year at QR for Perry, who started eighth in the 14 car field. Woodworth and Justin Reed began the night ties for the point lead, but Reed appeared to miss the set up and was not a factor, pulling out early. His tenth place finish left him nine markers behind Woodworth in the championship chase, and in fact Perry moved into second, only four behind.
The UMP modified 25 lapper was another clinic put on by Michael Long. The Quincy resident races about half time at QR, and has taken the feature green flag seven times this season, winning all seven times. Only an early season DNS due to an accident has put a blemish on his amazing perfect record. On Sunday, Micheal came from a row six start to take the checkers ahead of point leader and second generation driver Jared Schlipman. Veteran Dave Weitholder held the top spot going into the night, but had engine woes all night long. Defending track champ Abe Huls took advantage of a mid race bobble by Kevin Tomlinson to grab the lead in the stock car main, then held off the Hannibal, Mo. driver for the win. Bobby Anders came through the pack for the hobby stock victory for his sixth win of 2009 over point leader Steve Carlin and veteran Jim Powell. Carlin and Powell were lucky to even be racing after flash flooding on Bear Creek in their hometown of Hannibal nearly destroyed their racing operations. In fact, Powell found his # 48j with flood water above the doors, and his tow vehicle under water. He and nephew Michael Larsen were taken from the race shop by boat when they could not get the race cars out. Jimbo showed me the moisture still visible in the gauges on his dash, even though it had been over a week since the flooding!
After one day back at work, we took off Tuesday for an overnight stay in the Quad Cities. From our home base there, grandson Keagan and I headed north and west to the Farley Speedway to take in the first appearance in seven years of the IMCA Derry Brothers Summer Series. The car count for the mid week show was a bit less than we had hoped, but the racing action made up for it. As has been reported, flat tires - and drivers stopping on the speedway because of them - were a problem in the early stages of the event, but the frequent bunching of the field and the Delaware restarts kept everyone in the middle of the action. All time series wins leader Jeff Aikey and hard charging Kevin Blum in the # 67 normally driven by Tony Von Dresky sat on the front row, but I had my eye on Andy Eckrich, who is a force on the Farley oval. For his part, Keagan zeroed in on series point leader Ray Guss, Jr. And as I have come to realize in the last few seasons, we kept our eyes on " Hammer Down " Jason Rauen. Jason was the first driver pitside for new rubber, restarting three laps into the event in 24th spot. Through at least six more cautions periods Rauen used the top side of the speedway to move forward, and on lap 18 he moved to the runner up spot after a great battle with Terry Neal. Soon after, however, Rauen retired for good with problems in the backend of his # 98. Meanwhile Eckrich had moved past Aikey on lap nine, a lead he would not relinquish. For his part, Guss carefully picked his way through the pack, eventually taking the runnerup spot from Neal, and gaining ground on Andy. Guss then faded in the closing laps, crossing the stripe in third. As he moved to his pit area. the reason for his slowing became apparent, as he was down to four pounds of air pressure in his right rear tire! Aikey came home in fourth, while Mark Preston edged Charley McKenna for fifth. " Chargin' " Charley was another driver in a " loaner " car, as veteran Gary Crawford supplied the hard luck Mc Kenna with a vehicle from his shop. TJ Criss also continued his perfect atteandance streak courtesy of a loaner # 30 ride from Todd Cooney. Rob Toland suffered engine problems in his heat, doing a start and park in both the B-main and 50 lap feature. Cory Goldbeck was a no show come feature time in his # 21G. We saw a black # 69 late model also enter the pit area. but it was never listed in the race program, thus the discrepancy in car count in some reports. The only major delay came in the final heat race when Luke Goedert and Josh Most became entangled on the backstretch. Both were able to finish the evening, with Most turning in a top ten run. Keagan and I wondered why the yellow flag was displayed on several occasions when slowing cars moved to turns three and four of the 1/2 mile track, clearly out of harms way.
