Unfinished Business, Part 2

 Maybe I am getting more stubborn as i get older, but going to a race track and not getting to see the feature events really ticks me off. So when buddy Darryl called early in the week to see when the next $2,000 to win Budweiser Super Series late model show was at the Peoria Speedway and I found out it was Saturday, April 28, it did not take much convincing to get me to say I would go. Originally, this was to be an " off " Night for me, but two straight rainouts at Quincy Raceway was enough to make me rethink that plan. And besides, Keagan had been unable to go to the Corn Belt clash race two weeks ago when we were rained out after the heats, and Peoria would be a new track for him. So with the radar looking pretty good for the Peoria area, we three, plus buddy Fred took off for the 2 and a half hour trip from Quincy, after Keagan and I made the 30 minute trek to Darryls place. The temperature was about 62 when we started out, but dropped a full ten degrees on the way. When we arrived at the 1/4 mile central Illinois facility, the wind was whipping, and im short order we had all donned the several layers of clothes and coats we had thankfully taken with us. Before leaving, I had checked and noted that most tri state area tracks had already cancelled, and soon after arriving Keagan received a twitter message that rain had also washed out I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. Although the skies were grey, Peoria seemed to have escaped the moisture that had also wiped out nearby races in Fairbury and LaSalle, Il, adding fans and cars to Peoria. With the less than comfortable conditions, Announcer Jeff Adams assured the larger than one might have expected crowd that the show would move along quickly, and to the credit of the staff and management, that was the case. Hot laps began at the 5:00 advertised time, and one lap qualifying for the UMP late models and UMP modifieds began about 6:00, taking about 40 minutes to time the 29 late models and 33 modifieds. Veteran hotshoe Kevin Weaver set quick time for the late models, turning the track in just over 12.3 seconds. The show moved quickly into heat races, with the six classes featuring 123 machines. One thing we really enjoy with UMP is that whenever possible they consolidate their heat races, with the 29 late models and 33 mods split into only three heat races. Their had obviously been rain in the area, and the track was slow to come in. During the 14 heat races, the top groove did not really come in, with the top being a bit rough, and most racing around the bottom. All three late model heats were won from the front row, with Wes Steidinger putting his Larry Reichert Racing # 94 out front at the drop of the green in heat one and holding off the pole sitter Weaver. To the delight of the crowd, Dennis Erb Jr.had dropped in, and edged out Scott Schmidt for third.  Billy Drake led all the way in heat two in the # 75, with track regular Todd Bennett coming from the sixth starting spot to take second, after outside row one starter Jason Feger retired on lap two. Iowa driver Chad Simpson was an unlikely entrant on the night, and finished fourth behind Donnie Walden. Brian Shirley outran 15 year old Bobby Pierce in heat three, with Ryan Unzicker and 19 year old third generation driver Brandon Sheppard in the final late model heat.  While the five companion classes started their features straight up, the late models used a six lap dash to set the top three rows of the 30 lap finale, and Steidinger continued his dominance by outlasting the field to grab the pole, with Drake claiming the outside spot. With fifteen cars qualified through the heats, the remaining fourteen ran a twelve laps B -main to fill out the 20 car field. Second year late model driver Mike " Opie " Spatola put his # 89 in victory lane ahead of rookie McKay Wenger, from Fairbury. Feger, who had his car repaired by this time, started dead last and used multiple grooves to advance to fourth  by a lap eight caution, settling in for a third place finish ahead of Richie Bell. After a modified B, Adams promised a ten minute intermission - yeah, we've heard that before - but no more than twelve minutes had elapsed before the limited late models were on the track for their 15 lap feature. By this time, the cushion was coming in, and the 17 car field saw plenty of action. Tommy Duncan, who was also competing in the modifieds held off Steve Shannon for the win. Next up was the 13 car street stock 15 lapper. The # 68 of Zander led the early laps before Simmons in the black # 11 took over. With just a couple laps to go, Bob Simpson charged to the lead and the win. In  a brief post race interview, Simpson said the track had really come around, and promised an exciting late model feature, which was up next.
