With a glitchy computer, I have been away from posting for a couple of weeks, so it is time to catch up on things. In what was likely my final race of 2015, I met up with Darryl and Fred at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa two weeks ago for Shiverfest. Once again, the 3/8 mile fairgrounds track was amazingly well prepared, and Mike Vangenderen has quickly become one of the best at running a race program. The racing in all five features was outstanding, with the IMCA stock car finale,won by Jeff Mueller, a classic.
For a late model junkie like myself, however, the highlight of the day may have been the result of the rules meeting in the afternoon. Confirming a rumor we had been hearing for several weeks, it was announced the late model racing will return to Donnellson for 2016. While we had been hearing it would be a crate engine class, the released rules offer up several different engine packages which will allow IMCA spec engines, among others to compete, with spoiler, weight , and restrictor plate options attempting to level the playing field. There will also be tight restrictions on shock packages and tire options available. I have since seen some sniping - imagine that - on the internet that there are too many options and that teching all the cars will be to cumbersome. Staring from scratch on a brand new class, especially one as expensive as late models needs to be as inclusive as is reasonable, and I am more than willing to give Mike the benefit of the doubt. So far, his track record as a promoter has been excellent, and I am hopeful he can pull this off. I am rarely off work before 5:30 on Fridays, but it takes about an hour and 15 minutes from the parking lot at work to my preferred seat in Donnellson, so I am already excited about the 2016 season. Reports say there were 17 people at the late model meeting, and while some names have been mentioned, the one person we talked to who plans to compete in the new class is former track champ Tommy Elston. Tommy had some interesting insights into the cost of fielding a late model, and indeed he had sold his IMCA late model early in 2015 and dropped down to the IMCA modified class. It was also announced earlier that the late models will be included on the schedule at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo. for various dates.
While the Ciltrak promotion group is planning to be back at Quincy Raceways in 2016, the will no longer be promoting at the Lincoln,Il speedplant. Veteran midwestern promoter Bob Sargeant will add Lincoln to his list of tracks, while Ciltrak will apparently continue their successful run in Jacksonville,Il.
When the Lucas Oil late model series switched dates for the popular Knoxville Late Model Series, a domino affect was created for other headline races in Iowa. Labor Day weekend will now be the home of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic in Farley, Iowa. This is two weeks earlier than normal. The Liberty 100 at the Simmons Promotion sister track in West Liberty moved this past season from the first weekend in October to Labor Day weekend. It will now move to the final weekend in September, which I believe was its regular date fore several seasons. Marshalltown Speedway will offer up IMCA late models on the third weekend of September as part of their fall special the same weekend as Knoxville. This leaves the second weekend in September open for a late model show in competition withe Boone Super Nationals. in 2015 the Davenport Speedway staged what appeared to be a successful Corn Belt Clash program, so we will wait for the Davenport schedule.
For the UMP crowd, the World of Outlaw late models have scheduled late model shows at I -55 Raceway in Pevely,Mo on October 1 and Lincoln,Il on October 2. This is the weekend that Peoria,Il ran their 100 lapper this season, so we will see what shakes out there. Tri City Speedway has yet to release their schedule for Mod Mania, which also includes three nights of UMP late models, but if tradition holds, it should be the same weekend as West Liberty. So many choices... As of now, the first date circled on my 2016 calendar is April 16, the Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington,Iowa. As of now, no sanctioning for the annual event has been announced. Interestingly, 34 also has three possible late model dates on their preliminary schedule.
While my work schedule will not permit going, their is at least one more date of racing in the midwest in 2015. The Springfield,Mo Raceway will be in action on November 21, with late models, A and B modifieds and possibly more with an afternoon start. This race typically draws about 25 late models and big fields of mods, especially B mods to the 1/4 mile facility. I would like to make the trip someday, as this is a track I have yet to visit. But it looks like 2015 will not be the year.
Thanks for reading, we will have more as schedules are released and the long off season continues.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Erb is Illinois State Champion
On a cool and blustery Saturday, Darryl and I headed out to the Peoria,Ill Speedway for the 100 lap $5,000 to win 61st annual Illinois State Championship race for UMP late models. Blissfully - until now - unaware of the nightmare traffic jam that is the Spoon River Color Drive, we arrived at the 1.4 mile oval just as the late models were being summoned to the track for 5:30 hot laps. Considering the biting wind and cold conditions, that may have been a fortunate situation for us. Joined by friend Lane Evans, we settled in for a night of quality racing action.
We were pleasantly surprised by the solid field of 36 late models, including two - Dennis Erb Jr and Brandon Sheppard - who high tailed it back to their home state after the Lucas Oil weekend of racing was washed out in Georgia by Hurricane Joaquin. Also on the card were modifieds, street stocks, Hornets, and the final appearance of the Illinois Lightning Sprints, a group that would be disbanding after the nights action.
Newlywed Mike Spatola set quick time for the late models in single lap qualifying, with the field broken into four ten lap heat races.
Following two heats for the ten street stocks, the late models clicked off their heats, with the top four from each event advancing to the 100 lapper. Jason Feger captured heat one from the pole over Donny Walden, Kevin Weaver, and Tim Manville. Heat two went to row two starter Ray Guss Jr ahead of Kyle Logue, and track champ Todd Bennett in a photo finish over Billy Drake. Ryan Unzicker topped Spatola in the third heat, with McKay Wenger and Rich Bell also running in the top four. The final heat went to Erb, besting Gordy Gundaker , Sheppard, and Brad Stewart.
16 UMP mods, 18 sprints, and 11 hornets ran heat races, and then it was a pair of B-mains for the remaining 20 late models. With only the top two in each B moving up, the racing was intense. But it was front row starters Ryan Vandenbergh and Mike Mullvain advancing from the first 12 lapper. Outside polesitter Jason Wagner topped fifth starting Mike Provenzano in the second consy. It was a great recovery for Provenzano, who stumbled in time trials, and started on the tail of heat three. Local racer Charley Hess, the feature winner in our last trip to Peoria, was granted the lone provisional, rounding out a 21 car starting field.
Following a break for the third watering and repacking of the track, the street stock 15 lap feature was up. Wally Zander, the track champion and a 42 year racing veteran, led the first ten laps, but Robert Cottom sneaked past after a lap 11 caution, picking up the win.
Next up was the modified 20 lap finale. Mike Chasteen Jr led flag to flag for the win, while a great battle for second saw Nathan Balensiefen edge Hess, driving in two classes, for second.
To our delight, the 100 lap headliner was up next . The four heat race winners had drawn for the two front row starting spots during one of the breaks. Guss Jr and Unzicker sat on row one, Erb Jr. and Feger in row two, with the rest of the field straight up by heat race finishes. Guss shot to the early lead, with Unzicker in hot pursuit, The yellow waved on lap ten for Provenzano, who stopped in turn two just before going one lap down. As Unzicker continued to pressure the leader, the caution came out again five circuits later as Sheppard was unable to exit the track on the front stretch, his run over. One lap back to racing, a four car pile up in turn four again stopped the action. Under green, Guss continued to pace the field, riding a high line as Unzicker worked a middle groove. On lap 24, Guss suddenly dove to the infield with apparent engine issues, ending his run. Unzicker was now in charge, with Feger pounding the cushion in second. As Feger moved in to challenge, the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 28. Now Erb joined the fray, and the top three exited turn four three wide on lap 33 as the yellow came out . As racing resumed, it was a three car race, but Unzicker continued to be scored the leader. Lapped traffic came in to play again at the half way Mark, and now it was 14th starting Drake joining the leaders. On the 69th trip through turns three and four, sparks flew as Feger made contact with the outside wall, and Drake dove past to take third. Two more laps saw him battling with Erb and Unzicker, with heavy traffic in play 75 laps in. With 23 circuits left, Erb found a way around the leader in traffic, and once out front, he opened a commanding lead. The final 67 laps went caution free, even with more than 15 cars circling the incredibly smooth oval, by far the best surface I have ever seen at Peoria. Erb collected the $5,000 check, with Unzicker holding off Drake for second. Feger and Spatola recorded top five finishes. The next five spots went to Wenger, Weaver, Bennett, Manville, and Walden. By my count, the top seven finished on the lead lap.
With two races still to run, we headed to the car, with the clock reading 10:00 on the dot as Darryl fired up the heater and we began a much shorter journey home!
Despite the unfavorable weather, it was a very good night of racing, as mentioned, the best I have ever seen the Peoria 1/4 mile. It was also most likely our final late model race of 2015, though there are still a few weekends of racing close to home. But after six straight weekends, I may need to take a breather before finishing out the season. Big racing weekends await, two in Donnellson,Ia and one in Memphis,Mo., so there are still plenty of good choices. Quincy Raceways is also toying with possibly one more circle track event later in October after an October 18 Night of Destruction, so keep an eye on the QR website for more info.
Maybe we will see you yet again in 2015 Racin' Down the Road!
We were pleasantly surprised by the solid field of 36 late models, including two - Dennis Erb Jr and Brandon Sheppard - who high tailed it back to their home state after the Lucas Oil weekend of racing was washed out in Georgia by Hurricane Joaquin. Also on the card were modifieds, street stocks, Hornets, and the final appearance of the Illinois Lightning Sprints, a group that would be disbanding after the nights action.
Newlywed Mike Spatola set quick time for the late models in single lap qualifying, with the field broken into four ten lap heat races.
Following two heats for the ten street stocks, the late models clicked off their heats, with the top four from each event advancing to the 100 lapper. Jason Feger captured heat one from the pole over Donny Walden, Kevin Weaver, and Tim Manville. Heat two went to row two starter Ray Guss Jr ahead of Kyle Logue, and track champ Todd Bennett in a photo finish over Billy Drake. Ryan Unzicker topped Spatola in the third heat, with McKay Wenger and Rich Bell also running in the top four. The final heat went to Erb, besting Gordy Gundaker , Sheppard, and Brad Stewart.
16 UMP mods, 18 sprints, and 11 hornets ran heat races, and then it was a pair of B-mains for the remaining 20 late models. With only the top two in each B moving up, the racing was intense. But it was front row starters Ryan Vandenbergh and Mike Mullvain advancing from the first 12 lapper. Outside polesitter Jason Wagner topped fifth starting Mike Provenzano in the second consy. It was a great recovery for Provenzano, who stumbled in time trials, and started on the tail of heat three. Local racer Charley Hess, the feature winner in our last trip to Peoria, was granted the lone provisional, rounding out a 21 car starting field.
Following a break for the third watering and repacking of the track, the street stock 15 lap feature was up. Wally Zander, the track champion and a 42 year racing veteran, led the first ten laps, but Robert Cottom sneaked past after a lap 11 caution, picking up the win.
Next up was the modified 20 lap finale. Mike Chasteen Jr led flag to flag for the win, while a great battle for second saw Nathan Balensiefen edge Hess, driving in two classes, for second.
To our delight, the 100 lap headliner was up next . The four heat race winners had drawn for the two front row starting spots during one of the breaks. Guss Jr and Unzicker sat on row one, Erb Jr. and Feger in row two, with the rest of the field straight up by heat race finishes. Guss shot to the early lead, with Unzicker in hot pursuit, The yellow waved on lap ten for Provenzano, who stopped in turn two just before going one lap down. As Unzicker continued to pressure the leader, the caution came out again five circuits later as Sheppard was unable to exit the track on the front stretch, his run over. One lap back to racing, a four car pile up in turn four again stopped the action. Under green, Guss continued to pace the field, riding a high line as Unzicker worked a middle groove. On lap 24, Guss suddenly dove to the infield with apparent engine issues, ending his run. Unzicker was now in charge, with Feger pounding the cushion in second. As Feger moved in to challenge, the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 28. Now Erb joined the fray, and the top three exited turn four three wide on lap 33 as the yellow came out . As racing resumed, it was a three car race, but Unzicker continued to be scored the leader. Lapped traffic came in to play again at the half way Mark, and now it was 14th starting Drake joining the leaders. On the 69th trip through turns three and four, sparks flew as Feger made contact with the outside wall, and Drake dove past to take third. Two more laps saw him battling with Erb and Unzicker, with heavy traffic in play 75 laps in. With 23 circuits left, Erb found a way around the leader in traffic, and once out front, he opened a commanding lead. The final 67 laps went caution free, even with more than 15 cars circling the incredibly smooth oval, by far the best surface I have ever seen at Peoria. Erb collected the $5,000 check, with Unzicker holding off Drake for second. Feger and Spatola recorded top five finishes. The next five spots went to Wenger, Weaver, Bennett, Manville, and Walden. By my count, the top seven finished on the lead lap.
With two races still to run, we headed to the car, with the clock reading 10:00 on the dot as Darryl fired up the heater and we began a much shorter journey home!
Despite the unfavorable weather, it was a very good night of racing, as mentioned, the best I have ever seen the Peoria 1/4 mile. It was also most likely our final late model race of 2015, though there are still a few weekends of racing close to home. But after six straight weekends, I may need to take a breather before finishing out the season. Big racing weekends await, two in Donnellson,Ia and one in Memphis,Mo., so there are still plenty of good choices. Quincy Raceways is also toying with possibly one more circle track event later in October after an October 18 Night of Destruction, so keep an eye on the QR website for more info.
Maybe we will see you yet again in 2015 Racin' Down the Road!
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Another Nailbiter at Knoxville
Saturday morning I headed for the Knoxville,Iowa Raceway for night number three of the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals. In the 12 years of this Crown Jewel event, I have yet to make all three nights, but have missed the 100 lap finale only m the year it was pushed to Sunday by wet conditions. And I can an honestly say I can remember only one time that the race was something close to " ho-hum." Well, the 2015 version certainly did not disappoint, either! Total car count was down a bit this year, with 63 super late models checking in on Thursday, and 55 surviving until Saturday, still more than enough for a show well worth the money, especially considering the quality of competition. Things got off to a rousing start, as Jason Rauen exploded an engine as the B-main cars hot lapped. Jasons' # 98 spewed a cloud of smoke that fortunately blew towards the unoccupied north grandstands, a plume so big you could hardly see for several seconds. Rolling to the front straightaway, fire erupted underneath the car, and there were a few tense moments until the Farley, Iowa driver climbed for his disabled machine.
With two scheduled B-main cars not on hand, the front row C-main cars were promoted to the " B", leaving 13 drivers vying for what was advertised as four, but would now be six spots at the tail of the B- main. 15 laps around the half mile saw the now pole sitter, Iowan Chris Spieker cruise to a comfortable win in the non stop event. Another home state veteran, Dave Eckrich ran second , Wisaconsin driver Mitch McGrath was third ahead of Denny Eckrich. A former winner of one of the best 100 lappers yet, Illinois' Brian Shirley, and RC Whitwell, from Arizona, also transfered to the B.
Backing up a bit, for those who are not familiar with the qualifying procedure for this event, full programs are run on Thursday and Friday night, with a great emphasis placed on time trials. Points are awarded for time trials, heat, and feature finishes, and a driver can run Thursday only, or both nights, with their best point total for one night used for Saturdays lineups.
So the 20 lap 24 car B-main came next, with six spots up for grabs in the $40,000 to win finale. Wissota ace Ricky Weiss and Lucas Oil tour regular Frank Heckenast Jr sat on the front row. Weiss led lap one, and the caution waved on lap two, as Ricky Bell made contact with the fence in turn three, a spot that proved treacherous throughout the remainder of the program. Jason Feger powered into second on the Delaware restart, but Heckenast quickly regained the position. One lap later, the yellow came out for a slowing Jason Utter , and back to racing, things remained the same until a lap nine caution for Spencer Diercks. With the green waving, seventh starting Morgan Bagley jumped into contention in fourth. , but when Weiss drifted high off turn two on the 13th circuit, Heckenast powered to the lead, taking Jimmy Mars and Bagley along, with Weiss dropping to fifth. Ray Guss Jr. had made his way to the final transfer spot, but just as quickly began to fade. The yellow came out a final time with two to go for McGrath, and on the restart Mars took the lead taking Bagley with him as Iowa ace Ryan Gustin moved to sixth. However Gustin looked low under Weiss for fith, and Eddie Carrier Jr slipped past in turn two. Mars claimed the win to become the only driver to start all twelve National features. Bagley, Heckenast, Feger, Weiss, and Carrier also advanced. Carrier had been in line for one of the two provisional starting spots in the 32 car field, but with no Lucas Oil regulars now needing provisionals, they were awarded to the drivers with the highest point totals not qualifying for the feature. Both were homestaters, Diercks, and Joel Callahan.
The 100 lap finale was the final event of the weekend, and as the large crowd settled in and driver introductions concluded, the green flag waved at about 9:00. There were 24 drivers already qualified when the night began, and Iowa standout Chad Simpson, the Fridaty night feature winner, and national star Jimmy Owens made up row one, with the two top rated drivers of 2015, Scott Bloomquist and Thursday winner Jonathon Davenport in row two. Simpson charged to the lead on the first trip around the big 1/2 mile, and Owens pulled even as lap two was scored. Simpson led the next two rounds as a Three way battled developed for second. On lap five, Davnport took the point and began to build a lead, with Don Oneal moving to second on lap seven, and Simpson faded to fifth. The first caution came on the twelfth lap for AJ Diemel, who retired to the pits. The restart saw Owens and Oneal in a duel for second, as Texan Chris Brown moved to fourth. Davenport was riding the high line, while Owens and Oneal worked the low groove. The leader hit slower traffic on lap 20, as Indianas' Kent Robinson began a charge towards the front using the leaders high line. Bloomquist had dropped back early, but moved to fourth on lap 26, and the yellow came out for a spinning Brown on lap 30. Owens cleared Oneal for second on the restart, and two circuits later Oneal blew a tire in turn one, scattering debris and bringing out the caution. Simpson gained some steam on the restart, reentering the top five, and at the lap 42 mark, Davenport agin found himself in lapped traffic. Owens took this opportunity to close the gap, and on lap 44, Davenports run ended as smoke poured for under the hood of the # 6 machine. Owens now had the top spot, followed by Bloomquist and seventh starting Jared Landers, and on the 48th trip around, fourth running Simpson jumped the cushion, with Shannon Babb getting around him. The caution waved at the halfway mark for Oneal. Back under green, Landers shot around Bloomquist for second, and row ten starter Josh Richards entered the top five. Simpson vaulted to third on lap 53, one lap later Richards climbed to fourth. Lap 56 saw Richards and Mason Ziegler get past Simpson, but the yellow came again on the 58th lap for a slowing Carrier Jr. Lap 60 saw Ziegler jump the cushion, but luck was on his side as the caution waved for Tim McCreadie. A battle for second developed on the restart, with Richards taking the spot on lap 65. Three laps later, Landers bobbled, and Ziegler took third. Owens caught lapped trafiic on lap 72, but two laps later, Bloomquist slowed, his night now over, and his chance of making up a lot of ground on Davenports series point lead out the window. Owens held the lead on the restart, but with 22 to go, Richards pulled a dandy slide job in turns three and four to grab his first lead of the night. Things stayed that way until lap 87, when Landers cleared Owens for second. He then began to run down Richards, who had opened a comfortable lead. On lap 91, Landers made his turn three move, taking his first lead of the night. Richards regrouped in the final laps, coming close with two to go, but Landers held him off for his first Nationals win. At the pay window, it was Richards in second, followed by Owens, Mike Marlar, Darell Lanigan, the Simpson brthers, Chad, and Chris, Brandon Sheppard, Heckenast Jr., and Steve Francis in tenth.