We enjoyed seeing a couple of modifeds that compete regularly at Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway, as Davenport ace Rich Smith and more surprisingly, western Il. hotshoe Brandon Rothzen made the tow to challenge for the $500 to win purse. Brandon had new plain skin on the
sides of his # 33, and we did not recognize the car until alerted by the track announcer! Although Rothzen was strong early, moving through the pack to third, the tire monster sent him pitside late in the 20 lapper. On this night, no one had anything for Waterloo, Ia pilot Vern Jackson, who dominated the 18 car field. Brannon Bechen was equally tough in taking the 4 cylinder Farley Flyer win over eight other competitors.
After a quick trip to the pits we were on the road by 10:35, more than reasonable for a weeknight show. Only a couple of questions remained unanswered, as the posted itinerary advertised hot laps at 6:30, while the radio ad we heard enroute listed 7:00. So thee races were either 20 minutes late or 10 minutes early! Also, the press packer Jeff Broeg shared with me stated that with the 25 car field, five cars would qualify out of three heats, with four to redraw. However, apparently only four were taken, as Todd Malmstrom, who ran fifth in heat one started on the pole and won the B-main. The other two fifth place cars, Criss and McKenna never came to the track for the B-main, and come feature time, McKenna attempted to line up in the seventh row. After a visit from the line up official, Charlie then went to the back of the field.I will try to check this procedure out when the series visits Quincy Raceways on Friday, September 3. While many folks are heading to Knoxville for the 360 sprint car nationals, my weekend plans include Friday night racing at Lee County for installment number seven of the IMCA late models, a first ever visit Saturday to Lake Ozark Speedway outside Eldon, Mo. for the MARS late models, and a Sunday night regular show at Quincy Raceways. Wherever you go, enjoy the races!

Back to Weeknight Racing!

Last season, I was able to attend my first Corn Belt clash series race at the Independence, Iowa Speedway, and found it to be right up my alley, harkening back to the short lived Hawkeye late model tour back in the 80's. So when promoter Cam Granger released the 2010 schedule, I salted away some vacation time from work to catch the series at the CJ Speedway on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, Iowa, where the count fair would be going on. As race day approached, circumstances dictated that I would be traveling solo, but the 100 mile trip from home is a cake walk when compared the the days when Highway 218 was a challenging two lane highway. The trip north was 20 miles longer, but I was able to leave work in Quincy, Il early, and I arrived in time to take in some of the county fair atmosphere as well as stake out a spot on pit road to see who might show up to race. It was there that I ran into former late model racer Brian Hetzler, who my son nicknamed the " Fruitland Flash " in his days as a columnist. Brian and his parents, Curt and Pat were throwbacks to the days of racing out of the family garage, and although they were usually out spent, they competed with smiles on their faces, didn't complain, and always had time to chat about this and that. Brian is helping the Wood and Tipps families at the 4/10 mile oval, but said his folks have not been to a race since disbanding the # 47 team. I often find that former drivers, as Curt was, cannot sit and watch a race if they are not actively involved.
With this being by far the southernmost stop on the tour, the 18 car turnout was on par with what I expected. In addition, the points chase allows drivers to " throw out " two races, counting the best 13 finishes in the 15 race schedule. The neat thing about the series is the rules variations allowed to even the playing field between the spec motor IMCA late models and the " open " cars. Because of this, there is usually a surprise spec engine driver ot two in the field, and on Thursday it was Brian Harris in a black # 21H. The Davenport ace has been wheeling the famous # 75 out of Peoria, Il this summer, mostly at UMP and open competition events in Illinois, although back in May Keagan and I were in attendance at Davenport Speedway when he showed up and captured the IMCA late model feature. Brian, as well as spec engine pilots Justin Kay and Kevin Sather were utilizing the extra aerodynamic offerings designed to add downforce to the under horsepowered machines, while hometown driver Mick Wiele and Wapello pilot Jay Chenoweth kept their cars as is. It was my first time to see Sather, a regular on the tour in a late model. Indeed, spec cars picked up two of the three heat race wins, with Wiele and Kay taking checkers after series point leader Chad Simpson used a final corner pass to edge out veteran Ron Boyse in the first ten lapper. With hot laps and racing starting on time, and the ten heat races going off in good fashion, it looked like those less fortunate than myself - folks who had to show up for work on Friday - might be on the road early. And the promoters did the right thing by going straight to feature racing in the four divisions without an intermission. Unfortunately, things went somewhat downhill from there, with the usually well behaved IMCA stock cars running a marathon 15 lap main event. Between drivers spinning and stopping on the track, and more than a little grudge racing, the best thing to be said about the race is that it eventually ended. Through all the delays, Nathan Wood and Jim Redmon waged a good battle up front, with Wood getting by Redmon early, then holding on for a close win. The 4 cylinders drivers were much better behaved, the lead changed hands three times, and at the end, it was the veteran Wayne Noble standing in victory lane. Known to race fans as the driver who wheels his cars with his left hand while gripping the overhead roll bar with his right, Wayne mentioned that his career is now in its 51st year. It is not often I get to see a driver older than me get a checkered flag. Good job, Wayne! Paul Hallett was fast all night in his black # 26 mod lite, and when Troy Philpott spun in turn three and was collected by Illinois driver Justin Bucholtz who rolled his #69, there was no looking back for the driver who picked up his third straight checkers at CJ.
