Despite the forecast of cold temps and changes to the schedule, Darryl and I decided to make the long drive to take in the Thaw Brawl at the Izzo family 1/4 mile facility in Lasalle,Il. It was a new track for me, one I had wanted to get to for quite some time. Originally it was to have been night number two of the weekend, with a $2,000 to win UMP super late model show on Friday followed by the $15,000 to win headliner on Saturday. Heavy rains during the week wiped out the Thursday practice session and forced the Friday show to be moved to Sunday. Persistent clouds and a stubborn wind followed us to the track, where the temp registered 42 degrees upon our 4:00 PM arrival. Purchasing grandstand tickets, we circled the vast pit area, checking out the early arrivals. As it turned out, for what I am sure was a variety of reasons, not the least of which had to do with the weather, the car count turned out to be somewhat less than expected. The late models hot lapped by qualifying groups, with car counts of eight, eight, seven, and six. Wisconsin driver Todd Frank was announced as being in the final group, but his # 21 never hit the track during the night, so the car count sat at 29 or 30. The field filled out with 37 UMP modifieds competing for $1500 to win. 20 street stocks and 25 4 cylinder hornets also checked in.
As hot laps and single car qualifying progressed, a significant rut developed in the middle of turn one, and soon after in turn four. Track crews worked hard throughout the evening to smooth things out, but the otherwise hammer down track simply held too much frost for too long during this long winter.
Kevin Weaver, timing in group two set overall fast time at 12.313 seconds. The top three in each heat were inverted, with the top four from each ten lapper going to the 75 lap finale. Ryan Unzicker captured heat one, Dennis Erb Jr took heat two. Jeep Van Wormer came from row two to nab the third ten lapper, and Brian Shirley was victorious in heat four. Second generation racer Devin Moran made the long tow from Ohio to race for the first time in Illinois. After a heat race altercation with Ray Guss Jr, the only driver other than Frank to not come out for the consy,Moran came back to top the 12 lap B main. Popular youngster Bobby Pierce suffered a broken axle in his heat and was forced to come from row five to ease into the top four to make the feature field. With the American Late Model Series co sanctioning the event, two provisionals were issued to Brandon Thirlby and Phil Ausra.
With all prelininary events in the books, and the huge crowd shivering en masse, the 75 lap headliner came to the track first - thank you to the Izzos!
The four heat winners redrew for starting spots, with Shirley and Erb on row one and Unzicker and Van Wormer in row two. Shirley in his Riggs Motorsports # 81 jumped to the lead, but Erb powered by to lead lap one. The front two began to pull away, with the first of several cautions waving on lap six for Rusty Schlenk. On lap 19, the two leaders exchanged slide jobs for the top spot as Jason Feger moved from roe five into the fifth spot. The caution waved for McKay Wenger on lap 21, and on the restart, Shirley hit the turn four hole, causing a major pile up. Fifth running Scott Schmitt got the worst of it, leaving on the hook, with Feger, who was fourth, suffering a cut tire. It also effectively ended Shirleys quest for the big check. As we got back to green, Van Wormers run ended with an apparent blown engine, and one lap later both Weaver and Shirley were done. By now, Thirlby had entered the top six. 2013 winner Brian Birkhofer was about to go two laps down when he brought out the yellow on lap 34. By now, Iowa City native Matt Furman who now calls Columbus, Ohio home, had charged from seventh starting spot to a somewhat distant second to Erb. The Highside Hustler, Feger lived up to his nickname, charging back to sixth as the caution waved on lap 46 for Rich Bell. All this time, Scott Bloomquist, who started ninth, had run mid pack, avoiding the chaos. Now he began to move, closing on Furman before the #51 suffered a flat, moving Bloomquist to second and Feger to third. With five laps to go, it looked like Black Sunshine was ready to crash Erbs party, with Erb using a dandy move in lapped traffic to keep the lead until Bloomquist slowed with a flat left rear tire. He made a quick change, and with only six cars on the lead lap and a Delaware restart, he still had time to get to the front. However possible contact saw the left rear down again one lap later.
