Back On Track at Quincy

After a two week hiatus, racing resumed Sunday at Quincy Raceways. Because it was originally a scheduled night off, no track points were awarded, although the UMP ProCrate late models and UMP modifieds competed for regional and national points. The sport mod and stock car rules were opened up to allow USRA B mods and UMP street stocks to join in, and 19 sport/B mods and ten stock car/street stocks signed in. The evening started with UMP modified qualifying, with Ray Bollinger setting quick time. The nine heat races clicked off in less than an hour, and after a brief intermission, the stock car feature came to the track. UMP driver Brian Gaines led the opening lap before track point leader Brian Hoener took over on lap two. A caution period on the next lap saw Jerry Jansen getting the worst of the deal, ending his night with front end damage. On the eighth circuit, third running Dean Kratzer made contact with second place Jake Powers, bringing out another yellow and ending Kratzers run. Back under green, Hoener held the lead, but Beau Taylor and Robert Cottom began to apply pressure. Taylor used the bottom groove to grab the lead on lap twelve, with Cottom following him into second. Cottom led lap 13, but Taylor fought back, and he took the lead for good on lap 15. Beau hung on for the win,his first of 2017. followed by Cottom, Hoener, Gaines, and Rudy Zaragoza. The late models were next in the running order. In his first visit to QR, Brad Denney picked up the heat race win, and redrew the pole for the 20 lap feature. But it was Denny Woodworth coming from row two to lead the opening circuit. Denney did no go away quietly, and the pair ran side by side, with Denney leading lap three using the high line, while Woodwrth tried the lower groove. Woodworth then switched lines, moving to the top side to chase the leader, but Denney made contact with the front stretch wall, slowing just enough for Woodworth to grab the top spot. Now able to run his preferred high line, Woodworth opened a straightaway advantage as the race went caution free. Denney brought his #11 home in second, while another first time visitor, Braden Johnson, rallied for third in his #14/ Joey gower and Clint Kirkham completed the top five while Peoria Speedway regular and newcomer Jim Hagedorn powered his #1 machine to sixth ahead of Laine Vanzandt. Heat race winners Bollinger and Michael Long sat on row one of the 20 lap modified maun event. Bollinger got the advantage at the green,and the race was on! He ran the lower line through turns one and two, then pounded the cushion in three and four. Lap after lap, Long stayed on his bumper, but could not find an opening. With the front pair well out front, Long began to try to slip under Bollinger down the backstretch on laps 14,15, and 16. The leaders were now in lapped traffic, and on the white flag lap, Michael made his move, leading the final two circuits of the non stop battle. Following the front duo was Chris Spalding, who missed his heat race and came from the back to third. Rickey Frankel climbed behind the wheel of brother Jasons modified ti run fourth, edging Frankie Wellman. The mod finale was definitely the race of the night! All but one of the 19 limited mods came to the track for 18 laps. Justin Ebbing jumped to the lead from the pole position, with the yellow waving on lap two. One lap later second running Brandon Lennox retired with suspension issues, and Vance Wilson took up the chase. As Ebbing opened a nice lead, Wilson and Austen Becerra battled for second, and Tanner Klingele and Bobby Anders fough behind them. The leader caught slower traffic with a pair of laps to go, but as the white flag was displayed, Becerra spun in turn two. Although he did not stop, the yellow was displayed setting up a two lap shootout to the end. The field was set single file, and Ebbing was up to the challenge, taking the flag to flag win. Wilson took runner up honors over Klingele, Anders, and visiting Cole Campbell. The sport compacts were last on the card, with Jeffrey Delonjay scoring the lap one lead. Craig Bangert took over the next trip around, while Kimberly Abbottm after falling out of the heat race, moved to second on lap three. When Kim also exited the track mon lap nine, Bangert had a sizable lead, but a lap ten caution period erased his advantage. With five trips around the .29 mile oval remaining, Bangert stayed in command, while a battle for second developed withn three laps to go between Delonjay and Darin Weisinger Jr. As the twom youngsters slugged it out, Brandon Lambert slipped past to take runner up honors. Weisinger won the battle for third over Delonjay, with David Primm rounding out the top five. Next Sunday at QRthe UMP super late models will be joined by UMP mods, IMCA sport mods, stock cars and sport compacts. Sunday August 13 has been added to the schedule with classes to be determined. This Thursday and Friday will be the Summer Extravaganza at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, with the UMP Pro Crate late models racing for $1,000 to win each night, and I hope to be on hand Friday, for sure. Hopefully the worst of the hot weather is behind us, so get out and enjoy some racing action!

