Beating the Rain at 34 Raceway

 When the weekend started, I was hoping for my second 3 races in 3 nights weekend, but the weatherman seemed to have other plans. Lee county Speedway in Donnellson dodged a bullet to complete the Friday night show, and the odds for Saturday night seemed better as 4 of us rolled out of Quincy in Freds van.
 After an early evening meal, we arrived at 34 Raceway in West Burlington with the sun out and bearing down, and we were able to do some bench racing with old friends as we waited for the 3 class program, highlighted by the UMP Summernational late models to begin. The track crew remained hard at work with the water truck and the roterra trying to build a surface that would withstand the pounding sun, and hot laps began about 20 minutes after the advertised start time. With 15 IMCA sport mods and 11 IMRA midgets joining the 26 UMP late models, that time was quickly made up. time trials for the late models ran off in 3 heat race groups per the pre race draw, with 2 cars on the track at a time. Overall quick time went to veteran Billy Moyer at 15.286 seconds. The Iowa native, who now calls Batesville, Ar home, has been picking and choosing his way through the 33 race in 39 nights tour, and was coming off a Friday night $ 10,000 win in Farmer City,Il. Only Mark Burgtorf failed to make the call for qualifying.
 Racing began at 7:00 with 2 quick sport mod heats, the the late models were up. The Friday night Donnellson winner, Chris Simpson, checked out from outside row one on the highside, hammer down surface,, leading the distance over polesitter Shannon Babb. A false start on the first green flag was the only stoppage in the 10 laps.
 In heat 2 it was again the outside row one starter, Justin Reed who jumped to the lead, with Moyer in hot pursuit. Billy had stumbled on the start, falling back a couple spots, but he was soon bearing down on the # 1st. On lap 6, Justin bobbled slightly in turn 2, and Moyer moved under him to the lead. In the same set of turns one lap later, Reed had a right rear tire come apart, ending his run. Tanner English assumed the runner up spot , holding on to the checkers.
 Another false start began heat 3, then outside row one starter Brian Shirley jumped to the point, holding off Slocum 50 winner and defending 34 Raceway 2013 Hell Tour champion Bobby Pierce to take the win.
 By now, word was traveling through the nice sized crowd, that storms were brewing - tracks to the north and west had already experienced downpours, and it was headed our way. The midgets then rolled off for 2 heat races - it was nice to see Donnellson put 11 support class cars in a single heat, but....
 This might have been a logical place for an intermission, but neither fans, drivers, or promoters were interested in that at this point, and the 11 car late model consolation - for some reason dubbed a " C" main - quickly lined up in staging. A lap one restart occurred when Skip Frey looped his ride in turn 2, with the veteran retaining his outside row one starting spot. When the green waved again, polesitter Jason Rauen shot out to a huge lead, and the battle heated up for the remaining 2 transfer spots. Frey and Denny Woodworth dueled for the second spot, as Dustin Griffin stayed close. As Woodworth found a way under Frey at the white flag, Griffin pulled a dandy move to ease past both cars. At the flag, it was Rauen, Griffin, and Woodworth, and the end of the night for Frey.
 The midgets were lined up in staging, and as I took my own quick break, they quickly completed their feature event.
 It was for sure now a race against the clouds, and the late models quickly came to staging. One four wide salute to the fans, and we were going green for a scheduled 40 laps. again, it was the outside polesitter, Simpson darting to the lead, with Babb, Shirley, Moyer, and Pierce in tow. Shirley left the track on lap seven with possible engine woes. The caution waved on lap 10, as Jay Johnson was not able to get off the track in time to suit flagman Jake Croxton. As the green waved again, crowd favorite Brian Birkhofer powered around English to enter the top 5. The yellow flew again lap 12, as a boundary tire was kicked out on the racing surface. On this restart, Birkhofer moved up one more spot, clearing Pierce, for fourth. Lap 13 saw runnerup Babb suddenly pull pitside, and on the next circuit, fourth running Pierce did the same, having broken a power steering pump. By the halfway point, moyer was closing on Simpson and as traffic became a factor, Birkhofer also gained ground quickly on the leaders. with a dozen laps to go, Simpson jumped the cushion in turn three, and both Moyer and Birkhofer raced by before Chris could regain his momentum. Ninth starting Brandon Sheppard found his way past English on lap 30, as Birky tried to get close enough to make a move around Moyer. Billy was having none of that, and with only 11 cars remaining on the track, he sailed to the win, his second $10,000 check in 2 nights, even as his son, Billy Jr was picking up a $10,000 winners check in Richmond, Ky.!
 Birkhofer had come from row four to take second, followed by Simpson, Sheppard, and English. Ryan Unzicker, locked in a tight back and forth battle for the series point championship with Babb, led the second five, with Rauen advancing 9 spots to seventh. Jason Riggs, Griffin, and Woodworth rounded out the top ten, and Steve Lance Jr was the final car on the track in eleventh.
 The checkers waved before 8:30! As the sport mods hit the track, we hit the parking lot, but reports have Creston Williams capturing the non stop event before the rains came.
 It was a fine effort by the promoters, and drivers. I am sure concessions took a hit, but hopefully everyone will remember the extra effort put forth when it is time to support this event in 2015!
 The tour was to move on Sunday to Danville,Il, and will wrap up next week with several stops in Ohio.
 Hopes for a 3 night racing weekend were dashed early this Sunday morning, as the rain finally made its way to the Quincy area overnite, soaking the track and pit area of Quincy Raceways to the point that it could not be made race ready. Plans for next weekend are undecided at this point, but I hope each one of my readers can attend a race somewhere. Maybe I will see you there!