2017 in Review and a Look Ahead

As 2017 winds down here in the frigid midwest, it is time to take a look back at my racing season. The year started out with a pair of March rainouts at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, before things got rolling in April. In the end, I was able to make it to 48 nights at 16 tracks in three states. As usual, Quincy Raceways was the leader, with 18 total nights. Next was Lee County, with 12 nights. Then came two visits each to 34 Raceways in West Burlington, Iowa, West Liberty,Iowa Raceway, Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo., and Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. Single visits came at Bloomfield, Knoxville, and Tipton, Iowa, Peoria, Spoon River Speedway in Banner, LaSalle, and Jacksonville, all in Illinois. Moberly, Missouri was my destination one time, and with an assist from Jeff Broeg, I capped off the season with first time visits to a pair of new venues, the Springfield,Mo. Raceway, and the Dome in St Louis,Mo. I might add here that I count any night that I make it to the track, even if a cancellation occurs after I arrive. Fortunately that happened only two times in 2017. If you are a regular reader, you probably know that although I enjoy all types of dirt track racing, late models are my class of choice, and I was entertained by 53 feature events covering a host of rules and sanctions, everything from steel blocks at Peoria to the high powered Lucas Oil late model series at Knoxville, and everything in between. Along the way, I enjoyed a variety of action, including sprint cars, midgets, modifieds, stock cars, hobby stocks, and yes, even mod lites, and 4 cylinder competition. Having retired in late summer, I hope to be able to change things up a bit in 2018 and hopefully take in a few more week night shows in addition to being able to travel more on Fridays and burn the candle a bit more on Sundays. With this in mind, I am anxiously awaiting the release of the schedule for the Deery Brothers IMCA late models. Like me,the legendary series will see big changes in the coming year. The tracks in Farley, West Liberty, and Dubuque, Iowa have been series strongholds for many years, indeed making up just over half the 2017 schedule. However the Farley Speedway Promotions group has decided to go a different direction with their late model rules, adopting a package that opens the class to a variety of engine packages. Apparently the Independence, Iowa Speedway, another long time series supporter,is also switching to these same rules. Also at this time, it is uncertain if any events will be held at West Liberty in the coming season. Although this was no doubt a setback for the Deery series, it looks as though officials have regrouped and are now in the process of putting together a more diversified schedule. Nine tracks hosting ten races have been identified in a preliminary press release, with more supposedly in the works and a full schedule is due out in January. One change of note thus far is the event originally announced at 34 Raceway has been moved to Tuesday, July 3. This should result in a solid car count and hopefully a packed grandstand for new owners Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt. Crate late models have replaced the IMCA cars on the March 31 date at 34 along with the Sprint Invaders. As noted earlier, this will be the first full season of operation at Quincy Raceways for Jason and Robert Goble, and I saw even more improvements to the facility in a visit earlier this month. UMP crate late models will share the spotlight with 305 sprints in 2018, so keep an eye on the schedule for the Sunday night races. Scotland County Speedway is adding events to the new season. While again hosting race nights in March and again in the fall, and also during the county fair, they will be adding some dates when the Lee County Speedway takes a few nights off. With Mike Van Genderen the man in charge at both tracks, this should be a seamless and successful endeavor. The Midwest Late Model Racing Association, MLRA, continues to make inroads in this part of the midwest. Along with returning to Lee County, the series has a pair of dates at the Davenport, Iowa Speedway, and several trips to LaSalle,Il on tap. As of now, they do not show return trips to Scotland County, or Moberly, but it is still early. And perhaps the biggest feather in their cap is the sanctioning for the first time of the Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway. It will I believe,be year number ten for the memorial event which pays $10,555 to the winner. Because of the change in sanction, the race has been pushed back one week to April 21. The change comes after the controversial happenings in 2017, when the MARS series pulled out of the event at the last minute, citing weather concerns, and leaving the Cornbelt Clash group as a lone sanction. With a rough first season for the fledgling owner of the MARS series, it has been announced that Chris Tilley has purchased the operation. He is working on putting together a schedule for this coming season, no small task considering the foothold the MLRA has gained to the north and the Comp Cams series to the southwest. Tilley has plenty of experience in operations, including working with Ray Cook and his Southern Nationals series, as well as owning a late model and modified series on his own, so perhaps he can have success rebuilding the MARS brand. With the late model drivers heading to Arizona next week for the Wild West Shootout ahead of Speedweeks in February in Georgia and Florida, there really is no such thing as an " off season " anymore. Driver - owner changes, new chassis, etc. are being done on the fly. Of course the move by Bobby Pierce away from his family operation will be one closely watched in these parts. Bobby was something of a semi regular for several seasons at Quincy Raceways along with Brandon Sheppard, and both of these young stars have huge followings in this area. Along with its many unique aspects, racing at the Dome served to shorten my off season. Still with a howling wind and temps in the single digits, it seems like a long way to March! Thanks for reading.

One More Night at the Track

After an abbreviated first ever visit to the Springfield,Missouri Raceway for the rescheduled Turkey Bowl, I was working on putting a wrap on my 2017 season. But an offer from "the Boss" to ride along to night number two of the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome in St. Louis was too good to pass up. For a host of reasons, including inclement weather, I had passed on the inaguaral event in 2016. But the chance to attend my first ever indoor race and my first ever race in December while someone else did the driving sounded like a deal. After a trip to "the Hill" and some outstanding barbeque, we made our way to the in door arena along with north of 10,000 like minded fans for a full late afternoon and night of open late model and modified racing action on the 1/5 mile oval constructed over a two week period under the direction of Kevin Gundaker at the behest of promoter Cody Sommer. 107 UMP style modifieds signed in for Thursday night qualifying, and while I did not keep a count on Friday, I would guess all returned for Friday. 93 late models took time trials on Thursday and all returned, plus Billy Stiles, who broke down on the way to Missouri from Pennsylvania, but was allowed to tag the tail of a heat race on Friday, swelling the count to 94 super late models. As always, Jeff Broeg has a spot on recap of the nights action on the Backstretch elsewhere on this blog page, so I will just add some observations in this report. As a stand alone event at a regular racing venue, the Dirt Nationals would be open to more than a little criticism. But when you take into account the uniqueness of this event, much of the criticism melts away. To come into an enclosed facility with obvious space constraints, bringing everything from the dirt itself to the walls and everything else needed for a race program of such a large magnitude, is an amazing undertaking. I think it is important to understand the this be viewed an an "event" more than a racing program. As I said, it may not compare favorably to say the Dream, the World 100 or the Knoxville Late Model Nationals, but it is racing in the midwest in December! I do not do the extensive traveling that many of my friends in the racing world are able to do, but I was able for the first time to see dozens of drivers in both divisions that I have never had the opportunity to see in person, while at the same time watching them compete against drivers I watch on a regular basis. And if you are going to have the extended amount of down time required to filter the air - and do track maintainence - what better place than indoors where you can visit with friends you have not seen for a couple of months. Unfortunately for them and me, the modified drivers I am able to watch every week at Quincy Raceways, Michael Long and Dave Weitholder did not have good results, and while local late model standouts Jason Perry and Dustin Griffin were preentered, neither made the trip, at least not with their cars. I was able to give Dustin a scolding for showing up as a bench racer, like myself! The new owner/promoters from Quincy Raceways and 34 Raceways, as well as veteran race director Mike VanGenderen were among the attendees, all taking notes,and receiving advice, I am sure. After hearing some horror stories from the 2016 event, we did pack overnight bags "just in case," but the action began on time at 3:00, and the final checker waved at 9:55. Second generation driver Hudson Oneal was a popular winner in one of the two 20 lap $5,000 to win late model features, and there is no doubt he has a bright future ahead. The same can be said for the winner of the second main event, Gordy Gundaker, a St Charles,Missouri native, who calls Quincy his " second home" after graduating from Quincy University as an outstanding catcher on the baseball team. Gordy was a two time feature winner at Quincy Raceways in 2017, and I just realized he is living my childhood dream, a baseball player and stock car racer! It was my first time to see modified driver Tanner Mullins, and he was impressive capturing the $5,000 modified top prize. A couple of other drivers who have spent more than one night in victory lane at Quincy, Bobby Pierce in his #32 late model and Ray Bollinger wheeling his #77 modified collected the big checks on Saturday while I was up the street at the Scottrade Center benefitting from some free tickets while watching the St Louis Blues defeat the Winnepeg Jets in NHL action! After two successful runs on the third weekend in December - following the PRI race show in Indianapolis, I see the 2018 Dirt Nationals date has been set for November 29,30 December 1. What this means for the competitors and the fans remains to be seen, as there were mumblings about a possible open wheel type show as well. But what I can say is I came away happy to have been in attendance and looking forward to a possible return trip next year. Now that my 2017 season is truly over, I will be back soon with a recap of my year. Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas to all!

News and Notes

Although there are still a couple of races left for 2017 here in Missouri, the " off season " news marches on. New 34 Raceway owners/promoters Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt have released a preliminary schedule for their inagural season at the storied West Burlington, Iowa facility. Racing is set to begin on Saturday, March 31 featuring the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models and the 360 Sprint Invaders. This was my first race of 2017, with a solid field of cars, including 33 late models. The following week, April 7, the IRA sprints are on the card. The tenth annual Slocum 50 late model event has been pushed back one week to Saturday April 21 for 2018. The reason for this appears to be due to the securing of a first time sanction by the Midwest Late Model Racing Association. The MLRA has a record of sucessful shows over the last several seasons at area tracks, and should bring in a solid field of drivers from Iowa, Illinois, and their home base of Missouri, as well as some other national standouts. They will be coming off a two day show the week prior at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland,Mo. Other highlights of the schedule include the Sprint Invaders featured again on May 27 and for their season championship on September 29. Also, Tony Stewarts All Star Sprints are on the card for July 29. At this time, the management team is stil working on more possible specials, as well as fleshing out the lineup for the weekly Saturday night shows. Meanwhile, there is good news for the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, as race director Mike VanGenderen has signed on for three more seasons, through the 2020 campaign. Mike has consistently provided a crisp, efficient Friday night program at the fairgrounds 3/8 mile facility, including a pair of highly sucessful MLRA shows the past couple of years. Speaking of the MLRA, my sources tell me that they will abandon time trial qualifying in 2018 and go back to the passing points format that had worked for them previously. It is no secret that the biggest names in dirt late model racing prefer time trials, with the top qualifiers then starting up front. Unfortunately, this often produces little passing up front, both in the heats and features. The " follow the leader " action also usually robs us of a multi groove track come feature time. I don't know if I am in the majority or not, but I much prefer passing points over qualifying. At any rate, I think it is safe to assume the the $10,000 plus winners check for the Slocum 50 will still draw plenty of heavy hitters. The full MLRA schedule is due to be released this Saturday, November 18. Quincy,Il. Raceways has already released a preliminary schedule, with more special dates to be announced. In the meantime, the new owners of the .29 mile bullring have scheduled an informational meeting for this coming Sunday, November 19 at the speedway concession stand at I believe 1:00 to discuss the possibility of reintroducing a two person cruiser class. The Gobles are proposing this as a truck class, and they have received positive responses, as well as calls for the revival of the two person car class, which enjoyed a successful run of five or so seasons several years ago. Anyone interested should check out Quincy Raceways on Facebook. As I mentioned at the beginning, there are still a pair of races to be had withing driving distance in 2017. This Saturday, November 18 will be the running of the eleventh annual Turkey Bowl at the Springfield,Missouri Raceway. The late afternoon event features open late models and modifieds, as well as B-mods, Midwest mods and Legend cars. Then the second annual Race at the Dome extravaganza in St Louis will feature late models and modifieds on the indoor track. With area racers traveling to Arizona in January, then to Florida and Georgia in February, I guess " off season " is a loosely defined term!

