Pierce and Long Stay Hot at Pevely

 Saturday night was night number two for the UMP/Mars late model challenge weekend, with the action moving to I-55 Raceway in Pevely,Mo. The open late models were running for $5,000 to win, with the UMP modifieds competing for a $1,000 top prize. It was actually the third night in a row for these classes, as the long weekend opened on Thursday with the make up UMP Summernationals event at the Lincoln,Il 1/4 mile facility, followed by Friday Racing at Tri City Speedway in Granite City,Il.
 A solid field of 29 late models and 26 mods checked in at Pevely, supported by 21 B-mods and 17 sportsman cars. Group qualifying saw UMP national point leader Michael Long, the last modified to time set the pace at 14.127 seconds on the high banked 1/3 mile oval, while veteran Billy Moyer turned a lap of 12.731 to best the late models.
  Three heat races for the late models saw Moyer edge Bobby Pierce in heat one, Tony Jackson Jr top Hunter Rasdon in the second ten lapper, and local favorite Jeff Herzog come from row three to fly past Kolby Vandenbergh out of turn four on the final lap of heat three.
 Modified heats went to Mike Harrison, Dean Hoffman, and Long.
 With intermission for a bit of track prep out of the way, the 15 lap sportsman feature was first on the grid. Mark Schafer crossed the line first, but despite repeated attempts, he was light at the scale, giving the win to Patrick Hawkins.
 It was now time for the 40 lap late model headliner. The heat winners in both the late model and modified classes redrew on the front stretch for there starting spot, and the late models lined up with Jackson and Herzog in row one. 20 qualifiers and five provisionals took the green. Bob Gardner, who needed a push to the pits after hot laps, had missed time trials, but came back to qualify through his heat race. He then dropped to the tail of the starting lineup, but wound up running all 40 laps, finishing 13th. Jackson jumped to the lead at the green, taking Moyer along in second. On  the third trip around, Pierce cleared Herzog for third, but it was Shannon Babb on the move, from row four to fourth on lap five. The first caution came on lap six for a spinning Kenny Rumble, and back under green, Pierce used the Delaware restart to claim second. As lap eight was scored, Bobby had taken over the lead, running side by side with Jackson. One lap later, Moyer slipped around Jackson for the runner up spot. Pierce was hooked up on the high line, and Moyer was also running the top, while Jackson chose the low groove. As Pierce stretched his lead, slower traffic came into play on lap 15. Pierce continued to hold a comfortable advantage, with the second yellow coming with 20 laps in the books. Jesse Stovall had advance ten spots to sixth at the halfway point, but he pulled to the pit area during the caution. Back to racing, Babb took over the third spot behind Pierce and Moyer, with Jackson fading outside the top five, and Brandon McCormick roaring from ninth to fourth. The front two began to distance themselves from the pack before Jackson rolled to a stop on lap 24, ending his night. As the green waved, Pierce began to pull away, again catching lapped traffic on lap 32. About this time, Moyer got too high in turn two, bouncing off the concrete wall, and one circuit later under yellow, the veteran retired to the pits. This put Babb now in the runner up spot, but he could not mount a serious challenge, as Pierce added his second win of the weekend, sandwiching a second place finish to Moyer at Tri City. Babb held on to second ahead of seventh starting Wendell Wallace and Will Vaught. Local standout Rusty Griffaw put together an amazing run in the second half of the race, passing car after car to finish fifth after starting 21st as a provisional. McCormick led the second five ahead of Jack Sullivan, Tanner English, Rasdon and Mississippi driver Ashley Newman.
 The track was plenty racey during the late model feature, but it was beginning to look as though it would be a high side track the rest of the night, making the modified redraw more important than one might imagine. Harrison picked up the first Frisbee with a three on the bottom, Hoffman drew the two, putting Long on the pole. Knowing he needed to get to the top of the track, Michael charged to the front at the green, going to the high side, and setting his # 18L inches from the concrete in the turns. Time after time he built a lead, but numerous cautions brought him back to the pack. The mods did not use the Delaware restart, and Hoffman continued to hold off Harrison for second as Long would again build his lead. Around lap 15 of the 25 lapper, Harrison was able to make his low side dive work to secure the second spot, and he kept Long in sight following a lap 21 caution, but Michael was not to be denied his second win of the weekend. Long continued to stretch his advantage over Harrison in the chase for the national point title. On Thursday, it was Kenny Wallace edging Harrison on the final lap at Lincoln, with Long running third. Friday was a win for Long, with Harrison retiring early, credited with 22nd. Michael will try to add another win tonight, Sunday, at Quincy Raceways. Heavy downpours at Quincy on Friday resulted in a flooded pit area from the nearby creek, but as of 10:00 Sunday morning it looks like conditions are good for racing. However it might be a good idea to check the website after the noon update if you are heading this way. Hope to see you there!