Moon Shines at Quincy Raceways

 After a wet hammer down track last week, the racing surface on this warm, sunny Sunday at Quincy Raceways was dry slick and taking rubber.
  The evening began with qualifying for the UMP late models and UMP modifieds. McKay Wenger paced the late models at 13.606 seconds, and Michael Long turned a 14.561 second lap to lead the mods. Modified ace Ray Bollinger from Kewanee was back again to try and claim the bounty on Long - a $1,000 pay day this week to win the modified feature. Qualifying three cars at a time, Bollinger was held up on his second lap by a slower timing car, so he was awarded an extra lap. Coming through turn four, he slipped over the top of the track and smacked the guardrail, hitting both the front and back of his # 77. Although he completed his time trial run, he did not come out for the heat or feature.
 The heat races ran off quickly, and after a brief intermission, the IMCA  stock car feature came to the track. Jake Powers was a no show for the 18 lap finale. Jake picked up a heat race win, but his # 0 belched heavy smoke after taking the checkers. Two yellow flags marred the opening laps, then Andrew Hustead settled in, building a nice lead. Abe Huls charged to second, but soon had to contend with Brandon Savage. Hustead and Savage ran the highg line around the .29 mile oval while Huls hugged the low groove. Savage took second on lap six, and the top three pulled away, freight training around the top of the track. Hustead stretched his lead in lapped traffic, and Huls used slower traffic to retake the second spot on lap14. With only the early cautions, Hustead picked up his first win of the season, followed by Huls, Savage, Brian Hoener,  and Dean Kratzer.
 The modifieds were up next, and although Long had captured the heat race win, he rolled a four for the feature invert, putting him outside Shawn Deering in row two. Polesitter Dave Weitholder paced the first lap ahead of Deering, Spencer Havermale, and Long as the caution waved. Another caution came on the restart, but when the action resumed, Long moved to third, then second on lap five. Three laps later, Michael used a high to low move to grab the lead. At the ten lap halfway mark, Weitholder slowed and was hit by Kevin Tomlinson, bringing out the yellow. Weitholder quickly changed a tire, and both cars rejoined the race at the tail. One more caution came out on lap 14 as Tomlinson went over turn three. The final six laps clicked off as Long again built a big lead and he increased his winning streak to four in a row in 2016. Deering ran second, while Weitholder and Tomlinson rebounded to third and fourth respectively, and Russ Coultas completed the top five.
   It was now late model time, 13 cars for 25 laps. Heat one winner Wenger had rolled a six for the invert, and outside polesitter Jason Perry shot to the lead, with Wenger claiming the third spot.. However the yellow waved for Justin Reed, and on the restart, Wenger lost the right rear wheel on his # 42, ending his attempt at a third feature win. Back to racding, it was Perry, Rickey Frankel and eighth starting Denny Woodworth leading the charge. As Perry and Frankel pulled away, Mark Burgtorf came up to challenge Woodworth, and the leaders ran in packs of two until catching slower traffic on lap eight. Frankel used a high side pass to slip around Perry, but the caution waved before the lap was completed, giving the spot back to Perry. On the restart, Jim Moonused the very bottom of the track to move from fifth to third, as Perry and Frankel again separated themselves from the pack. Traffic again came into play on lap 15, and Perry began to pull away until a caution for debris waved at the end of the 22nd circuit. On the restart, Moon again used the low line to take over second, and as the leaders entered turn four, Perry went over the cushion. That was all the help Moon needed, as he had his crate engine hooked up on the dry slick track, and he collected his second 2016 and second career feature win at QR. Frankel claimed the runnerup spot ahead of Woodworth and Burgtorf, while Reed rebounded to snare the fifth spot. Keith Pratt came home sixth followed by Terry Wilson, Perry, and the son, father Vanzandt team, Laine and Charles.
  All 16 IMCA sport mods took the green flag, with Wes Mayfield leading the opening laps. Joey Gower was shadowing Mayfield, when Tony Dunker spun in turns three and four on the dry, slick surface. As the caution waved, Tanner Klingele stopped with flat tire. On the restart, a four car tussle ensued between the new leader Gower, Brandon Lennox, Mayfield and Austin Howes. Dunker quickly rejoined the fray, charging to fifth. By the time the caution waved on lap ten, Dunker was fourth, and he moved to third on the restart, using the low lines in the corners. Another yellow flew on lap 15, and then as the leaders came to the white flag, Justin Bartz lost a wheel in turn one, setting up a green, white, checkers finish. Although Dunker powered to second, Gower stayed in control, picking up the win. Dunker rode home second followed by a strong run from Mayfield, Lennox, and Kingele.
 The IMCA sport compact feature was the finale of the evening. After a false start, Darin Weisinger Jr. jumped out front in his # 11 machine. While Kimberly Abbott set sail in second, Brandon Lambert and Seith Woodruff ran door to door, lap after lap, for third. Meanwhile, Weisinger built a commanding lead, and Lambert settled into third before slowing. Soon after, Woodruffs ride went up in smoke, but the race stayed green, and the younger Weisinger picked up the win. Abbott came home second, and the rest of the top five was Craig Bangert, Jerry Bown, and Brandon Herron.
 The final checkers waved shortly after 8:30.
  Next Sunday will be a MOWA 410 sprint car special at Quincy Raceways, with the UMP late models and modifieds having the night off.
  After my first three race weekend of 2016, I will regroup and watch the weather to see where the Memorial Day weekend takes me. Hopefully it will be to the races!