Repeat Winners at Donnellson

After two weeks off, racing resumed at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson on Friday night. 64 race teams signed in, lead by 19 IMCA sport mods. The track presented a clinic in running a race program, ten heat races and five features on a multi groove track with the first green flag promptly at 7:30 and the final checkers at 9:27. Those ten heat races clicked off with only one caution flag, that coming in the final heat when IMCA modified rookie Shawn Millmier tagged the turn one guardrail, ending his night. Following a ten minute intermission, the IMCA sport compacts came to the track for their 15 lap feature. As the green waved, Josh Barnes shot to the front from his row three starting slot to grab the lead. Kimberly Abbott charged to the second spot from row four, and the duo soon put distance on the field. Meanwhile Brandon Lambert and Brandon Reu battled side by side, lap after lap for third., with Reu finally taking the spot at the halfway mark. As Barry Taft moved ahead of Lambert with six laps remaining, the caution waved for Mike Hornung Jr as he had a wheel come off his car. The wheel cleared the turn four fence and Hornung pulled to the infield, but the yellow had already waved. Abbott elected the high line on the Delaware restart, and as racing resumed, Abbott, Reu, and Taft battled three wide for the runner up spot. Reu nosed ahead of the other pair, with Barnes still well out front. But coming out of turn four to the white flag, Barnes suddenly slowed and pulled off the track. Taft then challenged Reu, with the two coming to the checkers side by side. But it was Reu first at the line, as he celebrated birthday #24 a day early. Taft was second, followed by Abbott, Mike Reu, and Lambert. All 19 sport mods took the feature green, but the caution waved on the opening lap for a spinning Daniel Fellows. Following a complete restart, John Oliver Jr. took the top spot, with fifth starting Brandon Dale in second. Five laps in, it was Dale,Kyle Hill and Austen Becerra battling for second, with row five starter Jim Gillenwater and eighth starting Tony Dunker soon joining the fray. The seventh circuit saw Gillenwater move all the way to second, as the front six ran in a tight breakaway pack. Two laps later, Dale looped his ride, bringing out the second caution. Back to racing, Gillenwater used his trademark low line to claim the lead, opening a sizable lead. With six circuits to go, Becerra grabbed second, and one lap laterDunker moved to fourth. While Gillenwater had a healty lead over Becerra, there was also a gap between him and Oliver. Two laps from the checkers, Dunker grabbed third, and the checkers flew for Gillenwater over Becerra, Dunker, Oliver Jr., and Carter Vandenberg. Four first timers were a part of the 13 car UMP Pro late model field, including Illinois drivers Brad Denney and Mavrick Piller, Iowa rookie Eric Knapp, and Russ Schoonover, who makes a visit home to western Illinois from I believe England during the summer and hauls his #59 to the track. But it is veteran sTommy Elston and Denny Woodworth who have dominated the division, and with each winning a heat race, Elston drew the third starting spot for the 20 lap feature, with Woodworth starting fifth. Polesitter Todd Frank paced the first two laps running for him an unusual inside line, but lap three saw Elston pound the cushion to grab the top spot. On the same circuit, Woodworth charged to third, taking Sam Halstead along in fourth. As Elston stretched his margin, Woodworth moved around Frank for second on lap eight. Halstead eased past Frank for third on lap ten, but Todd quickly reclaimed the position. Woodworth was able to cut into Elstons lead somewhat, but with the race going caution free, Tommy stayed in command to pick up the win. Woodworth settled for the runner up finish, followed by Frank, Halstead, and Jeff Guengerich. Gunner Frank finished his night the week prior at Bloomfield upside down, but he came out in a different car and ran sixth ahead of Chris Richard, Derek Liles, Denney, and Piller. Chase Frank rounded out the cars running at the finish. Only ten IMCA stock cars checked in, with all taking the feature green. Jeremy Pundt came from row two to lead lap one, while Oliver Jr. powered from row three to second. Oliver