Some News, Some Thoughts

The new owners of Quincy Raceways have released a tentative schedule for 2018. As might be expected, there was a lot of reaction, both positive and negative, but I will leave it at that. Highlights of the schedule include a loose rotation of eight classes along with a September 16 visit by the Sprint Invaders. The season is set to kick off with a Quincy Mall car show on March 17 followed by a couple of practice nights. Racing is set to begin on Sunday, April 8 with UMP modifieds, IMCA sport mods, IMCA stock cars, IMCA (I assume) sport compacts, and mod lites. One week later, the crate late models make their first appearance of the season, followed one week later with 305 sprints as the featured class. Beginning in May, the crate late models and 305 sprints will basically rotate Sunday nights through the month of August, with things changing up a bit in September. Midgets also make a few appearances on the schedule. The owners will also be working on a date for the UMP late model Summernationals, with more information to follow. The schedule appears on the Quincy Raceways Facebook page. A post on a racing forum this week concerning the name of an upcoming event got me to thinking - plenty of time for that now that I am retired and racing season is winding down. The poster was pointing out that the first running of an event should not be called the 1st Annual and I started to think about ads for races in general, which led me to consider what I look for when searching for information. So here is what I look for: 1- where is the race? I have seen tracks use ads that apparently appeared in the local paper, and the track location is not given 2- when is the race, date and time, including hot lap and race times? 3- what classes (and sanctions) are running, and if it is a multiple night show, what classes on which night? 4- what is the cost of the event, grandstand and pit prices? 5- some information about the purse, just so I have an idea of who might be inclined to show up 6- is there a pre entry list? 7- if the event has been held in the past, who was last years winner? 8- contact information, especially for race day in the event of inclement weather. Did I miss anything? Then there are the things I do not care about 1- What the promoter chooses to name his show. The release of the Quincy Raceways schedule is just the first salvo of what figures to be an intriging off season, so buckle up, here we go!

The 2017 Curtain Falls at Quincy Raceways

Despite the chilly temps and stiff breeze, Quincy Raceways went ahead with their 2017 season finale on Sunday afternoon. The decision came mid week to open up the rules to an " open competition " format, with the payout based on car counts. This decision drew in some " out of town " cars, and caused a few locals to stay home. The start time was also moved up , with hot laps scheduled for 2:30. Unfortunately, a problem getting water for the water truck caused a delay, and still it was not possible to obtain enough water. The result was a dust problem, with a southern breeze making for an uncomfortable time in the early part of the program for those in the grandstand, and a vision problem all evening for the competitors. Five classes were on the card, with heat race action beginning just before 4:00. The USAC/IMRA D2 midget heat race saw the car of Austin Archdale take a nasty tumble between turns one and two, ending the night early for the #2 and also the #3 of Sean Coat. Following another track watering session and a candy dash for the kids, it was feature time. First up was the modified 20 lapper. Shaun Deering took off from row one, with Ray Bollinger breaking free from a three wide battle for second. Heat race winner Kevin Morrow had drawn the seventh and final starting spot, but he had moved to fourth when the only caution of the event came out as Charles Baker appeared to have his engine expire on lap five. Deering used the high line around the .29 mile oval, while Bollinger stayed down low. Bollinger pulled alongside the #16 on lap seven, but Deering used his high side momentum to fight off the challenge. By mid race, Deering had opened a sizable lead over Bollinger, while Morrow moved to challenge Chris Spaulding in the Jeff Yates #70 for third. Not only did Spaulding fight off the #28, but he soon ran down Bollinger by using the high line that was working for Deering. On the final circuit, Spaulding charged ahead of Bollinger, claiming the runner up spot to Deering at the checkers. Bollinger finished third ahead of Frankie Wellman and Morrow. Craig Roden finshed in the sixth spot. The remaining six midgets were up next for 20 laps. Front row starter A J Johnson and third starting Sean Murphy crossed the line side by side as lap one was scored. Johnson looped his ride on the slick surface on lap two, and following the single file restart, Andy Baugh powered to the lead. As the cars began to search for moisture in the bottom groove, Johnny Murdock moved to second on the fifth circuit. Baugh built his lead by diving to the bottom of the track in the turns, then powering to a middle line in the straightaways, while Murdock hugged the low side all the way around. With no further cautions, Baugh cruised to his second win in two tries at QR this season. Murdock ran second ahead of Murphy,Jason Allen, Johnson, and Mark McMahill. A dozen sport mods/B mods then came to the oval for 18 laps. A mixup on lap one brought things to a halt, with Chad Hickam getting the worst of the deal, ending his run early. Justin Ebbing started on the pole and led lap one, with another caution one lap later. Back under green, fifth starting Kevin Tomlinson, wheeling the #17 normally driven by Brandon Lennox, jumped to third. The cars fell into a single file line on the bottom of the track, before a trio of mid race cautions slowed the action. After the stoppage on lap eleven, things setlled down. Fourth running George Wilson tried his luck by jumping out of line and testing a higher groove, but he fell behind Tyler Burton before falling back in line. As the checkers waved, it was Ebbing with a flag to flag win. Rick Barlow Jr had started in row 2, moved quickly to second, and picked up the runner up finish. Tomlinson, Burton, and Wilson completed the top five. There were only five entries in the stock car division, with only two QR regulars on hand. After a lap one yellow for polesitter Brian Gaines, who spun his #44G, the 15 laps went non stop. Jimmy Myers put his #007 out front and went unchallenged throughout. Mid Missouri veteran Rick Girard took over the second spot on lap five, but could not reel in the leader, settling for second. Track champion Brian Hoener came home third ahead of Gaines, with Jerry Jansen collecting a DNF with possible suspension damage. The final feature of 2017 saw seven sport compact/hornet cars racing for 15 laps. Jeffrey Delonjay used a pole position start to jump to an early advantage. By lap three, he was well out front, with visting Dakota Girard, David Prim, Jaden Delonjay, and Barry Taft fighting for position. Jaden took third on lap four, and one circuit later, the right front wheel came off the lead car of Jeffrey. Girard and Jaden restarted side by side, with Girard gaining the advantage. Soon, a two car battle for the lead developed between Girard and Taft, while Prim and Jaden Delonjay dueled for third. As the leaders were coming to the white flag, Taft got a run inside the leader, taking over the top spot. Girard tried to fight back as the leaders came through turns three and four on the final lap, and he spun his #0. Taft picked up the win, Jaden Delonjay crossed the stripe in second, ahead of Prim. Girard was able to refire to come home in fourth, with Alvin Cooney and Jordon Jones rounding out the field. With the Gobles having taken the reigns late in the season at Quincy, it appears no firm decisions have been made as far as what will happen in 2018 at the historic facilty, at least as far as classes run, etc. It is just one of many unanswered questions for tracks in my area, and indeed all over the midwest. I have a feeling I will be spending an unusual amount of time searching for info and reporting it here as the off season progresses. But since I am now retired, what else do I have to do?!? One early tidbit is the addition twice per month of the UMP Pro Crate late models at Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. This could be a big plus for QR if the new owners decide to continue the division. I may have one more race on my 2017 schedule, depending on the weather, but either way, check back often and I will do my best to keep you informed as we await 2018!