Fegers night ended following the restart, and Pierce, who seemed to struggle most of the night found himself in the runner up spot after starting 19th! As the checkers waved, Erb had led flag to flag, Unzicker worked the high line all night, starting third and finishing there. Bloomquist came back to fourth, with Jason Riggs having a solid top five, the final car on the lead lap. One lap down in sixth was Billy Drake, followed by Furman, and Wenger. Jason Jaggers was two laps down in ninth, Feger was credited with tenth, while Ausra was still running, three laps down in 11th. Although the modified feature promised to be a good one, the clock had ticked past 11:00, the temperature was now 32 degrees, and we were ready to head for the parking lot.
LaSalle Speedway is a great place to watch a race, with an empty infield offering good sight lines. The lighting is good, as is the PA, the bleachers set well above the track, and the high banked wide oval offers multiple grooves. Too bad for me it is fours hours from home, but I hope to make it back sometime! Arriving home, I see that the rescheduled show for Sunday was postponed due to water and sewer issues overnight, and mechanical problems with the grader. Still it was surely a successful start to 2014 for the central Illinois track. Our next race will likely be the Quincy Raceways opener set for one week from today, Sunday, April 6. Hope to see you soon, Racing' Down the Road!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
After a state quarterfinal victory last Saturday in Moberly,Mo., the
Canton Tiger high school boys basketball team was indeed poised for
their first ever Final Four appearance. So, leaving work early on
Thursday, we made the two hour plus drive to the Hearnes Center in
Columbia, Mo.. After leading from early in the first quarter on, we fell
victim to a fourth quarter rally, losing by one point on a buzzer
beating put back to Iberia,Mo. Loss number two on the season set up a
third place match on Friday at Mizzou Arena. Again, it was an early out
from work, back to Columbia, where the boys went out with a win and a
third place trophy by topping the squad from Thayer,Mo. While Keagan and
the boys were stunned on Thursday, they bounced back and celebrated a
magical 28-2 season. Of course, it just happened to be my Saturday
morning to work, so common sense would dictate that I use the remaining
weekend to catch up on my rest. Yeah, right. Leaving the office around
11:00, I did a quick walk through of the Quincy Raceways car show at the
mall. Although the count was down a bit, there was still some sharp
looking new rides, including a new Lazer late model # 1ST, as Justin
Reed moves back to the headline class.
As the temperatures climbed, I made my way home to change clothes - at 1:30 I met up with buddy Fred and we headed back across Highway 19 again, this time en route to opening night at Montgomery Motor Sports Park, where buddy Darryl met us on his way back from a trip to Columbia. 72 degree weather and an amazingly dry facility greeted us at the reopened high banked dirt oval, promoted this season by UMP late model driver Jim Moon. With the unusually hard winter weather, we had no idea what to expect as far as car count, and on the surface, the numbers look disappointing. But the racing surface was well prepared, and the track stayed smooth, although the upper lines never really came in. Hop laps were advertised for 4:15but with opening night - afternoon? - and a new promotion team, we expected some delay. But the combination hot lap, qualifying sessions began by 4:45, with four classes of racing kicking off by 5:30. The early start times apparently fooled a lot of folks, many of whom showed up around feature time. By the end of the evening, the stands held one of the larger crowds I have seen at the facility. Moon has indicated he will keep the late afternoon start times every Saturday through the month of April.
The UMP street stocks ran first on the card all night, and with 8 cars in the pits, they ran an 8 lap heat and a 20 lap feature. Moon had stated, and the announcers repeated often, that each race, heats and feature would be allowed one caution flag for every five laps, plus one " freebie." Apparently the drivers took this to heart, as any spinning car was given as much time as possible to get moving again, and those that could, did. The SS feature went non stop green to checkers, with Tony Walker leading the distance over Mike Goodwin and Trev Jacoby. After staring on the outside pole, the third generation racer Jacoby fell back, then charged to second, But he looped his # 82J in turn four of the final lap trying a last ditch pass for the lead before recovering for third.
Next up was the UMP B-mods. The 11 car field covered 20 laps around the 3/8 (?) mile with only two stoppages. David Melloway took the checkers, with Jim Lafferty Jr, grabbing the runnerup spot from Gary Oliver on the white flag lap.
While the pair of announcers were lax at giving lineups and names in these two classes, they stepped up their performance for the headline classes.