As it turned out, his words could not have been more true. When the green flag waved, Stedinger took the early lead, before Weaver took over from his row two start after a few laps. As the leaders worked into lapped traffic, fifth starting Pierce made his move, and was alongside Steidinger as the two pulled to within a car length of Weaver. The two made contact entering turn one, and Pierce headed to the pits with steering issues, possibly a broken tie rod. This brought out the first caution, with 18 laps down. Following the restart, Shirley was the man on the move, and he pulled a major league slide job on Steidinger for second in turns one and two. From there, he hooked up on the top side of the track, powering by Weaver for the lead and the win. Weaver held the runnerup spot, with Erb moving from a row four start to third. The closing laps featured absolute edge of your seat side by side racing for fourth through eleventh, and at this time I am still awaiting the official finish, as it was impossible to chart from my vantage point, especially as I am not sure where the finish line is. I am pretty certain that Spatola came from  a row eight start to nab fourth, with Steidinger , Drake, and Sheppard following. The following spots went to row nine starter Feger, Simpson, Unzicker, and Walden, although I am not sure of the official order.
  The UMP mod feature was shaping up as a good one, but we were four very cold guys quite a ways from home, so we headed to the car, with the clock reading 9:55 and the temperature setting at 49 degrees as we pulled out. Unofficial results Sunday morning had Eric Bruce topping the 20 car main, with part time Quincy ace Donovan Lodge in second.
  It seems amazing that I had never been to the Peoria speedplant before these two April excursions, but I hope to make the 1/4 mile a part of my rotation in the future, as the racing is fast and close, and it is an excellent place to watch a race.
  As I am typing this, I should be in my usual perch at Quincy Raceway, but persistent rains forced cancellation at the " Broadway Bullring " for the third week in a row. Hopefully flipping the calender to May will bring back weather closer to what we experienced in March! Either way, make plans to support local racing whenever you can. See you down the road!

Waiting Out the Rain at the Big Half Mile

The weatherman has been doing a pretty good job the last few weeks, so as we moved towards the weekend, I did not pay much attention to the forecast after seeing on Thursday that Saturday and Sunday were looking good, especially since my plans had been pretty much set in stone since January. So it was a bit of a shock when I got off work Saturday morning to reports of likely evening rain showers in the West Liberty,Iowa area. With Darryl and I holding rain checks from last week in Peoria,Il, we were not too thrilled with the notion of adding to that collection. But the West Liberty fairgrounds half mile is one of my very favorite venues, and I have a similar affection for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series. So without much discussion, Darryl and Fred came to La Grange and after picking up grandson Keagan, we headed north, dodging raindrops most of the 127 mile trip. Buddy Bob Litton offered up an encouraging report via cell phone as we rolled north out of Mt Pleasant, too stubborn to even turn on the windshield wipers. Arriving plenty early at the track, we held off buying tickets, opting instead to walk the perimeter of the pit area, visiting with various drivers and crewmen, checking out the cars and keeping an eye on the sky. As the drivers meeting was called, we took the plunge and headed inside. My wife was at home watching the radar, and had told us to expect showers around 10:00 PM, so I became a clock watcher. When the program started about 25 minutes late, we got nervous, and when we realized the running order would have the 40 lap late model headliner last, that feeling increased. Still the heat races rolled off in good time, as the car count was short in three of the four support classes. Seven IMCA Sport Compacts ran a heat race, and the eleven IMCA mods were split in to two heats. And wouldn't you know that each heat had one scratch, giving us a five and a four car heat. As the five late model heats began, former late model racer Boone McLaughlin, his wife Jackie, who was celebrating her birthday, and Boones' pitman Bill Brown and his wife Teresa arrived to filled the seats we had saved for them. Defending Deery Series champion Ray Guss Jr. made a turn four, last lap pass to edge Joel Callahan for the first heat win. Guss had blown his third engine of the young season the night before at the Davenport series race, and was using a power plant borrowed from the Friday winner, Mike Murphy Jr., and the Swanson team. Ray has announced plans to be a Saturday night regular at Liberty this season, and he remains a popular figure there from his years racing there with the NASCAR dirt series. Nick Marolf grabbed heat two, while track regular, young Jonathon Brauns prevailed in heat