Shiverfest Lives Up To Its Name

Trying to ignore temps in the 30's accompinied by a brisk breeze, Darryl and I headed out Saturday for one more trip to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for the 19th edition of what is now known as Shiverfest. It was a marked difference from last years warm temps, but even though it sounds silly, the weather is part of the allure of this show. As a concession to the cold, promoter Mike VanGenderen moved the start times up a bit, with hot laps rolling off at 3:00 for the 117 car field. Again, this was far from a record turn out for the six class program, but many folks do not care to fight the cold, and others think it is simply too hard on engines, etc. But there were more than enough competitors on hand to make an entertaining show, with 33 sport mods topping the bill! A total of 15 heat races were staged along with a pair of B mains for the sport mods which came after the sport compact feature and a few hot laps for a KIDZ MODZ car on hand. All but four of the 29 four cylinder cars on hand took the feature green. for 15 laps. A multi car pile up on the opening circuit eliminated three cars, and back under green, pole sitter Josh Barnes powered to a big lead as a battle developed behind him between Darin ( DJ ) Weisinger Jr., Barry Taft, and Bandon Reu. Taft made contact on lap seven as he moved around Weisinger for second, and just as Weisinger was charging back on lap eight, Michael Hamilton drilled the guardrail between turns three and four. It appeared his throttle may have stuck, and he actually split the steel rail, narrowly avoiding a scary outcome. He appeared uninjured, and track workers went to work to make temporary repairs. The delay added up to about 25 minutes when it surely could have taken much longer. Back to racing, Barnes again pulled out to a big advantage. With five laps to go, Reu took over the third spot and tried to challenge Taft for second. As the checkers waved, it was Barnes scoring a flag to flag win ahead of Taft, Reu. Trent Orwig and Chuck Fullenkamp. A dozen hobby stocks were up next, with Gene Nicklas leading lap one. Dustin Griffiths moved up to challenge on the next trip around, and the duo raced side by side for several laps, with Nicklas using the preferred high line while Griffiths fought down low. With about six laps remaining, Griffiths, who also competed in the stock car division in a different car, took command, then moved to the higher line around the 3/8 mile oval. From there he scored the win, followed by Nicklas, Mike Kincaid, Aaron Martin, and Randy Byerly. The late models were up next, and although only eight cars signed in, it was an interesting mix of UMP crate cars, IMCA spec engines, and I believe one steel block powered machine. Derek Liles and heat race winner Gunner Frank lined up in row one for the 20 lap main event, but it was Tommy Elston powering to the lead as the first lap was scored. The yellow waved for first time late model pilot Aric Becker as he spun in turn four, and on the Delaware restart, Port Byron,Il. driver Chuck Hanna took second from Frank. A yellow for debris came on lap five, then the final stoppage came near the halfway mark when Frank encountered a mechanical problem, possibly clipping the front stretch fence, sliding down into Liles, then coming to a stop on the infield apron. From that point it was green flag racing, with Elston picking up another win. Hanna drove to an impressive runner up finish, holding off a hard charging Liles. Lee Hoover, a new name for me, came home fourth in the #1 machine Kevin Blackburn had raced at Memphis,Mo. earlier this month, and Becker scored a top five in his first late model action. Kelly Pestka ran sixth, with Frank scored seventh. IMCA racer Eric Sanders mave have lost an engine in the heat race, as he pulled to the infield with smoke trailing his #95. It was now stock car time, 15 cars strong. Todd Reitzler used a front row start to lead lap one, with Abe Huls charging to second. Johnny Spaw joined the lead pack on the second go around, and the front trio began to pull away. Huls used the inside line to grab the lead on lap six, and a side by side battle developed for the runner up spot between Reitzler and Spaw. The veteran Spaw took the spot two laps later, and now it was Huls running the bottom, Spaw using a high on corner entry, dive to the bottom move in second, and Reitzler running the high line. The caution waved on lap tweleve, when John Oliver Jr appeared to have a tire go down, and he contacted the fence in turn one. Back under green, Reitzler moved down the track, but there was no catching Huls. Spaw held second ahead of Reitzler, Mike Hughes, back in the stock car ranks after dropping to hobbys for a few weeks, came home fourth and Griffiths was fifth. The sport mod field had been whittled down to 24 cars for the main event. Tanner Klingele bolted to the lead from his pole start, with a three wide battle behind him for second. Austen Becerra took command of the spot on lap two, with row four starter Brandon Lennox moving to fifth. The caution waved on lap three, and I apparently missed a pass, as Becerra was lined up in the top spot for the restart. As he stretched his advantage, Klingele and Sean Wyatt battled behind him. Tenth starting Brayton Carter was on the move, entering the top five as Lennox spun between turns three and four with 13 laps remaining. Carter jumped from fourth to second on the restart, with another caution one lap later. Back to racing, Becerra took the high line and Carter hugged the bottom, but the yellow waved again one lap later. On this restart, Becerra seemed to not take off, jamming up the field, bringing out the yellow. As the cars circled the track, Becerra was pointed to the back of the reallignment. After a bit of discussion, he fell in about three rows from the tail. This put Klingele back out front, ahead of Logan Anderson and Tony Olson. One lap later, Anderson powered to the lead, and one more lap saw Becerra reenter the top five. With seven circuits remaining, Anderson had opened a sizable lead, and Becerra moved to fourth. Five laps left saw Becerra in a three car battle for second with Olson and Tim Warner. Austen secured the runner up spot with four laps left to run down the leader, but Anderson was up to the task. At the checkers it was Anderson, Becerra, Olson, Warner, and Lennox. The final event on the card was the 20 car, 22 lap modified feature. 18 competitors took the green, with Milo Veloz jumping to a big lead from his outside row one start. By lap four, tenth starting Cayden Carter had advanced to fourth, and the yellow flew for debris. On the restart, Carter charged to second, then raced past Veloz for the lead. It had developed into a two car scrum when the caution waved at the halfway mark. Veteran Bruce Hanford had lined up in row six, but now jumped from sixth to third. Hanford, Tyler Madigan, and Kyle Brown battled behind the leaders, when Veloz began trailing smoke out of his machine. Carter opened a straightaway lead as he worked through slower traffic, cruising to the win. Veloz finished second, still trailing smoke, and Hanford, Madigan, and Brown filled out the top five. The action concluded somewhere around 7:30, another efficiently run program. This afternoon, Sunday, I will be heading to Quincy Raceways for what may be my final race of 2017. The Gobles are staging an afternoon program featuring open competition modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, sport compacts and D II midgets, with the purse tied to car counts, and the modifieds possibly racing for a $1,000 to win. Hot laps are scheduled for 2:30, when the temperature is supposed to be in the fifties, so come on out for one more show!

Kirkham,Powers,Lennox and Taft Top Quincy

Despite a late afternoon shower and cold temps, Quincy Raceways managed to pull off an unprecedented Monday night show. At the noon hour, the sun was out, the breeze was blowing, and the temperature was in the high 60's. Everything looked good for the rescheduled Sunday night show. Then as I was preparing to leave home about 4:00, a rogue shower came up, staying with me throughout most of the 35 minute drive to Quincy Raceways, where it was obvious that the rain combined with an already wet surface had put the crew behind the eight ball. There was no doubt that the advertised start time for hot laps of 7:00 was in jeopardy, but nearly all of the small but hearty group of racers and fans hung around for one more night of racing. The exception was the handful of mod lite travellers, who headed for home. As the track crew kept at it, the 7:00 hour came and went, but the .29 mile oval was slowly coming around. The racers helped out with track packing, and eventually the Pro late models came out for hot laps, followed by stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts. During hot laps it was announced that we would forego heat races and run features only, a concession to the time and uncomfortable chilly breeze, no doubt. However, the number of laps were increased for each of the four classes. First up was a 30 lapper for the late models. Tommy Elston and Denny Woodworth drew the front row, with Elston jumping to the early lead, with Woodworth and Sam Halstead trailing. As the leaders powered down the back stretch, Woodworth headed for the pits, his night done. Elston built a nice lead, while fifth starting Clint Kirkham, wheeling the Charles Vanzandt #80V challenged Halstead for second. On the eighth lap, Clint took the runner up spot, but Elston was well out front. As Tommy tried to put Rudy Zaragoza one lap down, Kirkham was able to close the gap on the leader. Meanwhile, just past the halfway mark, Brandon Savage began to pressure Halstead for third. With Kirkham shadowing the leader, Elston again encountered Zaragoza on lap 22. When he tried to put the #67R another lap down using a highler line in turn one on lap 23, Kirkham found an inside line, overtaking both the lapped car and the leader. From there,he stretched a several car length lead, capturing his first win in a limited 2017 campaign. An unhappy Elston settled for second, while Savage wrestled third away from Halstead. Vance Wilson camd home fifth, with Zaragoza still running at the checkers for sixth. Woodworth was credited with seventh. Next it was stock cars for 20 laps. Jake Powers jumped to the lead from his row one start. As lap one was scored, Beau Taylor was forced to the pits with apparent suspension damage on the right front of his machine. Jerry Jansen kept Powers in his sights, but did not mount a serious challenge as the event went green to checkers with no cautions. Nathan Hays came home third, with Taylor scored fourth. It was win number two of the season for the newlywed Powers. Eight sport mods took the green flag for 30 laps. During a false start on lap one, there was fuel coming from the back of the Mike Goodwin car. He ducked to the work area, but his crew apparently could not locate the missing fuel cell cap, and the race went green with Tanner Klingele inheriting his front row spot. Tanner powered to the early lead, followed by John Renier and row two starter Brandon Lennox. On the next circuit, Lennox moved to second, and things quickly evolved into a two car battle for the lead. As the leaders came upon the car of Gary Stephenson on lap seven, Lennox took an inside line around both the #24S and Klingele, then pulled away to a sizable lead. The only mid race yellow of the night came on lap 13, as visiting Tyler Burton stopped on the top side of turn two. Back under green, Lennox was able to build a big lead as Klingele had his hands full of AJ Tournear, who used every line he could find on the narrow racing surface to try and take the runner up spot. At the checkers it was Lennox with another feature win, followed by Klingele, Tournear, and Renier. I believe it was Stepenson scored fifth, as he dropped out soon after the caution period. The final event of the night was the 25 lap main event for the sport compacts. All but one of the seven entries took the green. Jeffrey Delonjay took the lead from row one, with Darrin Weisinger Jr. in second. Meanwhile Barry Taft was on the move, taking third on lap three, then finally slipping past Weisinger on lap nine after an entertaing duel. While Taft tried to close on the leader, Weisinger headed to the trailer on lap eleven, giving up the third spot. The leader found slower traffic on lap 17 of the non stop event, but it was five circuits later before Taft made his move. The front pair ran side by side for a couple of laps, with Taft scored the leader on lap 23. The checkers waved for Taft, with Delonjay claiming a solid second. Kimberly Abbott found herself running most of the race on open track and finished third, with Jaden Delonjay and Jordon Jones completing the top five. The new owner - operator team at QR has scheduled one more night of circle track racing this coming Sunday, October 29. The featured class is open modifieds for a $1,000 top prize, along with stock cars, sport mods, sport compacts, and D2 midgets. With a less than favorable early forecast, I would advise drivers and fans to check before leaving home, but hopefully mother nature will ease up for one more night. As for me, my Friday night plans for a final visit to Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. are off, as the $5,000 to win late model show has been cancelled in anticipation of inclement weather. At this time, Shiverfest on Saturday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa is still a go, and along with QR, the make up features for the Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa on Sunday starting at noon are possiblities. So bundle up, and lets go racing one more time!

Quincy Raceways Washed Out, Moved to Monday

After 1/2 inch of rain, cool temps and no sunshine, Quincy Raceways was forced to postpone racing for this Sunday, October 22. However, with the season winding down, the new owners/promoters are going to reschedule for tomorrow night, Monday, October 23, with hot laps begining at 7:00. Last week the races were cancelled after the fans and drivers had arrived, and these folks are holding rain checks. Tomorrows line up is crate late models paying $750.00 to win, stock cars, sport mods, sport compacts, and mod lites, with regular admission prices for anyone who was not there last Sunday. Racing is also scheduled for the following Sunday, October 29, with modifieds replacing late models and midgets instead of mod lites. As of now, the 2017 season will conclude with that race, and as I understand it, tickets from last week can be used on that night for anyone who cannot attend on Monday. So, a rare opportunity for a week night race in October, with sunshine and temps close to 70 degrees in the forecast! As of now, the forecast does not look great for next weekend, so don't pass up this chance if you can make it. See you there!