By my count, 19 cars were still running at the conclusion of the 50 miles.
Veteran Billy Moyer, who finished eleventh after fighting issues throughout the night, announced he will cut back his racing schedule to " part time" in 2016. Moyer, of course, is heavily involved in producing his brand of chassis for sale.
An after running the last weekend in September for several years, 2016 will see the Nationals move to the third weekend in September, the 15-17. Of course the first thought of the local fans is that this is the weekend when Farley Speedway would normally hold the Yankee Dirt Track Classic, and would create a major conflict for a handful of drivers, but a large group of fans. We will see how this plays out moving forward.
The MOWA sprint cars will headline racing tonight at Quincy Raceways, and we have our sights set on the $5,000 to win UMP late model special next Saturday at the Peoria Speedway. The season is winding down, enjoy some racing while you still can!
With two scheduled B-main cars not on hand, the front row C-main cars were promoted to the " B", leaving 13 drivers vying for what was advertised as four, but would now be six spots at the tail of the B- main. 15 laps around the half mile saw the now pole sitter, Iowan Chris Spieker cruise to a comfortable win in the non stop event. Another home state veteran, Dave Eckrich ran second , Wisaconsin driver Mitch McGrath was third ahead of Denny Eckrich. A former winner of one of the best 100 lappers yet, Illinois' Brian Shirley, and RC Whitwell, from Arizona, also transfered to the B.
Backing up a bit, for those who are not familiar with the qualifying procedure for this event, full programs are run on Thursday and Friday night, with a great emphasis placed on time trials. Points are awarded for time trials, heat, and feature finishes, and a driver can run Thursday only, or both nights, with their best point total for one night used for Saturdays lineups.
So the 20 lap 24 car B-main came next, with six spots up for grabs in the $40,000 to win finale. Wissota ace Ricky Weiss and Lucas Oil tour regular Frank Heckenast Jr sat on the front row. Weiss led lap one, and the caution waved on lap two, as Ricky Bell made contact with the fence in turn three, a spot that proved treacherous throughout the remainder of the program. Jason Feger powered into second on the Delaware restart, but Heckenast quickly regained the position. One lap later, the yellow came out for a slowing Jason Utter , and back to racing, things remained the same until a lap nine caution for Spencer Diercks. With the green waving, seventh starting Morgan Bagley jumped into contention in fourth. , but when Weiss drifted high off turn two on the 13th circuit, Heckenast powered to the lead, taking Jimmy Mars and Bagley along, with Weiss dropping to fifth. Ray Guss Jr. had made his way to the final transfer spot, but just as quickly began to fade. The yellow came out a final time with two to go for McGrath, and on the restart Mars took the lead taking Bagley with him as Iowa ace Ryan Gustin moved to sixth. However Gustin looked low under Weiss for fith, and Eddie Carrier Jr slipped past in turn two. Mars claimed the win to become the only driver to start all twelve National features. Bagley, Heckenast, Feger, Weiss, and Carrier also advanced. Carrier had been in line for one of the two provisional starting spots in the 32 car field, but with no Lucas Oil regulars now needing provisionals, they were awarded to the drivers with the highest point totals not qualifying for the feature. Both were homestaters, Diercks, and Joel Callahan.
The 100 lap finale was the final event of the weekend, and as the large crowd settled in and driver introductions concluded, the green flag waved at about 9:00. There were 24 drivers already qualified when the night began, and Iowa standout Chad Simpson, the Fridaty night feature winner, and national star Jimmy Owens made up row one, with the two top rated drivers of 2015, Scott Bloomquist and Thursday winner Jonathon Davenport in row two. Simpson charged to the lead on the first trip around the big 1/2 mile, and Owens pulled even as lap two was scored. Simpson led the next two rounds as a Three way battled developed for second. On lap five, Davnport took the point and began to build a lead, with Don Oneal moving to second on lap seven, and Simpson faded to fifth. The first caution came on the twelfth lap for AJ Diemel, who retired to the pits. The restart saw Owens and Oneal in a duel for second, as Texan Chris Brown moved to fourth. Davenport was riding the high line, while Owens and Oneal worked the low groove. The leader hit slower traffic on lap 20, as Indianas' Kent Robinson began a charge towards the front using the leaders high line. Bloomquist had dropped back early, but moved to fourth on lap 26, and the yellow came out for a spinning Brown on lap 30. Owens cleared Oneal for second on the restart, and two circuits later Oneal blew a tire in turn one, scattering debris and bringing out the caution. Simpson gained some steam on the restart, reentering the top five, and at the lap 42 mark, Davenport agin found himself in lapped traffic. Owens took this opportunity to close the gap, and on lap 44, Davenports run ended as smoke poured for under the hood of the # 6 machine. Owens now had the top spot, followed by Bloomquist and seventh starting Jared Landers, and on the 48th trip around, fourth running Simpson jumped the cushion, with Shannon Babb getting around him. The caution waved at the halfway mark for Oneal. Back under green, Landers shot around Bloomquist for second, and row ten starter Josh Richards entered the top five. Simpson vaulted to third on lap 53, one lap later Richards climbed to fourth. Lap 56 saw Richards and Mason Ziegler get past Simpson, but the yellow came again on the 58th lap for a slowing Carrier Jr. Lap 60 saw Ziegler jump the cushion, but luck was on his side as the caution waved for Tim McCreadie. A battle for second developed on the restart, with Richards taking the spot on lap 65. Three laps later, Landers bobbled, and Ziegler took third. Owens caught lapped trafiic on lap 72, but two laps later, Bloomquist slowed, his night now over, and his chance of making up a lot of ground on Davenports series point lead out the window. Owens held the lead on the restart, but with 22 to go, Richards pulled a dandy slide job in turns three and four to grab his first lead of the night. Things stayed that way until lap 87, when Landers cleared Owens for second. He then began to run down Richards, who had opened a comfortable lead. On lap 91, Landers made his turn three move, taking his first lead of the night. Richards regrouped in the final laps, coming close with two to go, but Landers held him off for his first Nationals win. At the pay window, it was Richards in second, followed by Owens, Mike Marlar, Darell Lanigan, the Simpson brthers, Chad, and Chris, Brandon Sheppard, Heckenast Jr., and Steve Francis in tenth.
By my count, 19 cars were still running at the conclusion of the 50 miles.
Veteran Billy Moyer, who finished eleventh after fighting issues throughout the night, announced he will cut back his racing schedule to " part time" in 2016. Moyer, of course, is heavily involved in producing his brand of chassis for sale.
An after running the last weekend in September for several years, 2016 will see the Nationals move to the third weekend in September, the 15-17. Of course the first thought of the local fans is that this is the weekend when Farley Speedway would normally hold the Yankee Dirt Track Classic, and would create a major conflict for a handful of drivers, but a large group of fans. We will see how this plays out moving forward.
The MOWA sprint cars will headline racing tonight at Quincy Raceways, and we have our sights set on the $5,000 to win UMP late model special next Saturday at the Peoria Speedway. The season is winding down, enjoy some racing while you still can!
Monday, September 21, 2015
Point Champs Crowned at Quincy
Sunday night was season championship night at Quincy Raceways, featuring the final night of the UMP Big Ten late model series, as well.
62 cars in five classes signed in to do battle on the .29 mile oval. Time trial qualifying started things off, with Big Ten point leader and track regular Brian Diveley pacing the late models at 13.220 seconds. Micheal Long once again led the UMP modifieds at 14.391 ticks around the oval.
Feature racing kicked off with the IMCA sport mods, with all but Austin Howes taking the green flag. Jon Lear led the early laps from his front row starting spot, with Mike Goodwin chasing. But Goodwin headed to the pits on lap four, one lap ahead of the only caution period. Following the restart, Joey Gower powered to the lead, and one lap later, Brandon Lennox grabbed second. On lap nine, Lennox took the top spot, but as the leaders caught slower traffic, Lennox took the high line and Gower slipped back ahead in the low groove. From the point, Gower stretched out to a commanding lead, claiming both the feature win and the track title, his third of 2015. Lennox held the second spot, with Adam Birck running a solid third. Tony Dunker rode home fourth, with Tanner Klingele completing the top five.
The stock car class showed only six cars, but again the racing was top notch. Jake Powers led the opening lap, with the yellow waving on lap three for a spinning Andrew Hustead. Back to racing, Jerry Jansen and Abe Huls battled side by side for the runnerup spot until Hustead again lost the handle on lap eight. Under green once more, Huls began to challenge for the lead., but the caution waved again on lap 11 for a spinning Jim Lynch. Powers continued to lead with Huls trying several lines, with the two making contact, becoming hooked together briefly on lap 16. Huls broke free and grabbed the win, followed by Powers, Jansen, Beau Taylor , and track champion Lynch.
The 30 lap $2,000 to win late model headliner was next. First heat winner Bobby Pierce had picked a six for the feature invert. However Michigan ace Rusty Schlenk, back for the second week in a row, was forced to scratch from his row two starting spot, damaging his UMP national title hopes. In fact, the top three in national points were all in attendance, Schlenk, Pierce, and Michael Kloos. As racing began, Dustin Griffin won the race to turn one with Pierce in tow. But Kloos charged to the lead on the second trip around. The caution came out on lap five as Justin Reed kicked a tractor tire onto the track., and two laps later a multi car pileup ended the night for the Littles, Ryan and Jake, and Tennesee pilot Caleb Ashby. With Kloos seemingly in command, he jumped the treacherous turn four cushion on lap ten, and he then retired to the pits. Back under green, Pierce charged to a big lead, as Denny Woodworth shot to second. Just as Pierce caught slower traffic on lap 18, the yellow waved for a spinning Keith Pratt. On the restart, Griffin retook the runner up spot as Pierce again opened up a big advantage. Lap 19 saw Diveley take third after starting seventh, and Mark Burgtorf advanced to fourth one lap later as Woodworth faded running the high line. At the checkers, it was Pierce winning his fourth feature in the last four nights, pulling down a cool $17,000 for his efforts. Griffin, Diveley, Burgtorf, and Woodworth turned in top five runs. The next group included Reed, Pratt, Trace Westling, and first time visitor Scott Geaschel, the only cars still running after 30 laps. Burgtorf was then crowned late model track champion for the 16th time, while Diveley collected the Big Ten title.
13 cars started the UMP modified finale, with Shawn Deering leading when the caution came out on lap two. Two laps back to green, Long took the lead and began to pull away from the pack. Deering also stretched an advantage over the three car battle for third between Rickey Frankel, Frankie Wellman, and Steven Delonjay. Meanwhile, Dave Weitholder, who was involved in a heat race altercation that heavily damaged his ride, had come from last to sixth by lap ten. On the 14th circuit, Weitholder split the cars of Wellman and Delonjay, a dandy move that took him to fourth. On lap 18, he cleared Frankel, and began to run down Deering, He charged to second with two laps to go, but ran out of time to challenge Long. It was victory number 11 for the 2015 track champion.
The IMCA sport compacts were the final race on the cars, 12 cars for 15 laps. Trent Orwig led through a lap two restart, but after a stoppage on the fourth circuit, Jeffrey Delonjay took the lead, and Brandon Lambert moved to second. Lambert took the point on lap seven, and one lap later Kimberly Abbott slipped into the runner up slot. At the checkers, it was Lambert, Abbott, Delonjay, Orwig, and Bryce Baker. Like Gower, Abbott picked up her third track title of 2015, becoming the first female champion in QR history.
The advertised second late model feature had to be scrapped under the UMP format. Of the 16 late models in attendance, four were at QR for the first time in 2015. Unfortunately, it was not a good night for the longest travelers, Schlenk from Michigan, and Ashby from Tennessee.
Quincy Raceways has three more nights on the 2015 schedule. Next Sunday will be a visit of the MOWA sprint cars, the following Sunday will feature UMP modifieds, and the UMP late models are scheduled to return to close out the season on Sunday October 11.
Next up for Racin' Down the Road is a Saturday night trip to Knoxville, Iowa Raceway for the final night of the Lucas Oil late model nationals. Maybe I will see you there!
62 cars in five classes signed in to do battle on the .29 mile oval. Time trial qualifying started things off, with Big Ten point leader and track regular Brian Diveley pacing the late models at 13.220 seconds. Micheal Long once again led the UMP modifieds at 14.391 ticks around the oval.
Feature racing kicked off with the IMCA sport mods, with all but Austin Howes taking the green flag. Jon Lear led the early laps from his front row starting spot, with Mike Goodwin chasing. But Goodwin headed to the pits on lap four, one lap ahead of the only caution period. Following the restart, Joey Gower powered to the lead, and one lap later, Brandon Lennox grabbed second. On lap nine, Lennox took the top spot, but as the leaders caught slower traffic, Lennox took the high line and Gower slipped back ahead in the low groove. From the point, Gower stretched out to a commanding lead, claiming both the feature win and the track title, his third of 2015. Lennox held the second spot, with Adam Birck running a solid third. Tony Dunker rode home fourth, with Tanner Klingele completing the top five.
The stock car class showed only six cars, but again the racing was top notch. Jake Powers led the opening lap, with the yellow waving on lap three for a spinning Andrew Hustead. Back to racing, Jerry Jansen and Abe Huls battled side by side for the runnerup spot until Hustead again lost the handle on lap eight. Under green once more, Huls began to challenge for the lead., but the caution waved again on lap 11 for a spinning Jim Lynch. Powers continued to lead with Huls trying several lines, with the two making contact, becoming hooked together briefly on lap 16. Huls broke free and grabbed the win, followed by Powers, Jansen, Beau Taylor , and track champion Lynch.
The 30 lap $2,000 to win late model headliner was next. First heat winner Bobby Pierce had picked a six for the feature invert. However Michigan ace Rusty Schlenk, back for the second week in a row, was forced to scratch from his row two starting spot, damaging his UMP national title hopes. In fact, the top three in national points were all in attendance, Schlenk, Pierce, and Michael Kloos. As racing began, Dustin Griffin won the race to turn one with Pierce in tow. But Kloos charged to the lead on the second trip around. The caution came out on lap five as Justin Reed kicked a tractor tire onto the track., and two laps later a multi car pileup ended the night for the Littles, Ryan and Jake, and Tennesee pilot Caleb Ashby. With Kloos seemingly in command, he jumped the treacherous turn four cushion on lap ten, and he then retired to the pits. Back under green, Pierce charged to a big lead, as Denny Woodworth shot to second. Just as Pierce caught slower traffic on lap 18, the yellow waved for a spinning Keith Pratt. On the restart, Griffin retook the runner up spot as Pierce again opened up a big advantage. Lap 19 saw Diveley take third after starting seventh, and Mark Burgtorf advanced to fourth one lap later as Woodworth faded running the high line. At the checkers, it was Pierce winning his fourth feature in the last four nights, pulling down a cool $17,000 for his efforts. Griffin, Diveley, Burgtorf, and Woodworth turned in top five runs. The next group included Reed, Pratt, Trace Westling, and first time visitor Scott Geaschel, the only cars still running after 30 laps. Burgtorf was then crowned late model track champion for the 16th time, while Diveley collected the Big Ten title.
13 cars started the UMP modified finale, with Shawn Deering leading when the caution came out on lap two. Two laps back to green, Long took the lead and began to pull away from the pack. Deering also stretched an advantage over the three car battle for third between Rickey Frankel, Frankie Wellman, and Steven Delonjay. Meanwhile, Dave Weitholder, who was involved in a heat race altercation that heavily damaged his ride, had come from last to sixth by lap ten. On the 14th circuit, Weitholder split the cars of Wellman and Delonjay, a dandy move that took him to fourth. On lap 18, he cleared Frankel, and began to run down Deering, He charged to second with two laps to go, but ran out of time to challenge Long. It was victory number 11 for the 2015 track champion.
The IMCA sport compacts were the final race on the cars, 12 cars for 15 laps. Trent Orwig led through a lap two restart, but after a stoppage on the fourth circuit, Jeffrey Delonjay took the lead, and Brandon Lambert moved to second. Lambert took the point on lap seven, and one lap later Kimberly Abbott slipped into the runner up slot. At the checkers, it was Lambert, Abbott, Delonjay, Orwig, and Bryce Baker. Like Gower, Abbott picked up her third track title of 2015, becoming the first female champion in QR history.
The advertised second late model feature had to be scrapped under the UMP format. Of the 16 late models in attendance, four were at QR for the first time in 2015. Unfortunately, it was not a good night for the longest travelers, Schlenk from Michigan, and Ashby from Tennessee.
Quincy Raceways has three more nights on the 2015 schedule. Next Sunday will be a visit of the MOWA sprint cars, the following Sunday will feature UMP modifieds, and the UMP late models are scheduled to return to close out the season on Sunday October 11.
Next up for Racin' Down the Road is a Saturday night trip to Knoxville, Iowa Raceway for the final night of the Lucas Oil late model nationals. Maybe I will see you there!
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Pierce Hangs on at Tri City
Kevin and Tammy Gundakers Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il was our racing destination Friday night. It was night number one of the St Louis Showdown, paying $5,000 to win the 40 lap UMP late model feature.
98 cars packed the pits, including 32 late models, 32 UMP modifieds, and 34 UMP B mods.
With the potential for rain in the area, Kevin and Tammy promid=sed a quickly run show, and they delivered. Only the late models qualified, with Bobby Pierce setting quick time at 14.38 seconds. The second generation ace then rolled a four for heat race lineup inverts. The first ten lapper would have seen Gordy Gundaker on the outside pole alongside Alan Murray, but this second generation pilot smacked the turn four wall on his second qualifying lap, ending his night. This moved the fast timer from heat one, Jeff Herzog to the outside pole, but when he was unable to answer the bell, third row starter Mark Burgtorf found himself at the front. Mark the led the distance, with Brian Shirley, Murray, and Jim Shereck rounding out the top four. It was my first time to see Tennessee hot shoe Ashley Newman race, and he led the distance in heat two ahead of Pierce, Shannon Babb, and Darrell Moser.
Michael Kloos took heat three from outside row one, besting Billy Laycock, Tanner English, and Cody Conner. The fourth ten lapper went to Jason Feger, followed by the father and son Moyers, and late model rookie Rusty Griffaw. Kevin Cole, who unloaded his # 33, but never made it to the track was a scratch in the final heat.
One B-main went to Tim Manville, leading the distance ahead of Brian Diveley, who took second at the checkers as Kolby Vandenberghs # 15 suddenly slowed. Austin Rettig ran fourth, Chris Fisher fifth, and Claude Walker edged Caleb Ashby on the last lap for the final qualifying spot. Scott Henseler and Herzog were awarded provisional starting spots for the feature, and the B-main drama became moot when Ashby was given a spot when Vandenbergh scratched.