Third on the card were the UMP A mods, the largest class, with 18 entries. They were set for 30 laps of feature action following two heat races. It had been announced that one lucky program holder held a special program that would allow them to pick a feature invert number for all classes. Apparently no one claimed the honor, so the features lined up straight up by heat finishes. This put former late model driver Corey Daughtery and the " Festus Flash " Rusty Griffaw on row one for the main. Griffaw jumped to the front, but a first lap caution set up a complete restart. When the green waved for the second time, Daughtery held the advantage. The only other caution came on lap 12, and on lap 13 Griffaw found a line around Daughtery down low to claim the lead. For the next 17 circuits, he opened a sizable lead, while Daughtery did the same over third place Jeff Asher.
The final race of the night was the 30 lap UMP late model finale. Only six cars had checked in to race, and veteran Mike Hammerle was unable to answer the bell in the heat or feature, even though the push vehicle tried hard to help the # 16H fire for the finale. Heat winner Michael Kloos and runner up Scott Schmitt, both Illinois hot shoes, sat on the front row.Schmitt took the early lead, holding the spot for the first 19 laps, as Kloos applied heavy pressure. As the top two came up on the slower car of Alan Westling on lap 20, Schmitt went high to make the pass, but Kloos found a line on the inside, passing both cars to take the lead. With the # 6K now in charge, the second running Schmitt brought out the only caution as he slowed with a flat tire on lap 23. He then retired for the evening, turning second over to Dewayne Kiefer. Although he had been trailing the leaders by a good distance, the St Genevieve,Mo. pilot found new life, putting pressure on the leader for the final seven laps. Kloos held on to claim the $1000 top prize ahead of Kiefer, with Greg Kimmons and Westling next, both one lap down to the leaders.
The top three in all four main events did quick interviews in victory lane, which those in attendance seemed to enjoy. The final checkers waved at about 7:50, with a huge fireworks display beginning on the white flag lap of the late model main.
Although the car count was light, the racing was good, and the new promoter kept the show moving along. I hope to make it back to MMSP soon.
The temperature dropped dramatically on the drive home, and we drove to church Sunday morning on snow covered roads, so our next racing trip may be who knows when? The NDRL show at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway for the final weekend in March has already been postponed, knocking one potential show from our schedule. Heres hoping for more days like Saturday, and more dirt track action . Hopefully we will meet again soon, Racin' Down the Road.
As the temperatures climbed, I made my way home to change clothes - at 1:30 I met up with buddy Fred and we headed back across Highway 19 again, this time en route to opening night at Montgomery Motor Sports Park, where buddy Darryl met us on his way back from a trip to Columbia. 72 degree weather and an amazingly dry facility greeted us at the reopened high banked dirt oval, promoted this season by UMP late model driver Jim Moon. With the unusually hard winter weather, we had no idea what to expect as far as car count, and on the surface, the numbers look disappointing. But the racing surface was well prepared, and the track stayed smooth, although the upper lines never really came in. Hop laps were advertised for 4:15but with opening night - afternoon? - and a new promotion team, we expected some delay. But the combination hot lap, qualifying sessions began by 4:45, with four classes of racing kicking off by 5:30. The early start times apparently fooled a lot of folks, many of whom showed up around feature time. By the end of the evening, the stands held one of the larger crowds I have seen at the facility. Moon has indicated he will keep the late afternoon start times every Saturday through the month of April.
The UMP street stocks ran first on the card all night, and with 8 cars in the pits, they ran an 8 lap heat and a 20 lap feature. Moon had stated, and the announcers repeated often, that each race, heats and feature would be allowed one caution flag for every five laps, plus one " freebie." Apparently the drivers took this to heart, as any spinning car was given as much time as possible to get moving again, and those that could, did. The SS feature went non stop green to checkers, with Tony Walker leading the distance over Mike Goodwin and Trev Jacoby. After staring on the outside pole, the third generation racer Jacoby fell back, then charged to second, But he looped his # 82J in turn four of the final lap trying a last ditch pass for the lead before recovering for third.
Next up was the UMP B-mods. The 11 car field covered 20 laps around the 3/8 (?) mile with only two stoppages. David Melloway took the checkers, with Jim Lafferty Jr, grabbing the runnerup spot from Gary Oliver on the white flag lap.