took command on the second trip past the flag stand, with Corey Strothman and Jason Cook joining the front pair. Cook worked his way to second, and by lap five, he was bidding for the lead. For the next several laps,he ran side by side with Oliver, Cook on the bottom, Oliver on top. Pundt had fallen to fourth, but he cleared Strothman on lap nine. Cook had a slight advantage at the flagstand with seven circuits remaining, and going in to turn one, Oliver smacked the guardrail, bringing out the caution. Apparently John had been running without power steering since lap two, and he retired to the pits during the caution. As racing resumed, Cook opened a big lead, with Pundt also putting distance on Strothman. The yellow waved again with two laps remaining, as Scott Jordon spun in turn four. Pundt stayed close for the closing laps, but Cook held on for the win. Strothmon, Derek Kirkland, and Chad Krogmeier completed the top five. The IMCA modifieds came trackside for the final event of the night. Dakota Simmons paced the early laps, with Jerad Fuller taking over on lap five. But row three starter Michael Long, who had been searching for an opening behind side by side racing, pull a breathtaking power move, jumping from fourth to first coming out of turn two on the very top of the track. Michael continued to pound the cushion, opening a nearly straightaway lead. Meanwhile row four starter Jeff Waterman moved to third on lap six and took the runner up spot on lap eight. The final caution of the night came with five laps remaining for debris, wiping out Longs lead. But he quickly pulled away as the green waved, cruising to the win. Waterman topped Dennis Laveine, Fuller, and Bill Roberts Jr to round out the top five. Sunday night Quincy Raceways will get back to racing, with UMP Pro late models and UMP modifieds joined by sport mods, stock cars ans sport compacts. No track points will be awarded, as this was originally a scheduled night off. The UMP classes will be running for national points. Lee County Speedway will be in action both Thursday and Friday next week for Summerfest. Extra money and extra classes will be featured, so mcheck the website for details. See you at the track!

New Track, Same Result

UMP Pro late model drivers Tommy Elston and Denny Woodworth have spent the 2017 season chasing each other around at the front of the pack at the Lee County Speedway and Quincy Raceways. So Saturday night, the two veterans met up again at the Bloomfield, Iowa Speedway as part of the Bob Weaklin Memorial race during the Davis County fair. a total of twelve late models joined 17 sport mods, 22 stock cars, and eight assorted vehicles from the Mississippi Valley Vintage Racing group. Following eight heat races and a brief intermission, the sport mods hit the 1/3 mile oval for their 14 lap feature. 16 cars took the green flag, as Jason Reigel was out the back gate before heat races had even started. Colton Nelson led the opening lap, the Brandon Dale, fresh off a heat race win, smacked the fence in turn one, ending his night. Meanwhile, Jim Gillenwater worked his way to the lead about lap four, building a sizable lead running the inside groove as Casey Lancaster began to use the high side of the track, advancing to third on lap six and the runner up spot two laps later. Gillenwater caught the back of the pack with four circuits remaining, and one lap later, Lancaster took advantage to fly around the leader on the outside. But the only caution flag of the race came out before the lap was complete, putting the veteran Gillenwater back out front for the Delaware restart. Lancaster fell briefly to third on the restart, with Gillenwater able to open a lead. He then moved up the track a bit, and with open track, he cruised to his second win in two nights, having captured the Scotland County fair race in Memphis,Mo. the night before. Lancaster rebounded to take second, while Jason McDaniel came from sixth to third following the restart. Nelson finished fourth, with Daniel Fellows fifth in this his first month in the sport mod class. The vintage group then ran an eight lap feature event, with winners awarded in the various types of sprint, midget, and super modified type cars. Rob Caho was the overall winner of both the heat and feature. The late models were up next, racing 18 laps