Race, Work, Repeat

 Driving from Canton, Mo. to work in Quincy, Il on Thursday morning, I was both surprised and dismayed to hear on the radio that Quincy had received more than 1.5 inches of rain overnight. The rain gauge report comes from the airport, which is close to Quincy Raceways, so I knew it would take a major effort to get the grounds ready for the World of Outlaw, MOWA 410 sprint car doubleheader scheduled for that evening. And when a brief but heavy shower fell about 3:30 that afternoon, it seemed like that would finish things off. But my workplace is about five miles from the speedway, and fortunately the track did not get that deluge. It had been decided to not open the pit area, which is generally the biggest problem as far as wet grounds, until 4:00 PM, and promoter Ken Dobson had his crew hard at work making the expanded area accessible to the big haulers. So when I arrived after the 5:00 hour, both the pit and spectator parking areas were plenty wet, but open for business. And once again the fans turned out, a bit later for the mid week show, but in numbers large enough that cars were parking well down the shoulder of highway 104.
 24 Sprint cars and 26 late models checked in to do battle, with an $8,000 top prize on the line in the Workforce 40 lapper for the late models, and $2,000 to the winner of the 25 lap sprint finale.
 Brian Shirley has turned quite a few laps at QR, but none since the track was reconfigured a few weeks ago, but he still turned the fastest qualifying lap of 13.562 seconds.
  Three heat races in each class plus a B-main for the late models set the feature lineups, with Quincy point leader Justin Reed and local racer Vance Wilson in the David Miller #6M added as provisionals, giving us 24 starters for each feature.
   All but one sprinter took the feature green, with Parker Price-Miller jumping to the early lead. Nationally known hot shoe Brady Bacon started in row three, but got crossed up in turns one and two on lap two, spinning around and doing a wheelstand in front of the field. Amazingly everyone avoided his car, but he was now stuck at the tail of the pack. Back under green Bacon began to pick off cars as the leader encountered slower traffic on lap six. Joey Moughan was chasing the leader when Paul Nienhauser, popular with the QR faithful powered to the runnerup spot on the 15th circuit. Yellow flags slowed the action on lap 18, then again on lap 20, when Steve Russell flipped his # 20 in turn three. Moughan was caught up in the accident, ending his run. On the restart, Nienhauser worked the high line, while Price-Miller held the inside line. The two ran side by side on lap 20, with the two trading racing lines lap after lap, and indeed from corner to corner. Nienhauser took a shot with a pair of laps to go, but could not clear the leader, then made one final charger in the last set of turns, but with everyone on their feet, Price-Miller was first to the checkers. Jake Blackhurst had the best seat in the place to finish third, with Joe B Miller and AJ Bruns completing the top five.
  Shane Clanton was four laps from winning the inaugural Workforce 40 last season before suffering mechanical woes, and the veteran proved that was no fluke by finishing second to Bobby Pierce in the second heat, then drawing the pole position for the main event, with Shirley on his outside. It was Shirley jumping to the early lead, and the caution waved on lap two for a stopped Michael Kloos at the end of the front straight, the first car out of the event. On the restart it was Shirley, Clanton, series point leader Josh Richards, and sixth starting Pierce driving past veteran Chub Frank for fourth. Shirley was dealing with the rather treacherous cushion while Clanton ran the low line, dealing with the treacherous hole coming out of turn two. The front two put distance on the pack before entering traffic on lap ten. Clanton took the opportunity to pull alongside Shirley, then claimed the lead on lap twelve. Clanton then took off, and Richards moved in to challenge Shirley. The caution waved on lap 18 for a stalled Eric Wells, and on the Delaware restart, Richards powered to second. Two laps later the yellow waved again for Vance Wilson, and back to racing, there was drama on lap 22. Richards was moving around the track, and was using the same line as Shirley in turn one, when contact sent Richards spinning. Although he did not stop, the caution came out, and he was restarted where he was on the track when he recovered. On the final restart, fifth starting Rick Eckert grabbed the second spot, but Clanton was checking out. He again hit lapped traffic on lap 32, but he was up to the challenge, picking up the win. Eckert held second, followed by Shirley, Pierce, and Steve Casebolt in a photo finish for fourth. Frank topped the second five ahead of the teenager from Texas, Tyler Erb,
Richards, Frank Heckenast Jr, and Chase Junghans.
  The final checkers flew about 11:00, ending a long but fun night of racing. On a personal note, my son Brent had a medical episode during hot laps requiring a check over by the ambulance crew, but he is on the mend. Also tragedy hit the QR family on Monday, when Gary Wilson, a long time racer and father of current racers Vance and Terry, lost his life in an accident at home. Gary was a popular fixture in the pits at QR, and will be missed.