With no intermission and little fan fare, and a few sprinkles falling, the late model headliner ran first. The caution waved on the start, and English and Shereck both went pitside, Shereck on the hook, ending their night early. On the restart, Newman shot to the lead from outside row one, with Burgtorf and Feger in tow. Feger cleared Burgtorf on the second circuit, and by lap eight, the leaders had caught the back of the pack. With a battle for first shaping up, the caution flew for a spinning Ashby one lap later. The restart again saw the caution wave as the middle of the pack became bottled up. Back to green with a Delaware start, tenth starting Babb charged to fourth, as Feger grabbed the lead. Pierce powered to second on lap 13 as Feger began to distance himself from the field. Two laps later, Babb cleared Newman for third. Traffic again came in to play on lap 22, and Pierce began to close on Feger. The 25th pass by the flagstand saw the front two side by side, and it was Pierce in front on lap 27. I was beginning to write down the finish as the white flag waved, but Griffaw looped his ride in turn three bringing out the yellow and setting up a single file two lap shootout. We could see thatr the tow was off on the Pierce machine, and the youngster admitted in the post race interview that he could tell his steering was off. But he hit the loud pedal at the green, and the # 32 stuck for two more trips around the oval. Unfortunately, Feger made contact with the backstretch wall on the final go around, but he recovered to finish fourth behind Babb and Shirley. Newman rolled home fifth, ahead of Moyer and Moyer Jr. Manville came from 17th to finish eight, ahead of Burgtorf, who was the last car on the lead lap. Laycock completed the top ten.
Next it was 20 laps of UMP modified racing. With one car unable to make the starting grid, the field sat on the track for a bit waiting for an alternate. When the cars rolled off, their was a puddle of what appeared to be oil under the # 18L of Michael Long. Track officials peered inside the engine compartment of his ride, and what they saw caused Long to retire before the race began, a poor ending to his birthday. Rick Conoyer started up front, and held the lead until Mike Harrison made a mid race pass. From there, the # 24H fairly cruised to an amazing 33rd feature win of 2015. Conoyer scored the runner up finish. The real race was for third, as Matt Mevert held of Dean Hoffman and Nick Hoffman in a down to the wire finish.
With a long Saturday ahead, we headed to the parking lot while Josh Russell was preparing to top the B-mods ahead of Robbie Eilers.
Sunday night should find us back at Quincy Raceways, as the UMP Big Ten late model series comes to town racing for the final time in 2015, with a $2,000 top prize. There will also be a second late model feature, lined up as a complete invert of the finish of the Big Ten headliner. UMP modifieds, and three classes of IMCA cars, stocks, sport mods, and sport compacts will round out the card. Hopw to see you there or somewhere Racin' Down the Road before the season ends!
98 cars packed the pits, including 32 late models, 32 UMP modifieds, and 34 UMP B mods.
With the potential for rain in the area, Kevin and Tammy promid=sed a quickly run show, and they delivered. Only the late models qualified, with Bobby Pierce setting quick time at 14.38 seconds. The second generation ace then rolled a four for heat race lineup inverts. The first ten lapper would have seen Gordy Gundaker on the outside pole alongside Alan Murray, but this second generation pilot smacked the turn four wall on his second qualifying lap, ending his night. This moved the fast timer from heat one, Jeff Herzog to the outside pole, but when he was unable to answer the bell, third row starter Mark Burgtorf found himself at the front. Mark the led the distance, with Brian Shirley, Murray, and Jim Shereck rounding out the top four. It was my first time to see Tennessee hot shoe Ashley Newman race, and he led the distance in heat two ahead of Pierce, Shannon Babb, and Darrell Moser.
Michael Kloos took heat three from outside row one, besting Billy Laycock, Tanner English, and Cody Conner. The fourth ten lapper went to Jason Feger, followed by the father and son Moyers, and late model rookie Rusty Griffaw. Kevin Cole, who unloaded his # 33, but never made it to the track was a scratch in the final heat.
One B-main went to Tim Manville, leading the distance ahead of Brian Diveley, who took second at the checkers as Kolby Vandenberghs # 15 suddenly slowed. Austin Rettig ran fourth, Chris Fisher fifth, and Claude Walker edged Caleb Ashby on the last lap for the final qualifying spot. Scott Henseler and Herzog were awarded provisional starting spots for the feature, and the B-main drama became moot when Ashby was given a spot when Vandenbergh scratched.
With no intermission and little fan fare, and a few sprinkles falling, the late model headliner ran first. The caution waved on the start, and English and Shereck both went pitside, Shereck on the hook, ending their night early. On the restart, Newman shot to the lead from outside row one, with Burgtorf and Feger in tow. Feger cleared Burgtorf on the second circuit, and by lap eight, the leaders had caught the back of the pack. With a battle for first shaping up, the caution flew for a spinning Ashby one lap later. The restart again saw the caution wave as the middle of the pack became bottled up. Back to green with a Delaware start, tenth starting Babb charged to fourth, as Feger grabbed the lead. Pierce powered to second on lap 13 as Feger began to distance himself from the field. Two laps later, Babb cleared Newman for third. Traffic again came in to play on lap 22, and Pierce began to close on Feger. The 25th pass by the flagstand saw the front two side by side, and it was Pierce in front on lap 27. I was beginning to write down the finish as the white flag waved, but Griffaw looped his ride in turn three bringing out the yellow and setting up a single file two lap shootout. We could see thatr the tow was off on the Pierce machine, and the youngster admitted in the post race interview that he could tell his steering was off. But he hit the loud pedal at the green, and the # 32 stuck for two more trips around the oval. Unfortunately, Feger made contact with the backstretch wall on the final go around, but he recovered to finish fourth behind Babb and Shirley. Newman rolled home fifth, ahead of Moyer and Moyer Jr. Manville came from 17th to finish eight, ahead of Burgtorf, who was the last car on the lead lap. Laycock completed the top ten.
Next it was 20 laps of UMP modified racing. With one car unable to make the starting grid, the field sat on the track for a bit waiting for an alternate. When the cars rolled off, their was a puddle of what appeared to be oil under the # 18L of Michael Long. Track officials peered inside the engine compartment of his ride, and what they saw caused Long to retire before the race began, a poor ending to his birthday. Rick Conoyer started up front, and held the lead until Mike Harrison made a mid race pass. From there, the # 24H fairly cruised to an amazing 33rd feature win of 2015. Conoyer scored the runner up finish. The real race was for third, as Matt Mevert held of Dean Hoffman and Nick Hoffman in a down to the wire finish.
With a long Saturday ahead, we headed to the parking lot while Josh Russell was preparing to top the B-mods ahead of Robbie Eilers.
Sunday night should find us back at Quincy Raceways, as the UMP Big Ten late model series comes to town racing for the final time in 2015, with a $2,000 top prize. There will also be a second late model feature, lined up as a complete invert of the finish of the Big Ten headliner. UMP modifieds, and three classes of IMCA cars, stocks, sport mods, and sport compacts will round out the card. Hopw to see you there or somewhere Racin' Down the Road before the season ends!
Monday, September 14, 2015
Schlenk In Search of Points
Sunday night it was back to the " Broadway Bullring," Quincy Raceways, for a night of five class racing. It was non points night for the IMCA stock cars,sport mods and sport compacts, being the raindate for the IMCA Supernationals, but a regular points night for the UMP late models and modifieds.
Even though his # 6K machine was destroyed Saturday night at Pevely,Mo., late model standout Michael Kloos was on hand with a " borrowed " # 56H ride. Michael is near the top of the UMP national standings, and having attained 35 starts used for championship totals, he is trying to " throw out " poor finishes and replace them with better ones. With the late model field setting at 12 cars, through the gate at the last minute came the national point leader, Rusty Schlenk. The driver of the # 91 machine calls Jackson, Michigan home, but he frequently ventures south in search of races, especially with most tracks in his area closed for the season. He has visited QR on a handful of occasions, but never with so much on the line. With two of the top point men in the pits, however, it was another traveler, Fairbury,Il pilot McKay Wenger who blistered the .29 mile oval with a qualifying lap of 13.083 seconds. Track regular Jason Perry got the jump on Wenger and picked up the first heat win, and then rolled a one to set up a straight up start in the 25 lap feature.
For Michael Long, it was business as usual in the UMP mod class, as he set quick time and captured the first heat. He then rolled a three to put himself in row two to start the main event.
Things were moving along quickly in the preliminary events until the final heat race featuring the sport compacts. Alyssa Steele, whos' early 2015 accident and subsequent hospital stay was detailed in the blog a few weeks ago, was running near the front of the six lap race when she caught the berm in turn four, turning her around and into a series of rollovers. Her # 55s went over four complete times, landing on its wheels. Shaken up, the 17 year old was transported to the hospital to be checked out. Fortunately her injuries this time were not serious, and she was released later in the evening.
The first feature of the night was 18 laps of sport mod action. With no points being awarded, area B-modified cars were invited to try their luck, with several new drivers doing just that.
All but two of the 18 entrants took the feature green. After a couple of lap one yellows, things got rolling, with Tanner Klingele taking the early lead ahead of Brandon Lennox and Adam Birck. Tanner opened a sizable lead before a lap seven caution bunched the field. Lennox, however, ducked to the hot pit area, giving up second place. As the lineup was being reset, Klingele rolled to a stop, done for the night. this put Bobby Six and his # 6 car out front for the restart, with Birck second. Lennox rejoined at the tail, and following a multi car mixup two laps later, Lennox was back in contention. But this night belonged to Six, who scored his first win of 2015. Birck and point leader Joey Gower ran side by side for several laps, with Joey finaaly winning the battle for the runnerup spot. Lennox eased past Tony Dunker, as the two veterans posted top five runs.
The stock car class was short on cars, but not on action. Four of the five in attendance ran for 15 laps after newcomer Kenny Bringer could not get his ride up to speed. Abe Huls and Beau Taylor ran side by side and nose to tail for the top spot, while Jake Powers and Jerry Jansen did the same for third, 15 laps of green flag racing. At the line, it was Huls, Taylor, Powers, and Jansen.
It was now late model time, with Perry and Denny Woodworth making up the front row. Perry led the first circuit, with the inside line of Wenger, Schlenk, and Mark Burgtorf making up the top four. Wenger then grabbed the lead on lap two, and on the third round, the yellow waved as Charles Van Zandt smacked the front stretch fence after his car made a sharp right turn. On the restart, Schlenk nabbed second, taking Burgtorf along in third. Wenger continued to pound the fast cushion, while Schlenk and Burgtorf ran the top in turns one and two, and tried the low side in three and four. With six laps to go, Wenger rolled to a stop off turn four, bringing out the caution. Back to action, it became a two car battle between Schlenk and Burgtorf. Mark had a nose in front on laps 22 and 23, but Rusty used the high line to regain the lead on lap 24, holding on for the win. Justin Reed claimed third, followed by Perry and Kloos. Woodworth scored sixth, ahead of Brian Diveley, Keith Pratt, David Janes, and Trace Westling. Janes is piloting a # 7B car that I believe is to be the 2016 ride for Burgtorf.
Next up was the UMP modified 25 lapper. Rick Conoyer and Dave Weitholder made up row one, and they took off in that order under green. Three laps in, Long advanced to second, and he and Conoyer quickly distanced themselves form the pack. The first caution came at lap 11, and on the restart, Conoyer opened a sizable lead, as Spencer Havermale charged to fourth. As Long began to make up ground, Havermale looked under Weitholder for third, but lost the handle on his # 733, bringing out the caution as four cars piled up. When the green waved again, it was Conoyer and Long checking out, as Russ Coultas used a low side pass to nab third. The caution waved on lap 21, and on the restart, Conoyer went over the turn three bank. Although the yellow waved for a different car, Conoyer continued on to his pit, ending his strong run. Long led the final laps fore the win, while Coultas held off a stiff challenge from Frankie Wellman to record a season best runner up finish. Weitholder and Jared Schlipman completed the top five.
The sport compact feature was the final race on the card, with all but two of the 11 cars signed in taking the green. Brandon Lambert has been hot of late, and he had the front row for this redraw feature. But he headed to the pits on lap one. A three car battle for the top spot then began, before Josh Barnes lost a wheel on lap six while running a close third. It was now a two car duel with Brandon Reu holding off point leader Kimberly Abbott until the ninth trip past the flagstand. Once out front, Abbott stayed in command, besting Reu, Blaise Roe, and Taylor VanderMaiden.
Next Sunday night, the late models will be running double features, with the first being the final race in the UMP Big Ten series, and the second a lower paying race inverting the finish from the first feature. UMP modifieds, and IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts will, I believe, also be on the card.
The 2015 season is winding down, don't miss a chance to take in a few more races!
Even though his # 6K machine was destroyed Saturday night at Pevely,Mo., late model standout Michael Kloos was on hand with a " borrowed " # 56H ride. Michael is near the top of the UMP national standings, and having attained 35 starts used for championship totals, he is trying to " throw out " poor finishes and replace them with better ones. With the late model field setting at 12 cars, through the gate at the last minute came the national point leader, Rusty Schlenk. The driver of the # 91 machine calls Jackson, Michigan home, but he frequently ventures south in search of races, especially with most tracks in his area closed for the season. He has visited QR on a handful of occasions, but never with so much on the line. With two of the top point men in the pits, however, it was another traveler, Fairbury,Il pilot McKay Wenger who blistered the .29 mile oval with a qualifying lap of 13.083 seconds. Track regular Jason Perry got the jump on Wenger and picked up the first heat win, and then rolled a one to set up a straight up start in the 25 lap feature.
For Michael Long, it was business as usual in the UMP mod class, as he set quick time and captured the first heat. He then rolled a three to put himself in row two to start the main event.
Things were moving along quickly in the preliminary events until the final heat race featuring the sport compacts. Alyssa Steele, whos' early 2015 accident and subsequent hospital stay was detailed in the blog a few weeks ago, was running near the front of the six lap race when she caught the berm in turn four, turning her around and into a series of rollovers. Her # 55s went over four complete times, landing on its wheels. Shaken up, the 17 year old was transported to the hospital to be checked out. Fortunately her injuries this time were not serious, and she was released later in the evening.
The first feature of the night was 18 laps of sport mod action. With no points being awarded, area B-modified cars were invited to try their luck, with several new drivers doing just that.
All but two of the 18 entrants took the feature green. After a couple of lap one yellows, things got rolling, with Tanner Klingele taking the early lead ahead of Brandon Lennox and Adam Birck. Tanner opened a sizable lead before a lap seven caution bunched the field. Lennox, however, ducked to the hot pit area, giving up second place. As the lineup was being reset, Klingele rolled to a stop, done for the night. this put Bobby Six and his # 6 car out front for the restart, with Birck second. Lennox rejoined at the tail, and following a multi car mixup two laps later, Lennox was back in contention. But this night belonged to Six, who scored his first win of 2015. Birck and point leader Joey Gower ran side by side for several laps, with Joey finaaly winning the battle for the runnerup spot. Lennox eased past Tony Dunker, as the two veterans posted top five runs.
The stock car class was short on cars, but not on action. Four of the five in attendance ran for 15 laps after newcomer Kenny Bringer could not get his ride up to speed. Abe Huls and Beau Taylor ran side by side and nose to tail for the top spot, while Jake Powers and Jerry Jansen did the same for third, 15 laps of green flag racing. At the line, it was Huls, Taylor, Powers, and Jansen.
It was now late model time, with Perry and Denny Woodworth making up the front row. Perry led the first circuit, with the inside line of Wenger, Schlenk, and Mark Burgtorf making up the top four. Wenger then grabbed the lead on lap two, and on the third round, the yellow waved as Charles Van Zandt smacked the front stretch fence after his car made a sharp right turn. On the restart, Schlenk nabbed second, taking Burgtorf along in third. Wenger continued to pound the fast cushion, while Schlenk and Burgtorf ran the top in turns one and two, and tried the low side in three and four. With six laps to go, Wenger rolled to a stop off turn four, bringing out the caution. Back to action, it became a two car battle between Schlenk and Burgtorf. Mark had a nose in front on laps 22 and 23, but Rusty used the high line to regain the lead on lap 24, holding on for the win. Justin Reed claimed third, followed by Perry and Kloos. Woodworth scored sixth, ahead of Brian Diveley, Keith Pratt, David Janes, and Trace Westling. Janes is piloting a # 7B car that I believe is to be the 2016 ride for Burgtorf.
Next up was the UMP modified 25 lapper. Rick Conoyer and Dave Weitholder made up row one, and they took off in that order under green. Three laps in, Long advanced to second, and he and Conoyer quickly distanced themselves form the pack. The first caution came at lap 11, and on the restart, Conoyer opened a sizable lead, as Spencer Havermale charged to fourth. As Long began to make up ground, Havermale looked under Weitholder for third, but lost the handle on his # 733, bringing out the caution as four cars piled up. When the green waved again, it was Conoyer and Long checking out, as Russ Coultas used a low side pass to nab third. The caution waved on lap 21, and on the restart, Conoyer went over the turn three bank. Although the yellow waved for a different car, Conoyer continued on to his pit, ending his strong run. Long led the final laps fore the win, while Coultas held off a stiff challenge from Frankie Wellman to record a season best runner up finish. Weitholder and Jared Schlipman completed the top five.
The sport compact feature was the final race on the card, with all but two of the 11 cars signed in taking the green. Brandon Lambert has been hot of late, and he had the front row for this redraw feature. But he headed to the pits on lap one. A three car battle for the top spot then began, before Josh Barnes lost a wheel on lap six while running a close third. It was now a two car duel with Brandon Reu holding off point leader Kimberly Abbott until the ninth trip past the flagstand. Once out front, Abbott stayed in command, besting Reu, Blaise Roe, and Taylor VanderMaiden.
Next Sunday night, the late models will be running double features, with the first being the final race in the UMP Big Ten series, and the second a lower paying race inverting the finish from the first feature. UMP modifieds, and IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts will, I believe, also be on the card.
The 2015 season is winding down, don't miss a chance to take in a few more races!
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Harris Going Out in Style
Davenport speedway was our Saturday night destination for night number two of the reborn Iowa Governers Cup. 75 cars in five divisions signed in to race on the intimidating fairgrounds 1/2 mile after the opening night program was conducted on the inside 1/4 mile. Drivers were scored on their average finish to become the overall champion, although each night offered a complete show and purse.
Eleven heat races were run on off quickly, with only one yellow flag slowing the action
Street stocks were up first in feature action, with 14 cars racing for 12 laps. It was a flag to flag win for Perry Gellerstedt, although Rob Henry pushed him hard for the second half of the event, which was lowed twice by caution flags. Joe Bonney and Rob Nylin also turned in top four runs, with Gellerstedt also the overall champion.
Next came the 4 stock class, short on cars, but not action. Six of the eight on hand took the green for ten laps of feature racing. Again, it was a flag to flag win, this time for Sean Fersch, who polished off a clean sweep of the heat and feature. The race went caution free, with Brandon Setser grabbing the runner up spot and the overall Cup title.
All but one of the 21 IMCA modifieds came to the track for 15 laps of racing. Dakota Hayden was scored the leader after lap one, with front row starter Brad Dubil exiting the track. Hayden held the lead as row four starter Justin Kay began a march to the front. By lap four, the two class standout was second, and he grabbed the top spot one lap later. Meanwhile, row six starters Bruce Hanford and Brad Dierks moved to fourth and fifth respectively. Clearing the veteran Hanford on lap eight, Dierks moved to third as lap nine was scored, and around Hayden on the tenth circuit before the first yellow flag wiped out the pass. However he used the Delaware restart to not only clear Hayden, but Kay as well to take the lead. At the same time, Hanford moved up two spots to third. As the checkers waved, it was Dierks sweeping the weekend to become Cup champion. Kay held on to the second spot, with Hanford alongside in third and Hayden fourth.