for a $1.000 top prize. Rookie Eric Knapp #57 was the only driver failing to make the feature call. Although he finished third behind Todd and Gunner Frank in his heat, Elston redrew the pole for the main event, with Gunner on his outside. Elston quickly shot to the lead, wity row two starter Tyler Cale in the Brandon Ruffcorn #11R moving to second. Fourth starting Woodworth cleared the younger Frank for third on lap two as Elston began to stretch his lead. But the yellow waved as Gunner and heat two winner Derek Liles got tangled up in turns three and four. Contact on the restart found Gunner Frank upside down on the front stretch. The youngster stayed in the car until track workers uprighted the #21, then he walked away, apparently uninjured. During the red flag, Sam Halstead also headed to the pits, done for the night. Back under green, Elston put distance on the field as Cale and Woodworth slugged it out for second. By lap ten, the two were still in a duel as Elston built a straightaway lead. Woodworth finally took command of second on lap twelve, but with no more interruptions, Tommy cruised to the victory. Woodworth came home second, with Cale third followed by local driver Jim Lynch and Todd Frank in fifth. Brandon Savage started seventh and finished sixth, with Jeff Guengerich in seventh. Chris Richard was piloting the second car from the Richard Racing stable, with new graphics and #17R replacing the #73R in the new scheme. Chris pulled out with a couple laps remaining, while Liles was pitside with a caved in front end and credited with ninth. The final race of the evening was the $1,000 to win 22 car stock car tribute race in honor of Bob Weaklin. He was a competitor in the IMCA stock car division and was instrumental in the racing program at Bloomfield for many years. He was a gentleman racer that I had the pleasure of meeting when he raced at Lee County in the 1990s. The stock car field was a solid one, although top competitor Jason Cook was a non factor, dropping out of both his heat and the feature after one lap. Gary Harward paced the first lap, with row three starter Mike Hughes taking over on lap two. The caution waved on the third lap, and now fellow row three starter Dustin Griffiths was second. It was then that we noticed that Cayden Carter, who had issues in his heat race and missed the top four redraw, had advanced from row seventh to sixth in those first three laps. On the restart, Carter shot to fourth, and one lap later, Griffiths took the lead. The yellow waved at the end of lap five, but the pass for the lead was official. Back to racing, the field was tight, with Hughes running the low line in second and Derek Agee challenging in third. But the caution waved again as Danny Thrasher, who captured his heat by inches over Griffiths, stopped, bringing out the yellow with 13 laps to go. As racing resumed, Carter now advanced to third, and on the seventh circuit he passed Hughes for second. Just after halfway, it had become a two car battle for the lead when the caution flew again. Abe Huls, the Friday night winner in Memphis, moved to a higher line back under green , and Carter grabbed the lead, and Huls advanced to third, with yet another yellow stopping the action. As the green waved, Griffiths appeared to get a bit loose coming off turn two and spun around to bring out the caution. Officials decided Hughes had "helped" the spin, and both were sent to the back for the final restart. It was now Carter, Huls and Jason See in the top three spots with six laps to go. With Carter running the low line, Huls tried the top groove. He could not get close enough to challenge Carter, who came from the row seven start to collect the big check. For his part, Huls had come from a row six start to second. See came home third, followed by Agee in fourth. Griffiths crossed the line in fifth, but was penalized four positions for jumping the final restart putting Jeremy Pundt in fifth. Buddy Fred and grandson Peyton and I all agreed that it was a well run and very enjoyable show and was enhanced by a very informative announcer, although I did not catch his name. The program ended soon after the 10:00 hour. There is no racing tonight or next Sunday at Quincy Raceways, but the Lee County Speedways springs back into action next Friday night. Thanks for reading!

