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!