Quincy Opens for Season 41

Despite cloudy skies, Quincy Raceways dodged the rain drops and opened for season 41 in front of a solid crowd and decent car counts, especially considering the weather.  66 race teams checked in in five classes to do battle. Qualifying and the heat races clicked off quickly, with Springfield,Il hot shoe Brian Dively pacing the late models with a lap of 13.378 seconds around the .29 mile oval. Denny Woodworth outdueled Dively in the first late model heat, with Dustin Griffin topping Mark Burgtorf in heat two. NASCAR truck racer Justin Jennings was the only one of the 15 UMP late models to miss his heat, as he burned two spark plugs while qualifying his # 56J. Heat race two was red flagged, as Jim Moon looked to possibly break an oil line, creating a pretty good fire under the hood of his # 1 machine.
 Feature racing started with 14 IMCA sport mods taking the green for 18 laps. Nathan Bringer paced the field early, as nine laps ran caution free. Following the first yellow it was a four wide dash through turns one and two for the lead on the smooth, fast racing surface. Bringer entered turn three too hard and jumped the cushion, and as the pack crossed the stripe, it was Brandon Lennox out front. Tanner Klingele, Brandon Dale - fresh off his third place run at West Liberty - and defending track champion Tony Dunker were pushing Lennox. Klingele was able to pull alongside Lennox as the white flag waved, and trailed by inches at the checkers in a photo finish. Unfortunately, Lennox failed post race tech due to suspension issues, giving the win to Klingele. Dunker was credited with second, followed by Adam Birck and Dale.
 Nine IMCA stock cars signed in, but late arriving Jake Powers could not make his # 0 go, so eight started the 18 lap finale. Jim Lynch charged to the lead, and following a caution period, track champ Abe Huls began to pressure Lynch. On lap 13, Abe made a rare mistake, going over the berm in turn one, moving Beau Taylor to the runner up spot, with Troy Brierton in hot pursuit. As the white flag waved, Brierton looped his ride, setting up a one lap Delaware restart. In those four laps, Huls had moved back to fourth, and now restarted beside Taylor. Lynch held on for the win, with Huls besting Taylor for second, and Jerry Jansen claimed fourth.
 The late models were next on the card, with their feature shortened this season from 30 laps to 25, a move popular with the drivers. Woodworth and Griffin sat on row one, and the late model lawyer, Woodworth, took the early lead. Jamie Wilson started in row six, but quickly powered toward the leaders. The first of two yellows came on lap six, and on the restart, fifth starting Justin Reed shot to the front, and began to distance himself from the pack. Woodworth, Griffin, Wilson, and Burgtorf, back this season in the Rick Frankel machine dueled behind the leader, with Keith Pratt, back in a late model, and Wisconsin transplant Todd Frank looking for running room. The caution waved one more time on lap 20 for young John Hahler, and Wilson saw his third place run end there with a flat tire. Pratt also headed pitside before the restart. Burgtorf slipped back as the green waved, but recovered to follow Reed to the checkers. Woodworth, Griffin, and Dively turned in top five runs, with the second five led by Frank, and Ron Elbe, starting his 38th season at QR.
 With Robbie Reed pulling in to the pit area during intermission, there were 16 UMP modifieds to take the 25 lap feature green. Shawn Deering paced the opening lap, with Michael Long blasting to the front on the second circuit. NASCAR competitor Kenny Wallace made the trip to QR, coming back from Texas, and he quickly tucked in behind Long. The yellow flew on lap ten, and Dave Weitholder, back after missing the end of 2014 with medical issues, gerabbed the runner up spot from Wallace. Wallace soon regained the spot, and those three, along with Pevely,Mo. regular Rick Conoyer distanced themselves from the pack. Despite constant pressure, Long stayed uncharacteristically low on the race track, and led the final 24 laps for the win. Wallace nabbed second, with Conoyer passing Weitholder late for third. Long said he could see the top groove was crumbs, and decided to run the low groove.
 12 IMCA sport compacts came to the track for 15 laps to polish off the card. 2015 points runner up Kimberly Abbott started in row three, but wasted little time charging to the lead, and the her first QR win of the season, and second overall. Trent Orwig made the trip south from Floris, Iowa and kept the pressure on Kim, settling for the second spot. Seith Woodruff ran third with Argyle, Iowa driver Barry Taft in fourth.
  The final checkers waved at about the 9:00 hour, drawing the curtain on a very good season opener.
  We counted five to six late models that were not on hand for various reasons this Sunday, and there is reason for optimism with improved car counts in the headliner division as the Broadway Bullring celebrates season number 41.
 Next weekend will hopefully find us at 34 Raceway for the Slocum 50, then back at QR on Sunday. Enjoy some racing wherever and whenever you can!