Hess On Top at Peoria

 With Darryl driving and several good choices for a Saturday night of racing, we headed east for our first visit of the year to the Peoria Speedway. Not unlike here at home, it looked as though the track had received a heavy dose of rain, and there was water standing on the low side entrance to turn one when we arrived. But the track crew was working hard, and eventually was able to get the 1.4 mile race ready. Although starting time was pushed back a bit, heat races started at 7:05,  it turned out to be worth the wait! 78 cars signed in to race on five divisions, and much to our delight, a solid field of 21 UMP super late models were on hand, followed by 19 UMP modifieds, 16 hornets, 12 steel block late models and 10 street stocks. As was to be expected, the wet racing surface chopped up a bit in the early going, with the # 26D modified of Derek Doerr rolling his ride in qualifying, ending his night. Late model point leader Todd Bennett set quick time with a lap of 12.300 seconds, while veteran hot shoe Billy Tuckwell paced the modifieds.  Billy Drake looked like he might challenge Bennett for fast time before jumping the treacherous turn three cushion and nearly rolling the # 75 on his qualifying lap. A spectator drew the zero pill for the invert, meaning late model and mod heats would start straight up by times, and the features by heat race finish.
 Track conditions began to improve as the heat races played out. Late model heat three saw the Gardners, John Jr and Bob (brothers?) dueling for the lead, with John in front. Bob tried a slide job with two laps to go, but had to back off when his # 4G slid up the track. As the leaders took the white flag, Bob again tried the move in turn one, but slid into Johm, sending him into a spin. The race was called complete on the white flag lap, and Bob was awarded the win, with John scored as the last car running - sixth - since he was the only one stopped on the track. The decision brought a collective grumble from the by now sizable gathering.
 Following a short intermission while track crews rolled the cushion, a 12 lap late model consy was run to eliminate one car for the 30 lap finale. When Cameron Guidi, who had issues all night with his # 51 pulled to the infield, the race was checkered short of the 12 laps, as the remaining five cars were in the show.
 The 18 lap steel block feature was up first, 11 cars took the green, and Jim Carmody took off from the pole position, leading the first ten laps. Almost from the start, he was pressured by Steve Shannon, one of several racers doing double duty, racing in multiple classes. Coming out of turn two on lap 11, Shannon made contact with Carmody, getting him a bit loose, with Shannon getting around for the lead. The only caution of the race came on lap 15, bunching the field on the Delaware restart. The front two again pulled away, with Shannon hanging on for the win. Carmody came home second, with Brian Crebo third. Shannon was subdued in victory lane, saying he hated to win a race that way.
 Next it was the street stocks, eight starters for 15 laps. Heat winner Chuck Barnes Jr, took off from the pole, leading the distance. Two cautions for spinning cars kept the field close, with Todd Farris shadowing the leader. Following a lap ten yellow, Barry Sauder joined the pursuit, and he moved to second with two laps to go. Sauder made a bid for the win out of turn four coming to the checkers, but came up a 1/2 car length short.
 The UMP modified were up next, 15 cars for 20 laps. Austin May and Eric Bruce made up the front row, with double duty Charley Hess and Tuckwell on row two. It took a couple of tries to get one lap in, on one start May jumped the turn two cushion, but was able to restart on the pole - the UMP lap one forgiveness rule. A major pile up on lap three took out two cars , but after that, things settled down. On that start, Bruce fell back several spots, but on lap six, he made a dandy move out of turn two, moving from fourth to first. As the laps clicked off, Dan Dozard began to challenge the leader. Bruce had been running the high line, but he soon changed to run the low groove in turns three and four, where Dozard was faster. Slower traffic came into play in the closing laps, and Dozard moved alongside Bruce on the final trip around, but  Bruce hung on for his 16th win of 2014. Hess trailed the leaders in third
  Now it was time for the late model finale.Hess and late arriving Mike Provenzano sat on the front row, with Bob Gardner and Bennett in row two. Hess took the early lead, with Gardner claiming second on lap two. By lap five, Drake, who had come from row four in his heat to finish third, had moved from row four in the feature up to fifth. One lap later he blasted through to third. Hess and Gardner hugged the low groove, while Drake pounded the cushion. On lap ten, Hess drifted up the track, and Gardner grabbed the lead. The front two swapped the point over the next couple laps, with Hess regaining the top spot in traffic. I looked up from my notes with ten or so laps to go and saw that I had missed Drake getting around Gardner for the runner up spot. The veteran then chased Hess to the checkers, but Charley was flawless the rest of the way. He looked exhausted in victory lane, having run 20 laps in the mods to a third place finish, then jumping in the late model for a 30 lap win on a track that was surely a challenge. Drake turned a bad start into a good night, bringing the # 75 home in second. Gardner took the third spot ahead of Bennett and Provenzano. Bo Brockway led the second five, ahead of Ryan Little, Greg Kimmons, and unofficially Roger Rebholz and Evan Fink, though those last two may be flip flopped in the final rundown. With the hornet feature in staging, we headed for the car just minutes before the 10:00 hour.
 Our first look at track conditions made us question our choice of tracks, but it turned into a good night of close, competitive racing, with a decent car count. Thanks to the Peoria Speedway staff for working hard to put on a quality show.
  The sun is out and the breeze is blowing, so hopefully we have enough drying going on to get the pits and track ready for racing tonight at Quincy Raceways. Unofficial word has the top two in UMP national points, Bobby Pierce and Brandon Sheppard on the way to slug it out for the title. Come on out if you can!