It was a chilly night at Quincy Raceways on Sunday, but UMP super late model national point leader Brian Shirley was on fire. " Squirrel " set fast time at 13.943 seconds around the .29 mile oval. He then rolled a " six " to sentence himself to a row three start in the ten lap fast heat/dash. Jake Griffin outdueled Jim Moon in that race, with Shirley racing to third, earning a row two starting slot in the 30 lap finale. By feature time, the lower groove seemed to be the preferred line, and Griffin took off from the pole, leading around the bottom as Shirley faded to fifth. Around lap five, Brian decided to take a look in the top groove, and he charged to second behind Griffin. The veteran and the youngster than ran side by side for several laps before Shirley nosed ahead on lap eleven. Jake stayed close until the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 18. with the pack running the bottom groove, Shirley had the clear path, and stretched out his lead in what was a non stop event. Dustin Griffin outlasted Michael Long for third, with Moon in fifth.
It was Shirleys second win at Quincy, and he had been well on his way the week before until dropping a drive shaft. Shirley was the only " traveler " on Sunday, as a season low eleven late models checked in. Track points ended the week prior, and several regulars sat out this Sunday.
Steven Delonjay was the beneficiary when UMP modified fast qualifier Craig Spegal also rolled a " six, " and the track champ led all 25 laps off the main event, besting a 22 car field. Jake Griffin completed his bridesmaid night with another runner up finish, as he pounded the top side of the track two races after watching Shirley make the high line work. The 13 year old picked off Mark Burgtorf in the Mark Van Winkle # 24V for third on lap22, then nosed past Dave Weitholder at the checkers. Jared Schlipman also slipped by Burgtorf late for fourth.
The IMCA stock car count was low, but they once again ran a clean, close, non stop 15 lapper. Michael Larsen took the early lead and held off Abe Huls for his second win of the year.
The IMCA sport mod feature was all Bobby Anders until he encountered a slower car on the final lap. Anders seemed unsure what line to take, and made contact, bringing out the yellow. This set up a green, white, checkers finish, and just when it looked like Tony Dunker would settle for a third place run, he used the restart to power past Joe Bliven for the win.
Justin Bevill drove around Richie Wagy and his 1957 Chevy hobby stock on lap six and held off Brian Hoener and Tanner Klingele for his first win of the season.
The night ended just before 9:00 with Austen Becerra racing past track champ Seith Woodruff to grab another IMCA sport compact 12 lap finale.
Quincy has one more night of racing scheduled for this coming Sunday, with all six classes in action, and UMP late model and mod national points up for grabs. While the season is for sure winding down, there is still a month of good racing in the area, so dig out the stocking cap and gloves, and lets keep going racin' down the road!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Apologies to " Grady "
In my blog covering the weekend, I listed the new Hall of Fame inductees for 2012 at Quincy Raceways . Somehow, I inadvertently left off one outstanding driver, bomber and B-mod standout Gary " Grady " Dreyer. A popular fihure at area tracks, Gary did not let his paralysis stop him, as he drove with hand controls, picking up numerous track titles at Quincy Raceways. congratulations to Dreyer and all the other inductees!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Racing Far and Near
After challenging the weather the week prior and losing out, we decided to go with a safe bet this Saturday. So when the forecast for the World of Outlaw late model special at Pevely,Mo was upgraded to 60-85% chance of rain, Darryl, Fred, and I set out for Farley, Iowa, and the headline night of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic. I am ashamed to admit that after attending possibly every Yankee run at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, I had never been to one at Farley. It seems there was also a closer alternative, and even with mostly four lane roads and higher speed limits, it is still a cool 3 1/2 hours from my front door. But the time had come!
As we like to do, we arrived early to walk the grounds, check out the full pit area, and visit with some old friends. Once things got started, it was neat to see 150 or more cars all on the track at one time, but, hey, how about some racin? The four pole dashes for hobbys, stocks, sport mods and sport compacts riolled out on the 3/8 mile beginning at 6:20, then it was time for heat races for the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour modifieds followed by the Deery Brothers IMCA Summer Series late models. With the mods running first, it was obvious that the announced intention of having the 75 lap late model feature on the track at 10:00 or soon after was not going to happen, but, hey, we were racin'!
The modified field was 42 or 43 cars strong, and the fourth heat was the pick of the five, with Ron Barker using a dandy move on the white flag lap to grab the win after starting sixth. Only the top two in the heats transferred to the $2,000 to win feature, necessitating three B-mains later on.
The 50 car late model field then contested five ten lap heats, on the 1/2 mile track, as were the mods. In heat one, Jason Rauen, driving a Joel Callahan # 40 spun in turn two of the first lap, giving the pole to Ray Guss Jr on the restart. Ray then outdistanced track regular Luke Goedert, and Jay Johnson to the checkers, as the top three transferred, with the top two in the redraw. Tyler Breuning charged fromrow three to take heat two over Mark Burgtorf and fifth starting Denny Eckrich. Friday night winner Nick Marolf captured the third heat ahead of Darrell Defrance and ninth starting Justin Kay. In heat four, Jeff Mitrisin had a big lead, but smacked the turn two wall on lap seven. Sixth starting Joe Zrostlik then grabbed the checkers over Colby Springsteen and Curt Martin. In the final heat, Matt Strassheim jumped the cushion on lap one, falling back from his third row start, but powered his way back to second behind Dan Shelliam and just ahead of Brian Beaudry, driving a Justin Kay machine.