IMCA sport mods were next for 12 laps featuring 11 cars. Zach Maurer led the early laps, with Jacob Waterman trying everything to take the lead. Meanwhile, Ross Neal was closing fast. As the top two raced side by side, Waterman finally made the winning pass on lap nine. With less than two circuits remaining, Neal powered to second, and the top three crossed the line in that order in the caution free race. Cameron Goben rounded out the first four, with Neal the overall champion.
The final event on the card was the 40 lap $5,000 to win feature for the 20 Corn Belt Clash late models
The redraw found multi time series champion Chad Simpson setting on the fadter outside row one line alongside Nationak Dirt Hall of Famer Ray Guss Jr. Certainly nothing against Chad, but this was shaping up to be one of those races where the fans left early, based on his victory on Friday night.
However Guss got the jump, leading lap one. Just as quickly, the veteran slowed and pulled to the infield as lap two began, handing Simpson the lead. He began to open a sizable advantage as row two starters Jason Rauen and Brian Harris, along with fifth starting Jason Utter jockeyed for second in that order. Harris slipped past Rauen on lap five, and Utter did the same four laps later, though he and Rauen raced side by side. Slower traffic came in to play at this time, but Simpson was having little trouble disposing of the cars in front of him. But on lap 16, his night came to an ends, as he slowed and pulled to the infield. It was now a duel for the top spot between Harris and Utter, with Rauen and Justin Kay now closing on the leaders. Kay advanced to third on lap 22, and with slower traffic again in play by the lap 24, he pulled alongside Utter for second. Kay took the spot two laps later and began to reel in Harris. But with ten to go, the # 15K slowed out of turn four, bringing out the caution. As the wrecker hooked to Kays machine, Utter pulled through the turn three gate to the pits, ending his run as well.
From there, Harris mission was one of surviving one more caution period for sixth running Rob Moss three laps later, and he did so without a stiff challenge. It was only his second night out in his new ride, a Diercks Racing machine boasting his longtime # 21H on the side. In his post race interview, the red head, who announced his impending retirement from racing recently, said that he was contacted ten days prior with an offer of the open engine ride to finish out the 2015 season. This comes after a couple of successful seasons wheeling the Lynn and Karen Richard # 15R IMCA late model.
If he will indeed call it a career after the season, he goes out on a high note as the 2015 Iowa Governers Cup champion, having collected a third place run on Friday.
Rauen took second on Saturday, followed by the # 10 car out of the Parker Racing stables in Wisconsin. Son Paul was given as the driver in the feature, but dad Pete in the heat race, so....?
Nick Anvelink had a solid run in fourth, with young Spencer Diercks, Harris' teammate in fifth. The second five was led by veteran Dave Eckrich, as brother Denny dropped out with two to go. Mike Fryer was seventh, ahead of Skip Frey, Mark Rose, and Matt Furman. Chuck Hanna and Jay Chenoweth rounded out the cars running at the checkers.
After posting this, it will be off to Quincy Raceways for five classes of racing tonight, as the season rapidly winds down. Grab a jacket and head for the races while you still can!
Eleven heat races were run on off quickly, with only one yellow flag slowing the action
Street stocks were up first in feature action, with 14 cars racing for 12 laps. It was a flag to flag win for Perry Gellerstedt, although Rob Henry pushed him hard for the second half of the event, which was lowed twice by caution flags. Joe Bonney and Rob Nylin also turned in top four runs, with Gellerstedt also the overall champion.
Next came the 4 stock class, short on cars, but not action. Six of the eight on hand took the green for ten laps of feature racing. Again, it was a flag to flag win, this time for Sean Fersch, who polished off a clean sweep of the heat and feature. The race went caution free, with Brandon Setser grabbing the runner up spot and the overall Cup title.
All but one of the 21 IMCA modifieds came to the track for 15 laps of racing. Dakota Hayden was scored the leader after lap one, with front row starter Brad Dubil exiting the track. Hayden held the lead as row four starter Justin Kay began a march to the front. By lap four, the two class standout was second, and he grabbed the top spot one lap later. Meanwhile, row six starters Bruce Hanford and Brad Dierks moved to fourth and fifth respectively. Clearing the veteran Hanford on lap eight, Dierks moved to third as lap nine was scored, and around Hayden on the tenth circuit before the first yellow flag wiped out the pass. However he used the Delaware restart to not only clear Hayden, but Kay as well to take the lead. At the same time, Hanford moved up two spots to third. As the checkers waved, it was Dierks sweeping the weekend to become Cup champion. Kay held on to the second spot, with Hanford alongside in third and Hayden fourth.
IMCA sport mods were next for 12 laps featuring 11 cars. Zach Maurer led the early laps, with Jacob Waterman trying everything to take the lead. Meanwhile, Ross Neal was closing fast. As the top two raced side by side, Waterman finally made the winning pass on lap nine. With less than two circuits remaining, Neal powered to second, and the top three crossed the line in that order in the caution free race. Cameron Goben rounded out the first four, with Neal the overall champion.
The final event on the card was the 40 lap $5,000 to win feature for the 20 Corn Belt Clash late models
The redraw found multi time series champion Chad Simpson setting on the fadter outside row one line alongside Nationak Dirt Hall of Famer Ray Guss Jr. Certainly nothing against Chad, but this was shaping up to be one of those races where the fans left early, based on his victory on Friday night.
However Guss got the jump, leading lap one. Just as quickly, the veteran slowed and pulled to the infield as lap two began, handing Simpson the lead. He began to open a sizable advantage as row two starters Jason Rauen and Brian Harris, along with fifth starting Jason Utter jockeyed for second in that order. Harris slipped past Rauen on lap five, and Utter did the same four laps later, though he and Rauen raced side by side. Slower traffic came in to play at this time, but Simpson was having little trouble disposing of the cars in front of him. But on lap 16, his night came to an ends, as he slowed and pulled to the infield. It was now a duel for the top spot between Harris and Utter, with Rauen and Justin Kay now closing on the leaders. Kay advanced to third on lap 22, and with slower traffic again in play by the lap 24, he pulled alongside Utter for second. Kay took the spot two laps later and began to reel in Harris. But with ten to go, the # 15K slowed out of turn four, bringing out the caution. As the wrecker hooked to Kays machine, Utter pulled through the turn three gate to the pits, ending his run as well.
From there, Harris mission was one of surviving one more caution period for sixth running Rob Moss three laps later, and he did so without a stiff challenge. It was only his second night out in his new ride, a Diercks Racing machine boasting his longtime # 21H on the side. In his post race interview, the red head, who announced his impending retirement from racing recently, said that he was contacted ten days prior with an offer of the open engine ride to finish out the 2015 season. This comes after a couple of successful seasons wheeling the Lynn and Karen Richard # 15R IMCA late model.
If he will indeed call it a career after the season, he goes out on a high note as the 2015 Iowa Governers Cup champion, having collected a third place run on Friday.
Rauen took second on Saturday, followed by the # 10 car out of the Parker Racing stables in Wisconsin. Son Paul was given as the driver in the feature, but dad Pete in the heat race, so....?
Nick Anvelink had a solid run in fourth, with young Spencer Diercks, Harris' teammate in fifth. The second five was led by veteran Dave Eckrich, as brother Denny dropped out with two to go. Mike Fryer was seventh, ahead of Skip Frey, Mark Rose, and Matt Furman. Chuck Hanna and Jay Chenoweth rounded out the cars running at the checkers.
After posting this, it will be off to Quincy Raceways for five classes of racing tonight, as the season rapidly winds down. Grab a jacket and head for the races while you still can!
Monday, September 7, 2015
Pierce and Kinder Top Spoon River
With the Monday holiday from Work, Darryl and I headed out Sunday night for the UMP Fall Nationals at Spoon River Speedway in Fulton,County,Illinois. The race, headlined by the American Modified Series was supposed to be the third night of the Illinois swing, following shows at Farmer City on Friday, which was rained out, and Saturday night at Fairbury.
At Spoon, 59 modifieds signed in to vie for the $5,000 top prize, with UMP super late models, 26 strong, competing for a $2,000 winners check. 22 UMP Pro late models and 19 UMP Pro modifieds contributed to a jammed pit area.
Chad Kinder topped modified qualifying, while three late model drivers broke the non Summernationals track record, with Donny Walden the fastest at 13.68 seconds. 16 heat races and three last chance races set the feature fields at 20 cars for each of the headline classes, with six provisionals added to the modified field.
Kinder sat on the outside pole for the 50 lap feature, and although he jumped to the early lead, a lap one caution reset the pack for a complete restart. Amazingly, the 50 laps then clicked off caution free, with Kinder leading each circuit around the oval, which had been reworked during the intermission. Ray Bollinger came from row two to challenge Kinder early, and the leaders encountered slower traffic by lap 21. As the front runners worked through lapped cars, Kinder began to stretch his advantage. Matt Kooper powered to the third position, chasing the leaders, but about lap 35, it was hard charging Tait Davenport moving to third. He quickly ran down Bollinger and tried different lines to grab the second spot. Bollinger was up to the challenge, hanging on for the runner up finish behind Kinder. Lucas Lee trailed Davenport in fourth, while Kopper held off pole sitter Donovan Lodge for fifth.
The super late models ran next, with 25 laps on tap. The four heat race winners had redrawn for the first two row starting spots, with Walden and Bob Gardner drawing row one, and national UMP point contenders Michael Kloos and Bobby Pierce in row two. Walden took the lead at the green, with Pierce powering to second. The caution came out on lap four, as Jeff Herzog and Steve Lance Jr got together. On the restart, Pierce used the very bottom line of the track to ease ahead of Walden, as seventh starting Billy Drake advanced to fourth. Despite the reworking of the super high banked oval during intermission, the surface was now super slick, and the leaders all hugged the low groove, looking for an opening. Only sixth starting Kolby Vandenbergh and row seven starter Mike " Opie " Spatola searched for an advantage in the high groove without much success. The front two distanced themselves from the pack, while Gardner and Drake had their own duel for third.. Again, lap 21 was when traffic came into play, and while Pierce had some issues, he was able to maintain his momentum, holding off Walden to the checkers. Gardner scored a third place finish over Drake, while Tim Lance brought out a plain black #48, starting and finishing fifth. Lance and Russ Adams did double duty in both late models classes, while veteran Kevin Weaver did the same in the open mods and super lates. The " Flatland Flash " ran 13th in one of the Allen Racing mods, but came home sixth in the late models in his own # B12. Peoria standout Todd Bennett was in one of the Bob Gardner # 4 cars and ran seventh, besting Kloos, Charley Hess, and Mike Mullvain to round out the top ten.
With the time on the wrong side of 11:30, we headed to the car with the final two features in staging.
This was the first trip to " the Spoon " for either of us in many years, and it was fun to meet some new friends and connect with old friend Kevin Paul, a former Quincy Raceways racer who now wheels one of the # 93 late models for Crazy Ray Racing. Thanks to the Spoon River staff for their help and hospitality.
The holiday weekend is nearly over, now back to work...
At Spoon, 59 modifieds signed in to vie for the $5,000 top prize, with UMP super late models, 26 strong, competing for a $2,000 winners check. 22 UMP Pro late models and 19 UMP Pro modifieds contributed to a jammed pit area.
Chad Kinder topped modified qualifying, while three late model drivers broke the non Summernationals track record, with Donny Walden the fastest at 13.68 seconds. 16 heat races and three last chance races set the feature fields at 20 cars for each of the headline classes, with six provisionals added to the modified field.
Kinder sat on the outside pole for the 50 lap feature, and although he jumped to the early lead, a lap one caution reset the pack for a complete restart. Amazingly, the 50 laps then clicked off caution free, with Kinder leading each circuit around the oval, which had been reworked during the intermission. Ray Bollinger came from row two to challenge Kinder early, and the leaders encountered slower traffic by lap 21. As the front runners worked through lapped cars, Kinder began to stretch his advantage. Matt Kooper powered to the third position, chasing the leaders, but about lap 35, it was hard charging Tait Davenport moving to third. He quickly ran down Bollinger and tried different lines to grab the second spot. Bollinger was up to the challenge, hanging on for the runner up finish behind Kinder. Lucas Lee trailed Davenport in fourth, while Kopper held off pole sitter Donovan Lodge for fifth.
The super late models ran next, with 25 laps on tap. The four heat race winners had redrawn for the first two row starting spots, with Walden and Bob Gardner drawing row one, and national UMP point contenders Michael Kloos and Bobby Pierce in row two. Walden took the lead at the green, with Pierce powering to second. The caution came out on lap four, as Jeff Herzog and Steve Lance Jr got together. On the restart, Pierce used the very bottom line of the track to ease ahead of Walden, as seventh starting Billy Drake advanced to fourth. Despite the reworking of the super high banked oval during intermission, the surface was now super slick, and the leaders all hugged the low groove, looking for an opening. Only sixth starting Kolby Vandenbergh and row seven starter Mike " Opie " Spatola searched for an advantage in the high groove without much success. The front two distanced themselves from the pack, while Gardner and Drake had their own duel for third.. Again, lap 21 was when traffic came into play, and while Pierce had some issues, he was able to maintain his momentum, holding off Walden to the checkers. Gardner scored a third place finish over Drake, while Tim Lance brought out a plain black #48, starting and finishing fifth. Lance and Russ Adams did double duty in both late models classes, while veteran Kevin Weaver did the same in the open mods and super lates. The " Flatland Flash " ran 13th in one of the Allen Racing mods, but came home sixth in the late models in his own # B12. Peoria standout Todd Bennett was in one of the Bob Gardner # 4 cars and ran seventh, besting Kloos, Charley Hess, and Mike Mullvain to round out the top ten.
With the time on the wrong side of 11:30, we headed to the car with the final two features in staging.
This was the first trip to " the Spoon " for either of us in many years, and it was fun to meet some new friends and connect with old friend Kevin Paul, a former Quincy Raceways racer who now wheels one of the # 93 late models for Crazy Ray Racing. Thanks to the Spoon River staff for their help and hospitality.
The holiday weekend is nearly over, now back to work...
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Kay Dominates Liberty 100
For the second straight season, three time IMCA national late model point champion Justin Kay swept both of the 50 lap features that make up the Liberty 100 at the West Liberty Raceway. Fred, Darryl, and I made our way north for the second night of the annual two day show that closes out the season at the fairgrounds half mile. The event was moved up a full month this season, but the heat and humidity had no affect on the driver of the # 15K.
95 entrants returned for the second night of racing, with position consolation races run for the IMCA sport Mods and IMCA modifieds, as well as two 12 laps last chance races for the returning non qualified IMCA late models. All but two of the 35 cars from the opening round returned, and with only the eight heat winners from Friday locked into the first feature, 12 spots were up for grabs, plus four provisional starters for the first 50 lapper, which would be a points race in the Deery Brothers Summer Series. The first last chance race was a flag to flag win for the soon to be retired Brian Harris in the Richard Racing # 15R, followed by national dirt hall of famer Ray Guss Jr. Andy Eckrich took the final qualifier ahead of Chad Holladay, as weekly West Liberty cars dominated the last chance events.
The 17 sport compacts then battled for 20 laps in the first of the six feature races. Tim Plummer led the early laps, with Curtis Vanderwal in hot pursuit. Following a lap four caution, Aric Becker blasted to second, but then slipped back several spots. The yellow waved again two times on lap 12, and now it was Austin Kaplin in the runner up spot following the restart. But it was Plummer remaining out front to the checkers, with Kaplin taking second. Vanderwal raced home third ahead of Logan Anderson and Becker.
With David Brandies and Johnny Spaw dominating the Friday night IMCA stock car action, $200.00 in feature winner bonus money was posted by outside sources if those two front row starters would agree to start in the back row for the 20 lap main event. With only 12 entrants, both accepted the challenge. A lap one caution saw two cars drop out before one lap was scored. Back to racing, Greg Gill jumped to the lead, but by lap four, Brandies was up ti third, and Spaw to fifth. A lap five caution closed the field up, and by lap seven, Gill and Brandies were locked in a duel for the top spot. As the two battled, Spaw sneaked past both on the low side, but a caution flag negated the pass. On the restart, Brandies grabbed the lead, and after a final yellow two laps later, Spaw grabbed the second spot. From there, it was a two car battle for the final 11 laps, but Brandies found the low line to his liking, and although Spaw pulled alongside several times, he could not make the pass. At the flag, it was Brandies, Spaw, Gill, and Brandon Jay.
The Deery Brothers late model 50 lapper for llate models ran next, with Tyler Bruening in a new car, and Kay on the front row, with Kay there thanks to the Casey Pizza box trade by Denny Eckrich, who made the unfortunate swap with Justin. Kay pulled to an early lead, and had stretched out a big advantage by lap two, when Kevin Kile moved around Bruening for second. Tyler regained the second spot on lap three, with Kay finding slower traffic by lap eight. The first caution waved on lap 15, and back to racing, seventh starting Jeff Aikey moved to the runnerup spot. Kay again pulled away, again finding the back of the pack at the halfway mark. The only other yellow came on lap 38, but a clear track enabled Kay to pull away by a large margin once again. Aikey held on to second, with ninth starting Harris moving to third on lap 44. Tyler Droste started fourth and finished there, with Bruening completing the top five. The second late model feature would be lined up with the last car on the lead lap of feature number one on the pole, ans so on, and even though the lapped cars were put back on the lead lap after each caution, Kay still lapped enough cars on the final green flag run to give him a row eight start for the finale. Also, any car not finishing the first 50 laps - there were four - would be replaced by a non qualifier for the second feature. Got it?
The sport compacts ran 15 laps next, with a disappointing field of nine cars on hand. It was never the less a hotly contested race, with Ryan Havel leading until a lap two restart saw Shaun Slaughter grab the lead. Cody VanDusen made it a three car battle, and although Slaughter survived a lap five yellow, Van Dusen pulled even on lap seven. Slaughter led lap ten, Cody lap 11. At the flag it was Van Dusen over Slaughter, Havel, and Ryan Walker.
25 laps of modified racing was next with 24 cars taking the green. Front row starter Kelly Shryock led from flag to flag, although fellow front row starter Jeff Larson stayed close early. Two cautions came on lap three, and on the sixth trip past the flag stands, Chris Zogg was second. Meanwhile, Brad Diercks, who had come from the tail of a postion race to the win and a row seven start, was charging through the pack, taking fourth on lap ten., third on lap 12, and the runnerup spot on lap 20 in heavy traffic. At the checkers, it was Shryock, Diercks, Zogg, Larson, and Bruce Hanford. However, reports are the morning that the top two may have been DQ'd, this information being unofficial at this point.
