Things Are Looking Up at Quincy Raceways

 After a week off due to inclement weather, it was back to racing Sunday night at Quincy Raceways. Close to an inch of rain fell on the track on Saturday, and early Sunday, promoter Kenny Dobson and his crack staff decided to cancel the first week of Sunday afternoon action at the new go-kart  track and try to get the .29 mile oval in racing shape for Sunday night. Thanks to tireless work from Tommy and his crew, the track came around, and the soggy pit area was groomed enough to hold the 70 plus race teams in attendance. That number is an increase of ten or so over last season, and it looks as though all classes may see some growth.
 Mark Burgtorf set quick time for the late models on what started out as a dusty - hard to believe it! - racing surface, at 13.997 seconds. Wentzville,Mo hot shoe Rick Conoyer paced the modifieds at 15.169 seconds, as the dust began to settle. While Mark led flag to flag in his heat, Rick suffered a flat tire, relegating him to the back of 25 lap feature line up.
 With 11 heat races and a 20 minute intermission out of the way, feature racing started with all but one of the 19 IMCA sport mods taking the green for their 18 lap main event. Austin Howes led lap one before Nathan Bringer powered his sharp looking # 79 to the front. On lap six, veteran Joey Gower grabbed the lead, with the first caution coming on lap ten. On the Delaware restart, Brandon Dale and Tony Dunker climbed to second and third, with Tony on the bottom side and Brandon up top. Soon they traded grooves, battling each other as they tried to reel in Gower. The caution waved again on lap 14. On the restart Gower and Dunker pulled away, with Bobby Anders working his way to third. Gower was able to lengthen his lead in picking up the win. Dunker and Anders followed, with Bobby Six charging from ninth to fourth in the closing laps.
 The IMCA stock cars, 12 strong, came to the grid next for 18 laps of action. The normally well behaved stockers were feeling frisky on Sunday, enduring about three weeks worth of cautions. But when the leaders came nearly five wide out of turn four completing lap three, it was the highlight of the night! Andrew Hustead was the early leader, with Jim Lynch emerging from the lap three melee with the top spot. Beau Taylor survived the bumping and banging to nab the runner up spot, but cut a tire in the process, ending his run. Lynch opened a sizable lead, as Abe Huls started his march to the front. Following a lap ten yellow, it was Jim and Abe side by side. On lap 14, Lynch hooked his # 566 in turn one, spinning around, with Huls flying off the top of the track to miss hitting him. Fortunately for Huls, the yellow came out at the same time for Jake Powers, and with Lynch temporarily sidelined in the infield, Huls held the lead. Yellow fever took over, with both Trevor Hagerbaumer and Hustead in the second spot in the closing laps. But when the checkers flew, it was Huls followed by Powers, Jerry Jansen, and Hustead. Lynch had rejoined the field, crossing the line in fourth, but was a lap down.
  The UMP late model count grew to 14 as Mike Hammerle came through the gate as hot laps were being run. Only John Ketterer failed to make the feature call, as he made hard contact with the wall in hot laps, and was on his way home by feature time. Burgtorf had rolled a " one " to set the feature invert, and he quickly pulled away from heat two winner Jamie Wilson as the green flag waved. Third starting Justin Reed, the week one winne4r, applied some pressure early, but Burgtorf began to build a lead when the only caution of the 25 lapper waved for first time vistor Bobby Regot on lap seven. Denny Woodworth challenged Reed for the second spot on the restart, as Burgtorf pulled away. Reed finally cleared Woodworth, closing on Burgtorf in traffic, but to no avail. Mark led all 25 laps to put the Rick Frankel # 33B in victory lane for the first time in 2015. Reed came home second, With Keith Pratt slipping past Woodworth for third. Brian Dively, nursing a leg injury, took fifth. Wilson headed up the second five, followed by Chuck Mitchell, Hammerle, Jim, Moon, and Ron Elbe.
  The 17 car UMP modified field had two scratches from the feature. First heat winner Michael Long also rolled a " one " for the invert, and the young veteran then put on a dominant performance in the 25 lap race. He quickly jumped to a straightaway lead over Dave Weitholder, and when thew caution waved on lap 14, he was a full half track ahead of the # 05 of Weitholder. On the restart, defending track champion Steven Delonjay briefly grabbed the runner up spot, as Long again rocketed away from the pack. As Michael pulled away, the 15th starting Conoyer was picking off cars as he moved forward. The yellow erased Longs advantage on lap 19 and again on lap 23, but it only cut the margin of victory for the #18L. Conoyer slipped past both Weitholder and Delonjay in the closing laps to claim the runner up spot. Delonjay held off Weitholder for third.
  The IMCA sport compacts finished off the night, with all ten cars coming to the line. Spencer Coats paced lap one, with Seith Woodruff nosing past as lap two was completed. Coats stayed close until a recurring mechanical issue ended his run during a lap five caution, which also saw the # 33 of Trent Orwig come to a stop. Orwig is a top contender in the All Iowa Points, and is making the trip to QR all the way from Floris, Iowa.  Following the restart, Kimberly Abbott, the current All iowa leader, powered around Woodruff and cruised to her second win at the Bullring in as many tries. Seith claimed second ahead of Brandon Lambert, and John Girdley  from Wayland, Iowa.
 The two nights of action in 2015 have been among the best we have seen at Quincy Raceways in a long time, and the final checkers waving again just after 9:00 made for an enjoyable night at the track.
 The early forecast for the weekend looks dicey, but we will try to get in a couple nights of racing this weekend. so kjeep an eye on the sky, and lets go racin'!