Kloos, Blackhurst, Bayston Top Jacksonville

Friday night I made my first visit of 2017 to the Jacksonville,Il Speedway . Five classes of cars made up the 100 plus entries for the first of two nights of October racing. We arrived as hot laps were starting at 6:30, and the show moved quickly into race mode. A total of 15 heat races and three B-mains set the fields for feature action, with the Lucas Oil Power I midgets up first for 30 laps on the fairgrounds 1/4 mile. Spencer Bayston sat on the front row and led the opening circuit, with Jake Newman in second. The red flag waved on lap five when Austin Odell flipped his #97x in turn one, just one of many cars to get upside down during the night. Bayston continued to lead, but the yellow came out one lap later, and back under green, Zeb Wise moved to second. On lap ten, as the leader approached slower traffic, the caution flew again, and as the cars circled the oval, Wise headed to the work area with a flat tire. This moved Newman to second, but Tyler Courtney took the spot away on the restart. Tenth starting Logan Seavey was now in fourth, with the final caution coming one lap later. With things finally settled down, Bayston and Courtney put separation on the field, entering lapped traffic just past the halfway mark. With Bayston running the cushion, Courtney made a move on the inside on lap 22 and again one lap later. But a slower car broke his momentum, and Boyston then moved down the track a bit. Courtney drove a bit too hard into turn one on the final lap and had to check up, with Bayston leading flag to flag for the win. Courtney held on for second, followed by Seavey, Tucker Klassmeyer, and Tyler Thomas. The MOWA 410 sprint cars were up next for 25 laps. The 29 car field had been pared down to 20 starters, with Mike Terry Jr and Katlynn Leer on row one. Leer brought out an early red with a flip in turn one. She was able to restart on the tail of the complete restart, but soon retired to the pits. Another pair of yellows marred the opening laps, as Jason Keith set the pace. Sixth starting Jake Blackhurst moved to second on lap five, with fellow row three starter Brad Loyet taking third. Keith had a comfortable lead as he hit slower traffic on lap eight. With Blackhurst and Loyet closing, it qickly became a three car battle, and Loyet grabbed second on lap twelve. Keith suddenly slowed on lap 14, ending his run, turning the top spot over to Loyet. Paul Nienhiser had now advanced to sixth after starting in row nine. The driver of the #9 suffered a flat tire in his heat, then advanced from row five to second in the caution free B-main. Loyet opened a big lead, and was in lapped traffic by lap 20. But with four laps to go, Logan Faucon stopped on the high side of the track, and Loyet looped his ride trying to miss the disabled car, suffering enough damage to end his run. Blackhurst was now out front for the single file restart, with Josh Schneiderman in second. With two laps remaining, Joe B Miller moved to the runner up spot, but settled for second behind the victorious Blackhurst. Schneiderman held third ahead of Terry and Nienhiser. The Big Ten super late model championship was up next, with a rather disappointing eleven cars signed in for the $1200 top prize. Michael Kloos and Matt Bailey lined up on row one for 20 laps. The feature was based on passing points as they had attempted to time trial, but the transponder system was not working properly. As the green flag waved, Kloos jumped to the lead, with Bailey and Rusty Griffaw joining him in a three car breakaway. The caution came out on lap eight as Griffaw came to a stop in turn one with rearend suspension damage. The final caution came as racing resumed for a stalled Cody Maguire. Once racing resumed, Kloos opened a comfortable lead, while Bailey stretched his advantage over the third place battle between Jason Suhre and Greg Kimmons. Kloos cruised to the win ahead of Bailey, Kimmons, Suhre, and Vance Wilson. Jeff Ray ran sixth, besting Maguire, Andrew Barnes, and Rudy Zaragoza. Rick Standridge was honored during intermission for 50 years of racing, but he dropped out of the late model feature and was credited with tenth. Two features remained for the UMP street stocks and the Power I micro midgets, but it was nearing 11:00, so we headed for the car, pleased with a solid night of racing in the books. Thanks to Ken Dobson and the Jacksonville staff for their hospitality and the chance at one more late season race. The sprints and midgets along with UMP modifieds will be in action today, Saturday, starting at about 4:00. Next up for me, weather permitting, will be Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, with six classes of racing, including the UMP Pro late models. Hot laps at 6:00. Hope to see you there!

Weathered Out Again

Thursday night Fred and I headed out to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa for night number one of the Fall Bash hosted by Darkside Promotions. After seeing the "good to go" message on Facebook, we were anticipating a full night of racing on the fairgrounds 1/4 mile. Arriving early, we were pleased to see cars lined up at the gate and the pit area already filling up. As one driver had messaged me earlier, the pit road was a muddy mess, but the parking areas were good, and the track prep crew was hard at work. Between the track condition and the back up of cars on a week night, it soon became obvious that the 6:00 hot lap time was a pipe dream, and we would be in for a long night. It was announced that the drivers would be asked to help roll in the track at 6:30. Then the rumblings began. First a late model drivers wife let us know that they would not be racing on what would likely be a soft and rough track, and they were headed home, to be joined by another late model team. As we walked the pits, we saw another pair of late models pulling out and a two car late model and modified team loading up. Then it was the stock cars loading up. Finally about 7:30, the drivers meeting was called, and about 15 minutes later the announcement came that the majority of drivers did not want to race on the surface as it was, and the Thursday portion of the show would be pushed back and combined with the Friday show, with hot laps set for 5:00. So with over 200 cars in the pits, including at various times 36 late models, the night was over early. Refunds were given to folks in the bleachers and in the pits who were willing to stand in line. Although I would be willing to make the 300 mile round trip to see the show, I had plans in place to take in the Big Ten late model, MOWA sprint car show tonight at Jacksonville,Il. Raceway. Thanks to Darkside for their hospitality and best of luck to all the drivers tonight in Tipton. The sun is shining as I sit at the computer this morning, so hopefully my streak of watching graders and pickups circle the track instead of race cars ends tonight. It is warming up, so everyone head for a track somewhere tonight!

0 for the Weekend

The weatherman was the big winner this weekend as far as my racing plans went. Friday night I had plans to head to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa for night one of the Fall Extravaganza. However, rains on Thursday night followed by a gloomy rainy day on Friday resulted in the two day show being pushed to Saturday and Sunday. I was already committed to an overnight outing on Saturday in southern Missouri. Although we drove in rain well into Saturday afternoon, the weather to the north was good enough for the show in Donnellson to go on. Sunday I arrived back home in plenty of time to head to Quincy,Illinois Raceways for racing in five divisions, including the crate late models. When I got to the track, the grader was broke down, and the track crew spent the next couple of hours on repairs. Meanwhile track packing continued until about 7:15, when word came down that the track was a lost cause, and the nights events would be cancelled. There had simply been too much rain in the area over the previous three days. By this time, we decided that it would be futile to head for Donnellson, as the hour trip would likely put us in the middle of feature racing given their early start time. So it was back home to watch playoff baseball. With the car count and cheering sections being split between tracks, both were a bit short at Quincy. There were a couple of surprise entries in the late model division, however, with Tegan Evans making the long pull down from Clinton, Iowa, while Jeff Ray made his first visit to Quincy. Jeff typically can be seen racing around central Illinois. Additionally, Denny Woodworth has purchased the car driven previosly by Trent Grotz, and it now sports a #B1, with veteran driver Vance Wilson behind the wheel. The crate lates have been added to the card next Sunday at Quincy along with the D II midgets, modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts. The track is also scheduled to run on Sunday, October 22 before calling it a season. Up next for me is night one of the three night Darkside Fall Bash at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa this Thursday, October 12. This night will feature topless late models and IMCA stock cars both racing for a $1,500 top prize. Also in action will be modifieds, sport mods, 4 stocks and my first 2 man cruiser race in several seasons. Friday night there are a couple options on the table, including UMP super late models and MOWA sprint cars in Jacksonville,Illinois, and UMP late models and modifieds in support of a $3,000 to win B-modified special at Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. So far, the weather looks good for any of these excellent choices. The forecast is not good so far for Sunday, but hopefully that will change as the week progresses. The 2017 season is winding down quickly, so try and support the tracks that are still giving us our racing fix!

Abbott Wins First of 2017 at Quincy

Race night number three of the long weekend found me at Quincy Raceways, where four of the regular classes were joined by the USAC/IMRA DII Midgets. With three nights of racing at Tri City and two at Scotland County, car counts were down a bit, but the action was still hot and heavy on a crisp fall evening. With heat races in the books, the IMCA stock car feature ran first. Four cars took the green flag, with Jesse Wegs on the trailer after he pulled out of the heat race in a cloud of smoke. The .29 mile oval had been reworked at intermission, with turn one still a bit slippery. Jerry Jansen looped his ride on the opening lap to necessitate a restart. Brian Hoener charged to the lead, with Abe Huls in pursuit. However, Abe lost the handle on the #30C also in turn one, recovering before he spun, but dropping to third. He quickly rebounded to the runner up spot, but with no more cautions, he could not run down Hoener. Jansen and newly wed Jake Powers ran door to door for several laps, with Powers eventually taking command of the third spot. The midgets ran next, with all nine on hand taking the green for 20 laps. Following a false start, Chance McDermand took the early lead. On the third circuit, Andy Baugh powered to the lead, and one lap later Mitchell Davis moved to second. Davis was mounting a challenge to Baugh as the pair encountered slower traffic on lap eleven, however Davis got caught behind a lapped car on lap twelve, allowing Baugh to stretch his advantage. With no caution periods, Baugh cruised to the checkers. Davis held the runner up spot ahead of McDermand and Broc Hunnell. The UMP modified 20 lap finale was up next. Late arrival Dugan Thye jouned the back of the pack. A caution on the opening lap saw Bill Roberts restarting at the tail of the field. Dave Weitholder charged from row two to lead the opening circuit, ahead of row one starter Shaun Deering. The next yellow came on lap three for a spinning Thye. One lap later the yellow waved for a spinning Tim Ippensen. Roberts joined Ippensen at the tail, while Russ Coultas, who spun to avoid, was allowed to keep his spot. After a false start caution for debris, Joey Gower used the Delaware restart to take over the runner up spot. Weitholder was stretching his lead ahead of a lap nine caution for a spinning Roberts. Back under green, Deering overtook Gower on lap eleven using the high line around the track. With Weitholder running the inside line, Deering was closing fast when another debris caution came on lap 17. A final caution for Mark Enk came with only two laps remaining. On the green, white, checkers finish, Deering again climbed to the top side and made the last lap pass for the win. Weitholder settled for second followed by Gower, Spencer Havermale and Thye. The IMCA sport compacts were up next for 15 laps. Track champion Craig Bangert had pulled out of his heat race and was a no show for the feature. Meanwhile, Kimberly Abbott, who did not start her heat, atgged the tail of the now nine car feature. Jeffrey Delonjay paced the opening circuit from his front row start. Abbott Charged to third by lap three, and took over second three laps later. Following a lap seven caution for Wayne Chamblee, Delonjay and Abbott began to distance themselves from the pack. Kimberly used a top side pass to take the lead on lap ten, then held on for the win. It was the first victory of the year at her home track for the 2016 track champion. Delonjay came home second ahead of Darin Weisinger Jr., David Prim, and Jaden Delonjay. The final feature was the 18 lapper for the IMCA sport mods. Brandon Lennox came from outside row two to lead lap one, while Austin Howes in the Kevin Tomlinson #49 rebounded to lead lap two. The first stoppage then came for a spinning Mike Goodwin. Back under green, Howes looped his car on lap four. Lennox opened a big lead, as a four car battle for second developed between Tanner Klingele, Bobby Six, Austen Becerra, and Daniel Fellows. Becerra took the spot on lap ten, and a lap twelve yellow for John Renier wiped out a big Lennox advantage. When racing resumed, Becerra used a slide job to try to gain the top spot, but Lennox fought back on the lower line. The two ran side by side on lap 14 ahead of another yellow for Renier. As racing resumed. Howes charged back to third, and this time the slide job in turn four saw Becerra take the lead. Austen then held on for his fifth win of the last two weekends. Lennox held off Howes for second, Klingele was fourth, and Six ran fifth. The final checkers waved about 9:00. Despite the story that the QR scoreboard could not be repaired, the new track owners found out otherwise, and the crowd broke into applause as track announcer Doug Mealy pointed this out. Jacob Jones was making his first start in the comapct class, just turning laps, when he suddenly found himself with his first win. One by one, three leaders fell by the wayside, until onlt Todd Jensen and Jones remained. But coming to the checkers, Jensens car stalled out before he could get to the finish line, leaving Jones the surprise winner! Quincy Raceways is scheduled to run for the next three Sunday nights, with the UMP Pro Crate late models on tap October 8. They will now be running for a $700.00 top prize. Modifieds, stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts will also be on the card. Next on my schedule will be Friday night action of the two day special at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. After a family event on Saturday, I hope to be back at Quincy Raceways on Sunday. There is still plenty of racing in the Tri State area through October, so take adavantage and help out these promoters who are feeding our racing fix!