The night wrapped up with the second 50 lapper for the late models. Jay Johnson jumped to the early lead from the pole position, leading the first 26 circuits in a pull away with Scott Fitpatrick as the race went caution free on the smooth, slick track. Then disaster struck, as the veteran smacked the backstretch wall as he was being challenged by Fitzpatrick. Johnson left on the hook, while Fitzpatrick dunked to the pits, putting him at the back on the restart. Kay, meanwhile had advance two spots by lap two, and entered the top ten on lap ten. He was up to sixth when the caution waved, and with the leaders out, the two by two start had him in row two. Harris meanwhile, had moved from row seven to third at the time of the caution, and was now on the front row for the restart alongside Joe Zrotlik. Back to green flag action, Harris took the lead, with Kay now third, and he moved to second on lap 31, now closing on the leader. Denny Eckrich again gave Kay an unintended assit, rolling to astop on lap 35, bringing out the final yellow flag of the night. Joel Callahan briefly wrestled the runner up spot from Kay on the top side as the green waved, but one lap later, Kay retook the spot, as he and Harris pulled away from the field. Guss was now on the move, coming from row sixth to take third on lap 41, but it was a two car battle for the lead. JKay had been working the low side of the big 1/2 mile, but he took a high line to clear Harris on lap 43, then cruising to the sweep. Harris finished a solid night with a second to go with his earlier third, Guss ran third, and Droste made it a pair of fourths. Holliday had a strong run to round out the top five.
The skies are clear as I type this early Sunday afternoon, so get out and take in some racing on this final summer holiday weekend!
95 entrants returned for the second night of racing, with position consolation races run for the IMCA sport Mods and IMCA modifieds, as well as two 12 laps last chance races for the returning non qualified IMCA late models. All but two of the 35 cars from the opening round returned, and with only the eight heat winners from Friday locked into the first feature, 12 spots were up for grabs, plus four provisional starters for the first 50 lapper, which would be a points race in the Deery Brothers Summer Series. The first last chance race was a flag to flag win for the soon to be retired Brian Harris in the Richard Racing # 15R, followed by national dirt hall of famer Ray Guss Jr. Andy Eckrich took the final qualifier ahead of Chad Holladay, as weekly West Liberty cars dominated the last chance events.
The 17 sport compacts then battled for 20 laps in the first of the six feature races. Tim Plummer led the early laps, with Curtis Vanderwal in hot pursuit. Following a lap four caution, Aric Becker blasted to second, but then slipped back several spots. The yellow waved again two times on lap 12, and now it was Austin Kaplin in the runner up spot following the restart. But it was Plummer remaining out front to the checkers, with Kaplin taking second. Vanderwal raced home third ahead of Logan Anderson and Becker.
With David Brandies and Johnny Spaw dominating the Friday night IMCA stock car action, $200.00 in feature winner bonus money was posted by outside sources if those two front row starters would agree to start in the back row for the 20 lap main event. With only 12 entrants, both accepted the challenge. A lap one caution saw two cars drop out before one lap was scored. Back to racing, Greg Gill jumped to the lead, but by lap four, Brandies was up ti third, and Spaw to fifth. A lap five caution closed the field up, and by lap seven, Gill and Brandies were locked in a duel for the top spot. As the two battled, Spaw sneaked past both on the low side, but a caution flag negated the pass. On the restart, Brandies grabbed the lead, and after a final yellow two laps later, Spaw grabbed the second spot. From there, it was a two car battle for the final 11 laps, but Brandies found the low line to his liking, and although Spaw pulled alongside several times, he could not make the pass. At the flag, it was Brandies, Spaw, Gill, and Brandon Jay.
The Deery Brothers late model 50 lapper for llate models ran next, with Tyler Bruening in a new car, and Kay on the front row, with Kay there thanks to the Casey Pizza box trade by Denny Eckrich, who made the unfortunate swap with Justin. Kay pulled to an early lead, and had stretched out a big advantage by lap two, when Kevin Kile moved around Bruening for second. Tyler regained the second spot on lap three, with Kay finding slower traffic by lap eight. The first caution waved on lap 15, and back to racing, seventh starting Jeff Aikey moved to the runnerup spot. Kay again pulled away, again finding the back of the pack at the halfway mark. The only other yellow came on lap 38, but a clear track enabled Kay to pull away by a large margin once again. Aikey held on to second, with ninth starting Harris moving to third on lap 44. Tyler Droste started fourth and finished there, with Bruening completing the top five. The second late model feature would be lined up with the last car on the lead lap of feature number one on the pole, ans so on, and even though the lapped cars were put back on the lead lap after each caution, Kay still lapped enough cars on the final green flag run to give him a row eight start for the finale. Also, any car not finishing the first 50 laps - there were four - would be replaced by a non qualifier for the second feature. Got it?
The sport compacts ran 15 laps next, with a disappointing field of nine cars on hand. It was never the less a hotly contested race, with Ryan Havel leading until a lap two restart saw Shaun Slaughter grab the lead. Cody VanDusen made it a three car battle, and although Slaughter survived a lap five yellow, Van Dusen pulled even on lap seven. Slaughter led lap ten, Cody lap 11. At the flag it was Van Dusen over Slaughter, Havel, and Ryan Walker.
25 laps of modified racing was next with 24 cars taking the green. Front row starter Kelly Shryock led from flag to flag, although fellow front row starter Jeff Larson stayed close early. Two cautions came on lap three, and on the sixth trip past the flag stands, Chris Zogg was second. Meanwhile, Brad Diercks, who had come from the tail of a postion race to the win and a row seven start, was charging through the pack, taking fourth on lap ten., third on lap 12, and the runnerup spot on lap 20 in heavy traffic. At the checkers, it was Shryock, Diercks, Zogg, Larson, and Bruce Hanford. However, reports are the morning that the top two may have been DQ'd, this information being unofficial at this point.
The night wrapped up with the second 50 lapper for the late models. Jay Johnson jumped to the early lead from the pole position, leading the first 26 circuits in a pull away with Scott Fitpatrick as the race went caution free on the smooth, slick track. Then disaster struck, as the veteran smacked the backstretch wall as he was being challenged by Fitzpatrick. Johnson left on the hook, while Fitzpatrick dunked to the pits, putting him at the back on the restart. Kay, meanwhile had advance two spots by lap two, and entered the top ten on lap ten. He was up to sixth when the caution waved, and with the leaders out, the two by two start had him in row two. Harris meanwhile, had moved from row seven to third at the time of the caution, and was now on the front row for the restart alongside Joe Zrotlik. Back to green flag action, Harris took the lead, with Kay now third, and he moved to second on lap 31, now closing on the leader. Denny Eckrich again gave Kay an unintended assit, rolling to astop on lap 35, bringing out the final yellow flag of the night. Joel Callahan briefly wrestled the runner up spot from Kay on the top side as the green waved, but one lap later, Kay retook the spot, as he and Harris pulled away from the field. Guss was now on the move, coming from row sixth to take third on lap 41, but it was a two car battle for the lead. JKay had been working the low side of the big 1/2 mile, but he took a high line to clear Harris on lap 43, then cruising to the sweep. Harris finished a solid night with a second to go with his earlier third, Guss ran third, and Droste made it a pair of fourths. Holliday had a strong run to round out the top five.
The skies are clear as I type this early Sunday afternoon, so get out and take in some racing on this final summer holiday weekend!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Pierce Leads the Way at Quincy
The largest non special late model field of 2015 turned out on a hot, humid, Sunday night at Quincy Raceways. 20 UMP late models headlined the 75 car five class program.
UMP Summernationals champion Bobby Pierce paced late model qualifying with a lap of 13.526 seconds, and former late model ace Rickey Frankel topped the UMP mod time trials. Things got off to a rocky start, when Justin Wade, subbing for John Hahler in the Moon Racing # 124 late model jumped the tall cushion in turn two in his heat race, flipping a couple of times and landing on his roof. Wade was not injured, but the car was tangled in the fence, and it took a while to get back to action.
The top groove was the fast way around in heat race action, and outside polesitter Jamie Wilson bested Pierce in the first ten lapper. But Jamie then rolled a four for the feature invert, putting Bobby back on the pole for the feature.
The IMCA sport mods ran the first money race. 19 cars had checked in, but when Tony Dunker had problems with his # 3, the Nathan Hayes # 1 car came out of the garage, arriving at intermission for the veteran Dunker to drive in the 18 lapper. Wes Mayfield paced the field from row one through two early cautions. On the fifth circuit, Tanner Klingele, who had rolled to a stop in hot laps, took over the top spot. Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway point champ Joey Gower moved to third on lap seven, and at the half way mark, a five car battle had formed at the front. Following a lap nine yellow, Mayfield had regained the lead, and Dunker, starting on the back in a borrowed car was up to sixth. Brandon Lennox charged to third on the restart, and again a four car battle developed. On thre 13th circuit, Klingele retook the point, and Mayfield looped his ride, bringing out the caution. Dunker advanced to fourth on the restart, as Lennox and Gower raced side by side for second. When the checkers waved, Klingele had come from row five to take the win and the points lead. Gower grabbed second ahead of Lennox, Dunker, and Austen Becerra.
Only eight IMCA stock cars were on hand, but as usual, the racing was outstanding. Brandon Savage had captured the last two wins, and he quickly grabbed the lead from the outside pole. As Savage led the charge, Abe Huls moved in to challenge on lap seven, taking command one lap later. Lap 11 saw Andrew Hustead slip past Savage as the low groove began to come around. The race went caution free, with Huls taking the winover Hustead. Savage came home third one day before his birthday, just ahead of his brother in law Beau Taylor. Point leader Jim Lynch was fifth.
Nine rows of super late models took to the track, with Wade and Trace Westling, who lost a drive shaft in his heat, not making the call. Pierce and Denny Woodworth paced the field, but a mixup mid pack brought out the caution before a lap was scored. Back to racing, the youngster and the veteran ran side by side, Pierce a nose ahead on lap one, and Denny by the same margin on lap two. The front two broke away, side by side until slower traffic came in to play on the ninth go around. Pierce took advantage of a lapped car, opening a lead at this point. Half way through the 25 lapper, fifth starting Mark Burgtorf moved to third, setting up a duel with Woodworth. Pierce continued to stretch his lead, as UMP national points contender Michael Kloos stormed to third on lap 22. Just as a three car battle for second was forming, the caution came out on lap 23. Woodworth took the low side on the Delaware restart, with the now third place Burgtorf on the outside. As the green waved, Mark rocketed ahead, but another mid pack scrum negated the start. This time, Denny chose the outside, but Burgtorf was on a mission and again grabbed the runner up spot. He took one lap to try to set up Pierce, then pulled a dandy high/low move out of turn four, but came up a half car length short at the flagstand. In thee post race interview, Bobby said his car was getting loose and his tires were going away, and he was happy the race was over! Burgtorf settled for second ahead of Woodworth, Kloos, and Justin Reed. University of Missouri college student Joseph Hughs was sixth, leading Jason Perry, 18th starting Moon, Gordy Gundaker, and Keith Pratt.
Jake Griffin was a no show in the UMP modified 25 lapper, giving us 16 starters, Frankie Wellman and Dave Weitholder paced the field, with Dave scoring the first lap lead. Two circuits later, fourth starting Michael Long cleared Wellman, and soon the top two had opened up a sizable advantage on the field. Weitholder was riding the rim, with Long working the low side. As with the late models, slower traffic came in to play. On lap ten, Michael chose the better line, taking the top spot. One lap later, the first caution flag waved, and on the restart, Long checked out. Yet another dandy four car battle developed for second through fifth, with Weitholder, Frankel, Shawn Deering, and sixth row starter Steven Delonjay. Long was in anothe time zone when Delonjay powered to third on the 19th circuit, but again a lap 22 caution period wiped out his big margin. It was only a temporary set back, as Michael pulled away as the green waved. Meanwhile, Deering took advantage, grabbing the third spot and putting pressure on Weitholder. At the checkers, it was Long, Weitholder, Deering, Delonjay, and Russ Coultas. It was the fifth win in a row for Michael, and his ninth overall in what has been an incredible season for the driver of the # 18L.
The final feature of the evening was the ten car IMCA sport compact 15 lapper. Brandon Lambert charged to the early lead, pacing the pack for ten green flag laps. Following a caution perios, Kimberly Abbott has moved up to the runnerup spot, with Brandon Reu running strong in third. With the leader in her sights, Abbott had a tire go down with just two laps to go, dropping her to seventh at the finish. Reu took the second spot ahead of Trent Orwig and Jeffrey Delonjay. Alyssa Steele had jumped the cushion in turn three on the opening, lap, but she pulled back on the track a half lap down, but without bringing out the caution. She was rewarded with a fifth place finish, as she shows no lasting effects from an early season mishap that landed the 17 year old in University of Iowa hospitals. As for Abbott, what looked for awhile like a runaway track title now has her unofficially clinging to a five point lead over Lambert, who has now won three consecutive features.
Quincy Raceways will host a special race program on Friday, featuring sport mods, stock cars, sport compacts, spectator drags, and more, with FREE ADMISSION. Regular points racing continues next Sunday, with three more points nights, and racing scheduled through the end of September.
UMP Summernationals champion Bobby Pierce paced late model qualifying with a lap of 13.526 seconds, and former late model ace Rickey Frankel topped the UMP mod time trials. Things got off to a rocky start, when Justin Wade, subbing for John Hahler in the Moon Racing # 124 late model jumped the tall cushion in turn two in his heat race, flipping a couple of times and landing on his roof. Wade was not injured, but the car was tangled in the fence, and it took a while to get back to action.
The top groove was the fast way around in heat race action, and outside polesitter Jamie Wilson bested Pierce in the first ten lapper. But Jamie then rolled a four for the feature invert, putting Bobby back on the pole for the feature.
The IMCA sport mods ran the first money race. 19 cars had checked in, but when Tony Dunker had problems with his # 3, the Nathan Hayes # 1 car came out of the garage, arriving at intermission for the veteran Dunker to drive in the 18 lapper. Wes Mayfield paced the field from row one through two early cautions. On the fifth circuit, Tanner Klingele, who had rolled to a stop in hot laps, took over the top spot. Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway point champ Joey Gower moved to third on lap seven, and at the half way mark, a five car battle had formed at the front. Following a lap nine yellow, Mayfield had regained the lead, and Dunker, starting on the back in a borrowed car was up to sixth. Brandon Lennox charged to third on the restart, and again a four car battle developed. On thre 13th circuit, Klingele retook the point, and Mayfield looped his ride, bringing out the caution. Dunker advanced to fourth on the restart, as Lennox and Gower raced side by side for second. When the checkers waved, Klingele had come from row five to take the win and the points lead. Gower grabbed second ahead of Lennox, Dunker, and Austen Becerra.
Only eight IMCA stock cars were on hand, but as usual, the racing was outstanding. Brandon Savage had captured the last two wins, and he quickly grabbed the lead from the outside pole. As Savage led the charge, Abe Huls moved in to challenge on lap seven, taking command one lap later. Lap 11 saw Andrew Hustead slip past Savage as the low groove began to come around. The race went caution free, with Huls taking the winover Hustead. Savage came home third one day before his birthday, just ahead of his brother in law Beau Taylor. Point leader Jim Lynch was fifth.
Nine rows of super late models took to the track, with Wade and Trace Westling, who lost a drive shaft in his heat, not making the call. Pierce and Denny Woodworth paced the field, but a mixup mid pack brought out the caution before a lap was scored. Back to racing, the youngster and the veteran ran side by side, Pierce a nose ahead on lap one, and Denny by the same margin on lap two. The front two broke away, side by side until slower traffic came in to play on the ninth go around. Pierce took advantage of a lapped car, opening a lead at this point. Half way through the 25 lapper, fifth starting Mark Burgtorf moved to third, setting up a duel with Woodworth. Pierce continued to stretch his lead, as UMP national points contender Michael Kloos stormed to third on lap 22. Just as a three car battle for second was forming, the caution came out on lap 23. Woodworth took the low side on the Delaware restart, with the now third place Burgtorf on the outside. As the green waved, Mark rocketed ahead, but another mid pack scrum negated the start. This time, Denny chose the outside, but Burgtorf was on a mission and again grabbed the runner up spot. He took one lap to try to set up Pierce, then pulled a dandy high/low move out of turn four, but came up a half car length short at the flagstand. In thee post race interview, Bobby said his car was getting loose and his tires were going away, and he was happy the race was over! Burgtorf settled for second ahead of Woodworth, Kloos, and Justin Reed. University of Missouri college student Joseph Hughs was sixth, leading Jason Perry, 18th starting Moon, Gordy Gundaker, and Keith Pratt.
Jake Griffin was a no show in the UMP modified 25 lapper, giving us 16 starters, Frankie Wellman and Dave Weitholder paced the field, with Dave scoring the first lap lead. Two circuits later, fourth starting Michael Long cleared Wellman, and soon the top two had opened up a sizable advantage on the field. Weitholder was riding the rim, with Long working the low side. As with the late models, slower traffic came in to play. On lap ten, Michael chose the better line, taking the top spot. One lap later, the first caution flag waved, and on the restart, Long checked out. Yet another dandy four car battle developed for second through fifth, with Weitholder, Frankel, Shawn Deering, and sixth row starter Steven Delonjay. Long was in anothe time zone when Delonjay powered to third on the 19th circuit, but again a lap 22 caution period wiped out his big margin. It was only a temporary set back, as Michael pulled away as the green waved. Meanwhile, Deering took advantage, grabbing the third spot and putting pressure on Weitholder. At the checkers, it was Long, Weitholder, Deering, Delonjay, and Russ Coultas. It was the fifth win in a row for Michael, and his ninth overall in what has been an incredible season for the driver of the # 18L.
The final feature of the evening was the ten car IMCA sport compact 15 lapper. Brandon Lambert charged to the early lead, pacing the pack for ten green flag laps. Following a caution perios, Kimberly Abbott has moved up to the runnerup spot, with Brandon Reu running strong in third. With the leader in her sights, Abbott had a tire go down with just two laps to go, dropping her to seventh at the finish. Reu took the second spot ahead of Trent Orwig and Jeffrey Delonjay. Alyssa Steele had jumped the cushion in turn three on the opening, lap, but she pulled back on the track a half lap down, but without bringing out the caution. She was rewarded with a fifth place finish, as she shows no lasting effects from an early season mishap that landed the 17 year old in University of Iowa hospitals. As for Abbott, what looked for awhile like a runaway track title now has her unofficially clinging to a five point lead over Lambert, who has now won three consecutive features.
Quincy Raceways will host a special race program on Friday, featuring sport mods, stock cars, sport compacts, spectator drags, and more, with FREE ADMISSION. Regular points racing continues next Sunday, with three more points nights, and racing scheduled through the end of September.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Gustin Leads Flag to Flag at I-55
Saturday night, Darryl, Fred, and I headed south to I-55 Raceway in Pevely,Mo for the third and final leg of the Mars/UMP challenge series. The mini tour began Thursday night in Paducah with Jason Feger taking the win, and Fred was on hand Friday at Pontoon Beach,Il as Billy Moyer topped the field.
33 super late models checked in Saturday as part of a 102 car five class field. Apparently, there had been some complaints about the 1.3 mile being too " hammer down " fast, so the track crew did not do the normal track prep to facilitate a more dry slick surface. Unfortunately, the result was a a rubbered up, basically one lane track after late model and UMP modified and B modified hot laps. Oxford, Iowas Chris Simpson set the quick time in qualifying at 14.398 seconds. After hot lap sessions for the UMP sportsmen and 4 cylinder cars, five late model heat races were contested.