It was announced that there would be three transfers out of the 12 lap B-mains, but the format changed after the drivers meeting. A third B-main was added, with only the top two advancing. Jeff Aikey topped Andy Eckrich in the first one, with Mike Murphy then besting Kurt Kile. Ryan Griffith held off Randy Foote in the final preliminary, with provisionals going to Callahan, Mitrisin, and Dean Wagner.
At this point, we still had the 25 lap non qualifiers race to run ahead of the 75 lap feature, and all other main events were pushed off except the 20 lapper for the hobby stocks, which would run after the non qualifier race. In that 25 lapper, the top two finishers had the option of taking the $500 check and loading up, or forfeiting the money to tag the tail of the main event, which also paid $500 to start. Both winner Larry Harris, in a car purchased from the Roberts Racing/ Ray Guss team, and runnerup Mike Garland said they wanted to keep racing!
Following the hobby finale, the 26 car starting field took the green at 11:06 for 75 laps, as Keagan texted me results from Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Polesitter Zrostlik led lap one, with Goedert pacing lap two. On lap three, Breuning moved to second, and ninth starting Burgtorf advanced to sixth. As Mark picked up another position on lap six, Goedert and Breuning ran side by side., and on lap seven , Tyler took the top spot. By lap ten, Springsteen was challenging for second, and he took the spot one lap later. On lap 13, Burgtorf moved to fourth. The first caution came one lap later, with Goedert leaving on the hook. The Delaware restart format was used, and it would have a dramatic affect as the night went on. Burtorf shot to second on the restart, with Shelliam moving to third. Lap 16 saw twelfth starting Denny Eckrich climb to fourth, and seven laps later, to third. By the one third point of the race, Burgtorf was closing fast on Breuning, but following a lap 33 restart, Eckrich took the runnerup spot away. Andy Eckrich also moved to seventh at this point after starting in row ten. Ten circuits later, Guss, who had been lurking in the top six, stopped on the track with a flat tire. Following the restart, it was now Marolf on the move, and he took over fourth on lap 45. A caution on lap 47 saw Burgtorf and Marolf emerge in a duel, while 17 th starting Murphy jumped to fifth. Murphy then used a lap 52 restart to grab third, Burgtorf fell to fifth, and Strassheim, who started fifth and dropped to 14th was now back to seventh. The next stoppage on lap 57 saw Kay move to fourth. By lap 67, Guss was back to tenth, and with three to go, Eckrich caught Breuning in traffic. One good pass separated the leaders, and Breuning became a repeat winner of the Yankee. D Eckrich, Murphy, Kay, and Burgtorf followed, with the rest of the top ten being Strassheim, Marolf, Aikey, A Eckrich, and Guss.
Although passing seemed challenging on the tacky surface, it was amazing to watch so many guys make a run at different times. Burgtorf later told me that tire wear played a part in his losing three spots from his high of second, and I am sure this was true for others as well. As Breuning crossed the scales, the midnight hour was near and we three old timers regretfully passed on the four features still to be run to begin the long trek home, happy we the racing we saw.
After what seemed more like a nap than a nights sleep, it was off to Quincy Raceways for Sunday night action, two grandsons in tow. As Keagan whizzed past the I-336 overpass, we saw the bright green hauler of Brian shirley, headed for the track, and now I was awake! Shirley holds a slim lead in the UMP national late model points battle over Kevin Weaver, and as we entered the pits, sure enough, Weaver was already there. At that point, former great Bob Pierce cruised by on his 4 wheeler, so we knew young Bobby was also in the house! In total, 18 late models and 18 UMP modifieds checked in as part of a six class 81 car field on season championship night.
Shane Richardson and Alex Buffington made their first appearances of 2012 at QR in the IMCA stock car class, but it was point champion Terry Houston who took home the honors on Sunday. Darin Weisinger pushed Houston hard on the tacky, fast .29 mile oval, but settled for runnerup honors. The eventual point champion also came out on top in the IMCA sport mods, as Tony Dunker collected feature win number twelve over point runnerup Bobby Anders, and Jake Powers claimed his first title with a main event win over Brandon Symmonds following a season long tussle between the two. Seith Woodruff took the first ever IMCA sport compact point title over Kimberly Abbott, who lost any chance at the top spot with engine woes in the finale. Austen Beccerra claimed the 12 lap feature ahead of Woodruff.
The UMP modified championship had already been clinched by Steven Delonjay, his second in a row, with fast qualifier Jared Schlipman second. Come feature time however, Delonjay was forced to pit on lap ten, and Dave Weitholder took over from there, looking like the man to beat. In the closing laps, however, 13 year old Jake Griffin, fresh off a win last Sunday in the late models, laid his # 08 on the cushion, and charged to the front on lap 21. Jake took top honors, with Weithloder and Schlipman trailing.