three. Mark Burgtorf lead all the way in heat four in the Lynn Richard # 15, and Tyler Bruening nabbed heat five. Seven stock cars and 19 open mods completed heat race action, follwed by two late model B- mains. Murphy and Jay Johnson took the checkers in the 12 lappers, and we were ready for feature racing. As that 10:00 hour got ever closer, we still hoped the traveling series would be moved up in the running order. With the temperature dropping, Keagan and I went under the bleacher to the concession area to warm up, finding ourselves witnesses to an informative and humorous bench racing segment between McLaughlin, late model diver Andy Nezworski, who was a spectator as well, and Charlie Mc Kenna. Charlie was in the middle of a rough weekend, having been the victim of a hard crash at Davenport in the Brad Coin owned ride. Driving one of his own # 22 cars on Saturday, Charlie apparently broke an engine in his heat race. Although we spent what seemed like an extended time out of our seats, the 4 cylinder feature used all that time to complete their 10 lap finale. We got back to our seats in time to see double duty Ryan Dolan run off with the IMCA mod main in a red # 11 ride. I was looking forward to seeing Quad City hot shoe Thad Wilson and second generation driver Andrew Schroeder compete, but both had early problems take them out of competition. The seven stock cars had multiple cautions before what I would guess to be a third generation driver, young John Hemsted captured his first ever feature win. It was neat to watch the # 34 fly around the half mile, bringing back memories of the late Ron Hemsted doing the same in the 1970s. Knowing the forecast, we thought the late models might run ahead of the open mods, as the 10;00 hour was upon us, but it was the open wheel guys who rolled out next. With the exception of  surprise entrant Kelly Shryock, the mod field was pretty much Saturday night regulars who could have easily handled double features next week, but then I was not in charge. When the green flag waved, the veteran Shryock took off from his front row start, but after one lap the rain began and the yellow flag waved. To their credit, track officials kept the cars moving around the speedway and after a short delay the sprinkles stopped, and racing resumed. Stumpy Brockert, who looked strong in winning his heat race had tagged the tail of the field, and went pitside during the delay with engine troubles. The race stayed green through 12 laps, with Scott Dickey and Dolan shadowing Shryock, and then the rains came again, much harder this time. It might have been prudent the call the 20 lapper complete and try to get the late model portion of the show going, but very few of the late models had come to staging, and my guess is some had already loaded up, as it appeared the night would end at this point, as the young ladies sitting in front of us offered up a radar look on their phone that showed a large patch of green sitting over us. Somehow, the rain again stopped just in time, and after several packing laps, we again went green. Dolan seemed to lose his mojo on the restart, falling to sixth  - otherwise the front cars held their spots, with Shryock taking the win over Dickey. Amazingly, the mods covered the entire 20 laps with no cautions except for the rain, as the track stayed wide and smooth.
Realizing they had a chance to race, the 24 IMCA late models lined up and without the usual pomp and circumstance, came to the green flag.  Pole sitter Jay Chenoweth retired on lap one, as outside row one starter Matt Ryan took the early lead. Former sprint car racer Jeff Mitrisin gave up his row seven starting slot, tagging the tail and also retiring early as did ninth starting Burgtorf, who made only a couple of laps. About seven laps in, Callahan grabbed the top spot, taking Justin Kay with him. The caution flag waved on lap 12 for a spinnging Dave Stichter, and on the restart fifth starting Guss charged from fourth to second. Meanwhile, former track champ Andy Eckrich had shot from a row eight start to fifth, and moved to third on the restart. As Andys brother Denny moved quickly forward for his row six slot, Andy grabbed the runner up slot on lap 24 of the 40 lapper. Three laps later, Denny took third, and the brothers began and eight lap shootout, with Denny taking second in the " Flying 50 " on lap 35. With only the one caution period, Guss was uncatchable, as he expertly worked traffic , lapping into the top fifteen. Ray took his first series win of 2012 in the Roberts Motorsports # 58 ahead of the Eckrich brother, Denny and Andy. Kay drove a solid race to a fourth place finish, and Kurt Kile, who has made the move to IMCA, nipped Callahan at the line for fifth. Bruening started seventh and finished there, while all time series win leader Jeff Aikey moved into the top five before finishing where he started, in eighth. Murphy advanced seven spots to ninth, and Marolf started tenth and finished there. The final checkers waved around 11:00, and we encountered only a few raindrops until our coffee stop at Ainsworth Junction.