One Family, Two wins at Quincy

Five classes of cars were in action Sunday at Quincy Raceways, and a pair of brothers in law picked up wins in the UMP divisions. Rickey Frankel took a nonstop win in the UMP late models, while Michael Long claimed the UMP modified checkers. And only Dave Weitholder setting quick time in the modifieds prevented the duo from a double clean sweep, as Frankel paced the late models with a lap of 13.493 seconds. The UMP Pro Crate late models and IMCA stock cars had a scheduled night off, with 305 sprints added to the card. The sprints ran the first feature, with Ben Waggoner and Brian Armitage setting on the front row. At the drop of the green, Waggoner jumped to the lead, with Ryan Jamison in second. Waggoner built a commanding lead running the low line around the speedway before moving to a higher line in the second half of the race. Jamison also ran the low groove until the closing laps, when Jerrod Schneiderman closed in on Jamison by running a higher line. Ryan then moved up for the final three laps to protect his runner up status. The 18 laps clicked off caution free. Waggoner picked up the win ahead of Jamison, Schneiderman, Armitage and Nathan Charron. The IMCA sport mods turned out the highest car count of the night with 15 entrants. Point leader Tony Dunker was absent, having been handed a 30 day track suspension. Also missing was the #17 car of Brandon Lennox. Lennox has been the hottest driver in the division lately, but he found himself upside down the night before at Lake Ozark Speedway. Always the racer, Brandon borrowed the # 23D ride of Billy Deroy for the night. Bobby Anders shot from row two to lead the opening lap, but fellow row two starter Vance Wilson snared the top spot on lap two, with Austen Becerra coming from the fourth row to third. Following a lap three caution and a Delaware restart, Becerra was now in second. Another yellow came two laps later, and Becerra dropped to fifth on the restart. With Wilson out front, a solid four car battle raged behind him between fifth row starter Justin Ebbing, Anders, Becerra, and Lennox. Another caution came on lap eight, and back under green Becerra challenged for the lead. The front duo swapped the top spot, running side by side for several circuits, with Becerra edging ahead about lap twelve. One lap later, Wilson bobbled slightly on the backstretch, turning second over to Lennox. One more caution with three laps to go set up a single file dash to the checkers, with Becerra picking up his first win of the season at QR. Wilson regained second, an overheating Lennox hung on for third ahead of Anders and Tanner Klingele. Weitholder and Long were heat race winners in modified action, but the redraw put Michael outside row one and Dave outside row two. By the second trip past the flag stand, Long had a big lead, while Weitholder stretched his advantage over Craig Spegal. Slower traffic on lap nine did nothing to slow Long, as he negotiated the lapped cars with ease, maintaining a straightaway lead. In fact, Michael had lapped all but three cars when the only caution of the race wiped out his lead with three laps to go. But it only delayed the inevitable, as he cruised to the win, unofficially the 300th of his career at Quincy, including 121 feature events! Weitholder, Spegal, and Shaun Deering were the other cars on the lead lap. Frankel began the UMP late model feature inside row two, but he vaulted quickly to the front using the inside line. Jason Perry took up the chase, with Denny Woodworth and Jamie Wilson slugging it out for third. In his second night out in his #533 Janes Racing machine, Mark Burgtorf fought fuel problems all night, missing time trials and his heat, and pulling out of the feature on lap two. With the leaders all running the high side of the .29 mile oval, Perry kept the pressure on Frankel. As the laps clicked off, Perry moved down one line to try and overtake the leader, but Rickey had plenty of momentum and drove a flawless race. No cautions slowed the action, with Frankel picking up the flag to flag win. Perry settled for second in front of Woodworth and Wilson. Mark Rose stopped by on his way home to Wisconsin and put his #0 in the fifth finishing spot ahead of visiting Rusty Griffaw. JoeY Gower was dialing in his #31G crate late model in his third night out, and was credited with seventh. The clock registered my self imposed 9:30 work night curfew, so I headed to the parking lot ahead of the IMCA sport compact feature. Reports have Craig Bangert picking up the win, besting Brandon Lambert. Quincy Raceways had a scheduled night off next Sunday night, and with a monster truck show the following weekend, they have also decided there will be no racing also on July 23. However racing will be held on July 30 , which also appears as a night off on the original schedule. Be sure and check the Quincy Raceways website for more info, including classes in action. The Ciltrak team has added a UMP Big Ten late model race Sunday, July 23 at the Jacksonville,Il fairgrounds facility. With Lee County Speedway in Donnellson also taking off this Friday, I am uncertain about this weekends plans, but there are several options and we will be at a track somewhere. Maybe we will see you there! Thanks for reading!