Shirley had set fast time earlier in the evening, scorching the oval with a lap of 13.727, and after rolling a " one ' for the invert, lead outside row one starter Michael Long, in the Frankel # 33F to the fast heat/dash win. The 30 lap finale got off to a rocky start, with a false start causing a traffic jam, and sending Jason Frankel and his # 0F to the pits with front end damage. It was later determined that Jason, whose season started just a week ago, likely suffered a broken wrist in the mixup. When things got going on the tacky, fast, but somewhat rough track, Shirley opened a half straightaway lead. But on lap eleven, bad luck came his way, as he popped a drive shaft on the back chute, ending his run. Dustin Griffin had taken the second spot from Long briefly, but a this point, Michael was back in the runnerup slot, and after inheriting the lead, he had no intention of giving it up. Griffin kept the # 33F in his crosshairs, but could not make a pass. Burgtorf settled into third, before Weaver challenged late for the spot after starting ninth. But as the laps would down, the engine let go in the # B12, putting both national top guns on the trailer. Pierce, who started eleventh, gave Burgtorf and his 3 7B a look, but settled for fourth ahead of Jim Moon. Denny Woodworth parked his # 45DW and climbed in a Griffin back up ride, coming home sixth, ahead of track point champion Jason Perry. D Griffin, Burgtorf, Justin Reed, and Moon rounded out the top five in points. Reed started the night second, but engine woes ended his night in his heat race, dropping him to fourth. Moon also captured the points at Montgomery,Mo. Motorsports Park, where hard luck Keith Pratt rolled his # 33 on Saturday.
While the track points season is over at Quincy, there will be two more weeks of regular racing, with state and national UMP points up for grabs. The track cannot give IMCA national points, as they did not apply for an extension soon enough.
During intermission on Sunday, we also added nine people as the second Quincy Raceways Hall of Fame class, including drivers Terry Gallaher, Eddie Dieker, and Francis " Wild Man " Kelly.
Heres' hoping for another five - ten races, weather permitting!
As we like to do, we arrived early to walk the grounds, check out the full pit area, and visit with some old friends. Once things got started, it was neat to see 150 or more cars all on the track at one time, but, hey, how about some racin? The four pole dashes for hobbys, stocks, sport mods and sport compacts riolled out on the 3/8 mile beginning at 6:20, then it was time for heat races for the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour modifieds followed by the Deery Brothers IMCA Summer Series late models. With the mods running first, it was obvious that the announced intention of having the 75 lap late model feature on the track at 10:00 or soon after was not going to happen, but, hey, we were racin'!
The modified field was 42 or 43 cars strong, and the fourth heat was the pick of the five, with Ron Barker using a dandy move on the white flag lap to grab the win after starting sixth. Only the top two in the heats transferred to the $2,000 to win feature, necessitating three B-mains later on.
The 50 car late model field then contested five ten lap heats, on the 1/2 mile track, as were the mods. In heat one, Jason Rauen, driving a Joel Callahan # 40 spun in turn two of the first lap, giving the pole to Ray Guss Jr on the restart. Ray then outdistanced track regular Luke Goedert, and Jay Johnson to the checkers, as the top three transferred, with the top two in the redraw. Tyler Breuning charged fromrow three to take heat two over Mark Burgtorf and fifth starting Denny Eckrich. Friday night winner Nick Marolf captured the third heat ahead of Darrell Defrance and ninth starting Justin Kay. In heat four, Jeff Mitrisin had a big lead, but smacked the turn two wall on lap seven. Sixth starting Joe Zrostlik then grabbed the checkers over Colby Springsteen and Curt Martin. In the final heat, Matt Strassheim jumped the cushion on lap one, falling back from his third row start, but powered his way back to second behind Dan Shelliam and just ahead of Brian Beaudry, driving a Justin Kay machine.
It was announced that there would be three transfers out of the 12 lap B-mains, but the format changed after the drivers meeting. A third B-main was added, with only the top two advancing. Jeff Aikey topped Andy Eckrich in the first one, with Mike Murphy then besting Kurt Kile. Ryan Griffith held off Randy Foote in the final preliminary, with provisionals going to Callahan, Mitrisin, and Dean Wagner.
At this point, we still had the 25 lap non qualifiers race to run ahead of the 75 lap feature, and all other main events were pushed off except the 20 lapper for the hobby stocks, which would run after the non qualifier race. In that 25 lapper, the top two finishers had the option of taking the $500 check and loading up, or forfeiting the money to tag the tail of the main event, which also paid $500 to start. Both winner Larry Harris, in a car purchased from the Roberts Racing/ Ray Guss team, and runnerup Mike Garland said they wanted to keep racing!
Following the hobby finale, the 26 car starting field took the green at 11:06 for 75 laps, as Keagan texted me results from Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Polesitter Zrostlik led lap one, with Goedert pacing lap two. On lap three, Breuning moved to second, and ninth starting Burgtorf advanced to sixth. As Mark picked up another position on lap six, Goedert and Breuning ran side by side., and on lap seven , Tyler took the top spot. By lap ten, Springsteen was challenging for second, and he took the spot one lap later. On lap 13, Burgtorf moved to fourth. The first caution came one lap later, with Goedert leaving on the hook. The Delaware restart format was used, and it would have a dramatic affect as the night went on. Burtorf shot to second on the restart, with Shelliam moving to third. Lap 16 saw twelfth starting Denny Eckrich climb to fourth, and seven laps later, to third. By the one third point of the race, Burgtorf was closing fast on Breuning, but following a lap 33 restart, Eckrich took the runnerup spot away. Andy Eckrich also moved to seventh at this point after starting in row ten. Ten circuits later, Guss, who had been lurking in the top six, stopped on the track with a flat tire. Following the restart, it was now Marolf on the move, and he took over fourth on lap 45. A caution on lap 47 saw Burgtorf and Marolf emerge in a duel, while 17 th starting Murphy jumped to fifth. Murphy then used a lap 52 restart to grab third, Burgtorf fell to fifth, and Strassheim, who started fifth and dropped to 14th was now back to seventh. The next stoppage on lap 57 saw Kay move to fourth. By lap 67, Guss was back to tenth, and with three to go, Eckrich caught Breuning in traffic. One good pass separated the leaders, and Breuning became a repeat winner of the Yankee. D Eckrich, Murphy, Kay, and Burgtorf followed, with the rest of the top ten being Strassheim, Marolf, Aikey, A Eckrich, and Guss.