  Hoping for a field in the low or mid thirties, we were very pleased with the 43 IMCA late models that checked in. It was good to see veteran Ron Boyse back in a late model, while it was my first late model look at newcomers, Drake Ostrom
# 18o, and Check Hanna # 65.  It was my second time to witness the new redraw procedure, where the heat qualifiers are lined up behind playing cards representing starting postions and the drivers are allowed to keep their card or trade with another driver to try and improve their starting spot. While a novel idea, most drivers seemed inclined to not ruffle any feathers by keeping their own card. Perhaps this should be used only occasionally, as it does take quite a bit of time, which could have been crucial last night. While I get the entertainment value, I am still a  firm believer in " get 'em in and get 'em out, " especially on cold, rainy nights like we have been having often this season. Although we were expecting rain around West Liberty, their was none forecast for our area, but as we got home last night, it was obvious that there had been quite a bit fall, and with more over night, Quincy Raceways was again forced to postpone the rescheduled UMP Northen All Star show for tonight, Sunday April 22. Next Sunday will be a regular weekly show at QR.
  As we picked up Keagan last night, his Neighbor, Beau Taylor was loading up his # 2T stock cars for a trip to Bloomfield Speedway. Beau was back home as we dropped Keagan off, but he told him this Morning that Bloomfield did beat the weather, getting their show in, with Taylor picking up a second place finish.
  Thanks to Keith Pratt " crew  chief " Melissa Mc Carty, for keeping up updated via Twitter last night on the action at I -55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., where Keith started last in his heat, but finished fifteenth in the 25 car late model show won by Jeff Johns.
  Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Il. was rained out of their second attempt to offer up the MARS late models on Friday.
  Late model points start this weekend at the IMCA venues, and the early season specials are winding down, so the calender for the coming weekend is open on Saturday, with a trip to Quincy Raceway on Sunday.
   Say " Hi " if you see us as we go Racin' Down the Road.

Half a Show is Better Than None?

After back to back rainouts on Friday and Saturday and the early postponement of the Northern All Star show at Quincy Raceways, Darryl and I decided to ignore the ominous forecast for Sunday night and go racin'.
Against all good judgement, we headed out for what would be my first ever visit to the Peoria, Il. Speedway. As for Darryl, it had been several years since he had been there, so after going about ten miles out of our way, we arrived in plenty of time to check out the place and watch the Cornbelt/UMP late models come through the gate. Having an idea what was coming, we held off buying a ticket, but as the drivers meeting was starting, we headed inside to find a seat. Due I am sure to a Sunday night reschedule and less than favorable weather, the turnout in the stands was a bit light. But the car count was more than acceptable, with 31 late models, 24 UMP modifieds, 15 limited late models and 11 mini sprints signed in.
Much to Darryls' dismay, it was announced that the advertised passing points system was being scrapped in favor of time trials. Apparently there was some general unhappiness in the pit area concerning the late model draw procedure. Still with only one qualifying lap per car, the 31 lates and 24 mods all ran under the clock in about 30 minutes. Fast timer in the late model class was Billy Drake in the # 75 Neltner car that has been wheeled throughout the midwest by so many top notch drivers over the years. Drake
parked his # 9 ride about three years ago, and has driven on a very limited basis since then. Billy showed no signs of rust, stopping the clock at 12.201 seconds on his trip around the 1/4 mile oval.
After qualifying, heat races started at about 6:30, with two limited heat races. Scheduled up next were mod heats, but whether because of the advancing showers or another reason, the late models ran next. Even with 31 cars, only three heats were run, making it pretty crowded on the tight oval. The top four would be locked into the Don Bohlander Tribute finale, with the top two moving to the position dash, which for this show would pay an additional $500 to win with a total purse of something like $1400.
