A Full night of Racing at Quincy

 After a literal " month of Sundays " rainouts, Quincy Raceways was rewarded with clear skies and a big crowd this Sunday. 63 cars checked in to do battle in five divisions, plus a make up feature for the IMCA sport mods.
 The rains interrupted the UMP Summernationals show two weeks prior, and the late model and modified main events will be made up at the end of August, but the sport mod feature started the program off on Sunday.
 After a false start, Nathan Bringer took the early lead, with Adam Birck taking the top spot on lap two. The front pair staged a tight battle, crossing the line side by side on lap nine before the first caution waved one lap later. Following the restart, Austin Howes took second from Bringer on lap 11 before the yellow flew again on lap 12. At this point, row six starter Brandon Lennox was on the move, sitting in the fourth spot. Bringer regained the runnerup spot on the restart, then crossed the line first on lap 14. Birck retook the point one lap later, and the caution waved on lap 16. On the restart, Lennox spun, setting up a green, white, checkers finish. Birck held on for his first win of 2015, followed by Howes, Joey Gower, Bringer, and veteran Gary Wilson.
 Things had gotten off to a bit of a slow start, as a hole developed in turn three during hot laps, and late model drivers Mark Burgtorf and Jason Perry both rolled tires off the rim in qualifying, with Burgtorf failing to register one lap time. So the track crew went to work before the sport mod makeup feature, and did a nice job of restoring the track. Then just as the second late model heat came to the track, not one, but two medical emergencies in the grandstands brought the action to a halt again.
 Still the heat races went off smoothly, and after a very short intermission, it was feature time.
 The IMCA stock cars ran first, with Michael Larsen taking the lead at the green, with Jake Powers in hot pursuit. Abe Huls began to run down the leaders, with the first caution coming on lap nine. At this point, Jim Lynch, wheeling a # 4J machine instead of his # 566 ducked to the work area with a flat tire. On the restart, Huls moved to the lead, with another quick caution slowing the action. Under green again, row four starter Beau Taylor charged to the second spot. Taylor kept Huls in range, but could not get close enough to make a move for the lead. Lynch came back to finish third, followed by Larsen and Powers.
 Next up was the 17 car, 25 lap late model finale. Fast qualifier and heat one winner Justin Reed had rolled a four for the feature invert, putting Chuck Mitchell and Keith Pratt in row one, with Reed and heat two winner Denny Woodworth in his new look, new ride # 45DW in row two. Mitchell took the lead at the green, with Pratt on the high side and Woodworth low applying pressure. The caution flew when Pratt looped his ride on lap four. On the Delaware style restart, Woodworth and row three starter Brian Dively lined up behind Mitchell. " B Dive " took the lead on lap five, with Reed powering in to second. The front two then began to distance themselves from the field. Burgtorf, who had started ninth in his heat and in row four of the feature, moved to third on lap seven, as six cars battled side by side for spots three through eight. On lap 14, Jamie Wilson took to the high side on the now dry slick track, charging to third. Dively remained in charge, although Reed was closing as the leaders worked lapped traffic. With five circuits to go, the caution waved, bunching the field, putting the checkers up for grabs. But Dively, who saw his # 11D get upside down in qualifying at the Summernationals show, was up to the challenge, as he picked up his first ever QR feature win. Reed held on for second, Burgtorf rettok third. Woodworth and Perry followed, as Wilson fell to sixth in the closing laps. Pratt recovered to finish seventh, ahead of Clint Kirkham, and the Westlings, son Alan ninth and dad Trace in tenth.
 14 UMP modifieds checked in for the evening, with Michael long again setting quick time and picking up a heat win. Michael rolled a two for the feature invert, sharing the front row with Dave Weitholder, followed by Donovan Lodge and Steven Delonjay in row two. Long and Weitholder took off in a two car duel, crossing the line side by side on lap eight. With Weitholder holding a slim lead, Long suddenly exited the track on lap ten with a flat tire/ Long went to the trailer rather than stopping to bring out a caution. Weitholder then built a big lead before the caution waved on lap 19 of the 25 lapper. On the restart, Lodge and fifth starting Rick Conoyer battled for second, but now it was Delonjay showing some muscle. Conoyer won the duel for second, with Delonjay coming to third. Two laps later, Delonjay moved to the runnerup spot, but Conoyer would not go away. Weitholder took over the track points lead with his first win of 2015, followed by Delonjay edging Conoyer in a side by side finish. Lodge claimed fourth, while Shawn Deering came from the back row to fifth after falling out of his heat race. Deering had picked up his first win of the season when QR staged a four class " make up " race on Friday night.
 The IMCA sport compact class was unusually short on entrants Sunday, and Austin McClean left the track on the parade lap, leaving only five cars to do battle. Kimberly Abbott, who looks well on her way to being the first female points champion in the 41 year history of the track, picked up her fourth win of 2015 after a lap four restart pass of Brandon Lambert. Brandon took second ahead of Rick Coats, Reverand Jerry Bown, with fifth place credited to Darin Weisinger Jr., who pulled out early.
 With the clock nearing my self imposed Sunday night curfew of 9:30 and the regular sport mod feature still to go, I decided to head across the river. As a result, I missed the first feature win for Patrick Phillips,  who outlasted Lennox, Tony Dunker, Tanner Klingele, and Gower.
 As I compose this column, rain is falling again, with a forecast of  more throughout the week, so we will hope for another good weekend and who knows, maybe even two nights of racing!?!