The thirty lap late model feature then rolled to the track, and with Chad Simpson redrawing the outside front row, it looked like the race would be for second. As it turned out, that was a mostly accurate guess, although early on it looked like there may have been a upset in the making. Harris started ninth on the grid, and was totally hooked up on the bottom of the track, especially in turns three and four. Brian moved quickly into the runner up slot, and began to reel in Simpson, who had built a big lead. Just as suddenly as he had closed the gap, his # 21h slowed in turn two on lap 15, and his night was over. With polesitter Justin Mitchell already pitside, Jason Rauen tried to stay with Simpson, but he could not mount a challenge, and after being involved in an accident that sidelined Wiele, Justin retired his # 98 with a flat tire. Attrition was high, with 11 of the 18 starters taking the checkered flag, all on the lead lap. Justin Kay drove a steady race, bringing his spec engine # 15K home in the second spot, ahead of hometown driver Jason Utter. Chris Simpson, Chads brother nabbed fourth ahead of Dave Eckrich, the top performer of the three Eckrich brothers in attendance. The Kile brothers filled the next two spots, with Kurt edging Kile. Sather ran eighth, Denny Eckrich ninth, with Chenoweth and Jake Meier in a # 5M car campaigned for several season by various drivers for Bill Moyer of Des Moines rounding out the finishers. Even with the delays, I was on my way back to Missouri by 11:00, happy I had made the trip to my 12th different venue of the season. It was good to be able to swap a few stories with Bob Litton and his wife, as well as Jeff Broeg.
With some more vacation time next week, I hope to make it to the Farley Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series event on Tuesday. In the meantime, we will try to get in a weekly show Sunday at Quincy Raceways after two weeks off rain outs. If you see me out and about, say " Hi. "

Friday Night Thunder- Followed By Rain

The weekend started off on a good note as Darryl, Fred and I made our way to the Lee County Speedway for Friday Night Thunder in the Heartland. With most of the tracks north of Donnellson rained out, we thought the pit area might be extra full, but the threatening weather may have kept some of the travelers at home. Still, 98 cars in six classes was more than enough to offer up a quality show in front of a nice crowd. We arrived at the track about 7:10, and the third division of cars was just getting ready to hot lap. In fact, by my watch it was 7:23, seven minutes early, when the first heat race came to the speedway. Terry Hoenig seems to be the one promoter who has figured out how to run a fast paced, on time program. In fact, 14 heat races were needed to set the feature fields, and it was 8:29 when those 14 heats were completed! With lightning flashing in the northern sky, no intermission was taken, and the 18 car sportmod feature came to the track. After a couple of lead changes, young Mitch Higdon put his black # 45 out front for the win. 14 of the 15 hobby stocks made the feature call, with veteran Dean Kratzer leading the distance for the victory. As is usually the case at Donnellson, the IMCA late models ran third in the order, with 21 entrants vying for the $ 1,000 top prize. Only 20 of those cars took the green, as Tommy Elston was loaded up and gone from the speedway before the heat races were run. Tommy Had been scheduled to be one of three # 45 cars in the seven car first heat along with the nights sponsor, Denny Woodworth, and visitor Curt Martin. Another regular sporting # 45, Tony Fraise, was absent on Friday. Polesitter Jay Chenoweth took the early lead, with fourth starting TJ Criss soon grabbing the top spot. The caution flag was displayed several times during the 25 lapper, twice for cars hitting a developing hole in turn one and shooting into the guard rail. Justin Reed was the first of those casualties, and his # 1st needed the wrecker to get him to the pit area. When fourth running Rob Toland met a similar fate, Hoenig st0pped the action long enough to bring out the tractor and make a few passes to smooth things out. In this season of rain, Lee County has had for the most part a superior racing surface excepting the troublesome turn one soft spot. Hoenig has stated he will probably need to tear up the track in the off season to correct the problem. Meanwhile, seventh starting Jeff Aikey took the lead on lap 11, as he made a bid to become the first repeat winner in the six nights of late model action. The veteran from Cedar Falls had stretched out to a comfortable lead until a caution with eight laps to go bunched the field and put point leader Mark Burgtorf on his back bumper. As Aikey stated in the post race interview, he knew Mark would go to the top side of the 3/8 mile, so on the restart, Jeff went to the cushion. Burgtorf matched him lap for lap, and took a couple of shots at the low side, but could not overtake the