Everyone else would go to one of two B-mains, with four cars out of each moving on. Finally, there would be one Corn Belt Clash provisional spot, giving us a 21 car field. The first two 10 lappers went caution free. Heat one went to outside polesitter Bobby Pierce, followed by Drake, Wisconsin hotshoe Tim Isenberg, and Jason Feger. The second heat was a flag to flag win for polesitter Brian Shirley, followed by defending Peoria track champ Steve Lance, Jr., former Farmer City Raceway co promoter Kyle Logue, and local favorite Bob Gardner. Heat three was yellow fagged mid race when Ryan Unzicker got into Kevin Weaver in turn two. Wever then took a hard hit from Darrin Friedman. Curiously, all drivers got there spots back on the restart. Outside row one starter Chris Simpson took the checkers ahead of Brandon Sheppard, Unzicker, and Scott Schmitt.
As the first modified heat hit the track, the sprinkles started, and quickly became a steady rain. With the grounds still showing the effects of earlier rains, track officials made a quick decision to postpone the remainder of the show. It was announced the the race would be recheduled and would be started from scratch. Today, the message boards are saying that the show will be resumed at the stopping point, so we will see. With the early start time, we were on the road home by 7:15.
We are anticipating the announcement of the reschedule date, as we worth both looking forward to a hotly contested feature race. Hopefully Keagan will be able to join us on the return trip, especially with a $5.00 ticket price for 16 and under!
As Darryl mentioned, it was certainly an unusual and interesting mix of drivers, although the UMP guys far outnumbered the Corn Belt regulars.
Hopefully the forecast for this weekend holds, and if so, the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA late models at West Liberty followed by the rescheduled Northern All Stars late models at Quincy Raceways will top the bill. Until then...

Enough, Already!

When the racing schedules began to come out last winter, as is my practice, I started to flesh out a tentative schedule. Part of the reason for this is to lock in any vacation days at work I may need to catch the races I do not want to miss. So one of the first dates I picked was Friday, April 13. The reason was because there was not one, but two events I on this date that caught my eye. So without making a firm decision about the Corn Belt Clash/IMCA late model show on the Davenport, Iowa half mile, or the MARS late model headliner at Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il, I planned for the day off. After all, if it was raining one direction, might not the other be ok? But then, perhaps the extra mild winter made me forget how fickle April can be. So all I could do was sit and watch not only both of those events get postponed, but also any thoughts of sliding on to any other Friday night venue. In fact, the midwest was not a total washout, as Farmer City Raceway did manage to get a show in, but the prospect of driving 200 plus miles both ways on a stormy night just seemed too much. Per the reports, Farmer City drew 18 UMP late models and a whopping 38 UMP modifieds, with Bobby Pierce taking late model honors, and Jeff Leka topping the mods.
Still, we held out hope for better weather on Saturday, with the Corn Belt Clash moving on to Peoria,Il for a $4,000 to win race which had rules adjusted to also allow the UMP cars to compete. But again, the weatherman has failed us, and so I find myself on the couch wishing race tracks were like baseball stadiums - a break in the rain, and we could get the show in.
At Least the Cardinals are beating the Cubs - so far!
And now as I type this missive, I have just received an E- mail letting me know that the UMP Northern All Stars show scheduled for tomorrow night at Quincy Raceways has already been postponed one week due to the wet conditions and promise of more rain on the way. So weather permitting, you may see me at some far away race track tomorrow night, as I am feeling an intense need for speed. And if not, next week we will take aim at the Deery Brothers Summer Series show at West Liberty, Iowa Raceway, the back to Quincy Raceway for the $2,000 to win late model headliner on Sunday. Catch some racin' when you can!

Cool Temps, Hot Racin'

The weekend started off on an ominous note, with overcast conditions and a light but persistent drizzle as Keagan and I arrived at 34 Raceway Saturday night for the 4th annual Slocum 50 Summer Series event. Despite the contrary conditions, the race is a " can't miss " event for us, as Brent was a good friend of our family, and seeing his family and friends together makes this a special occasion.
As it turned out, the raindrops may have been a blessing, as it helped create as fast and racy a track as I have seen at 34 since I can't remember when. And despite some grumbling about the new policy of not allowing spectators to make trips to the parking lot, we simply hauled in a nights worth of blankets and coats, and we were good to go!
There are already several accounts of the racing action already posted at Positively Racing, as we came as close to a blogger reunion as has happened in my time with the website. So I will just say congratulations to Mike Murphy Jr on a dominating run, and send out a thank you to all the other racers who took a chance by coming out in less than promising conditions to put on a show, and also offer up a few random thoughts about the night of racing.