Despite the slick track, there were multiple lead changes in the first ten lapper. Simpson took the early leasd, with fourth starting Tony Jackson Jr taking the top spot. Following a caution period, fifth starting Ryan Gustin grabbed the lead, and held on to the checkers over Jackson and Simpson.Track regular Tim Manville led flag to flag in heat two ahead of Californian Jason Papich and series regular Justin Asplin. In the third heat, front row starters Bobby Pierce and Kolby Vandenbergh ran side by side, Pierce low and Kolby in the middle line for several laps before Bobby finally pulled ahead for the win. with Shannon Babb taking second over Vandenburgh late in the race. Billy Moyer led the distance from the pole in heat four, besting Jesse Stovall and Gordy Gundaker,and Jason Feger took command of the final heat after polesitter Alan Murray looped hid ride on the opening circuit. Newcomer to the late model ranks, crowd favorite Rusty Griffaw came home seecond with Scott Weber third.
With support class heats in the books, two nine car B -mains ran for 12 laps to qualify six more feature starters. Polesitter Austin Rettig checked out in the first consy, with fourth starting Brian Shirley cruising in second. Dave Jumper put on a late charge, blasting past Dewayne Kiefer on the final lap for third. The final preliminary event saw Jim Shereck take the win over Jeff Roth and Brandon McCormick.
As it was obvious the track conditions were less than ideal, it was decided to do some track prep at intermission. The problem was, a steady rain began to fall at the same time. The announcer assured us we were on the edge of a passing cell, and the rain would stop soon, and as we watched, the farming of the high banks continued. Although the shower lingered, it was never enough to stop work on the track, and eventually even the water truck made a few laps. Much to the delite of the nice sized crowd, it was announced that the 40 lap $5,000 to win late model headliner would run first. Four provisionals were added to the field, series regulars Leroy Johnson and Randy Roth, and track regulars Kenny Rumble in the Kreke # 13 and Cody Conner, and the 25 starters came to the track to " blow off " the water before lining up for 40 laps of action.
The extra track prep combined with the added moisture gave us a much improved feature track, with the usual three groove racing common at Pevely, although the top side was now the place to be.
The straight up start put Gustin and Manville in row one, with Ryan leading the first lap. Going into turn one on lap two, he moved a bit up the track and Manville lost his grip, smacking the concrete wall. The caution came out, and Manville limped to the outer pits, his night over early. On the Delaware restart, Gustin took the high line, with bottom feeder Pierce in tow, as they pulled away from the pack. Soon Moyer was gaining on the front two, and positions were being swapped every lap from fourth on back. Ninth starting Stovall was on the move, entering the top five on lap eight. The leaders caught slower traffic by lap ren, but two laps later, the yellow waved for Jumper, who slowed with a flat tire. Gustin again took off with a clear track, as Moyer grabbed the second spot and Stovall moved to fourth. At the half way mark, lapped traffic again came in to play, but again, two laps later, the final caution came out for a slowing Shirley. The final restart saw no change at the top, with Jackson Jr retaking fourth from Stovall. Gustin stayed true to the high line, with Moyer trying the middle groove to make a move. As the laps wound down, Gustin stretched his advantage, and Moyer had to fend off a challenge from Pierce, who was again at work on the low side. The second generation driver was set to take a run at the Hall of Famer on the final lap, but a lapped car blocked his line in turn three.
The Marshalltown, Iowa ace, Gustin scored the flag to flag win, with Moyer second and Pierce in third. Jackson and Stovall completed the top five. Feger came home sixth, and Babb, who was challenging for third early, settled for seventh. Simpson advanced to eighth, Griffaw, in only his second weekend in the late model rolled home ninth, and McCormick gained 11 spots to take tenth
With the clock now easing past 10:30 and a three hour drive ahead of us, we regretfully headed for the parking lot with four features still to go.
Tonight it is a regular five division show at Quincy Raceways, and next weekend, one of our " cant miss " events, night two of the Liberty 100 at West Liberty, Iowa. And that, folks, opens September, so get to the race track while you can!
33 super late models checked in Saturday as part of a 102 car five class field. Apparently, there had been some complaints about the 1.3 mile being too " hammer down " fast, so the track crew did not do the normal track prep to facilitate a more dry slick surface. Unfortunately, the result was a a rubbered up, basically one lane track after late model and UMP modified and B modified hot laps. Oxford, Iowas Chris Simpson set the quick time in qualifying at 14.398 seconds. After hot lap sessions for the UMP sportsmen and 4 cylinder cars, five late model heat races were contested.
Despite the slick track, there were multiple lead changes in the first ten lapper. Simpson took the early leasd, with fourth starting Tony Jackson Jr taking the top spot. Following a caution period, fifth starting Ryan Gustin grabbed the lead, and held on to the checkers over Jackson and Simpson.Track regular Tim Manville led flag to flag in heat two ahead of Californian Jason Papich and series regular Justin Asplin. In the third heat, front row starters Bobby Pierce and Kolby Vandenbergh ran side by side, Pierce low and Kolby in the middle line for several laps before Bobby finally pulled ahead for the win. with Shannon Babb taking second over Vandenburgh late in the race. Billy Moyer led the distance from the pole in heat four, besting Jesse Stovall and Gordy Gundaker,and Jason Feger took command of the final heat after polesitter Alan Murray looped hid ride on the opening circuit. Newcomer to the late model ranks, crowd favorite Rusty Griffaw came home seecond with Scott Weber third.
With support class heats in the books, two nine car B -mains ran for 12 laps to qualify six more feature starters. Polesitter Austin Rettig checked out in the first consy, with fourth starting Brian Shirley cruising in second. Dave Jumper put on a late charge, blasting past Dewayne Kiefer on the final lap for third. The final preliminary event saw Jim Shereck take the win over Jeff Roth and Brandon McCormick.
As it was obvious the track conditions were less than ideal, it was decided to do some track prep at intermission. The problem was, a steady rain began to fall at the same time. The announcer assured us we were on the edge of a passing cell, and the rain would stop soon, and as we watched, the farming of the high banks continued. Although the shower lingered, it was never enough to stop work on the track, and eventually even the water truck made a few laps. Much to the delite of the nice sized crowd, it was announced that the 40 lap $5,000 to win late model headliner would run first. Four provisionals were added to the field, series regulars Leroy Johnson and Randy Roth, and track regulars Kenny Rumble in the Kreke # 13 and Cody Conner, and the 25 starters came to the track to " blow off " the water before lining up for 40 laps of action.
The extra track prep combined with the added moisture gave us a much improved feature track, with the usual three groove racing common at Pevely, although the top side was now the place to be.
The straight up start put Gustin and Manville in row one, with Ryan leading the first lap. Going into turn one on lap two, he moved a bit up the track and Manville lost his grip, smacking the concrete wall. The caution came out, and Manville limped to the outer pits, his night over early. On the Delaware restart, Gustin took the high line, with bottom feeder Pierce in tow, as they pulled away from the pack. Soon Moyer was gaining on the front two, and positions were being swapped every lap from fourth on back. Ninth starting Stovall was on the move, entering the top five on lap eight. The leaders caught slower traffic by lap ren, but two laps later, the yellow waved for Jumper, who slowed with a flat tire. Gustin again took off with a clear track, as Moyer grabbed the second spot and Stovall moved to fourth. At the half way mark, lapped traffic again came in to play, but again, two laps later, the final caution came out for a slowing Shirley. The final restart saw no change at the top, with Jackson Jr retaking fourth from Stovall. Gustin stayed true to the high line, with Moyer trying the middle groove to make a move. As the laps wound down, Gustin stretched his advantage, and Moyer had to fend off a challenge from Pierce, who was again at work on the low side. The second generation driver was set to take a run at the Hall of Famer on the final lap, but a lapped car blocked his line in turn three.
The Marshalltown, Iowa ace, Gustin scored the flag to flag win, with Moyer second and Pierce in third. Jackson and Stovall completed the top five. Feger came home sixth, and Babb, who was challenging for third early, settled for seventh. Simpson advanced to eighth, Griffaw, in only his second weekend in the late model rolled home ninth, and McCormick gained 11 spots to take tenth
With the clock now easing past 10:30 and a three hour drive ahead of us, we regretfully headed for the parking lot with four features still to go.
Tonight it is a regular five division show at Quincy Raceways, and next weekend, one of our " cant miss " events, night two of the Liberty 100 at West Liberty, Iowa. And that, folks, opens September, so get to the race track while you can!
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Schedule Change at Quincy Raceways
Quincy Raceways has announced a change since my last entry. The make up UMP Summernationals $5,000 to win feature will not be run this Sunday, August 30. Promoter Ken Dobson made the decision partly due to the fact that Sunday night would be the fifth straight night of UMP specials around the midwest, and he was not expecting more than half of the qualified drivers to be in attendance. As a result, Sunday will be a regular weekly show, and fans holding tickets from the Summernationals rainout can receive full value at either Quincy Raceways or Jacksonville Speedway for the remainder of the season. Anyone with questions can contact Ken at 217-371-3653 or kdobson@ciltrak.com
Monday, August 17, 2015
Reed Goes Topless, Tops Quincy
Sunday night at Quincy Raceways was the culmination of a three night swing of " topless" racing for UMP late models and modifieds. Friday night, Tri City Speedway in Granite City,Il, and Saturday night I-55 Raceway in Pevely,Mo. hosted the first two nights. Sunday night, Quincy Raceways offered a $100.00 bonus to the feature winners in those divisions if they ran with the roof removed from their ride.
The night began a bit late, as track crews tried to pump plenty of water on the track on a scorching hot day, and it took all the cars and some extra time to get the track in racing shape. When action began, Michael Kloos of Trenton,Il set quick time for the late models at 13.760 seconds. It was the first laps ever turned at the Bullring by Kloos, who is quickly climbing the in the UMP national points race. It was more of the same in UMP modified time trials, with Michael Long toping the 15 entrants with a lap of 15.161 seconds. Kloos also picked up the heat one win, but rolled a " six " for the feature invert. Long picked up his heat win, and rolled a " three."
The first feature of the night was the IMCA sport mod 18 lapper, with 18 cars taking the green flag. Wes Mayfield led lap one, with the first yellow waving as the lap was completed. Another caution waved on the restart, but when racing resumed, point leader Tanner Klingele grabbed the lead, with Tony Dunker following him in second. The final yellow came on lap four, and back to racing, Klingele and Dunker crossed the line side by side completing lap six, with Dunker to the lead on lap seven. 12 circuits in, Joey Gower, who got shuffled back on the start, passed Patrick Phillips to grab third. Two laps later, Gower cleared Klingele for second, and began closing on Dunker as Phillips advanced to third. As the white flag waved, the leaders encountered a slower car, and Gower found the quicker way around, snatching the win from Dunker in much the same fashion as Dunker did to Klingele the week before, leading only one lap. Dunker, Phillips, and Klingele completed the top four.
The IMCA stock car 18 lap finale saw 11 cars come to the track, as heat winner Troy Brierton could not get his Dodge to fire in staging. Last weeks winner Brandon Savage, and John Oliver Jr in the Kratzer Brothers # 4K sat on row one. Savage paced the opening circuit, with Oliver leading lap two. Those two raced side by side for the lead, while Jake Powers and Abe Huls did the same behind them, dueling for third. Savage took command on lap seven, and lap eight saw a breakaway with Savage, Oliver, and Huls before the caution waved. On the restart, Oliver led lap nine, with Savage back on top one lap later. The final caution came on lap 11, and following this restart, it was Savage and Huls side by side for the lead. The two ran this way lap after lap, with Huls taking his first lead on lap 16. As the white flag flew, it was Savage on top, and everyone was on their feet as Savage made it two in a row by a fender at the checkers. Oliver also edged Powers for third by the slimmest of margins in front of the sizable crowd.
18 UMP late models checked in, but last weeks winner Jason Perry saw his night end in hot laps with a puff of smoke from his # 27. Jim Moon still did not have repairs complete on his # 1 machine, so he came to town with his # 124 car normally driven by John Hahler. Moon dropped some fluid in his heat, and did not start the 25 lap feature. The six car invert had point leader Mark Burgtorf and Dustin Griffin, two of the ten or so topless late models, on the front row. A caution debris on lap one slowed the action, but back to racing it was Burgtorf to the lead, taking third starting Jamie Wilson along in second. The caution waved on lap three, and on the restart heat two winner Justin Reed moved to second. The yellow came out on lap six as third running Jamie Wilson went over the top off turn two. Back under green, Green charged to second, then took the lead, with Burgtorf heading pitside with mechanical issues. On lap seven, Kloos worked his way to the runnerup spot, and a three car tussle developed with Griffin, Kloos and Reed. By the half way mark, Brian Dively was hooked up and closing on the top three. Reed moved to second on lap 16, and used a nifty slide job to take the lead one lap later, with Griffin and Kloos making contact, but holding their positions. Kloos and Griffin raced side by side for second with Dively looking for racing room when the caution came out for a slowing Mark Voigt on lap 21. Dively took third on the restart as the three challengers continued to mix it up behind Reed. at the checkers, it was Reed, Kloos, Griffin, and Dively, with Chuck Mitchell having a strong run in fifth. Alan Westling ran a season best sixth, followed by Denny Woodworth, Keith Pratt, Vance Wilson, and Trace Westling.
Rickey Frankel and Dave Weitholder sat on row one of what quickly developed into an ugly UMP modified feature. Weitholder took the early lead, with third starting Long chasing. Weitholder held the preferred high line, as Long used the whole track to try and find a way around the leader. Following the first yellow on lap six, Long took the top spot. For the next 18 laps, it was a yellow fest, with a total of nine stoppages marring the action. The final seven or so laps clicked off caution free, with Long picking up another win and regaining the points lead. Rickey Frankel ran in the top five throughout, eventually staging a mild challenge for the lead, bringing the Mike Begley # B4 home in second. Steven Delonjay started seventh and finished third, with Weitholder fourth.
The IMCA sport compact class boasted 11 cars, but their feature was stopped short after a red flag period early on. A collision found one of the competitors shaken up and it took some time to get him from his ride, and as it was now about 10:00, it was decided there would be double features next week.
Next Sunday, August 23, the late models will take the night off to make way for the Sprint Invaders. Then on Sunday, August 30, the make up feature from the rain shortened UMP Summernationals $5,000 to win late model show will be held along with a full program of action. Prior to that Sunday night, there will be $5,000 to win late model specials at Macon,Il Speedway, Granite City and Pevely, so indications are that many of the Summernational competitors will be in the area for the full weekend of racing.
Wherever you are, support your local tracks, and say " Hi" if you see me there!
The night began a bit late, as track crews tried to pump plenty of water on the track on a scorching hot day, and it took all the cars and some extra time to get the track in racing shape. When action began, Michael Kloos of Trenton,Il set quick time for the late models at 13.760 seconds. It was the first laps ever turned at the Bullring by Kloos, who is quickly climbing the in the UMP national points race. It was more of the same in UMP modified time trials, with Michael Long toping the 15 entrants with a lap of 15.161 seconds. Kloos also picked up the heat one win, but rolled a " six " for the feature invert. Long picked up his heat win, and rolled a " three."
The first feature of the night was the IMCA sport mod 18 lapper, with 18 cars taking the green flag. Wes Mayfield led lap one, with the first yellow waving as the lap was completed. Another caution waved on the restart, but when racing resumed, point leader Tanner Klingele grabbed the lead, with Tony Dunker following him in second. The final yellow came on lap four, and back to racing, Klingele and Dunker crossed the line side by side completing lap six, with Dunker to the lead on lap seven. 12 circuits in, Joey Gower, who got shuffled back on the start, passed Patrick Phillips to grab third. Two laps later, Gower cleared Klingele for second, and began closing on Dunker as Phillips advanced to third. As the white flag waved, the leaders encountered a slower car, and Gower found the quicker way around, snatching the win from Dunker in much the same fashion as Dunker did to Klingele the week before, leading only one lap. Dunker, Phillips, and Klingele completed the top four.
The IMCA stock car 18 lap finale saw 11 cars come to the track, as heat winner Troy Brierton could not get his Dodge to fire in staging. Last weeks winner Brandon Savage, and John Oliver Jr in the Kratzer Brothers # 4K sat on row one. Savage paced the opening circuit, with Oliver leading lap two. Those two raced side by side for the lead, while Jake Powers and Abe Huls did the same behind them, dueling for third. Savage took command on lap seven, and lap eight saw a breakaway with Savage, Oliver, and Huls before the caution waved. On the restart, Oliver led lap nine, with Savage back on top one lap later. The final caution came on lap 11, and following this restart, it was Savage and Huls side by side for the lead. The two ran this way lap after lap, with Huls taking his first lead on lap 16. As the white flag flew, it was Savage on top, and everyone was on their feet as Savage made it two in a row by a fender at the checkers. Oliver also edged Powers for third by the slimmest of margins in front of the sizable crowd.
18 UMP late models checked in, but last weeks winner Jason Perry saw his night end in hot laps with a puff of smoke from his # 27. Jim Moon still did not have repairs complete on his # 1 machine, so he came to town with his # 124 car normally driven by John Hahler. Moon dropped some fluid in his heat, and did not start the 25 lap feature. The six car invert had point leader Mark Burgtorf and Dustin Griffin, two of the ten or so topless late models, on the front row. A caution debris on lap one slowed the action, but back to racing it was Burgtorf to the lead, taking third starting Jamie Wilson along in second. The caution waved on lap three, and on the restart heat two winner Justin Reed moved to second. The yellow came out on lap six as third running Jamie Wilson went over the top off turn two. Back under green, Green charged to second, then took the lead, with Burgtorf heading pitside with mechanical issues. On lap seven, Kloos worked his way to the runnerup spot, and a three car tussle developed with Griffin, Kloos and Reed. By the half way mark, Brian Dively was hooked up and closing on the top three. Reed moved to second on lap 16, and used a nifty slide job to take the lead one lap later, with Griffin and Kloos making contact, but holding their positions. Kloos and Griffin raced side by side for second with Dively looking for racing room when the caution came out for a slowing Mark Voigt on lap 21. Dively took third on the restart as the three challengers continued to mix it up behind Reed. at the checkers, it was Reed, Kloos, Griffin, and Dively, with Chuck Mitchell having a strong run in fifth. Alan Westling ran a season best sixth, followed by Denny Woodworth, Keith Pratt, Vance Wilson, and Trace Westling.
Rickey Frankel and Dave Weitholder sat on row one of what quickly developed into an ugly UMP modified feature. Weitholder took the early lead, with third starting Long chasing. Weitholder held the preferred high line, as Long used the whole track to try and find a way around the leader. Following the first yellow on lap six, Long took the top spot. For the next 18 laps, it was a yellow fest, with a total of nine stoppages marring the action. The final seven or so laps clicked off caution free, with Long picking up another win and regaining the points lead. Rickey Frankel ran in the top five throughout, eventually staging a mild challenge for the lead, bringing the Mike Begley # B4 home in second. Steven Delonjay started seventh and finished third, with Weitholder fourth.
The IMCA sport compact class boasted 11 cars, but their feature was stopped short after a red flag period early on. A collision found one of the competitors shaken up and it took some time to get him from his ride, and as it was now about 10:00, it was decided there would be double features next week.