While the pair of announcers were lax at giving lineups and names in these two classes, they stepped up their performance for the headline classes.
Third on the card were the UMP A mods, the largest class, with 18 entries. They were set for 30 laps of feature action following two heat races. It had been announced that one lucky program holder held a special program that would allow them to pick a feature invert number for all classes. Apparently no one claimed the honor, so the features lined up straight up by heat finishes. This put former late model driver Corey Daughtery and the " Festus Flash " Rusty Griffaw on row one for the main. Griffaw jumped to the front, but a first lap caution set up a complete restart. When the green waved for the second time, Daughtery held the advantage. The only other caution came on lap 12, and on lap 13 Griffaw found a line around Daughtery down low to claim the lead. For the next 17 circuits, he opened a sizable lead, while Daughtery did the same over third place Jeff Asher.
The final race of the night was the 30 lap UMP late model finale. Only six cars had checked in to race, and veteran Mike Hammerle was unable to answer the bell in the heat or feature, even though the push vehicle tried hard to help the # 16H fire for the finale. Heat winner Michael Kloos and runner up Scott Schmitt, both Illinois hot shoes, sat on the front row.Schmitt took the early lead, holding the spot for the first 19 laps, as Kloos applied heavy pressure. As the top two came up on the slower car of Alan Westling on lap 20, Schmitt went high to make the pass, but Kloos found a line on the inside, passing both cars to take the lead. With the # 6K now in charge, the second running Schmitt brought out the only caution as he slowed with a flat tire on lap 23. He then retired for the evening, turning second over to Dewayne Kiefer. Although he had been trailing the leaders by a good distance, the St Genevieve,Mo. pilot found new life, putting pressure on the leader for the final seven laps. Kloos held on to claim the $1000 top prize ahead of Kiefer, with Greg Kimmons and Westling next, both one lap down to the leaders.
The top three in all four main events did quick interviews in victory lane, which those in attendance seemed to enjoy. The final checkers waved at about 7:50, with a huge fireworks display beginning on the white flag lap of the late model main.
Although the car count was light, the racing was good, and the new promoter kept the show moving along. I hope to make it back to MMSP soon.
The temperature dropped dramatically on the drive home, and we drove to church Sunday morning on snow covered roads, so our next racing trip may be who knows when? The NDRL show at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway for the final weekend in March has already been postponed, knocking one potential show from our schedule. Heres hoping for more days like Saturday, and more dirt track action . Hopefully we will meet again soon, Racin' Down the Road.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Hoops Before Hot Laps
Since I have been writing this blog, I have pretty much confined myself to writing about racing, the sport we all love. But today, I am going to step outside the lines for a moment. I want to offer up congratulations to the Canton, Missouri High School boys basketball team. After a hard fought two point district championship win on Saturday, the Tigers moved one step closer to a trip to Columbia with a sectional title victory Wednesday night, defeating old nemesis Cairo by seven. On Saturday, they will play a state quarter final game against Father Tolton out of Columbia, with the winner going to the final four. Should they make it to the state championship game, it will be played - wouldn't you know it - the same night as our first planned race for 2014! Many of you who know me also know my oldest grandson, Keagan, who is by my side at most of the races I attend. Keagan also spent the 2013 race season as a driver check in assistant and scorer at Quincy Raceways. He has played basketball since seventh grade, and is now a 6'6" junior still growing into his slender frame. His basketball skills are somewhat modest, but he was called up to the varsity squad for depth as the JV season was winding down, and has now spent ten victorious games watching, learning, and picking up a few minutes of playing time here and there for the now 26-1 Tigers. He has been put on notice to spend the summer in the gym, hopefully he can now start growing bigger and stronger instead of taller and taller. I think he passed grandpa up sometime around five years ago! As someone who loves sports but had zero talent in any of them, it is thrilling to watch him and this group of hard working, respectful young men chase such a lofty goal. It is also satisfying to see this community of 2500 or so follow the team up and down the highway on these cold, snowy winter nights to cheer them on! With only eight teams remaining, there are no easy wins, indeed the run could end in the next game. But if the Tigers manage to get to the title game on the big floor at Mizzou on the night of March 15, this proud grandpa will be there to cheer them on. Race season will just have to wait a few more days!
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
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