Last week on our trip to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., Jeff Broeg and I discussed the likely car count for this race. Jeff was a bit more optomistic about the late model numbers than I was. With Quincy Raceways switching to UMP late model rules this season, I knew there would be a loss of 5-8 cars no longer legal by IMCA rules. Indeed, there were still a handful of Quincy competitors, as Joey Gower, and the father and son team of Lonnie and Matt Bailey are still IMCA legal and will be racing weekly at 34. Also, Mark Burgtorf in the Lynn Richard #15 was on hand, as they will be running both rules packages in 2012. In fact, Gower and Matt Bailey have begun the year racing at both tracks with their IMCA legal engines. All but Lonnie Bailey made the show on Saturday. With several drivers staying home, or like Denny Eckrich, changing plans due to the weather, it is safe to say that Jeffs prediction would have likely beat mine with a better forecast. In the four years the race has been held, late model counts have been 66,64,47 and 37.
I was looking forward to seeing Ray Raker in a late model for the first time, but his night ended at the start of his heat race as his # 07 - one of two in the field - went up in smoke. There were three cars in the field that were totally unfamiliar to me, and I had to depend on Broeg to provide names and hometowns. Tim Simpson #17, Kyle Hinrich #15H, and Karl Getzschman # 28 forced me to admit to my seat mates I had no idea who they were!
Although I usually try not to offer up suggestions to promoters, I would like to single out two things that in my opinion would have definitely improved what was never the less a very good program. First of all, while the redraw procedure on the front stretch was entertaining, I did kept hoping the late model B -mains would be lined up and ready to go when the festivities ended instead of be called to staging at the conclusion of the redraw. Secondly, running the late model headliner earlier in the program - perhaps holding the mod lites until the end - would no doubt have generated some good will among the hearty folks, many of whom seemed to be feeling the chill in a big way. No doubt we would have stayed until the final checkers, but I know some in the good sized crowd were anticipating the warmth of their car heater. And with 34 being one of those tracks with traffic congestion after the races, switching the order would help that problem. Quincy Raceways adopted this idea a few seasons back, and it has helped empty the parking lot in a timely fashion.
Still no real complaints after a great night of racing, and thanks to 34 Raceway as well as Brad Stevens and his posse for making this race a " must see " event!
Early church, Easter dinner in southeast Iowa, and once again Keagan and I were off, this time to Quincy Raceways for week two of the 2012 season.
The car count was down eight cars from opening night, something we attributed to the Easter holiday, but still 83 race teams crowded into the pit area. The UMP late models and UMP modifields led the way with 17 cars in each class, with a lot of the buzz created by the appearance of 15 year second generation phenom Bobby Pierce and his # 32 late model.
The gremlins that plagued opening night were mostly a distant memory, and the show clicked off in timely fashion, with the modified and late model features concluded before dark, and the final checkers waving before 9:00.
Dave Weitholder led every lap of the mod 25 lapper, but Michael Long was on him like an ugly sweater for a good part of the race. As the two exited turn four on the final lap, the crowd came to its collective feet as Dave held on for a .56 second win. The win wrapped up a good one for Weitholder, who took the Friday night checkers at Fulton, Mo. As has been the case too often, the IMCA stock car class was short on numbers, but defending track champ Aaron Brocksieck put on a clinic early and held off Terry Houston late for the win. Week one winner Abe Huls loaded up early after his poer plant locked up in the heat race.
The UMP late models ran third with 16 starters. Rickey Frankel was already on the trailer with a broken push rod. First heat and dash winner, Dustin Griffin, the defending UMP national crate champion led the first 16 laps of the 30 lapper before the caution waved. On the restart, Pierce and eighth starting Matt Bailey got by. While Pierce powered around the middle groove on the dry slick track, Bailey edged ever closer on the bottom groove. With traffic coming in to play, Bailey grabbed the lead with a high side pass on lap 27. One lap later, Pierce put a major league slide job on the # 52 to regain the lead. Then on the final lap, Matt used a bump and run move to retake the top spot and put his IMCA spec engine in victory lane.
Peirce held second ahead of Griffin, week one winner Justin Reed and Brandon Sheppard.