Next Sunday, August 23, the late models will take the night off to make way for the Sprint Invaders. Then on Sunday, August 30, the make up feature from the rain shortened UMP Summernationals $5,000 to win late model show will be held along with a full program of action. Prior to that Sunday night, there will be $5,000 to win late model specials at Macon,Il Speedway, Granite City and Pevely, so indications are that many of the Summernational competitors will be in the area for the full weekend of racing.
Wherever you are, support your local tracks, and say " Hi" if you see me there!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Hard Work Means Racing at Quincy
I woke up Sunday morning to what seems like the usual Sunday downpour. When someone asked me at church if we would race that night, I said I didn't see how. But the voice on the phone assured me that barring further rain, we would find a way, and that the program would be pushed back one hour to allow for more drying. When I arrived at the Broadway Bullring, the pits were a mud pit, and the track looked like a plowed field. But Tommy and the crew were working their tails off, and slowly but surely they built a racing surface. The car count was down a bit, but on this night that wasn't all bad, as there was about 60% of the pits usable, at best. Still, about 57 race teams checked in, and sure enough, the program started about an hour later than normal.
Jason Perry set quick time for the UMP late models at 13.659 seconds, and Michael Long paced the UMP mods at 15.039. The heat races ran off quickly, and although a five minute intermission was advertised, the track crew decided to try and smooth out the bump that had developed in turn three, a procedure that took only about 20 minutes.
The IMCA sport mods boasted 18 cars, and they all took the feature green flag. A three car pile up on the first lap brought out the caution, with Brandon Lennox and Austin Howes hooked togetrher as they tried to avoid a spinning Austen Becerra. Patrick Phillips then took the lead from row one, with another caution slowing the event on lap two. But after that, it was green flag racing to the checkers! Tanner Klingele was right on the back bumper of Phillips, and Tony Dunker vaulted to third on the restart in what quickly became a three car battle. The leaders hit slower traffic on lap 11 of the 18 lap race, and still they stayed nose to tail. On the final lap, Klingele made his move, and made contact with Phillips. From the best seat in the house, Dunker flew past both cars, and while Phillips led 17 and 3/4 laps, Dunker led when it counted. Phillips recovered for second, Klingele suffered a flat on the contact, limping home fourth behind Joey Gower. Gower had suffered heavy damge the night before at 34 Raceway, and was likely pleased to roll home in third. Becerra recovered to come home in fifth.
Next up was the ten car IMCA stock car main event. Brandon Savage got a bit of a late start on the season, and even though he has been fast, he had yet to finish a feature. The # 47S ran off with the heat race win, and started up front for the 18 lap finale. He rocketed to the lead with Jeremy Buss and Michael Larsen in tow. By the time Larsen moved to second on lap four, Savage had a sizable advantage. Larsen soon put distance between himself and the rest of the pack, as well. On lap 17, Abe Huls charged to third on the tacky, fast track, with Jim Lynch moving to fourth. But for Savage it was a flag to flag non stop win followed by Larsen, Huls, Lynch, and John Oliver Jr., who was shaking out the Kratzer Brothers # 4K.
It was now late model time, with ten of the 11 entrants coming to the .29 mile oval. Jim Moon had shadowed Reed to the checkers in his heat, but broke a rocker arm in the process, ending his night. Perry had followed his quick time with a heat race win, but rolled a " five " for the feature invert, putting Denny Woodworth and Moon on the front row. With the " Moonman " out, Justin Reed moved to the front row alongside Woodworth. Reed jumped to the lead, with Woodworth second, but Perry moved to second on lap two. It became a two car battle, as Perry tried every lap to overtake Reed. Perry finally made his move in traffic on lap 14, grabbing the lead for good. He stretched out a commanding lead in another non stop race. Mark Burgtorf began closing on Reed in the late stages, but settled for third. Woodworth and Jamie Wilson completed the top five, with Keith Pratt the only other car on the lead lap.
The UMP modifieds had their lowest count of the season, with nine cars timing in after Steve Grotz on on the road home early. Still, their 25 lap feature was a good one. Dave Weitholder got the jump on Steven Delonjay at the green, while Long powered from fifth to third as lap two was scored. When Michael cleared Delonjay on lap four, Weitholder had opened a healthy lead. By lap nine, Long was challenging in the middle groove, as Dave ran the preferred high line. The first yellow came on lap 13 for Spencer Havermale, and as the field slowed, it became obvious that the leader had a flat tire. Weitholder was able to get the tire changed to rejoin the pack, but Long used a clear track to open a huge lead over Delonjay. As the laps wound down, Rickey Frankel and Ryan Meyer began to crowd Delonjay for the runner up spot. On lap 24, Meyer had Frankel in his sights, bu went too hard into turn one, slipping over the cushion. We now had a green, white, checkers finish, with Long holding on for the win. Delonjay held off Frankel for second, Weitholder rebounded to fourth, and Danny Lake came home fifth.
With the later than usual start, it was now past my self imposed Sunday curfew, so I headed to the car as the IMCA sport compact finale came to the oval. Trent Orwig started the season as aregular, but had been missing for several events before returning last week. Last night, he picked up the feature checkers ahead of Brandon Lambert, points leader Kim Abbott, Jeffery Delonjay and Austin McClean.
Quincy Raceways will be back in action next Sunday for a regular race night before the Sprint Invaders take center stage on Sunday August 23.
Wherever you are, take in some races this weekend!
Jason Perry set quick time for the UMP late models at 13.659 seconds, and Michael Long paced the UMP mods at 15.039. The heat races ran off quickly, and although a five minute intermission was advertised, the track crew decided to try and smooth out the bump that had developed in turn three, a procedure that took only about 20 minutes.
The IMCA sport mods boasted 18 cars, and they all took the feature green flag. A three car pile up on the first lap brought out the caution, with Brandon Lennox and Austin Howes hooked togetrher as they tried to avoid a spinning Austen Becerra. Patrick Phillips then took the lead from row one, with another caution slowing the event on lap two. But after that, it was green flag racing to the checkers! Tanner Klingele was right on the back bumper of Phillips, and Tony Dunker vaulted to third on the restart in what quickly became a three car battle. The leaders hit slower traffic on lap 11 of the 18 lap race, and still they stayed nose to tail. On the final lap, Klingele made his move, and made contact with Phillips. From the best seat in the house, Dunker flew past both cars, and while Phillips led 17 and 3/4 laps, Dunker led when it counted. Phillips recovered for second, Klingele suffered a flat on the contact, limping home fourth behind Joey Gower. Gower had suffered heavy damge the night before at 34 Raceway, and was likely pleased to roll home in third. Becerra recovered to come home in fifth.
Next up was the ten car IMCA stock car main event. Brandon Savage got a bit of a late start on the season, and even though he has been fast, he had yet to finish a feature. The # 47S ran off with the heat race win, and started up front for the 18 lap finale. He rocketed to the lead with Jeremy Buss and Michael Larsen in tow. By the time Larsen moved to second on lap four, Savage had a sizable advantage. Larsen soon put distance between himself and the rest of the pack, as well. On lap 17, Abe Huls charged to third on the tacky, fast track, with Jim Lynch moving to fourth. But for Savage it was a flag to flag non stop win followed by Larsen, Huls, Lynch, and John Oliver Jr., who was shaking out the Kratzer Brothers # 4K.
It was now late model time, with ten of the 11 entrants coming to the .29 mile oval. Jim Moon had shadowed Reed to the checkers in his heat, but broke a rocker arm in the process, ending his night. Perry had followed his quick time with a heat race win, but rolled a " five " for the feature invert, putting Denny Woodworth and Moon on the front row. With the " Moonman " out, Justin Reed moved to the front row alongside Woodworth. Reed jumped to the lead, with Woodworth second, but Perry moved to second on lap two. It became a two car battle, as Perry tried every lap to overtake Reed. Perry finally made his move in traffic on lap 14, grabbing the lead for good. He stretched out a commanding lead in another non stop race. Mark Burgtorf began closing on Reed in the late stages, but settled for third. Woodworth and Jamie Wilson completed the top five, with Keith Pratt the only other car on the lead lap.
The UMP modifieds had their lowest count of the season, with nine cars timing in after Steve Grotz on on the road home early. Still, their 25 lap feature was a good one. Dave Weitholder got the jump on Steven Delonjay at the green, while Long powered from fifth to third as lap two was scored. When Michael cleared Delonjay on lap four, Weitholder had opened a healthy lead. By lap nine, Long was challenging in the middle groove, as Dave ran the preferred high line. The first yellow came on lap 13 for Spencer Havermale, and as the field slowed, it became obvious that the leader had a flat tire. Weitholder was able to get the tire changed to rejoin the pack, but Long used a clear track to open a huge lead over Delonjay. As the laps wound down, Rickey Frankel and Ryan Meyer began to crowd Delonjay for the runner up spot. On lap 24, Meyer had Frankel in his sights, bu went too hard into turn one, slipping over the cushion. We now had a green, white, checkers finish, with Long holding on for the win. Delonjay held off Frankel for second, Weitholder rebounded to fourth, and Danny Lake came home fifth.
With the later than usual start, it was now past my self imposed Sunday curfew, so I headed to the car as the IMCA sport compact finale came to the oval. Trent Orwig started the season as aregular, but had been missing for several events before returning last week. Last night, he picked up the feature checkers ahead of Brandon Lambert, points leader Kim Abbott, Jeffery Delonjay and Austin McClean.
Quincy Raceways will be back in action next Sunday for a regular race night before the Sprint Invaders take center stage on Sunday August 23.
Wherever you are, take in some races this weekend!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Tornado Tuesday a Big Success
With a vacation day in hand, we headed for the West Liberty Raceway on Tuesday night for the second night of the MLRA late model mini tour through Iowa. Promoter Keith Simmons took a chance in booking the open late model series to a pair of $10,000 to win shows, Monday at Farley Speedway, and Tuesday at West Liberty. And with IMCA late models - paying $1,000 to win - as the only other class, well it would be real tough for me to miss this one!
Jeff has a detailed recap on the Backstretch, so I will just add some observations.
Not saying it was good or bad, but I don't remember ever seeing track officials have the considerable cushion in the corners completely knocked down and smoothed out before the features. I thought especially the open guys liked a pronounced cushion?
Also can't remember when I have seen so many blown or " hurt " engines in the same night. But then it is August, and the big, fast half mile can be hard on the power plants. In fact, many IMCA drivers and especially open engine guys from east of the Mississippi avoid the big tracks unless the payout is simply too high to ignore. The Illinois bullrings produce some good close racing, but the speeds attained on the big half mile is awesome from the grandstand side.
The track started out tacky, and slicked up as the night progressed. With the talent level in the pits in both divisions, caution periods were at a minimum. If my count is correct, there were only three in 80 laps of late model feature racing!
In the IMCA division, Justin Kay reminds me of Mark Burgtorf throughout the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s. It seems with Justin it is not a matter of if he will take the lead and the win, but how soon. From the stands, I find my self with one eye on the leader and one on the 15K. and if he doesn't come to the front, the discussion always gets to why not? The finish of the IMCA feature Tuesday seemed like a bad movie script. Joel Callahan leads from lap two until lap 29 and 3/4, with Kay blasting past for the win. Kay was running in third place with five circuits to go, and it was like he simply decided then it was time to go.
Billy Moyer also seemed to be saving something in the MLRA headliner. He led every lap he raced on Tuesday, heat and feature, and when Tim McCreadie closed in traffic in the early stages, Moyer turned up the wick. Following the lone caution period of the race, Chris Simpson closed briefly, but the # 21 pulled away. And in the closing laps, the veteran pulled off a dandy move in turn one in lapped traffic, building a cushion in front of the quickly closing Mike Marlar, and sealing the victory.
Most of the touring open engine drivers prefer time trials, and MLRA uses a passing points system. The difference was minimal on Tuesday because of how the draw cam out, but yours truly is a big fan of passing points. It can turn " Ho-Hum " heat races into competitive ones, especially if there are a couple of top notch cars starting towards the back. But this is 2015, and I guess race drivers are like a lot of folks, they want it and they want it easy.
48 cars in the two classes at Farley, 46 at West Liberty. 7:00 hot laps, we stayed for the post race interviews and rolled out of the fairgrounds at 10:05. For we three old timers, this was truly like the " good old days" of racing.
My next race will be Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, UMP late models and modifieds, IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts. Maybe I will see you there!
Jeff has a detailed recap on the Backstretch, so I will just add some observations.
Not saying it was good or bad, but I don't remember ever seeing track officials have the considerable cushion in the corners completely knocked down and smoothed out before the features. I thought especially the open guys liked a pronounced cushion?
Also can't remember when I have seen so many blown or " hurt " engines in the same night. But then it is August, and the big, fast half mile can be hard on the power plants. In fact, many IMCA drivers and especially open engine guys from east of the Mississippi avoid the big tracks unless the payout is simply too high to ignore. The Illinois bullrings produce some good close racing, but the speeds attained on the big half mile is awesome from the grandstand side.
The track started out tacky, and slicked up as the night progressed. With the talent level in the pits in both divisions, caution periods were at a minimum. If my count is correct, there were only three in 80 laps of late model feature racing!
In the IMCA division, Justin Kay reminds me of Mark Burgtorf throughout the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s. It seems with Justin it is not a matter of if he will take the lead and the win, but how soon. From the stands, I find my self with one eye on the leader and one on the 15K. and if he doesn't come to the front, the discussion always gets to why not? The finish of the IMCA feature Tuesday seemed like a bad movie script. Joel Callahan leads from lap two until lap 29 and 3/4, with Kay blasting past for the win. Kay was running in third place with five circuits to go, and it was like he simply decided then it was time to go.
Billy Moyer also seemed to be saving something in the MLRA headliner. He led every lap he raced on Tuesday, heat and feature, and when Tim McCreadie closed in traffic in the early stages, Moyer turned up the wick. Following the lone caution period of the race, Chris Simpson closed briefly, but the # 21 pulled away. And in the closing laps, the veteran pulled off a dandy move in turn one in lapped traffic, building a cushion in front of the quickly closing Mike Marlar, and sealing the victory.
Most of the touring open engine drivers prefer time trials, and MLRA uses a passing points system. The difference was minimal on Tuesday because of how the draw cam out, but yours truly is a big fan of passing points. It can turn " Ho-Hum " heat races into competitive ones, especially if there are a couple of top notch cars starting towards the back. But this is 2015, and I guess race drivers are like a lot of folks, they want it and they want it easy.
48 cars in the two classes at Farley, 46 at West Liberty. 7:00 hot laps, we stayed for the post race interviews and rolled out of the fairgrounds at 10:05. For we three old timers, this was truly like the " good old days" of racing.
My next race will be Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, UMP late models and modifieds, IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts. Maybe I will see you there!
Monday, August 3, 2015
Finally Sunday Racing at Quincy
For the first time in nearly a month, Quincy Raceways was able to get in a regular Sunday night show. Five divisions of racing featuring 67 entrants made for a fun night of action on what quickly became the type of dry slick track most racers prefer. The track did have some issues early on, but the grader driver went to work during a medical emergency in the grandstands, and by feature time, we were good to go for the rescheduled mid season championships.
IMCA sport mods drew the largest car count at 19, and they ran the first feature, an 18 lap event. Several of the cars had trouble hooking up on the dry, slick surface, as six caution flags marred the race. Austin Howes led the field through stoppages on laps two, three, and four. Back to green, there was a three way battle for the top spot on lap five, with Joey Gower emerging as the leader. With Gower hugging the bottom of the .29 mile oval, Brandon Lennox took to the high groove. The two were running side by side when the caution waved on lap eight. AQ multi car pile up on the restart was charged to third running Tanner Klingele. Back under green, Bobby Six took the third spot, but the final caution came at the half way point, lap nine. On the restart, Six challenged Lennox for second as Gower pulled away. When the checkers flew, Gower had his third feature win of the weekend, followed by Six , Lennox, Austen Becerra, and Klingele, who battled back into the top five.
The IMCA stock cars were up next for 18 laps. Brandon Savage, who dropped out while leading the heat race, was the only driver failing to make the starting grid. Jake Powers led the field through a lap two caution, with Jim Lynch coming from row three to second on the restart. Lynch ran the high line, while Michael Larsen challenged on the bottom of the now three groove track. On lap six, the two even swapped lines, and one lap later, Beau Taylor slipped around Larsen for third. At the mid race point, Lynch took the lead, surviving a yellow three laps later. The final six laps went under green, with Lynch taking the win and taking over the points lead from the missing Abe Huls. Taylor hugged the low line and came home second, with Larsen edging Powers for third. Andrew Hustead completed the top five.
The headline UMP late model class ran next for 25 fast paced laps. 17 drivers signed in, although Jason Oenning did not compete. Denny Woodworth had set quick time at 13.763 seconds, but it was Justin Reed topping heat one. Reed then rolled a three for the feature invert, putting Vance Wilson and heat two winner Mark Burgtorf on row one for the main event. Although Wilson jumped out front, Burgtorf had the lead as lap one was scored. The caution waved on lap two, with Burgtorf still in control on the Delaware restart. As Wilson pounded the cushion, Woodworth took over second running the bottom groove. Two laps later, tenth starting Jamie Wilson charged to the second spot. With Burgtorf running the top side, Wilson pulled even down low, taking the lead on lap nine. The two veterans battled as the moved in on slower traffic. As the laps wound down, Wilson began to stretch his lead, and picked up his second win of 2015 in a dominant performance. Burgtorf held on for second, with Jim Moon running a season best third. Reed and Woodworth rounded out the first five. Sixth through tenth went to Keith Pratt, Vance Wilson, Trace Westling, Brian Diveley, and Alan Westling.
All 14 UMP modifieds took the 25 lap feature green. Russ Coultas led from the start, but soon a four car battle developed for the lead. Shawn Deering was out front on lap three. Again on lap five the leaders raced three wide, with Michael Long emerging as the leader, taking Steven Delonjay along. The normally rim riding Long ran the bottom of the speedway, forcing the usually low riding Delonjay to the middle groove. The first yellow came on lap ten, and on the restart, Rickey Frankel in the Mike Begley # B4 climbed to third. Two more quick yellows came on laps 12 and 13, and back to racing it was now Deering chasing the two leaders. Dave Weitholder had started tenth after having handling problems in his heat, but when Delonjay pulled to the infield after the lap 13 restart, Weitholder charged to the runner up spot. After a lap 15 caution Deering moved to second, but lap 18 saw Weitholder back in second and reeling in the leader. A lap 22 caution spoiled a good run for Frankie Wellman, and back to green, Long moved up a lane on the track. Deering and Weitholder swapped the runner up spot, and with two laps to go, Frankel moved around Deering to retake third. At the checkers, it was Long with win number five this season at QR, followed by Weitholder, Frankel, Deering, and Jared Schlipman.
The final event on the card was the 15 lap IMCA sport compact feature. Point leader Kimberly Abbott jumped to a lap one lead, with Brandon Lambert in hot pursuit. Again, it was the leader running a lower groove, with Lambert pounding the cushion. On lap six, Lambert powered to the lead, and the caution came out one lap later. By lap ten, Abbott was pushing Lambert hard, and she regained the lead as the pack came to the white flag. Third went to Laine VanZandt in another Abbott car, with travelers John Girdley and Trent Orwig turning in top fives.
