Burgtorf Bags the Big Check at Quincy

 A solid field of 75 cars came through the pit gate Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, led by 22 UMP modifieds and 20 UMP late models. With the IMCA Super Nationals wrapping up on Saturday, points in the three IMCA classes cannot be awarded, so track promoters opened up the rules to allow URSA B-mods to run with the sport mods and UMP street stocks to compete with the stock cars. Several of the regular sport mod drivers took the night off, and the count in the three support classes was eleven in each.
 Heavy rains during the latter portion of the week created a somewhat rough racing surface for the heat races, but grading during intermission left us with a lightning fast .29 mile oval come feature time.
  All but one of the stock cars took the feature green flag, With Michael Larsen winning the drag race into turn one. With no points being given, Brian Hoener turned over driving duties in his # 66 to former track champion Aaron Brocksieck. Even though Aaron has not been a regular competitor for several seasons, he picked up where he had left off, winning his heat race and starting alongside Larsen in the front row. Brocksieck grabbed the top spot before lap one was scored, and before Jake Powers brought out the caution on lap two. Back under green, Brocksieck was hugging the inside line, although Larsen was looking for racing room inside the # 66. As the leaders dueled, Rudy Zaragoza joined the hunt running a higher line. On lap eight, first time visitor Mike Hardwick in one of the three Jacksonville, Il team 67 cars wound up on his side with Dean Kratzer pointing skyward atop the Hardwick car. An engine fire in Kratzers car added to the drama, but both drivers were uninjured, and soon we were back under green. Zaragoza took over the runner up spot, and laps 11 - 13 saw the leaders running side by side. On lap 14 Brocksieck opened a bit of a cushion, and Larsen tried to get underneath Zaragoza, who slid sideways trying to hold the spot. Point leader Abe Huls took advantage of the mix up to move into the runnerup spot, but this night belonged to Brocksieck. Zaragoza recovered to take third, followed by Brandon Savage and Jerry Jansen.
  The UMP Big Ten late model $2,000 to win headliner was up next. Dewayne Kiefer was unable to make the call after running third in his heat, so 19 cars came to the track. Dustin Griffin had set quick time at 13.513 seconds, and outdueled Rickey Frankel in heat one. For Frankel it was his third race and first at Quincy since the hauler crash early in the year that had sidelined him with a shoulder injury. Mark Burgtorf had bested track point leader Denny Woodworth in heat two, while traveler Kevin Weaver, chasing UMP points, topped Jason Perry in the third ten lapper. The top six were then inverted for the 25 lap feature, putting Perry and Woodworth on the front row. It took three tries to get one lap in, as first Bo Brockway, the two time winner McKay Wenger had issues that brought out the caution and sent them to the back of the grid. When racing finally got under way, Perry jumped to the lead taking Weaver along as Woodworth was shuffled back. By lap six Perry was encountering slower traffic, and appeared to make contact with Mike Hammerle, sending the veteran spinning, and bringing out the caution. Back to racing, Burgtorf advanced to fourth, and two laps later he moved to third. The 14th circuit saw Brockway slow as his ride bellowed smoke bringing out another yellow. Under green, Frankel lost several spots, and the yellow flew again on lap 17 for debris. On each Delaware restart, Wever had chosen the inside, leaving the top line to Burgtorf, and on the lap 17 restart, the 16 time track champion took over the second spot. However Griffin lost the handle, in turn three, collecting Chuck Mitchell before the lap was scored. Back under green, Burgtorf again had the runner up spot. Lap 18 saw another caution, as Vance Wilson, subbing in brother Terrys car in the feature, made contact with the front stretch wall. Woodworth was forced to the hot pit with a flat, rejoining the back of the pack. As the green waved, Weaver retook second, and on lap 21 Frankel headed to the infield with rear end problems. Lap 22 saw Shaun Deering, making his late model debut subbing for injured Cliff Powell, slow on the front stretch as the caution waved again. With three circuits to go, a melee occurred on the backstretch as Perry got out of shape, contacting Weaver as he tried to make the pass. Burgtorf was able to fly by, but Weaver did a pair of 360 degree spins in front of the pack. Brian Diveley was actually the only car stopping on the track, and with the caution out, track officials were obviously befuddled with what to do. The cars circled the oval for several alps, and a couple drivers stopped I presume to offer " suggestions." Finally it was decided that all cars would get there spot back as they were scored on the previous lap. Honestly, I am not sure what my call would have been, so I will give officials a pass on this one. With three laps remaining, Burgtorf charged around Perry, to pick up his second win of the season. Perry held off Weaver for second, Wenger came back to score a fourth place finish ahead of Justin Reed. Diveley led the second five, topping Derek Fetter, Woodworth, Wilson, and Clint Kirkham, who caught a ride in the Laine Vanzandt # 21V.
  Next up was the sport compact feature, with eleven starters. Jeffrey Delonjay and point leader Kimberly Abbott sat on row one, with Delonjay taking the early lead. On lap four, as Alyssa Steele entered turn one, the throttle stuck on her # 55s, causing a multi car scrum. Brandon Lambert took a roll in his # 14L, while Steele hammered the guard rail separating the track from the turn two pit area. With a long delay in the works and the clock nearing 9:30, I regretfully took my leave to head across the river. Congrats to Abbott on her win over Craig Bangert and Brandon Herron.
  Another driver chasing UMP points, Ray Bollinger already had one UMP modified feature win under his belt at QR this season, and he knocked Michael Long off his streak of quick qualifying time. But feature time was a different story, as Michael picked up another win followed by Bollinger, and another prior winner, Rick Conoyer.
 The hottest driver at the track not named Long is Brandon Lennox, and he scored another sport mod win ahead of Tony Dunker and Joey Gower.
 QR has two more race nights on the schedule, and following a trip to the Knoxville, Iowa late model nationals, I will hopefully be on hand next Sunday as we count down the 2016 season.