Scotland County Speedway Roars to Life on Friday

A solid Friday night crowd filed in to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo. on Friday night for the first of four fall racing programs. Six classes of competition drew what race manager Mike VanGenderen stated was an opening night record 136 race teams. The program got rolling a bit after the advertised 7:00 start time, but the cars conyinued to roll in well past 7:00. A whopping 18 heat races plus three B mains set the feature fields and after intermission we went main event racing on what was fast becoming a chilly fall evening. Only eleven hobby stocks checked in on the night, with Mike Hughes, who dropped down from the stock car class late in the season quickly establishing himself as the man to beat. He took the lead on lap two of the 14 lap event, surviving a handful of caution periods, including a nasty flip by Heather Baum, to pick up the win. Aaron Martin outran Nick Ulin for third, followed by former Moberly,Mo. track champion Tim Dawson, and Jamie Songer. A dozen laps of sport compact four cylinder action saw all 23 cars come to the track. Jake Benischek started on row one and jumped to the early lead. On the third circuit, Cody Cleghorn made hard contact with the fence between turns one and two, rolling his car and damaging the fence where track officials had made pit watchers vacate before the races began. As with the Baum rollover, we had extended down time while the area was shored up. Another caution on lap five slowed the action, but Benischek remained in charge to the checkers. Row two starter Brandon Reu kept the leader in sight, but came home second. Barry Taft brought a big cheering section and early on looked like he might go to the front, eventually settling for third. Chuck Fullenkamp and Brandon Housley completed the top five. Sport mods have become the growing class in the Tri State area, and 39 signed in on Friday, with 25 qualifying for the 18 lap feature. Austen Becerra has been on fire since debuting his new ride, and he found himself with a front row strat. He was locked in a early battlw with Austin Howes driving the Kevin Tomlinson #49, and sport mod rookie Daniel Fellows. Howes actully found his way around Becerra early, but the first of several cautions negated the pass. When racing resumed, row five starter Brandon Lennox charged to third. With a Delaware restart on the next caution, Lennox took second, but Howes retook the spot ahead of a lap ten yellow. Now Logan Anderson was the man on the move, and he was soon locked in a battle for second with Lennox, as Howes fell back. Brayton Carter had ducked to the work area during a early caution to change a flat tire, restarting on the tail, but he entered the top five on lap 13. The big lead Becerra had opened was wiped out by another caution with three laps remaining. But there was no stopping Becerra, who picked up his fourth win in his last four starts at four different tracks over the last two weekends. Anderson took second, with Lennox third. Carter advanced to fourth, and Howes held on for fifth. A mix of engine packages made up the eleven car late model field. Tommy Elston in his UMP Pro Crate late model ran second in his heat race, but pulled the number one chip in the redraw to set on the pole, with heat one runner up Gunner Frank alongside. While Elston seemed like the clear favorite, Cayden Carter in his IMCA spec engine # 10C had other ideas. Tommy paced the first lap, while fourth starting Carter pulled even as lap two was scored. Carter led the next trip past the flagstand, as the front two put distance on the other six starters. As the 20 laps clicked off caution free, the Oskaloosa, Iowa youngster opened a sizable lead, while Elston held a comfortable margin over third place Sam Halstead. Missouri modified hot shoe Kevin Blackburn was on hand with a former Mike Hoover late model with a number "1" duct taped on the side of the plain blue machine, and he came home fourth. Derek Liles completed the top five ahead of Gunner Frank, Brandon Savage, and Chase Frank. Father Todd Frank, Jim Knapp in the # 57, and Iowa driver Greg Cox did not make the feature call. It was now stock car time, with 24 of the 29 cars on hand ready for 20 laps of action on the 3/8 mile. It was struggle to get things going, with a couple of early cautions scrambling the order. Jeff Mueller, wheeling the Corey Strothman #C4 found himself at the back of the pack, along with polesitter Brandon Jay, who had to change a tire. When things finally got rolling, Abe Huls was on the pole, and he paced the first lap. Nathan Wood took over on lap two, taking dustin Griffiths along. Row five starter Johnny Spaw powered to second on lap four. Wood and Spaw ran the inside line, while Griffiths rode the cushion, and Hild fought back on the low side to third on lap nine. Abe gained the runner up spot on the next lap, and he then moved to the high line. Spaw retook second as Mueller entered the top five. On lap 15, Mueller was fourth, and passed Huls for third on lap 18. But Wood had the field covered, outdistancing Spaw, Mueller, Huls, and Griffiths. The final race of the night was 23 modifieds for 22 laps. Kyle Brown and Jeff Waterman rolled off in row one, crossing the line for the first circuit in that order, with Cayden Carter in third. Following a lap five stoppage, Carter moved to second, setting up a battle with Brown before another yellow. Now Waterman had his hands full, with Bruce Hanford and Jardin Fuller wanting the third spot. As those three put on a show, Carter stayed glued to Brown until a caution with seven laps left. When racing resumed, Carter blasted to the lead, opeing a nice lead. One final caution came on lap 19, but there was no catching Carter, as he added the $1,000.00 payoff to his late model win. Brown took runner up honors over Fuller, Hanford, and Waterman. The full night of racing ended just after midnite, not a bad finish for a Friday night with so many cars. As I type this, night number two is under way, as other plans kept me away from the track today. If you could not make it to Memphis this weekend, I recommend you make plans for the third weekend of October, when the track roars back to life. There is Sunday night racing the next four Sundays at Quincy Raceways, and VanGenderen and crew will be staging Friday and Saturday night action next weekend at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson,Iowa. Don't miss out!

Harrison and Unzicker Stay Hot at Tri City

This late September racing weekend opened early with the Thursday night one running of the three night Mod Mania at Kevin and Tammy Gundakers 3/8 mile speed plant in Pontoon Beach,Il. Thursday night car counts are usually strong and this year was no exception, with 56 UMP modifieds and 30 UMP late models signed in. Although less than the 2016 numbers, it was more than enough for a quality show, with plenty of heavy hitters in both divisions. Thursday was the only night with separate hot laps scheduled, as the remaining two nights will combine them with group qualifying. Following hot laps, the mods timed in, four at a time, to set lineups for eight ten lap heat races. North Carolina ace Nick Hoffman was the only driver to break the 16 second mark with a lap at 15.899 seconds to collect the $500.00 fast time bonus. Late model quick time went to Shannon Babb at 14.761 seconds. Babb was one of three drivers competing in both classes, along with Bobby Pierce and Chris Simpson driving the Kelly Kovski #10K. With three late models on the track at a time, Pierce was the lead car finishing his first lap when the yellow waved for Jimmy Miller, who stalled out. Although the scoreboard recorded a time for Pierce, officials waved it off, intending to restart the round. Unfortunately, Pierce pulled to the infield with a flat tire, unable to take his laps. Then as qualifying ended, he attempted to come back out, but was apparently denied, leaving him with a " no time " lap, putting him on the tail of his heat race. The mod heat races clicked off in good time, with only the winners advancing from the eight ten lappers. Hoffman, second quick Michael Long, Mike Harrison and Babb won the first round of heats. A pair of late model heats were scheduled to run next, but five of the seven cars for mod heat five came to the track instead. Rather than pull them off, officials then went to the trailers of the remaining two drivers to get them on the track early. This was the only real snafu in the very efficiently run program. Kenny Wallace advanced from that heat, and when the three remaining mod heats ran later, it was Tait Davenport, Dave Weitholder in the best race of the night over Rick Stephenson, and Pierce with wins. The four late model ten lappers adavanced the top four from each race. Winners were all pole sitters, Babb, Tim Manville, Ryan Unzicker, and Simpson. Local hot shoe Michael Kloos was running second in the first heat when he smacked the turn three wall, ending his night, and Wisconsin driver Mark Rose was in a transfer spot in heat three when he suddenly veered into the backstretch fence. Pierce started last in heat two, powering his way to second at the checkers. With no intermission scheduled, the mods ran a C-main to move cars coming home sixth and seventh in the heats to the pair of B-mains, won by Danny Schwartz and Brent Mullins. A lone late model B main went to pole sitter Dewayne Kiefer. The top four were joined by provisional starters Mike Hammerle and Brent McKinnon, setting a 22 car late model feature field. The 30 lap late model feature paying $2,000.00 to win was moved ahead of the modified headliner. Babb and Manville sat on row one, with Babb holding a slight edge as lap one was scored. As the pair continued side by side, Manville looked to be ahead on lap three, and the only caution period of either feature came on lap four for debris. Unzicker had been riding in third, and he moved to second on the Delaware restart. He was side by side with Manville as lap five was scored, with Simpson slipping around Babb for third. Unzicker hooked up on the low line, while Manville moved from the cushion to a middle line, but Ryan made his move to the lead on lap twelve. Slower traffic became a factor on the 14th circuit, and Unzicker deftly used the lapped cars to open a comfortable lead. With the race staying green, he cruised to yet another win as he tries to close in on UMP national points leader Rusty Schlenk. Manville held off a challenging Simpson for second, with Babb and Pierce recording top five finishes. The next five was led by Frank Heckenast Jr. over Tony Jackson Jr. in the Raymod Merrill # 12M, Jason Feger, Schlenk, and Daryn Klein. It was now time for the 30 lap mod finale, paying $3,000.00 on night one. First heat winner Hoffman had spun a three for the inverted start, putting likely nation point champ Harrison on the pole with Long on the outside. Harrison shot to the lead using the bottom groove, while Long pounded the cushion looking for momentum.With Michael mounting a challenge, Harrion moved up in turns one and two, then ran a middle line in three and four. The two car breakaway ended as Harrison began to put distance on Long by lap seven. Meanwhile there were good battles behind the leaders, as Hoffman, Babb , and Pierce duked it out for third, while Wallace and Weitholder went side by side for sixth. The leader caught slower traffic on lap twelve as Babb began to fade. Pierce took over third on the now black slick surface on lap 14. With Harrison on cruise control, Pierce began to stalk Long, taking the runner up spot on the 22nd trip around the oval. Long fought back as the two raced side by side for the next three laps. Long was second again on lap 25. but Pierce took the spot two laps later. Meanwhile, Hoffman joined to fray, edging Long for third on the final circuit. Wallace scored a top five, followed by Weitholder, Babb , Schwartz, Mullins, and Stepenson also in the top ten. Thanks to buddy Fred for driving last night, and I will return the favor tonight as we head out shortly for night one of the two day show at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo. Six classes of cars will be in action in the fall extravaganza, with all but the crate late models returning on Saturday.