Although passing seemed challenging on the tacky surface, it was amazing to watch so many guys make a run at different times. Burgtorf later told me that tire wear played a part in his losing three spots from his high of second, and I am sure this was true for others as well. As Breuning crossed the scales, the midnight hour was near and we three old timers regretfully passed on the four features still to be run to begin the long trek home, happy we the racing we saw.
After what seemed more like a nap than a nights sleep, it was off to Quincy Raceways for Sunday night action, two grandsons in tow. As Keagan whizzed past the I-336 overpass, we saw the bright green hauler of Brian shirley, headed for the track, and now I was awake! Shirley holds a slim lead in the UMP national late model points battle over Kevin Weaver, and as we entered the pits, sure enough, Weaver was already there. At that point, former great Bob Pierce cruised by on his 4 wheeler, so we knew young Bobby was also in the house! In total, 18 late models and 18 UMP modifieds checked in as part of a six class 81 car field on season championship night.
Shane Richardson and Alex Buffington made their first appearances of 2012 at QR in the IMCA stock car class, but it was point champion Terry Houston who took home the honors on Sunday. Darin Weisinger pushed Houston hard on the tacky, fast .29 mile oval, but settled for runnerup honors. The eventual point champion also came out on top in the IMCA sport mods, as Tony Dunker collected feature win number twelve over point runnerup Bobby Anders, and Jake Powers claimed his first title with a main event win over Brandon Symmonds following a season long tussle between the two. Seith Woodruff took the first ever IMCA sport compact point title over Kimberly Abbott, who lost any chance at the top spot with engine woes in the finale. Austen Beccerra claimed the 12 lap feature ahead of Woodruff.
The UMP modified championship had already been clinched by Steven Delonjay, his second in a row, with fast qualifier Jared Schlipman second. Come feature time however, Delonjay was forced to pit on lap ten, and Dave Weitholder took over from there, looking like the man to beat. In the closing laps, however, 13 year old Jake Griffin, fresh off a win last Sunday in the late models, laid his # 08 on the cushion, and charged to the front on lap 21. Jake took top honors, with Weithloder and Schlipman trailing.
Shirley had set fast time earlier in the evening, scorching the oval with a lap of 13.727, and after rolling a " one ' for the invert, lead outside row one starter Michael Long, in the Frankel # 33F to the fast heat/dash win. The 30 lap finale got off to a rocky start, with a false start causing a traffic jam, and sending Jason Frankel and his # 0F to the pits with front end damage. It was later determined that Jason, whose season started just a week ago, likely suffered a broken wrist in the mixup. When things got going on the tacky, fast, but somewhat rough track, Shirley opened a half straightaway lead. But on lap eleven, bad luck came his way, as he popped a drive shaft on the back chute, ending his run. Dustin Griffin had taken the second spot from Long briefly, but a this point, Michael was back in the runnerup slot, and after inheriting the lead, he had no intention of giving it up. Griffin kept the # 33F in his crosshairs, but could not make a pass. Burgtorf settled into third, before Weaver challenged late for the spot after starting ninth. But as the laps would down, the engine let go in the # B12, putting both national top guns on the trailer. Pierce, who started eleventh, gave Burgtorf and his 3 7B a look, but settled for fourth ahead of Jim Moon. Denny Woodworth parked his # 45DW and climbed in a Griffin back up ride, coming home sixth, ahead of track point champion Jason Perry. D Griffin, Burgtorf, Justin Reed, and Moon rounded out the top five in points. Reed started the night second, but engine woes ended his night in his heat race, dropping him to fourth. Moon also captured the points at Montgomery,Mo. Motorsports Park, where hard luck Keith Pratt rolled his # 33 on Saturday.
While the track points season is over at Quincy, there will be two more weeks of regular racing, with state and national UMP points up for grabs. The track cannot give IMCA national points, as they did not apply for an extension soon enough.
During intermission on Sunday, we also added nine people as the second Quincy Raceways Hall of Fame class, including drivers Terry Gallaher, Eddie Dieker, and Francis " Wild Man " Kelly.
Heres' hoping for another five - ten races, weather permitting!