# 77. Woodworth made a charge to third after the caution, holding the spot ahead of Boone McLaughlin. Former feature winner Jeff Guengerich slipped past Tom Goble coming to the checkers to nab fifth. Matt Bailey, Superman Sam Halstead, Andy Eckrich, and eighteenth starting Keith Pratt rounded out the top ten. Eckrich had actually pulled off the track, but was able to return to the track after the long caution without losing a lap. 13 of the 20 starters took the checkered flag. Dirt track rookie Justin Jennings, the 2009 rookie of the year on the asphalt at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids was rained out Friday, so he had his dirt car hauled to Donnellson where he turned his first laps at the fairgrounds track. The teenager is a regular this season at Quincy Raceways in his black # 56. The 13 car IMCA stock car feature followed, with Cory Strothman picking up his second win of 2010. the Michael Long destroyed the field in the 14 car IMCA modified main event. One of Michaels chief competitors, point leader Josh Foster is sidelined, apparently for several weeks, with a broken foot. Jerry Ostby took home honors in the 17 car Wild Thing finale although we headed for the car at 10:11 with the 4 cylinder machines were heading to the track, ending another entertaining evening in Donnellson.
Saturday was spent in oppressive heat at Six Flags in St Louis with wife, daughter and two grandsons, and we were about 60 miles from home when we began to notice the black clouds to the north. 20 miles from home, the rain was coming in sheets, and it was then that I began to suspect my racing might be done for the weekend. Sure enough, somewhere between two and four inches of rain fell between home and Quincy Raceways, and although promoter Tony Rhinberger took a shot at getting the grounds race ready today, it was a losing proposition from the start. By my very unofficial count, QR has hosted nine nights of racing in 2010 and endured eight cancellations. And don't look now, but August is nearly here!
If I can work it out, the Iowa River behaves, and the rain takes a break, I hope to take in the Corn Belt Clash Thursday at the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction. If you see me there, say " Hi. "

On the Road Again

Earlier than any non working person should be up on a Saturday, Keagan and I loaded up the car and made the short jaunt to the truck stop 10 miles south of town to meet up with buddy Fred, his wife Judy, Darryl and " Big " Al. From there we loaded Fred's van and headed south with the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. as our destination. As Keagan, Judy, and Al had never visited this midwest mecca of dirt track racing, we wanted to arrive early enough to be able to take them on a tour of the incredible pit area before they closed the gate to sell passes. As the Lucas Oil late models had been in action the previous night at Pontoon Beach, Il - see Jeffs blog for a recap - there were already a dozen or so cars in the pits when we arrived shortly after noon. After giving the unofficial tour and doing a bit of visiting, we headed out to find our motel and escape the already oppressive heat. We made the trip back to the 3/8 mile oval about 4:30 to ensure prime seats, then set about occupying ourselves for the three hour wait for hot laps. Fortunately, Wheatland is one of those venues where it is easy to fill the time, and the driver autograph session was one of the highlights of the evening. At 7:30 sharp, as advertised, 43 Lucas Oil and MLRA late models and 40 open modifieds began their warm up sessions. Time trials for the late models followed, and second timing Scott Bloomquist tripped the clock at 15.905 seconds. The time held until the fourth and final group, when Jimmy Owens, driving a Bloomquist chassis of his own, turned the oval at 15.812 for quick time on the night. They were the only drivers to breal the 16 second barrier. Four 10 lap heat races set the first two rows for the 50 lap $ 10,000 to win Diamond Nationals feature, with " Bloomer ", Owens, Don Oneal, and Eric Wells filling the top spots. The first heat race would have made a great mini feature, with Brian Birkhofer, Billy Moyer, and Jimmy Mars finishing behind Bloomquist, and Dale McDowell, John Anderson, Ray Cook, Jeremy Payne among those relegated to a B-main.