For the second consecutive week, the IMCA sport mods had a tough time getting started, but what looked like a shootout between Tony Dunker and Jim Gillenwater ended when Jim had mid race problems. Dunker cruised to his second win of the young season. Tony is planning to be a two class racer, but his UMP mod engine is still not home from the shop.
Brian Hoener led every lap of a quick hobby stock main event, leaving the IMCA sport compacts to close ou the night. The 16 car field may have been the largest ever for the 4 cylinder class, although only 11 were around to take the feature green. Still the 12 lapper was one of the best races of the night, with cars going three wide around the track. Mike Hornung Jr led early, before high school senior Kimberly Abbott took over the top spot. Kim picked up her first win of 2012.
Race season kicks into high gear this weekend, with many more tracks opening. We will be watching the weather and making plans accordingly. The one definite is the first visit of the UMP Northern All Star late models at Quincy Raceway this Sunday for a $2,000 to win prize. The stock cars and sport mods will have the week off, leaving us with a tidy four class program. Hot laps start at 4:45 and racing at 5:30. so come check out the 700 horsepower late models.
See you somewhere Racin' Down the Road!

Racin'Thru the Weekend

Last week, I found out that I was expected to not go racing this past Saturday night, but instead help babysit our youngest grandson. Armed with that information, buddy Darryl and I made the trturn trip to Highland,Il Speedway to get our first actual racing fix of 2012 after being rained out on St Patricks Day. Everything was going according to plan until the phone rang Saturday afternoon, with Jeff Broeg on the line. His first question was " Are you going racing somewhere tonight? " " No..." " Would you like to? " Uh oh, that, my friends is a rhetorical question. So after making rash promises at seeking redemption to the Mrs., eldest grandson Keagan and I hooked up with Mr Backstretch and headed to the newly renamed Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. Jeff has a detailed account of the nights action on the Backstretch, so I will just day that while there were a lot of opening night problems, we still came away happy to have been there. If you gave never been to the Ken Schrader/Ray Marlar owned 1/3 mile facility, I urge you to make the trip. The facilities are good, and the racing is simply bad fast. Two drivers from my area, specifically Quincy,Il, made the trip down, Brothers in law Michael Long with his # 18L modified, and Rickey Frankel making his season debut with his # 33F UMP late model. Michael did not draw well, and cut down a tire in his heat race, sending him to one of two B -mains. While he was able to transfer to the feature event, he started 17th, and could only advance to tenth on the slick track. He still fared better than Rickey, who broke a J-bar bracket as he exited turn two in his heat race. His car made a sharp 180 degree right turn, slamming him drivers side first into the outside concrete retaining wall. At first glance, Frankel said he would not be able to make repairs to race the Sunday home opener at Quincy Raceways, but a lengthy and focused effort by the 33 team had him back on the track as Quincy Raceways entered the UMP late model weekly family for the first time as the track begins its 38 th season of operation. Again, Jeff has a detailed analysis of the action, at least until the lights went out! Following a thirty minute delay for the outage, veteran Tony Dunker, wheeling a number 3 sportmod, picked up the win in the fledgling open wheel class. Why the
" Team 4 Boss " decided to run # 3 in the sport mod class remains a mystery, but he was decidedly fast in holding off first Dean Kratzer, who nabbed third, and young Tanner Klingele, also sporting a number different from his hobby stock. Tanner has his Dads old number, 73 on his open wheeler. For his part, Kratzer should be pleased, as he is still recovering from some rather serious health problems which has put his program somewhat behind in the early going. The hobby stock feature was a crash fest, but young Jake Powers stayed out of trouble to grab the win, while Chuck Fullenkamp made the haul from Fort Madison, Iowa pay off with a Sport Compact win. Congrats to them, as well as late model winner Justin Reed, mod victor Steven Delonjay, and stock car hotshoe Abe Huls on opening night wins. The 91 car field and full grandstands offers hope for a successful 2012 season at Quincy Raceways. If you are thinking of making the trip to Quincy, remember the April and May start times of 4:45 hot laps and 5:30 racing. In two weeks, on April 15, the UMP Northern All Star late models come to town for a $2000 to win show that should draw a large field of top notch late models. It may only be the first week in April but the race season is already in high gear! See you at the track