Two More Nights in the Books

Boosted by the unseasonably warm temps. I was able to add a pair of race nights to my 2017 book over the weekend. Saturday, Darryl and I headed north to the West Liberty Raceway for night number two of the Liberty 100, featuring the Derry Brothers IMCA late model season ending 100 lap main event. A total of 30 late models attempted to qualify on Friday night, with a dozen securing spots for the Saturday headliner. Only Jay Johnson did not return on Saturday, but Justin Kay checked in to tag the tail of one of the B-mains, keeping the count at 30. Kay also brought along his IMCA modified. The other four regular IMCA classes were also in action, running features only, as they did not have enough entries to necessitate further qualifying races. Nick Marolf picked up the win in the first B main after starting on the pole position, while Andy Eckrich came from row three to top the final qualifier. Kay started ninth in the second twelve lapper, and finished second to Eckrich. In addition to the top five in each B main, a pair of provisional starters made up the 24 car starting grid. The 14 car IMCA sport mod 20 lapper ran first, a six caution 35 minute marathon that saw Tim Plummer lead from flag to flag for the win. Tyler Soppe, who was in Davenport, Iowa on Friday night along with Kay, came from the back to finish second. In contrast, the 13 IMCA stock cars ran 20 laps non stop. Polesitter Johnny Spaw, who also competed in a second late model from the Marolf stable, led from flag to flag for the win. David Brandies challenged Spaw early on before giving way to Matt Gilchrist. Gilchrist picked up the runner up finish, with Brandies in third. Kay started on the 17th and final spot for the IMCA modified 25 lapper, while track champion Chris Zogg sat on the pole. A major pile up on the opening lap took out contenders Brad Diercks and Bill Roberts. Back under way, Zogg shot to the lead. With the 9Z in command, Kay moved into the top ten on lap three, and was sixth by lap nine. With only one more caution slowing the race, Kay continued to pick his way forward, fifth on lap 16, fourth on lap 20, and third on the 23rd circuit. That was as far as he would go, as Zogg picked up the win ahead of Jerad Brown. Kay was third followed by Joel Callahan and Dakota Hayden. Jason Klerk deReus survived one caution period to pick up a flag to flag win in the eight car IMCA spoer compact finale. It was n ow time for the late model finale. Polesitter Kyle Hinrichspaced the opening lap, with row two starter Tyler Bruening moving to second on lap two. With the front duo putting distance on the pack, Bruening took the lead on lap ten.. Back in the pack, the Eckrich brothers, Denny and Andy, battled side by side for sixth. The first caution came on lap 25, as Luke Merfeld tagged the turn one wall. At this point, 16th starting Kay was in the top ten. A multi car crash on the restart damaged the car of series point leader Jesse Sobbing, as well as Callahan and Kay, who changed ties during the caution, restarting on the tail. Cayden Carter rebounded to second on the restart. with another caution for Rob Moss on lap 30. Hinrich retook second on the restart, and now it was Denny Eckrich and 23rd starting Matt Ryan on the move. Eckrich took third on lap 32, while Ryan moved to sixth two laps later. During a lap 39 caution, Hinrichs retired to the pits. Back under green, Bruening opened a big lead, and Jake Neal advanced to third, and Ryan began to fade. with Neal within striking distance of the points title, Sobbing went to the work area at each opportunity to work on his damaged car. Following a lap 47 yellow, Neal took second. Andy Eckrich moved to fourth, and Kay was back in the top ten. five laps later, Eckrich took third, and Kay moved to eighth. Bruening held a straightaway leads as Kay picked his way to fifth on lap 63. With Eckrich and Carter battling side by side, Kay used a high to low move out of turn two to pass both cars going down the back chute. Ten laps later he used the same move to overtake Neal for second. But he was a full straightawy behind the leader with 20 laps to go. The race stayed green, and nine laps later, he had caught Bruening. As the leaders encountered slower traffice on lap 92, Bruening tried a high line out of turn four, while Kay took the low road to the lead. Although there were two more cautions, there was no catching Kay, who picked up the $5,000 top prize. A lap 94 caution knocked several cars out of top ten runs, while Neal and Bruening swapped the runner up spot. At the checkers, it was Kay, Bruening, Neal, Andy Eckrich, and Marolf. Kevin Kile ran sixth, ahead of Ryan Dolan, Carter, Ron Boyse, and Chris Horn. Sobbing stayed on the track, finishing 15th, and securing the series title. On Sunday, I hooked a ride to the Bill Waite Memorial at the LaSalle,Il Speedway for a night of open late model, 410 sprint, and midget racing. Jeff Broeg has a detailed write up on the open wheel classes with his " Backstretch " column, and I admit, I put my pen away and just watched the action. But irt seems I cannot watch a late model race without taking notes, so... 28 late models joined the 31 sprints and 26 midgets, and the lates went 40 laps around the quick quarter mile for a $4,000 first place prize. Iowa drivers Jeremiah Hurst and Chris Simpson sat on row one. Hurst led the opening circuit, with Simpson taking over the next trip around. Fifth starting Dennis Erb Jr took the runner up spot on lap five, as Simpson built a commanding lead. Third starting Jason Feger rebounded to third on lap eight, then used his trademark high line to take second . By lap twelve, Feger had closed the gap to the leader, and they hit heavy trafiic on lap 19. Simpson and Feger crossed the line side by side as lap 30 was scored, and Jason muscled to the front on the next lap. But the caution came out before lap 31 was scored, and Simpson was deemed the leader for the restart. Anothe caution came on lap 33, and back under green, Erb took over second on the Delaware restart. Simpson pounded the cushion, while Erb searched the inside line. Coming to the white flag, Chris missed his mark slightly up high, bobbling just enough for Dennis to take the lead. And as the checkers waved, it was Erb Jr. taking the win. Simpson held second, followed by Feger, Paul Parker, and Hurst. Very unofficially, I had the second five as Jay Sparks, Mike Spatola, Brad Stewart, Scott Schmitt, and Rob Toland. With the weather still looking good for next weekend, there are several great options for racing, and I hope to put several more nights in the book. Check the specials calender at Positively Racing, and keep in mind the Quincy Raceways is hosting Sunday night racing through October 22, as well. So get out and enjoy some racing!

Marlar Wins Again at Knoxville

Neither a persistant rain nor 31 of the best dirt late model drivers in the nation could keep Mike Marlar from becoming the first driver in the 14 year history of the Knoxville, Iowa Late Model Nationals to score back to back wins. Grandson Keagan and I drove through a late Saturday morning shower just east of Knoxville, then watched as a sunny afternoon turned to a late afternoon shower at the famed 1/2 mile fairgrounds oval. Looking at an unfavorable forecast, officials moved the start timer up 30 minutes, with hot laps beginning at 6:15. With 49 of the original 56 cars representing 21 states competing on the third night of the event, the C-main was scrapped, with a 25 car, 20 lap B-main preceding the 100 lap, $40,000 to win headliner. 24 cars were already qualified for the main event based on a rather complicated points system in play for the complete shows on Thursday and Friday. Drivers could compete just on Thursday and keep their point total, or try again on Friday and keep their best nights total. Despite confusion among some fans, it is not a total from both nights points. Missouri driver Jesse Stovall and the " Kentucky Colonel " Steve Francis sat on row one for the B main, with the top six added to the headliner. Stovall jumped to the lead, with the first stoppage of the race on lap five, when Minnesotas Jordon Yaggy and another Missouri driver, Bob King, tangled on the backstretch. Both cars suffered heavy damage, ending their night. The race stayed green until the leaders were coming through the final set of turns to the checkered flag, when a spinning car rsulted in the yellow flag being displayed, setting up a one lap dash. On this final lap, sixth running Tyler Bruening was edged out of the final transfer spot. Stovall led the distance for the win followed by third starting Kyle Bronson, Francis, Tyler Erb, Spencer Diercks, and Brent Larson. With a light drizzle falling, the A -main cars were given the ten minute waring to line up, but the rain intensified, and the program was put on hold. With officials keeping packing vehicles on the oval, the rain never came down really hard, but it would not quit, coming down for nearly two hours. When it finally stopped, the track crew went to work, and by 10:30 cars were back on the track, hot lapping, the lining up for 100 laps. Dennis Erb Jr and Boom Briggs were added to the field as Lucas Oil provisioal starters, and the 32 car starting grid was now set. 2016 winner Mike Marlar had achieved maximum points on Friday night, and as a result sat on the pole, with World 100 winner Jonathon Davenport along side. Four time race runner up Josh Richards and Brandon Sheppard, who swapped rides during the off season, shared row two. Davenport put his #49 out front at the drop of the green, with Richards in second. The front duo stayed the same, with the first caution 17 laps in for previous winner Bran Shirley, who blew a tire and smacked the fence between turns one and two, ending his night. Davenport had issues on the restart, dropping to sixth as Richards took command. With Marlar now in second, the front pair opened a gap on the field. Marlar was applying heavy pressure un til had to check up for the lapped car of Francis on the 26th circuit. Two laps later, Chris Simpson brought out a caution for a flat tire, thus putting Francis back on the lead lap as a " lucky dog." The restart saw Jimmy Mars slow with a tire issue, one of several trips the Wisconsin veteran made early in the race for adjustments. Another restart saw Sheppard overtake Don Oneal for third, and the next yellow came three laps later for Shannon Babb. Back under green, Oneal charged back to third, Davenport moved to fourth, with Sheppard dropping to fifth. Two more trips past the flagstand, and Davenport took third, as Richards stretched his lead. But 42 laps in, the caution waved for Gregg Satterlee. As the green waved, Davenport powered to second, three laps later Sheppard was now fourth, and Marlar retook the runner up spot. The mandatory fuel stop caution came with 50 laps scored,with the cars allowed to add ten gallons of fuel but make no adjustments. As the cars rolled to a stop, Davenport had a flat right front tire, and he had to go to the work area when the filed powered back up, dropping him to the tail of the still running 24 cars. Sheppard took second on the restart, three laps later Oneal jumped from fourth to second, taking Marlar along in third. As Oneal moved to challenge Richards for the lead, his engine let go on lap 58, bringing out another yellow. Back under green, another former winner, TimMcCreadie, who had started sixth but dropped back, now entered the top three. 61 laps down, Jimmy Owens entered the top five, as Marlar, McCreadie, and Sheppard had a dog fight for second. Six more laps, and Mccreadie and Marlar swapped the runner up spot back and forth. It was Sheppard in second on lap 74, but two circuits later the yellow flew again. One lap back under green, Sheppard brought out the caution with a flat. Now 2015 winner Jared Landers drove the Moring Motorsports ride into second, and lap 82 saw him apllying pressure to Richards. The next stoppage came with 16 laps to go, on the restart Marlar took second, and at this point Davenport had charged back to sixth. Lap 89 saw Owens jump to third, and Mars, over his early race woes, was now fourth. Lap 91 saw Marlar take the lead from Richards using the high line, and he quickly beagan to pull away. With only five trips around remaining, Richards, who had lead more than 70 laps, blew a tire and smacked the wall between turns three and four, bringing out the final caution. Davenport continued his dramatic recovery, vaulting to second in the closing laps, but Marlar was in command, taking the checkers for the second year in a row, the first driver with back to back Nationals wins. Davenport came home second ahead of Landers, Mars, and Owens. Sheppard rebounded to finish sixth, besting 16 year old Hudson Oneal, Bobby Pierce, Francis, and McCreadie. 17 of the 32 starters were still running at the checkers. The show ended close to the midnight hour before an appreciative crowd. Starting early, cancelling the driver introductions, and doing everything possible to get the race run is a testament to the professionalism of the Knoxville staff. Although we arrived back in Canton about 3:00AM, I had planned to attend the Sprint Invader special tonight at Quincy Raceways, but unexpected welcome guests kept me at home today. So we will watch the weather and see what next weekend brings!