Cook and Terry Phillips captured the 12 lap B's which each transferred three cars, and Bub McCool made a thrilling charge after falling to ninth to come back and grab third without benefit of a caution in the final qualifier. Two provisionals from each series were added, and 14 year old Tyler Reddick used a Lucas Oil " emergency " start, setting up a 27 car starting field. Although outside polesitter Owens led every trip past the flag stand, he was challenged early and often. With Bloomquist uncharacteristically falling back, Oneal stayed glued to the # 20 early, then it was Earl Pearson Jr. taking up the charge. EPJ actually took the top spot in turn two on lap 15, but Owens regained the lead quickly. Oneal gave up his third spot and went to the trailer during a lap 16 caution. Owens had built a big lead when the caution flew for Dan Schleiper on lap 42. and one lap later Steve Casebolt lost a wheel in turn two and Al Purkey spun at the same time in turn four. After a debris caution with no laps in, the field went green. Now it seemed that Owens may have used up his tires, and Pearson went to the bottom of the track as he looked for a fourth straight Lucas win. With Jimmy trying to run the top in turns one and two and protecting the bottom in three and four, the " Intimigator, " Alligator farmer Chris Wall found something to his liking, and slipped past Pearson with four laps to go. He then closed on Owens, but could not make the pass. He trailed Owens to the flag, as EPJ held third ahead of Moyer. Brady Smith past Bloomquist late for sixth. Show Me 100 winner Ray Cook came from 17th to seventh, Mc Dowell started 19th and finished eighth. Birkhofer and Brad Neat completed the top ten.
With our hotel only a ten minute drive away, we stayed around for the modified finale, even after a multi car pileup on the start took several minutes to clean up. After the early delay, the mods clicked off the laps quickly, with area hot shoe Jesse Stovall celebrating his 30th birthday with a dominating win. Of particular interest to Keagan was the performance of Justin Boney, and Dan Charles, two of the featured drivers from the Heartland Thunder television show on Discovery Channel. With a full nigh of racing, we headed back to the room around midnight, tired but still buzzing about the best racing we have seen in our trips to the track. Wheatland, much like Knoxville and Eldora is one of those places that die hard dirt late model fans should find a way to visit at least once. From the concrete pits with the two bay car wash, a hot pit area with lights, air and water, two levels of suites, a full service bar, an air conditioned room for eating and relaxing, a reasonably priced and tasty varied menu, a jumbotron complete with 20 position scoreboard - which is always up to date - and probably some other amenities I have forgotten - of yes, if all this bores you, you can rent a go kart at the track off turn one - well, hopefully you get a picture of sorts. Now that the Show Me 100 has been moved to the track, there are a couple of good opportunities to make the trip, which from my perch near Quincy, Il is about a five hour ride with a meal break.
We were up early on Sunday, headed home as Al had to work Sunday evening, and the rest of us were hoping for a nap before heading to Quincy Raceways. We were barely on the road when the call came that a downpour had hit the Quincy area Sunday morning, and when we called the track for the noon update, we learned that once again there would be no racing. While some tracks have had pretty good seasons, QR has been bit a record number of times by Mother Nature. Oh well, the extra long nap felt pretty good!
This week plans are to stay close to home, with Friday night IMCA late model action at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, and we will try again Sunday at Quincy Raceways. See you at the races.

Lets Try This Again

For anyone who takes the time to read my musings, I want to assure you that I have not yet lost my mind. I am not quite sure what happened last night, but a full 3/4 of my ramblings disappeared in to cyberspace. Of course, it could have been something I did. My computer is a lot like my wife. I don't understand either, but I sure would be lost without them! As the race program i was reporting on is now 48 hours past and was well covered by
Jeff, I will just offer some highlights and random thoughts.