Monday, September 10, 2012
One is Better than None
With September rolling around and racing opportunities winding down, last Friday looked particularly enticing. So I took a vacation day and decided to let the weatherman dictate where I would go. after all, there were four tracks racing within 2 1/2 hours, surely someone would get a show in... Fulton, Mo. and Davenport, Iowa pulled the plug early, so along with Darryl and Fred, I headed towards the St Louis area. None of us had been to Bell Clair Speedway in Belleville, Il., where the UMP late models were running for $1500 to win, and Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il had a regular weekly show. As we motored through St Louis, the skies opened, and both tracks were forced to cancel within minutes of each other.
A church function kept me away from the tracks on Saturday, but after two weeks of rain outs, Quincy Raceways roared back to life on Sunday.
A nice total of 91 race cars filled the pit area, including 20 UMP super late models and a season high 25 UMP modifieds. Sunday was the first night for the new format which added time trial qualifying to the program, eliminating heat race passing points. The mods timed in groups of three during their hot lap session, while the late models did the same after hot lapping. There are some issues with qualifying three at once on a 1/4 mile - one late model actually got passed, but for the most part, it worked okay. Matt Dotson made the trip up from Sturgeon, Mo. and paced the mods with a fast lap of 15.512, while Micheal long wheeled the Frankel Racing # 33F to a quick time of 14.067. The fast six were set to be in a heat race by themselves, and that would set the first three rows of the feature, making it sort of a heat race/dash combo. The top qualifiers then rolled a dice on the front straightaway to determine the heat race invert. Dotson rolled a two, while Long put himself in row three with a six.
Fourteen races set the feature lineups, and after a brief intermission, we were ready to go.
The IMCA classes all ran draw - redraw shows, as Sunday was held as the rain date for the Boone Supernationals - kind of amazing if you think about it, and the stock cars ran feature number one. Only six cars took the green, with Terry Houston bringing out an early caution as he stopped in turn one. Gabe Harrison held the top spot until contact with Michael Larsen sent both cars to the back. Houston assumed the lead on the restart, but Abe Huls quickly moved to the front. Houston held on to second, and Larsen worked past Darrin Weisinger to come home third. It was feature win number ten for Huls.
The IMCA sport mods were up next, and Tony Dunker took the lead right awy, cruising to win number eleven. Dunker has finished first or second in 17 of 18 features this season. Two time winner Bobby Anders went to the back after an early caution, but worked his way back to the runner up spot after Vance Wilson, piloting Jamie Fierges # J2, pulled out while running second on a lap seven caution. Anders also retired early during a lap 13 stoppage. Joe Bliven then outdueled Brandon Dale and Tanner Klingele for the second spot.
The 20 UMP late models then took the green, with first time visitor Steve Thorsten from Milford, Il setting on the pole in his # 7T by virtue of the fast heat win. A first lap melee at the front of the pack resulted in a complete restart, and a false start came next, with Vance Wilson going pitside. As we went green, outside polesitter Mark Burgtorf shot out front in his # 15R, with 13 year old row two starter Jake Griffin in pursuit. As the field passed by the flagstand completing lap one, Griffin eased ahead, and Thorsten retired to the infield. Jake, sporting a new ride and a new look on his # 08, began to open a lead as cousin Dustin Griffin moved to third on lap six from his seventh starting spot. As we stayed green, Dustin shot by Burgtorf four laps later, and ninth starting Kevin Weaver advanced to sixth. Jake continued to lead Dustin, and on lap 13, Weaver moved to fourth with a highside move and began to challenge Burgtorf. As Jake caught slower traffic, Dustin closed the gap, and the younger Griffin seemed to get a bit tentative.
Once he made his first move through the back of the pack, he seemed to get comfortable, and with no cautions coming, he threaded the needle, picking up his second UMP super late model win of 2012 and first ever at his hometown track.
D, Griffin took second, while Burgtorf held off Weaver for third. Long used a late pass of brother in law Jason Frankel for fifth. Jason was out for only the second night in his sharp new # 0F, having debuted the ride the night before in Pevely, Mo. Jim Moon, track points leader Jason Perry, Clint Kirkham, and Keith Pratt completed the top ten.
The hobby stocks were up next, and things started slowly as Jeremy Buss broke a front end on lap one. Jeff delonjay then led lap one, before second half hotshoe Brian Hoener took over on lap two. Hoener held serve throughout the 20 lap event, with point leader Jake Powers and number two points man Brandon Symmonds filling the next two spots. Delonjay came home in fourth.
The UMP modifieds were up next, and with all 25 cars taking the green flag, well... Dotson had led the fast heat/dash for the first eight laps before Dave Weitholder took the spot. Dave then spun on the final lap, was hit by Dotson, and Robbie Reed drove by for the win and the feature pole. As it turned out, that was the move of the night, as Robbie would not give up the spot throughout the caution plagued feature. Steven Delonjay started in row four, moving to fourth on lap five, the to second following a lap 16 restart. Weitholder followed Steven through, grabbing third on the same restart, but Dave again lost the handle two laps later. Mercifully, the time limit had expired, with the race called complete seven laps short of the scheduled 25. Dotson took third behind Reed and Delonjay, and Jake Griffin completed an excellent night by claiming fourth.
The sport compacts finished the night, running ten green flag laps before the yellow waved, setting up a two lap shootout. With the draw format, Austen Becerra started up front and powered to his seventh feature win in the second half of the season. Brandon Lambert challenged Becerra, but settled for second, while Kimberly Abbott, back from her first year of competition in Boone, took third. Casey Lambert rounded out the top four.