The final checkers waved before 9:30, none too soon, as I drove through some pretty strong lightning and light showers on the trip home.
We will try to take in the MLRA and IMCA late model Tornado Tuesday double header Tuesday night at West Liberty Raceway, and that will be it until next Sunday at Quincy Raceways. Hard to believe it is already August, and I just hit 20 nights of racing!
IMCA sport mods drew the largest car count at 19, and they ran the first feature, an 18 lap event. Several of the cars had trouble hooking up on the dry, slick surface, as six caution flags marred the race. Austin Howes led the field through stoppages on laps two, three, and four. Back to green, there was a three way battle for the top spot on lap five, with Joey Gower emerging as the leader. With Gower hugging the bottom of the .29 mile oval, Brandon Lennox took to the high groove. The two were running side by side when the caution waved on lap eight. AQ multi car pile up on the restart was charged to third running Tanner Klingele. Back under green, Bobby Six took the third spot, but the final caution came at the half way point, lap nine. On the restart, Six challenged Lennox for second as Gower pulled away. When the checkers flew, Gower had his third feature win of the weekend, followed by Six , Lennox, Austen Becerra, and Klingele, who battled back into the top five.
The IMCA stock cars were up next for 18 laps. Brandon Savage, who dropped out while leading the heat race, was the only driver failing to make the starting grid. Jake Powers led the field through a lap two caution, with Jim Lynch coming from row three to second on the restart. Lynch ran the high line, while Michael Larsen challenged on the bottom of the now three groove track. On lap six, the two even swapped lines, and one lap later, Beau Taylor slipped around Larsen for third. At the mid race point, Lynch took the lead, surviving a yellow three laps later. The final six laps went under green, with Lynch taking the win and taking over the points lead from the missing Abe Huls. Taylor hugged the low line and came home second, with Larsen edging Powers for third. Andrew Hustead completed the top five.
The headline UMP late model class ran next for 25 fast paced laps. 17 drivers signed in, although Jason Oenning did not compete. Denny Woodworth had set quick time at 13.763 seconds, but it was Justin Reed topping heat one. Reed then rolled a three for the feature invert, putting Vance Wilson and heat two winner Mark Burgtorf on row one for the main event. Although Wilson jumped out front, Burgtorf had the lead as lap one was scored. The caution waved on lap two, with Burgtorf still in control on the Delaware restart. As Wilson pounded the cushion, Woodworth took over second running the bottom groove. Two laps later, tenth starting Jamie Wilson charged to the second spot. With Burgtorf running the top side, Wilson pulled even down low, taking the lead on lap nine. The two veterans battled as the moved in on slower traffic. As the laps wound down, Wilson began to stretch his lead, and picked up his second win of 2015 in a dominant performance. Burgtorf held on for second, with Jim Moon running a season best third. Reed and Woodworth rounded out the first five. Sixth through tenth went to Keith Pratt, Vance Wilson, Trace Westling, Brian Diveley, and Alan Westling.
All 14 UMP modifieds took the 25 lap feature green. Russ Coultas led from the start, but soon a four car battle developed for the lead. Shawn Deering was out front on lap three. Again on lap five the leaders raced three wide, with Michael Long emerging as the leader, taking Steven Delonjay along. The normally rim riding Long ran the bottom of the speedway, forcing the usually low riding Delonjay to the middle groove. The first yellow came on lap ten, and on the restart, Rickey Frankel in the Mike Begley # B4 climbed to third. Two more quick yellows came on laps 12 and 13, and back to racing it was now Deering chasing the two leaders. Dave Weitholder had started tenth after having handling problems in his heat, but when Delonjay pulled to the infield after the lap 13 restart, Weitholder charged to the runner up spot. After a lap 15 caution Deering moved to second, but lap 18 saw Weitholder back in second and reeling in the leader. A lap 22 caution spoiled a good run for Frankie Wellman, and back to green, Long moved up a lane on the track. Deering and Weitholder swapped the runner up spot, and with two laps to go, Frankel moved around Deering to retake third. At the checkers, it was Long with win number five this season at QR, followed by Weitholder, Frankel, Deering, and Jared Schlipman.
The final event on the card was the 15 lap IMCA sport compact feature. Point leader Kimberly Abbott jumped to a lap one lead, with Brandon Lambert in hot pursuit. Again, it was the leader running a lower groove, with Lambert pounding the cushion. On lap six, Lambert powered to the lead, and the caution came out one lap later. By lap ten, Abbott was pushing Lambert hard, and she regained the lead as the pack came to the white flag. Third went to Laine VanZandt in another Abbott car, with travelers John Girdley and Trent Orwig turning in top fives.
The final checkers waved before 9:30, none too soon, as I drove through some pretty strong lightning and light showers on the trip home.
We will try to take in the MLRA and IMCA late model Tornado Tuesday double header Tuesday night at West Liberty Raceway, and that will be it until next Sunday at Quincy Raceways. Hard to believe it is already August, and I just hit 20 nights of racing!
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Davenport Tops Erb at the PDC
My mini vacation started with the IMCA Deery Brothers late model show at Quad City Speedway on Wednesday, the continued with the World of Outlaw late models at Quincy Raceways on Thursday. On Friday, my wife and I took our youngest grandson, Peyton, to his first major league baseball game in St Louis. Along the way, UMP modified racer Jeff Curl called buddy Darryl with a chance to purchase some backstretch passes to the World of Outlaw late model Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury American Legion Speedway. It had been more than 15 years since my one visit to Fairbury, about a four hour jaunt from home, so we decided to take in the final night of the two night event.
Despite a threat of rain, we headed out on Saturday morning, checking in at a hotel, then arriving at the track early to take in the festivities, heat, humidity and all.
There would be a complete show for the UMP modifieds, plus two last chance races for the World of Outlaw late models, the 100 lap $26,000 to win feature on the 1/4 mile oval, followed by the $2,000 to win mod main event, then a 30 lap $1,500 to win non qualifiers feature for the late models.
Late model last chance race number one went to Morgan Bagley ahead of Rick " Boom " Briggs. The second 20 lap win went to Jason Feger ahead of Brian Shirey. 18 cars had qualified Friday through six heat races, and four provisional starters were now added to make up the 26 car field. Positions three through twelve, not counting provisionals would be eligible for the 20 car non qualifiers feature.
With the first of two modified B-mains for the modifieds on the track, first a light, then steady rain began to fall. Fortunately, the heaviest of the showers missed the fairgrounds, and after the rain stopped, the track crew went to work getting the surface back in racing condition. After about an hour delay, we were back to racing, with the order of events adjusted. Follwing the mod B-mains, the late model non qualifier feature was called to the track. 64 late models had signed in on Friday, with 60 back on Saturday. Following the delay, apparently some of the bigger names scheduled to run the $1,500 to win race elected to stay on the trailer, giving us 16 starters for the 30 laps.
The race got rolling after a first lap pile up, with Ryan Unzicker taking the lead. on the 14th circuit, Mike Spatola used a nifty slide job in turn four to take the top spot, stretching out to a big advantage. But with four to go, he suddenly slowed, ending his run. This put Unzicker back on the point. As the white flag came out, third running Derek Chandler smacked the wall. setting up a one lap shootout. To the delight of the large crowd, local favorite McKay Wenger pulled off a last lap pass for the win, leading 1/2 a lap of the 30. Unzicker settled for second ahead of Josh Rice, Chad Hollenbeck, and Bob Gardner. Steve Thorsten, Joe Harlan, and Steve Lance Jr. were the only other drivers to finish the race.
Officials then called for the 100 lap main event, pushing the modifieds to last on the card.
The redraw of the six heat winners saw Billy Moyer and Mason Ziegler start on row one. Moyer took off in the lead, as he and Ziegler opened an advantage on the field. The caution waved on lap eight for Bagley, who was forced to go to a back up car for the feature, starting him on the tail. Back to green, eighth starting Jonathon Davenport powered his way to third, shadowing Ziegler as Moyer opened up a lead. Following a stoppage on lap 13, Dennis Erb Jr took the third spot challenging Ziegler, taking the spot on lap 23. He then began to run down Moyer, and the two ran side by side, with Erb taking the lead on lap 31. The next yellow came on lap 44, with 14th starting Brandon Sheppard entering the top five. At the halfway point, Moyer retook the lead moving to the high line, as Sheppard moved to fourth. On lap 52, Moyer jumped the cushion in turn two, falling to third behind Erb and Davenport. Moyer repeated the move two laps later, apparently with a handling problem, with Sheppard going around. On lap 56, Moyer smacked the turn four fence, ending his run. On the restart, Davenport and Sheppard battled for second, with Davenport finally pulling ahead, going to the top side of the track,bumping the cushion, as Erb ran a low to middle line. As the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 77, Sheppard also jumped to the high line. A yellow on lap 85 saw the end of the night for Kevin Weaver. Back racing, 2014 winner Tim McCreadie moved to third, and two laps later, series points leader Shane Clanton brought out a yellow with a flat tire. Coming back to the track, Clanton showed some displeasure by " rubbing" Chub Frank, earning himself a black flag. On lap 91, Erb and Davenport ran side by side, with Davenport ahead on lap 93. With four circuits remaining, Frank Heckenast Jr was charging forward on the top side, but got into the turn two wall. The restart was now single file, with Davenport again running the top and Erb down low. On lap 99, Davenport eased ahead, but Erb again powered to the front. On the final lap, the two made contact in turn three, and Davenport came to the line first for the win. Erb settled for second, with Sheppard third. Josh Richards started 16th and finished fourth, with Chase Junghans starting and finishing fifth. Jimmy Owens came on late to run sisth, Bagley moved up 18 spots to seventh. McCreadie faded to eighth, Heckenast ninth, and Frank completed the top ten.
With the delay, it was now the midnight hour, and we headed for the motel with the mod feature still to go.
Quincy Raceways has a scheduled night off tonight, so I will try to recover and get ready to head back to work after a busy four days of racing and baseball!
Despite a threat of rain, we headed out on Saturday morning, checking in at a hotel, then arriving at the track early to take in the festivities, heat, humidity and all.
There would be a complete show for the UMP modifieds, plus two last chance races for the World of Outlaw late models, the 100 lap $26,000 to win feature on the 1/4 mile oval, followed by the $2,000 to win mod main event, then a 30 lap $1,500 to win non qualifiers feature for the late models.
Late model last chance race number one went to Morgan Bagley ahead of Rick " Boom " Briggs. The second 20 lap win went to Jason Feger ahead of Brian Shirey. 18 cars had qualified Friday through six heat races, and four provisional starters were now added to make up the 26 car field. Positions three through twelve, not counting provisionals would be eligible for the 20 car non qualifiers feature.
With the first of two modified B-mains for the modifieds on the track, first a light, then steady rain began to fall. Fortunately, the heaviest of the showers missed the fairgrounds, and after the rain stopped, the track crew went to work getting the surface back in racing condition. After about an hour delay, we were back to racing, with the order of events adjusted. Follwing the mod B-mains, the late model non qualifier feature was called to the track. 64 late models had signed in on Friday, with 60 back on Saturday. Following the delay, apparently some of the bigger names scheduled to run the $1,500 to win race elected to stay on the trailer, giving us 16 starters for the 30 laps.
The race got rolling after a first lap pile up, with Ryan Unzicker taking the lead. on the 14th circuit, Mike Spatola used a nifty slide job in turn four to take the top spot, stretching out to a big advantage. But with four to go, he suddenly slowed, ending his run. This put Unzicker back on the point. As the white flag came out, third running Derek Chandler smacked the wall. setting up a one lap shootout. To the delight of the large crowd, local favorite McKay Wenger pulled off a last lap pass for the win, leading 1/2 a lap of the 30. Unzicker settled for second ahead of Josh Rice, Chad Hollenbeck, and Bob Gardner. Steve Thorsten, Joe Harlan, and Steve Lance Jr. were the only other drivers to finish the race.
Officials then called for the 100 lap main event, pushing the modifieds to last on the card.
The redraw of the six heat winners saw Billy Moyer and Mason Ziegler start on row one. Moyer took off in the lead, as he and Ziegler opened an advantage on the field. The caution waved on lap eight for Bagley, who was forced to go to a back up car for the feature, starting him on the tail. Back to green, eighth starting Jonathon Davenport powered his way to third, shadowing Ziegler as Moyer opened up a lead. Following a stoppage on lap 13, Dennis Erb Jr took the third spot challenging Ziegler, taking the spot on lap 23. He then began to run down Moyer, and the two ran side by side, with Erb taking the lead on lap 31. The next yellow came on lap 44, with 14th starting Brandon Sheppard entering the top five. At the halfway point, Moyer retook the lead moving to the high line, as Sheppard moved to fourth. On lap 52, Moyer jumped the cushion in turn two, falling to third behind Erb and Davenport. Moyer repeated the move two laps later, apparently with a handling problem, with Sheppard going around. On lap 56, Moyer smacked the turn four fence, ending his run. On the restart, Davenport and Sheppard battled for second, with Davenport finally pulling ahead, going to the top side of the track,bumping the cushion, as Erb ran a low to middle line. As the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 77, Sheppard also jumped to the high line. A yellow on lap 85 saw the end of the night for Kevin Weaver. Back racing, 2014 winner Tim McCreadie moved to third, and two laps later, series points leader Shane Clanton brought out a yellow with a flat tire. Coming back to the track, Clanton showed some displeasure by " rubbing" Chub Frank, earning himself a black flag. On lap 91, Erb and Davenport ran side by side, with Davenport ahead on lap 93. With four circuits remaining, Frank Heckenast Jr was charging forward on the top side, but got into the turn two wall. The restart was now single file, with Davenport again running the top and Erb down low. On lap 99, Davenport eased ahead, but Erb again powered to the front. On the final lap, the two made contact in turn three, and Davenport came to the line first for the win. Erb settled for second, with Sheppard third. Josh Richards started 16th and finished fourth, with Chase Junghans starting and finishing fifth. Jimmy Owens came on late to run sisth, Bagley moved up 18 spots to seventh. McCreadie faded to eighth, Heckenast ninth, and Frank completed the top ten.
With the delay, it was now the midnight hour, and we headed for the motel with the mod feature still to go.
Quincy Raceways has a scheduled night off tonight, so I will try to recover and get ready to head back to work after a busy four days of racing and baseball!
Friday, July 24, 2015
Moyer and Abreu Top Historic Night at Quincy
The most significant night in the 41 year history of Quincy Raceways is in the books after a successful evening of racing in front of a standing room only crowd on Thursday night. I you were among the 3000 or so folks on hand, you experienced quite an evening. If you were not, boy did you miss out! The parking lot filled up hours before race time, the adjoining Scott family property was jammed with cars, and vehicles were parked along the four lane highway leading to the track as the crowd continued to filter in during late model qualifying. The beer stand had to be replenished twice, and the kitchen was cranking out food so fast one of the grills caught on fire!
Even though a job fair contributed to the evening as one of the title sponsors of the " Workforce 40, "
ultimately, this night was, as it should be, all about the racing.
Two classes of cars were on the card, with the Midwest Open Wheel Association 410 sprint cars supporting the World of Outlaw late models. 24 sprinters and 32 late models filled the regular and extended pit areas.
The night began with late model time trial qualifying. Brian Shirley paced the first group of 16 cars, but first time visitor Tim McCreadie, a New Yorker, set overall quick time with a lap of 13.112 seconds. A series of ruts developed in turn three, making early qualifying a bit of adventure, but it seemed to smooth out a bit as we went along, and some later track prep took care of the issue.
Three sprint heats were followed by four late model ten lappers. Shirley over Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton ahead of Shane Clanton, McCreadie followed by Bobby Pierce, and Billy Moyer topping Josh Richards all took heat wins from the front row.
Next up was the MOWA position dash. Cory Bruns took the win, holding off a challenge from Chili Bowl winner and NASCAR competitor Rico Abreau.
Two late model last chance races added six cars to the feature field, with Morgan Bagley and Jimmy Mars taking wins, and two provisionals, based on WoO points went to Boom Briggs and Jordon Yaggy, completing the 24 car field.
The 25 lap sprint feature ran first, with 23 cars taking the green. Things got off to a bit of a slow start, with Bruns taking off from the pole. Abreau grabbed the lead on lap one, and on the next circuit, Brady Bacon flipped his ride. Bacon was fast early on, but blew an engine in his heat race, changed it, and now was upside down in two laps! A false start on the restart saw Casey Shuman exit the track. Back to racing, Jeremy Stndridge came to a stop in turn two, and as the field slowed, Jimmy Hurley flipped hard in turn three. After one more false start, we were back to green. The field was scrambling for position behind Abreau, who encountered slower traffic on lap 12. Winning a low - high duel for second with Bruns, Hunter Schuerenberg was closing on the leader when his rim riding sent him over the cushion on lap 15, bring out the caution. With a clear track on the restart, Abreau opened up a lead. Jerrod Hull was now on the move, challenging for the runner up spot. At the checkers, it was Abreau, Bruns, and Hull in the top three, followed by Jake Blackhurst and Brad Loyet.
It was now time for the $8,000 to win, 40 lap headliner. The top two from each heat race had redrawn for their staring slot, and on lap one, sixth starting Shirley spun in turn three. According to WoO rules, Brian got his spot back on the false start, as Eric Wells and Justin Reed were also involved trying to avoid the # 3S. Back to green, polesitter Moyer grabbed the lead, with tour points leader Clanton moving to second on lap two from his row three starting spot. It quickly became a two car batlle, with Moyer now running a middle groove and pinching off the low riding Clanton in turns one and two, where a bump had formed. After the sprint feature, the top groove seemed to be used up, as Pierce was going backwards running there. However, McCreadie began to make a run to the front using the high line as we approached the half way mark. Moyer caught the back of the pack by lap 15, and on lap 19 Clanton made his move, the two leaders side by side on lap 20. Clanton grabbed the lead, then used a dandy move on lap 25, splitting the now lapped cars of Jason Feger and Jason Perry to open a lead, as Moyer was caught in the lapped traffic. With the race staying green, Clanton seemed to have things in hand, but with just two laps remaining, he was forced to check up for a slower car, and Moyer powered around to regain the lead. The veteran held on the final two laps for a popular win. The Georgia native Clanton settled for a runner up finish and $4,000 pay day. Richards advanced four spots to take third, Sheppard came from eighth to fourth, and Outside row one starter McCreadie grabbed fifth. Shirley started sixth and finished there, Chub Frank came from ninth to seventh, Baggley moved up nine spots to eighth. Rick Eckert wheeled the # 7V up four slots to ninth, with Frank Heckenast Jr advancing nine spots to complete the top ten. Mark Burgtorf was the highest finishing " local," coming from 21st to 16th.
The Outlaws now move to Fairbury,Il for a two day show, and the sprinters continue on their four day Illinois Sprint Week tour, going to Tri City Speedway in Granite City,Il tonight. Quincy Raceways will be idle this Sunday night, returning to action on August 2.
Thanks to the Ciltrak group for taking a big risk to bring a national tour to Quincy, it was a night that did not disappoint!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