With Jeep Van Wormer arriving after hot laps, he once again proved that these warm up sessions are over rated. The Michigan pilot had not been on the Quincy Raceways oval in more than a year, the track had again been somewhat reworked since, yet he set the third fastest lap behind Jason Feger, for whom the track should be perfect, and Mark Burgtorf, who has run more laps around the oval than the water truck! Despite a stellar group of drivers, including surprise visitor Doug Drown from Ohio, who brought along Australian ace Craig Vosbergen, the field of actual UMP cars was a bit short. However, ten of the IMCA late models drivers decided to pull double duty with the same car, and Justin Reed entered his # 1st IMCA car in that division, and Tony Dunkers # 4 IMCA ride in the UMP class. Denny Woodworth unloaded both his IMCA and his " outlaw " car, while Burgtorf has parked the chassis he was using for the " big motor " shows, and is now switching power plants in what was his IMCA ride. As a result, Mark ran only the UMP portion of the show. Those three QR drivers and Dustin Griffin were the only locals to make the $5,000 to win finale, while Quincian Rickey Frankel, and Russ Schoonover, originally from the Macomb area, but now residing in England were the only " travelers " to not make the field. " Schoony " comes back every summer or two, and always plans a trip to QR for an open show, his smoking # 59 in tow! Although a lot of folks dod not like the straight up starts the tour uses, i have mixed feelings about that. My main gripe is the 21 car starting field, which features three provisional spots. As with QR, the usual result, is a B-main that advances only two cars, a daunting task in a 16 car starting field. I have noticed that a few of the bigger tracks added three more cars, but of course that is an extra payout of nearly $1,500, minus what those three would have been paid for their B-main start.
Van Wormer was a rocket around the top of the QR .29 mile oval, and after avoiding an early race crash with a slowing Brian Shirley, who was leading at the time, he was not going to be denied. Shirley was once again piloting a team 48 car out of the Tim Lance trailer. Tim himself picked up a top ten run. Feger came in as the points leader, and his runner up finish kept him on top, as he tries to unseat defending champion Dennis Erb Jr. who finished seventh. Shannon Babb, who started 12th may have had something for the top two, but a collision with a lapped car as he was chasing third place Ryan Unzicker sent him to the back, and he could only come back to sixth, behind Drown and Burgtorf. Jack Sullivan, who has run the entire tour to date in the GRT house car, was smoking badly, but made a quick trip to the hot pit area under caution, came back and finished eighth ahead of Woodworth and T. Lance.
The IMCA late model feature looked like Dustin Neese might get his first win of the season, but row five starters Woodworth and Reed moved quickly through the field. Woodworh was then involved in a mishap and was sent to the back, clearing the way for Reed to take the win. Joey Gower also cleared Neese for second, while Woodworth charged back to fourth ahead of " Superman " Sam Halstead. The finish left Woodworth and Reed tied atop the points sheet.
While the late models loaded up, Reed was not done, as he was also racing in the UMP modified class. Three classes on a hot Sunday night, isn't youth a wonderful thing!?! Justin had one his modified heat, but a puff of smoke at the checkers signaled the end of the night for his Tony dunker owned # 4st. So a call went out, and soon the # 16j normally driven by Jason Daggs came down pit road. Reed had to start at the tail of the 17 car field, and he quickly retired. Points leader Dave Weitholder put his # 05 out front and looked to be cruising. However, second generation driver Steven delonjay patiently worked his way to second, and tried Weitholder every lap. As the two exited turn four on the final lap of a long night, Weitholder left the top groove open, and Delonjay made his move. the electronic scoring had Delonjay in front at the line by .01 of a second!
Veteran Hannibal, Mo. driver Jim Brown came out of retirement this season, and struggled for a few weeks, but put his # 83 in victory lane in the hobby stock class. The IMCA stock cars had the night off.
This weekends plans involve a visit to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. for the Lucas Oil/MLRA Diamond Nationals - weather permitting, of course, and a quick trip home for more Sunday night racing at Quincy Raceways. See you at the track.