The final checkers waved around 9:30.
Two more race nights are scheduled at QR, with season championships next Sunday along with Hall of Fame inductions, and the season will conclude with a King of the Hill show on September 23.
A church function kept me away from the tracks on Saturday, but after two weeks of rain outs, Quincy Raceways roared back to life on Sunday.
A nice total of 91 race cars filled the pit area, including 20 UMP super late models and a season high 25 UMP modifieds. Sunday was the first night for the new format which added time trial qualifying to the program, eliminating heat race passing points. The mods timed in groups of three during their hot lap session, while the late models did the same after hot lapping. There are some issues with qualifying three at once on a 1/4 mile - one late model actually got passed, but for the most part, it worked okay. Matt Dotson made the trip up from Sturgeon, Mo. and paced the mods with a fast lap of 15.512, while Micheal long wheeled the Frankel Racing # 33F to a quick time of 14.067. The fast six were set to be in a heat race by themselves, and that would set the first three rows of the feature, making it sort of a heat race/dash combo. The top qualifiers then rolled a dice on the front straightaway to determine the heat race invert. Dotson rolled a two, while Long put himself in row three with a six.
Fourteen races set the feature lineups, and after a brief intermission, we were ready to go.
The IMCA classes all ran draw - redraw shows, as Sunday was held as the rain date for the Boone Supernationals - kind of amazing if you think about it, and the stock cars ran feature number one. Only six cars took the green, with Terry Houston bringing out an early caution as he stopped in turn one. Gabe Harrison held the top spot until contact with Michael Larsen sent both cars to the back. Houston assumed the lead on the restart, but Abe Huls quickly moved to the front. Houston held on to second, and Larsen worked past Darrin Weisinger to come home third. It was feature win number ten for Huls.
The IMCA sport mods were up next, and Tony Dunker took the lead right awy, cruising to win number eleven. Dunker has finished first or second in 17 of 18 features this season. Two time winner Bobby Anders went to the back after an early caution, but worked his way back to the runner up spot after Vance Wilson, piloting Jamie Fierges # J2, pulled out while running second on a lap seven caution. Anders also retired early during a lap 13 stoppage. Joe Bliven then outdueled Brandon Dale and Tanner Klingele for the second spot.
The 20 UMP late models then took the green, with first time visitor Steve Thorsten from Milford, Il setting on the pole in his # 7T by virtue of the fast heat win. A first lap melee at the front of the pack resulted in a complete restart, and a false start came next, with Vance Wilson going pitside. As we went green, outside polesitter Mark Burgtorf shot out front in his # 15R, with 13 year old row two starter Jake Griffin in pursuit. As the field passed by the flagstand completing lap one, Griffin eased ahead, and Thorsten retired to the infield. Jake, sporting a new ride and a new look on his # 08, began to open a lead as cousin Dustin Griffin moved to third on lap six from his seventh starting spot. As we stayed green, Dustin shot by Burgtorf four laps later, and ninth starting Kevin Weaver advanced to sixth. Jake continued to lead Dustin, and on lap 13, Weaver moved to fourth with a highside move and began to challenge Burgtorf. As Jake caught slower traffic, Dustin closed the gap, and the younger Griffin seemed to get a bit tentative.
Once he made his first move through the back of the pack, he seemed to get comfortable, and with no cautions coming, he threaded the needle, picking up his second UMP super late model win of 2012 and first ever at his hometown track.
D, Griffin took second, while Burgtorf held off Weaver for third. Long used a late pass of brother in law Jason Frankel for fifth. Jason was out for only the second night in his sharp new # 0F, having debuted the ride the night before in Pevely, Mo. Jim Moon, track points leader Jason Perry, Clint Kirkham, and Keith Pratt completed the top ten.
The hobby stocks were up next, and things started slowly as Jeremy Buss broke a front end on lap one. Jeff delonjay then led lap one, before second half hotshoe Brian Hoener took over on lap two. Hoener held serve throughout the 20 lap event, with point leader Jake Powers and number two points man Brandon Symmonds filling the next two spots. Delonjay came home in fourth.
The UMP modifieds were up next, and with all 25 cars taking the green flag, well... Dotson had led the fast heat/dash for the first eight laps before Dave Weitholder took the spot. Dave then spun on the final lap, was hit by Dotson, and Robbie Reed drove by for the win and the feature pole. As it turned out, that was the move of the night, as Robbie would not give up the spot throughout the caution plagued feature. Steven Delonjay started in row four, moving to fourth on lap five, the to second following a lap 16 restart. Weitholder followed Steven through, grabbing third on the same restart, but Dave again lost the handle two laps later. Mercifully, the time limit had expired, with the race called complete seven laps short of the scheduled 25. Dotson took third behind Reed and Delonjay, and Jake Griffin completed an excellent night by claiming fourth.
The sport compacts finished the night, running ten green flag laps before the yellow waved, setting up a two lap shootout. With the draw format, Austen Becerra started up front and powered to his seventh feature win in the second half of the season. Brandon Lambert challenged Becerra, but settled for second, while Kimberly Abbott, back from her first year of competition in Boone, took third. Casey Lambert rounded out the top four.
The final checkers waved around 9:30.