Fair Time at Donnellson

Against the backdrop of Iowas' oldest county fair, the Lee County Speedway staged a weekly racing program on Friday night. The five regular classes featured 60 cars competing in front of a nice sized crowd on a beautiful evening. Heat race action clicked off with I believe zero cautions, and the first feature rolled out shortly after 8:00 with no intermission. The IMCA sport compact 15 lapper ran first, with ten starters. Josh Barnes shot to the early lead in search of his third straight main event win. Mike Reu broke free from the pack and began to run down the leader. Just before the halfway mark, Reu took over the lead, and Barnes suddenly slowed, falling through the pack and heading to the pits on lap nine. Mike Reu opened a big lead as son Brandon Reu and Barry Taft battled side by side for the runner up spot. With a pair of laps remaining, Brandon eased ahead of Taft. At the checkers, it was Mike Reu winning in front of the home town crowd. Brandon Reu was second, followed by Taft, Kimberly Abbott, and Chuck Fullenkamp. The race ran caution free. 15 IMCA sport mods came to the track next for 18 laps. Jim Walker jumped to the front for the first four laps with row three starter Austen Becerra taking the second spot from Brandon Dale on lap four. One lap later, Becerra did a slide job on Walker in turn four to take the top spot. As Becerra opened a commanding lead, Walker retired with a flat tire. Dale held second, with Kyle Hill in third until Hill left the track with five circuits left to go. This moved the battle between Vance Wilson and Tony Dunker into third and fourth, and they crossed the line in that order. Daniel Fellows moved from the sport compacts to the sport mods and finished fifth, the last car on the lead lap of another non stop feature. It was the second win in a row for Austen. The first caution came on lap two of the IMCA modified 20 lapper, as early leader Bill Roberts Jr pulled out. The restart found row one starter Dennis Laveine out front. Michael Long and Jeff Waterman took the green flag from row two, and when racing resumed, they were locked in a duel for second. Waterman took command of the runner up spot on lap four, and from there it was a train race to the checkers. Laveine continued to hit his marks on the high side of the 3/8 mile with Waterman in his tracks. Long tried the low line, but could not get enough momentum to make the pass. He made one last charge on lap 18, but fell short. The checkers went to Laveine, followed by Waterman, Long, Chris Zogg, and Dean McGee. Next came the IMCA stock cars racing for 18 laps. A dozen cars took the green, with Beau Taylor a no show after finishing fourth in his heat race. Chad Krogmeier shot to a sizable lead, with Dean Kratzer, John Oliver Jr., and Jason Cook chasing the #12. A lap seven caution bunched the field, and Oliver moved to second on the Delaware restart. On lap nine, Oliver used a slide job in turn four . but failed to clear Krogmeier. The resulting melee found Krogmeier upside down, with Jeremy Pundt making contact with him. As the wreck was cleaned up, Krogmeier was out, and Pundt and Kratzer both went to the work area for repairs, and Oliver Jr. was sent to the back of the lead lap cars that did not go to the work area, which turned out to be sixth. This turned the lead over to Cook, with Corey Strothman now second. On the restart, Oliver charged back to third, with Pundt following him to fourth. With no more yellows, it was Cook, Strothman, Oliver, Pundt, and Jake Powers scoring top five finishes. The finale was the 20 lap UMP Pro late model main event. Even though there were several regulars missing, 13 cars checked in for the night. Unfortunately, lady racer Tegan Evans in her first appearance of 2017 after being a semi regular last season, dropped a drive shaft in hot laps, ending her night. Evans had made the long pull from ClintonIowa in her #T22. Another first timer was popular veteran IMCA racer Ron Boyse from Kalona,Iowa in his #74. Tommy Elston and Jeff Guengerich drew the front row start