Long,Lennox,Huls and Weisinger On Top at Quincy

A total of 51 race teams checked in Sunday night for four classes of action at Quincy Raceways. The evening began with time trial qualifying for the UMP modifieds, with Ray Bollinger setting the top mark at 14.437 seconds. Bollinger and Michael Long picked up heat race wins, and Bollinger rolled a three for the feature invert. The first feature of the night, however was for the stock cars. Abe Huls jumped to the lap one lead in the 18 lapper. After a lap two caution, Beau Taylor used the Delaware restart to overtake heat winner Jake Powers for the runner up spot. Another pair of yellows in the next four laps brought Huls back to the pack, and Taylor soon found Troy Brierton mounting a challenge for the second spot. Taylor began to put some real estate between himself and Brierton, but he suddenly pulled to the infield on lap eleven. Huls now had a straightaway advantage before another caution with three laps to go. On the restart,Brierton slipped off the top of turn two, losing a couple positions before another yellow slowed the action one more time. Huls was up to the task, however, leading the distance for the win. Powers came home second, followed by Nathan Hays and Brierton. The sport compacts were up next for 15 laps. Jeffrey Delonjay took the early lead, with Alyssa Steele and Craig Bangert in tow. With the tight three car battle going on, Bangert and Steele made contact in turn three, with Steele coming to a stop, but both cars were sent to the back for the restart. Back under green, it was now Darin Weisinger Jr and Kimberly Abbott battling for second. Weisinger finally secured the spot, and by lap seven, he was side by side with Delonjay. Weisinger used a higher line to wrestle the lead away from Delonjay, then held on for the win. Delonjay setlled for second, while Abbott held off Bangert for third. All but one of the 16 UMP modifieds lined up for their 20 lap feature. The three car invert put Dave Weitholder and Long on row one, with Bollinger and Steve Grotz in row two. Long crossed the stripe leading Bollinger as lap one was scored, butv Wetholder fought back to take second on the next circuit. The only caution flag of the race came on lap three, as Joey Gower spun in turns one and two. Back to racing, Bollinger regained the runner up slot, as Long set a torrid pace. By the halfway mark, Michael had built a straightaway lead, as Bollinger and Weitholder battled for second. Long encountered heavy lapped traffic at the lap 16 mark, but he was smooth in negotiating the slower cars. Long cruised to the victory, whle Bollinger and Weitholder battled to the checkers, with Ray taking the second spot. Kevin Blackburn turned in a solid run in fourth, Gary Bently ran fifth , and Shaun Deering came home in sixth. The final feature of the night was 18 laps for the 18 sport mods. Brandon Lennox, Vance Wilson, and Tony Dunker had pickeed up heat race wins, and Lennox redrew the outside row one spot for the finale. Jeffrey Delonjay, running two classes, looped his ride on the start, but kept going. Lennox jumped to the early lead, challenged by row two starter Austen Becerra. The first of several cations came on lap two for a spinning Jon Renier. Back under green, Beccera nosed ahead on lap four, with the yellow waving for Adam Birck, who went off turn one, then headed for the trailer. The restart had Becerra out front, with Lennox and sixth starting Dunker in the next row. Becerra bobbled on the restart, with both Lennox and Dunker slipping around him. The caution waved again on lap six, and on the restart, several cars tangled in turns one and two, with fourth running bobby Six heading for the trailer. Under green, Lennox continued to lead, while Becerra, Dunker, and row five starter Brandon Dale now ran three wide for second, while Daniel Fellows, the 18th starter, advanced to sixth. Yet another caution slowed the action at lap ten, and Tanner Klingele, who had started in row two and fell back, now reentered the top five. Lennox was running a low line, with Becerra pounding the cushion in close pursuit. Dunker and Klingele made contact on lap 13, with Dale spinning to avoid, but a caution for another spin brought out the yellow and the lap was not scored. Klingele moved to fourth on the restart, and one more yellow with a pair of circuits to go set up a green, white, checkers finish. Lennox held on for the win, followed by Becerra, Dunker, Dale, and Fellows. Klingele was making a bid for second in the final set of turns when contact sent him to the infield, ruining his strong run. Despite the lengthy sport mod finale, the final checkers waved about 8:50, aided by a barely 15 minute intermission. The track surface was as good as we have seen all season at QR, as it stayed moist and smooth all night, dust free and two grooved. Next up for the new owners with be a visit by the 360 Sprint Invaders on Sunday, September 17, with hot laps about 6:00. It has been announced the Quincy Raceways will be in action through OCtober 22 with an assortment of classes each Sunday night. Schedules are available at the Quincy Raceways Facebook page. Of course, this is also the week of the Knoxville, Iowa late model nationals, and I hope to take in a night or two of the three day extravaganza. So hopefully, we will meet somewhere, Racin' Down the Road!

Marathon Racing at Spoon River

Sunday afternoon, Darryl, Fred, and I headed for Spoon River Speedway for their annual marathon show known as the Fall Nationals. The start time was moved up this year with hot lap qualifying for four of the five classes starting at 3:00. A total of 110 cars signed in led by the featured UMP modifieds, with 40 drivers vying for the $3,000 top prize. Ray Bollinger set quick time for the modifieds, and using Jeff Broegs least favorite format, the heat races were split up into six groups, with the six fastest qualifiers all earning a pole start. Five of the six eight lap events were won from the pole, with the other victor coming from outside row one. A surprisingly small field of 13 UMP super late models signed in for a chance at a $2,000 payday, with Ryan Unzicker pacing the field in qualifying while also winning his heat race from the pole. 19 UMP Pro Crate late models saw Tommy Elston set quick time and also go flag to flag in his heat race. The UMP street stocks turned out 22 cars, and 16 USAC/IMRA midgets completed the field. The track was reworked following qualifying, but it was again black slick before the completion of the preliminary events - 16 heat races, 2 modified B-mains, and a street stock dash. The crate late model 20 lap feature then came to the track, with heat winners Elston and Jake Little on the front row. Elston jumped to the early lead before a pile up in turn one on lap two eliminated three cars. Myles Moos suffered heavy damage to his #84, leaving the 3/8 mile high banked oval behind the wrecker. Back under green, Elston stretched his lead, but was forced back to the pack after cautions on laps six and eight. These periods also interrupted a great battle for the second spot between Alan Weisser, A J May, Little, and Sam Halstead. By lap 13, Elston had opened a nearly straightaway lead, as Halstead began to fade a bit. With no more yellow flags, Elston cruised to what I am told is his 15th win of 2017. May came home second ahead of Weiiser, Little, and Halstead. Carl Runge paced the second five over Michael Zimmerman, Eric Wilson, Brian Crebo, and Roben Huffman. Track workers then went to work again on the speedway in what was originally billed as a first intermission. After a lengthy reworking of the track, it was announced that intermission number two for track prep would be cancelled, and the street stocks came to the track for 40 laps of racing. Although the race got off to a good start, with six green flag laps, followed by seven more following the first caution, things went down hill from there. By my count, a total of nine caution periods interfered with a hotly contested race. From my vantage point, it was difficult to deciphre what the announcer was saying, but I am pretty sure Jeremy Nichols was the name of the winner. He also captured his heat race, and led all but one lap of the feature. Nichols drives a car crafted to resemble a 1957 Chevy, so of course I had to be rooting for him just a bit! I was equally in the dark during the USAC/IMRA midget feature, but I hope I am correct in naming Adam Taylor the winner of the 20 lap race which was slowed only once for a caution period. The modified heat winners redrew for their starting spots for the first three rows of their 40 lap headliner. Mike Chasteen vaulted to the early lead from row one ahead of a lap two yellow. Back under green, he was soon challenged by row two starter David Stremme. Stremme finally made the pass for the lead on lap eleven, and three circuits later, the yellow waved when fifth running Dave Weitholder made contact in turn one. With Weitholder headed to the tail, the third and fourth place cars of Allan Weisser and Bollinger both ducked to the hot pit with flat tires. Around this same time, some type of racing activity resulted in a " discussion " between Michael Long and Leka which saw both top ten contenders head to the trailer. Another pair of yellows erased a nice Stremme lead, and with 25 laps scored, Bollinger and Weitholder were back in the top ten when Weitholder looped his #05. Back to racing, Bollinger entered the top five, and Weitholder again began to move forward. The final caution came on lap 33, and this time the field restarted single file. Through it all, Stremme held serve, cruising to the win. Tyler Cook ran a strong race to take second over Chasteen. KC Burnett was fourth, Bollinger settled for fifth, and Weitholder again drove back to sixth. The final race of the night was the 25 lapper for the UMP super late models. Unzicker sat on row one with heat two winner Mike Glascock. Unzicker powered to the lead, but a spin by Matt Shannon before the lap was scored resulted in a full restart. That would be the only stoppage of the race. Soon Unzicker had a commanding lead, while Glascock was well ahead of third running Jose Parga, and Parga had some distance in front of a battle between Bob Gardner and Cole Swibold. In the final couple of laps, Swibold slowed and pulled his #98 off the track, doing so without bringing out the caution. The final rundown had Unzicker with a flag to flag win, leading Glascock, Parga, Gardner, and Russ Adams to the final checkered flag of the night. Shannon came home sixth, one lap down, besting Glen Thompson, Shane Allen, and Jeff Riddell, with Swibold credited with tenth. The final checkers waved about 10:15, completing the 24 race program.

