First Time Winners at Quincy

Two first time winners celebrated Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, as second generation drivers Gordy Gundaker and Tanner Klingele picked up wins.
 First, however, it was the IMCA stock cars taking to the .29 mile oval for their 18 lap main event. Nine cars took the green flag, as Robert Thompson was done after hot laps. Troy Brierton took off from row one, with Jerry Jansen in pursuit. Thr front two were well ahead of the pack when Gabe Harrison lost fire on lap nine. On the restart, on got sideways, creating a multi car scrum. Both he and Jansen, who appeared to have the rear end knocked loose for his ride, were unable to continue. Rather than a side by side restart, third running Jake Powers was given the top spot, but one lap later Brandon Savage eased around Jake for the lead. Terry Houston powered to second on lap 13, but Brandon held on for win number three of the season. Houston, Powers, point leader Abe Huls, and Jim Lynch completed the top five.
  The UMP late models, 12 strong were next on the grid for 30 laps of action. A heat race incident involving Jason Perry and Denny Woodworth saw both cars retire early, with Denny forced to go to his back up car after contact with the turn four wall. This put the two top contenders outside rows five and six on the starting grid. Mark Burgorf and Gordy Gundaker picked up heat race wins, and with the new lineup formula in use, Mark was set to roll the invert dice for the feature. Being a bit short on crew this week, he asked Michael Long, who was rolling for the modifieds to roll for him, and Michael rolled a " five. " This put Rickey Frankel on the pole with Jim Moon alongside. Rickey jumped to the lead at the green, quickly setting up in the low groove. Burgtorf, who had an issue with the engine belt in the heat, took off on the top side, moving past fast timer Dustin Griffin for second on lap six. Two laps later, Mark used the high side to grab the lead, as he searched for his first win of 2014. On lap 11, Griffin, also running the top, jumped the cushion and fell from third to ninth. On the following lap, something went wrong on the # 7B, and Burgtorf, in a puff of smoke, slid over the banking in turn one, ending his night. Frankel now had the top spot again, with Michael Long, Gundaker, Moon, and a hard charging Perry in the top five. Gundaker jumped to the high side on the restart and grabbed the lead just before the half way mark of the race. As the youngster stretched his margin, Frankel slid out of his froove on lap 26, with Perry moving to second. As this was happening, Gundaker was being careful working a slower car, abd Perry made up ground quickly. But the Quincy University baseball standout was able to clear the lapped car, and held on for his furst ever UMP late model win. Perry, Frankel, Moon, and Woodworth rounded out the top five. It was only the second visit to QR for the Gundaker team, as his mom and dad, Tammy and late model legend Kevin keep busy operating Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. However, the # 11 team has indicated they plan to be QR regulars for the remainder of the season.
 IMCA sport compacts came to the oval for a 15 lap main event next. As has been the case often in 2014, they ran a caution free race, and it took Austen Becerra all of four laps to secure the top spot. Brandon Lambert and Spencer Coats crossed the stripe side by side on lap one, with Lambert easing ahead. Becerra took second on lap three, then moved to the point one lap later. The front two remained that way, with Kimberly Abbott clearing  Craig Bangert late in the race for third. Barry Taft made the haul from Argyle, Iowa to run fifth. It was the 30th overall feature win in 2014 for Becerra.
 Michael Long set quick time for the UMP modifieds, with 17 cars timing in. Bad luck once again struck Shawn Deering, who spun a driveshaft out in his heat race. He started the main event, but retired quickly. Donavon Lodge made the trip to QR Sunday, but had a flat on his hauler along the way, ariving late. He then had mechanical issues with his # 32, actually missing the start of the 25 lapper. However he made it out after a first lap caution. On each of the ensuing cautions, he ducked to the hot pit area, but finally called it a night, credited with a disappointing15th place finish. Keith Pratt took off with the early lead through a flurry of early cautions, and by lap three, Dave Weitholder had moved from a row four start to third, with Long now in second and front row starter Delonjay falling to fourth. Back to green, Long powered to the lead on the high side, and on lap seven Delonjay claimed second. Cautions followed on laps nine and ten, and on the lap ten restart, Delonjay grabbed the lead running the bottom groove. His big lead evaporated with a final caution on lap 16, but he was hooked up and cruised to the win, stretching his points lead. Long, Weitholder, Pratt, and visiting Brian Lynn completed the first five.
 IMCA sport mods had the finale, 13 cars for 18 laps on the smooth, slick track. Adam Birck, subbing in the VanZandt # 80V led the opening laps. Following a lap three yellow, 19 year old Tanner Klingele charged to the lead, holding off Joey Gower as the caution flew for the only other time on lap seven. On the restart, Tanner, with three consecutive runner up finishes, built a sizable lead. Gower continued his pursuit, with Brandon Lennox riding the rim to third place as the laps wound down. Klingele was not to be denied this time, and he celebrated in style his first sport mod feature win. Gower, Lennox, point leader Tony Dunker, and Bobby Anders chased him to the checkers.
  The headline of this piece refers to two second generation feature winner, but in truth, all five are in that category, or close. Gundaker, Klingele, Delonjay, and Becerra all have fathers who raced, and as I have mentioned before, Savage is a grandson of legendary Ramo Stott. The racing bloodlines run deep at Quincy Raceways!