Two more race nights are scheduled at QR, with season championships next Sunday along with Hall of Fame inductions, and the season will conclude with a King of the Hill show on September 23.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Aikey Wows the Crowd at 34 Raceway
The owners and employees of 34 Raceway in West Burlington deserve congratulations for doing the hard work to get the 3/8 mile oval ready for the 2012 installment of the Pepsi USA late model nationals. For the first time, the race was scheduled for one night only, with the winners share set at $5,000 for a 50 lap main event. Ironically, the weather likely would have dictated this set up, even if it had remained a scheduled two day show. As it was, the original Saturday night had to be pushed to Sunday. For this writer, a scheduling conflict dissolved early, as the Quincy area received about five inches of much needed rain on Friday and Saturday, and it was obvious when I visited Quincy Raceways on Saturday that Sunday racing would not happen. So the next order of business was to wait for the text messages from 34to see if racing would happen on the Sunday rain date. The weatherman cooperated enough to allow that to happen, and although their was some muddy areas in the pits, the high banked oval rolled in pretty well. There were some rough spots, but two inches of rain will do that, and the clay oval was multi grooved and fast.
The car count for the 400th installment of the Summer Series was a bit disappointing, with 27 IMCA late models signing in, but threatening weather combined with three other late models shows in Iowa already scheduled for Sunday certainly had an affect. The IMCA sport mod count was also down a bit at 15, but after the Saturday rainout, 34 promoters made the night non points so as not to conflict with the potential Quincy event. With Quincy cancelled and 34 non points, a few drivers left early for the Boone, Iowa Super Nationals. The 4 cylinders came in at 18 strong, and 14 305 sprints filled out the four class program.
Two sport mod heats were followed by three ten lap qualifiers for the late models, with Tom Bowling Jr leading flag to flag in heat one. The caution was waved on the start when Tom Darbyshire suffered suspension failure in the rearend of his # 42, sending him into the front stretch wall, ending his night. The remainder of the late models heats went off caution free, With both Andy Eckrich and Colby Springsteen winning from the front row. After three heats of 4 cylinders and two sprint heats, the top twelve heat finishers were brought to the front straightaway, where they played the card game used this season to set the first six rows of the 50 lap finale. When the card trading was done, the winner of the spring race at 34, Mike Murphy, Jr. had the pole position and the bonus prize of a free set of cylinder heads from Brodix. The twelve lap B- main ran next, with Mark Burgtorf coming from row two to take the win over polesitter Justin Kay.With 21 starters qualified, three high points provisional starters were added, filling out the 24 car field, and sending three cars to the trailer. With Darbyshire already scratched, only Andy Nezworski, and Willie Gammill not making the field. If you are unfamiliar with Gammill, as I was, it is because he is from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and competes at the Monett, Missouri Speedway. the team was on their way to Boone when they found out about the 34 rescedule and diverted to West Burlington.
After a rather lengthy intermission, the sport mods came to the track for their 15 lap main event. The lead was swapped several times, with several cautions slowing the action. With about six laps remaining, Quincy Raceways regular Bobby Anders took the lead for good in his # 20BA. Bobby held on for what became a somewhat easy victory, his first at 34. another Quincy regular, Joe Bliven took second, with Derek St Clair, Sean Wyatt and Dean Kratzer completing the top five.
The 4 cylinder were up next, with another Quincy regular, Austen Becerra grabbing the checkers over Mike Hornung and Chuck Fullenkamp.
The 305 sprints came next, with their feature slated to go 25 laps. The event was red flagged after 13 laps when Harold Pohren belched smoke and fire from his # 50P. At the time, Justin Parrish had the lead, but Daniel Bergquist had just charged to the runnerup spot and looked poised to run down Parrish. On the restart, however, Parrish jumped out to a big advantage, and his only real test came in traffic in the closing laps. Bergquist closed the gap, but settled for second, with Ryan Jamison, Matt Krieger, and Corey Timmerman chasing the top two to the checkers.
We then waited patiently as the 24 late model starters came to the front straightaway, climbed from their cars and were introduced - in the case of the top twelve, reintroduced - to the crowd. Finally it was time to race, with Murphy and Eckrich on the front row. Murphy shot off from the pole, encountering lapped traffic by lap seven. Meanwhile, eighth starting Jeff Aikey, who had proclaimed in the pre race introduction that he was " going to the front " moved to sixth on lap two, and fifth on lap four. The yellow flew on lap eight for Jay Chenoweth, and on the Delaware restart, Jay Johnson, winner of the first ever Summer Series race, which also took place at 34, moved in to second. One lap later, Aikey rolled to fourth, and on lap 13, he powered his way to third ahead of Eckrich. On lap 16, as Murphy again caught lapped traffic, bobbling slightly, but staying in control. Aikey gained the second spot on lap 18. On lap 20, Murphy clipped the turn three wall, damaging his rear spoiler and dropping to fourth in the running order, handing the lead to Aikey. It then became a two car race between the # 77 and Johnson. A lap 32 caution for Matt Ryan bunched the field again, giving the leaders a clear track. The yellow waved fours laps later following contact between Darrell Defrance and Tom Goble, with Darrell showing his displeasure before rejoining the tail of the field. At this point, Murphy went pitside. One lap later, the final caution waved for Tyler Breuning, who suffered a flat tire. Aikey was not to be denied, however, picking up the big payday. Eckrich found his way around Johnson in the closing laps, with Matt Strassheim fourth and tenth starting Ray Guss Jr, fifth. The second five included Jason Utter, Springsteen, Joel Callahan, Goble and Defrance.