  Quincy Raceways will take this Sunday off, with racing resuming on Sunday, August 7.
  Friday morning it was back to work with far too little sleep. But by afternoon, I had convinced myself to head for Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa for their weekly show. Stopping to pick up grandson Peyton, we arrived in time to take the Air One bus ride around the 3/8 mile oval and through the pit area.
  86 cars in six classes signed in, including 22 legends cars visiting the track and racing in support of law enforcement. Following hot laps and a candy dash for the youngsters, it was feature time.
  The 15 IMCA sport compacts ran first, with Mike Reu pacing the first go around. Josh Barnes apparently ran out of fuel in his heat race, but still finished fifth, starting where he would have in the invert even if he had won that race. With a full tank, Barnes powered to second on lap two. Five circuits in, Barnes took the lead, with Brandon Reu and Barry Taft running side by side for third. Taft took the spot on lap seven. With a pair of laps left in the 14 lapper, the first caution came out, setting up a green, white, checkers finish. Taft charged to second at the green, with Mike Reu shuffled back, but suddenly Taft saw his night end with a plume of smoke from his engine. Ron Kibbe now sat in second, crossing the line behind Barnes. Kimberly Abbott drove a steady race to take third, and Mike Reu recovered to grab fourth.
 The Legends were up next for 25 laps. Former late model driver Marty Dierks picked up the win.
  All but one of the 14 IMCA sport mods took the feature green. Austen Becerra paced the opening lap, but is was John Oliver Jr on the move, advancing from a row four start to third on lap two. When Becerra spun on lap three, it was Oliver in front, with Jim Gillenwater glued to his back bumper. Jim was running his usual low line, while John took the high road. Tony Dunker worked his way through traffic to fourth on the sixth trip past the flagstand. Tony moved to third on the ninth circuit as Oliver stretched his margin. With no more stoppages, Oliver cruised to the win. Gillenwater settled for second ahead of Dunker, Kyle Hill, and Joey Gower.
  The Lee County late model turnout was a season low eight on this night. Tommy Elston finished third in the heat race, but drew the number one pill for the 25 lap finale. Tommy jumped to the lead as the green waved, with heat winner a row two starter Sam Halstead on his tail. As Elston opened a lead, Tyler Cale shadowed Halstead for several circuits before falling back slightly. As the race went caution free, Elston opened a more than 1/2 lap lead, picking up the win. Halstead, Cale, Jeff Guengerich, Derek Liles turned in top fives, followed by the Van Zandts, Laine and Charles. Gunner Frank was unable to complete the 25 laps.
 IMCA stock cars were up next, with all but one of the 14 cars on track. Andrew Hustead  was the early leader over Mike See, Jeremy Pundt, and Oliver Jr. Donnellson native Pundt slipped around See on lap two, and one lap later, he grabbed the lead. Lap five saw Oliver move to third, and five circuits later, he took second as the crossed flags signaled the halfway mark and point leader Jeff Mueller advanced to fourth. The first caution came one lap later for a spinning third place Hustead. Back under green, it became a three car duel, with Pundt and Mueller hugging the inside line, and Oliver pounding the cushion as he looked to double up on feature wins. Mueller changed lines more than once, searching for a way around the front duo, but Pundt stayed true to the low line, hitting his marks every corner of every lap. As the checkers waved, a jubilant Jeremy Pundt had picked up his first feature win of the year. Mueller scored a runnerup finish ahead of Oliver and Ryan Cook in the # 27.
  IMCA modifieds rounded out the evening, 14 strong. Jardin Fuller paced lap one ahead of Levi Smith, with a lap two caution. Bill Roberts Jr nabbed third on the restart, and second on lap four, with defending track champion Jeff Waterman moving to fourth. The sixth time around, Smith smacked the turn two guardrail, falling off the pace. It was now Waterman in third, and visiting Colt Mather in fourth, and the top four put distance on the field. Roberts used the high line to grab the lead on lap nine, three circuits later Waterman took second. Mather grabbed the third spot and was battling for second. Roberts had a nice lead when the yellow flew on lap 14. Mather used the Delaware restart to grab second , and two laps later he overtook Roberts for the lead. When the final checkers of the night waved, it was for Mather. Roberts held second and Waterman settled for third.
 The clock read just past 10:00 as we headed to the car after another fun night at LCS.
  With Quincy off Sunday, my next action will be back in Donnellson Monday for night one of the back to back $1,000 to win late model specials. This is a schedule change from the preseason, when a single pay two day show was the original plan. We are just about to August, so enjoy racing every chance you get.