Pierce Goes Flag to Flag at Tri City

Friday night, Fred and I setr sail for Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. for the Mars/UMP $5,000 to win late model challenge. 27 late models checked in as part of a five class, 105 car field. Late model qualifying was lead by Jonathon Davenport with a lap of 14.745 seconds. The three heat races were lined up straight up by qualifying times, with Davenport topping Jason Feger, Tony Jackson Jr, and Tim Manville in heat one. Polesitter Brian Shirley capyured heat two ahead of Billy Moyer, Kevin Gundaker, and Austin Rettig. The third ten lapper went to outside row one starter Bobby Pierce besting Michael kloos, Jim Shereck, and Joe Godsey. Veteran Terry Phillips had advanced from sixth to fourth in heat two when he appeared to fold under the front of his car, suffering heavy front end damage, ending his night. The biggest field was the UMP B modifieds, with 35 cars signed in. Because of the number of cars, five heats races were run, with the top four transfering to the main feature. The remaing 15 cars were scheduled to run a full length second feature similar to what Lee County Speedway did with the hobby stocks in the Lynn Richard era. with the winner having the option to take the winners check or tag the tail of feature number one. Chuck Goodman took the win and elected to move on in what turned into a time shortened event. Following the prliminaries, and with intermission waved, the twelve four cylinders came to the track for their feature. Dallas Lugge took the win. Next up was the 21 car B mod 15 lapper. Trey Harris benefitted from a three car tussle up front to take the win in a race slowed only three times for caution periods. Goodman started in 21st and crossed the line in sixth. It was now time for the late model 40 lap headliner. Pierce and Davenport filled out row one, with Pierce jumping out from the pole and quickly charging to the top side of the 3/8 mile banked oval. Davenport settled into second, with row two starters Shirley and Feger side by side before Feger took the spot on lap two. Pierce was stretching his advantage before the caution waved on lap three as Allen Murray collected the tractor tire in turn one. Murray seemed convinced he was squeezed entering the turn. Davenport took the inside line on the Delaware restart, and Feger moved to second at the green, with Billy Moyer following him to third using the top groove. The front three began to pull away, with Pierce running high in turns one and two, and low in three and four. Feger pounded the cushion, and Moyer elected a middle line. As the leader caught slower traffic, Feger closed the gap quickly as Pierce was forced to change his line. Lap 14 saw the font runners in heavy traffic, but Pierce moved skillfully, and by lap 18 he once again had a comfortable lead. Moyer found his way past Feger just before the halfway mark, and at at lap 20 Shirley also slipped around Feger. Jason fought back into third, and the second and final caution waved on lap 34 for Billy Laycock, erasing Pierces big advantage. As the field was being reset, Feger pulled to to the infield, his night finished. If the yellow had come in the final five laps, the field would have restarted single file, but with six to go, it was a Delaware reallignment. Moyer elected the outside, putting Shirley on the bottom. As racing resumed, Moyer stayed glued to Pierce for a couple laps, trying to use the high groove in turn four to make his move, but he could not get the job done. Meanwhille Shirley found himself in a battle with tenth starting Manville. At the checkers, it was a flag to flag win for Pierce, who was easily the class of the field. Moyer came home second followed by Shirley, Manville, and Davenport. Jackson Jr. in the #40th car was sixth ahead of Gundaker,eighth row starter Logan Martin, Peyton Looney. Raymond Merrill was credited with tenth, the first car one lap down. The modifieds and street stock features were up next, but we headed for the slight detour home as the clock read 10:30. I see this morning that Mike Harrison topped the 17 mods for I believe his 30th feature win of 2017, while Terry McCann was first in the street stocks. All in all, it was a good night of racing at Tri City, as Kevin and Tammy Gundaker presented up with a smooth, racy track and a timely show. With Quincy Raceways taking the week off, this was likely my only night of racing for the weekend, so we will see what Labor Day weekend brings!

Quincy Raceways Under New Leadership

Apparently the deal is done, and Quincy Raceways has new owners. Jason and Robert Goble were on hand Sunday night to negotiate the purchase of the 43 year old facility even as racing action was going on, and they are taking over operation immediately. Ciltrak Promotions offered to finish out the 2017 schedule, but the Gobles want to hit the ground running. The track had a scheduled night off this Sunday, but when the green flag flies on Sunday, September 3, it will happen with the new team in charge. Although nothing definite has been announced, indications are that the classes that have been running all season will finish out 2017. The new owners also indicated that they will stretch the season into October, although the original date for season championships was September 24. With the Gobles already making the move to Quincy, they have stated that giving the grounds a facelift will be the first order of business. Jason Goble has over 20 years experience in various capacities at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, and he is the son and nephew of former late model racers. so he comes into this venture with a solid racing background. As things develop, I will try to keep everyone informed on any changes or additions to the schedule. I wish the Gobles the best as they try to breathe new life in the legendary speedway. Even though it is Wednesday, this weekends racing plans for me are still up in the air, but the weather forecast sounds perfect, so everyone head to your favorite track, and maybe I will see you there!

Woodworth Doubles Up, Sale in the Works

Denny Woodworth picked up the the feature win in both UMP late model classes Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, but that was not the biggest story of the evening. Jason and Robert Goble were introduced at intermission as possible - perhaps likely - buyers of the .29 mile facility. Just days ago, it was looking as though the 43 year old speedway might be seeing its last days as a race track, but the pair from Burlington,Iowa have stepped up to show serious interest in purchasing the facility. Hopefully more information will be released in the near future. At this time, the Ciltrak group led by promoter Kenny Dobson will finish the 2017 season. Six classes were in action on Sunday, with the IMCA stock cars running the first feature. Jerry Jansen and Briab Hoener crossed the line side by side as lap one was scored, with point leader Hoener taking over on lap two. Hoener built a big lead before the only caution of the event for a Jesse Weggs spin. When racing resumed, Hoener again built a commanding lead, taking the win ahead of Jake Powers, Jansen, and Weggs. The UMP Pro Crate lates models were up next for 15 laps. Woodworth shot to the lead at the drop of the green, with fifth starting Brandon Savage moving to second. Woodworth opened a lead that stretched to a full straightaway, while Savage built a 1/2 lap margin over third running Laine Vanzandt. The race went all the way with no yellows on the smooth, fast, tacky surface. Woodworth pick up the win, with Savage in second. Charles Vanzandt overtook son Laine late in the race for third, with Bill Scott credited with fifth. The UMP modified feature was run with fast qualifier and heat one winner Michael Long already on the trailer. Michael blew his engine as he took the checkers in his heat. It was a particularly tough blow, as it was the first night on the power plant. Steve Grotz and Frankie Wellman started in row one for the 20 lapper, but it was row two starter Ray Bollinger grabbing the first lap lead. As the leaders crossed the stripe, the yellow waved for a spinning Charles Baker in turn four. On the Delaware restart, point leader Dave Weitholder charged to second. Much likie the crate feature, Bollinger soon built a lead that eventually stretched to a 1/2 lap, with Weitholder gaining a comfortable advantage in the runner up spot. At the same time, Grotz was cruising in third. With the final 19 circuits run non stop, it was an easy win for Bollinger, his 20th UMP win of the season,as he sits second in national UMP points. Wetholder scored the runner up finish, with Grotz taking a solid third. Joey Gower and Wellman completed the top five. Jeffrey Delonjay jumped out to an early lead in the IMCA sport compact feature, while four cars battled behind him for second. Point leader Craig Bangert had his hands full coming from the fifth spot, eventually staging an entertaining duel with Darin Weisinger Jr. before finally grabbing the second spot. He tried ti narrow the gap on the leader, but another caution free event saw Delonjay take the flag to flag win. Bangert was followed by Weisinger Jr, David Primm, and Kimberly Abbott. The UMP super late models found Woodworth agaijn on the pole for the 20 lapper. The late model lawyer led Jamie Wilson as the first lap was scored, with Woodworth running the low line and Wilson pounding the cushion. Jason Perry took over second on lap seven, and one circuit later, quick timer and heat winner Ricky Frankel moved to third. By lap 13, Perry had erased Woodworths lead, and Perry challenged hard the final five laps. He made a valiant try out of turn four coming to the checkers, but another non stop race saw Woodworth win his second main event of the night, firming up his points lead in both late model divisions. Frankel outlasted Wilson for third, with Joey Gower scored in fifth. The final race of the evening was the 16 car, 18 lapper for the IMCA sport mods. Kevin Tomlonson put his #49 out front at the drop of the green, with the first of several cautions coming on lap one. Vance Wilson was behind the wheel of the AJ Tournear number 1, and he claimed second on the restart. Lap three saw Brandon Lennox move to thirdafter a row three start. Lennox slipped past Wilson on lap seven, but a yellow returned the spot to Vance. For the Delaware restart, Wilson chose the inside line, and when the green waved, Lennox took second, with yet another caution before the lap was scored. On the next retart, Wilson chose the outside. Still, Lennox powered to second, while fifth running Austin Becerra charged to third. With one more lap in the books, the yellow waved again, seven laps in the books. Back to racing, Becerra took second, and a three car battle ensued. Becerra grabbed the lead on lap 13, wthe yellow out again on lap 14. With five circuits left, the restart was now single file, and Tomlinson looped his ride in turn four to bring out the final caution. On the final restart, Becerra took the top line while Lennox worked down low. The final pair of laps saw them pretty much side by side, and Lennox won the drag race out of turn four to the checkers. Tanner Klingele recoverd from early troubles to record a third ahead of Ray Goodwin and Wilson. Wilson was piloting the #1 because former hot shoe Adam Birck purchased the #28 car formerly driven by Wilson. Birck turned in a solid sixth place finish on his first night behind the wheel in 2017. Quincy Raceways will take off the night of August 27 before returning to action for all four Sundays in September. We will offer updates on the future of the track for 2018 and beyond as information becomes available, so stay tuned!