Aikey, Johnson, and Defrance all competed in that very first Summer Series race in April of 1987, yep, I was there, and all three recorded top five runs in race
# 400. And of course, Defrance has been entered in all 400 of them!
The final checkers waved just before 10:00.
The forecast looks dicey again this coming weekend, but hopefully we can all get in some racing!
The car count for the 400th installment of the Summer Series was a bit disappointing, with 27 IMCA late models signing in, but threatening weather combined with three other late models shows in Iowa already scheduled for Sunday certainly had an affect. The IMCA sport mod count was also down a bit at 15, but after the Saturday rainout, 34 promoters made the night non points so as not to conflict with the potential Quincy event. With Quincy cancelled and 34 non points, a few drivers left early for the Boone, Iowa Super Nationals. The 4 cylinders came in at 18 strong, and 14 305 sprints filled out the four class program.
Two sport mod heats were followed by three ten lap qualifiers for the late models, with Tom Bowling Jr leading flag to flag in heat one. The caution was waved on the start when Tom Darbyshire suffered suspension failure in the rearend of his # 42, sending him into the front stretch wall, ending his night. The remainder of the late models heats went off caution free, With both Andy Eckrich and Colby Springsteen winning from the front row. After three heats of 4 cylinders and two sprint heats, the top twelve heat finishers were brought to the front straightaway, where they played the card game used this season to set the first six rows of the 50 lap finale. When the card trading was done, the winner of the spring race at 34, Mike Murphy, Jr. had the pole position and the bonus prize of a free set of cylinder heads from Brodix. The twelve lap B- main ran next, with Mark Burgtorf coming from row two to take the win over polesitter Justin Kay.With 21 starters qualified, three high points provisional starters were added, filling out the 24 car field, and sending three cars to the trailer. With Darbyshire already scratched, only Andy Nezworski, and Willie Gammill not making the field. If you are unfamiliar with Gammill, as I was, it is because he is from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and competes at the Monett, Missouri Speedway. the team was on their way to Boone when they found out about the 34 rescedule and diverted to West Burlington.
After a rather lengthy intermission, the sport mods came to the track for their 15 lap main event. The lead was swapped several times, with several cautions slowing the action. With about six laps remaining, Quincy Raceways regular Bobby Anders took the lead for good in his # 20BA. Bobby held on for what became a somewhat easy victory, his first at 34. another Quincy regular, Joe Bliven took second, with Derek St Clair, Sean Wyatt and Dean Kratzer completing the top five.
The 4 cylinder were up next, with another Quincy regular, Austen Becerra grabbing the checkers over Mike Hornung and Chuck Fullenkamp.
The 305 sprints came next, with their feature slated to go 25 laps. The event was red flagged after 13 laps when Harold Pohren belched smoke and fire from his # 50P. At the time, Justin Parrish had the lead, but Daniel Bergquist had just charged to the runnerup spot and looked poised to run down Parrish. On the restart, however, Parrish jumped out to a big advantage, and his only real test came in traffic in the closing laps. Bergquist closed the gap, but settled for second, with Ryan Jamison, Matt Krieger, and Corey Timmerman chasing the top two to the checkers.
We then waited patiently as the 24 late model starters came to the front straightaway, climbed from their cars and were introduced - in the case of the top twelve, reintroduced - to the crowd. Finally it was time to race, with Murphy and Eckrich on the front row. Murphy shot off from the pole, encountering lapped traffic by lap seven. Meanwhile, eighth starting Jeff Aikey, who had proclaimed in the pre race introduction that he was " going to the front " moved to sixth on lap two, and fifth on lap four. The yellow flew on lap eight for Jay Chenoweth, and on the Delaware restart, Jay Johnson, winner of the first ever Summer Series race, which also took place at 34, moved in to second. One lap later, Aikey rolled to fourth, and on lap 13, he powered his way to third ahead of Eckrich. On lap 16, as Murphy again caught lapped traffic, bobbling slightly, but staying in control. Aikey gained the second spot on lap 18. On lap 20, Murphy clipped the turn three wall, damaging his rear spoiler and dropping to fourth in the running order, handing the lead to Aikey. It then became a two car race between the # 77 and Johnson. A lap 32 caution for Matt Ryan bunched the field again, giving the leaders a clear track. The yellow waved fours laps later following contact between Darrell Defrance and Tom Goble, with Darrell showing his displeasure before rejoining the tail of the field. At this point, Murphy went pitside. One lap later, the final caution waved for Tyler Breuning, who suffered a flat tire. Aikey was not to be denied, however, picking up the big payday. Eckrich found his way around Johnson in the closing laps, with Matt Strassheim fourth and tenth starting Ray Guss Jr, fifth. The second five included Jason Utter, Springsteen, Joel Callahan, Goble and Defrance.
Aikey, Johnson, and Defrance all competed in that very first Summer Series race in April of 1987, yep, I was there, and all three recorded top five runs in race
# 400. And of course, Defrance has been entered in all 400 of them!
The final checkers waved just before 10:00.
The forecast looks dicey again this coming weekend, but hopefully we can all get in some racing!
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