and Elston shot to the front with Denny Woodwrth coming from row two to second. Following a lap two caution,Elston and Woodworth began to put distance on the pack. Woodworth challenged Elston on lap seven, but Elston stretched his margin the following trip around. But Woodworth powered to the lead on that same lap as the leaders closed in on slower traffic. But just as things got interesting, the caution waved for a spinning Brandon Ruffcorn in turns three and four. Woodworth was unable to avoid contact with Ruffcorn, but suffered no obvious damage. With just seven laps left to go on the restart. Elston retook the lead. holding on for his third LCS win. Woodworth settled for second, with heat two winner Sam Halstead, Guengerich, and first heat winner Derek Liles collecting top fie runs. Boyse led the second five with Trent Grotz turning in a good run in seventh ahead of Ruffcorn, son Laine and dad Charles Vanzandt, and Chris Richard subbing for Matt Strassheim in the #73R. Former sport mod driver Joey Gower made his return to late model racing Monday night at Quincy Raceways, and was a row three starter at LCS before dropping out early. The final checkers waved well before 10:00. There will be no racing next Friday at Donnellson, with many of the regulars minus the late models in action at the Scotland County fair in Memphis,Mo. Then next Saturday, the UMP Pro late models and stock cars will be the feature attraction during the Davis County fair in Bloomfield,Iowa. Racing at LCS will resume on Friday, July 21.

B Shepp OnTop in Return to Quincy

After no racing on Sunday night, Quincy Raceways welcomed the UMP Summernationals to town on Monday night. 34 high powered late models were complimented by 28 UMP Summit tour modifieds and 20 sport mods on a hot, humid July night. The evening began with group qualifying, with local standout Michael Long breaking the modified track record at 14.189 seconds. Florida hot shoe Kyle Bronson, in his first ever visit to QR paced the late models with a blistering lap of 12.942seconds around the .29 mile oval in his #40B. Minnesota driver Brent Larson dropped his drive shaft in qualifying putting him behind the eight ball all night, and he eventually used a series provisional to start the 40 lap $5,000 to win main event. The four late model heat races were won from the front row, a problem with the " straight up" by qualifying times format. Bronson grabbed heat one over Bob Gardner, Gordy Gundaker, and Billy Moyer Jr. Heat two went to Brandon Sheppard ahead of Brian Shirley, Rusty Schlenk, and Quincy legend Mark Burgtorf, out for the first time in his new #5. Shannon Babb captured the third ten lapper, besting Bobby Pierce,Rickey Frankel and Rob Toland. The last heat went to Texan Tyler Erb followed by Ryan Unzicker, Rodney Sanders, and Dustin Griffin. At least eleven of these drivers are previous feature winners at QR. Only two drivers transferred from the 18 car B-main, which was won by Justin Reed, back in a #11JR car after blowing up his #1ST earlier this season. The final spot went to Austin Theiss. Two series provisionals and two track provisionals filled out the 22 car starting grid, with Larson, Dustin Nobbe, Denny Woodworth, and Jason Perry getting those spots. With the fields set, the 25 lap modified feature was up first. The front row had former QR winner Ray Bollinger alongside national standout Nick Hoffman, with Long in row two, all heat race winners. As the car made their final parade lap, Hoffman suddenly came to a stop in turn two, and just like that his night was over. This moved Teas driver Phil Dixon to the outside pole for the start. Bollinger led lap one, with the caution coming out at the end of the lap. Back to racing, Bollinger ran the inside line while Long pounded the cushion. As lap six was scored the pair crossed the line side by side. Long was the leader at the end of lap seven, but Bollinger retook the spot coming out of turn two. Traffic came into play on lap nine, and Bollinger slowed with a flat tire. Former Nascar pilot Kenny Wallace had been lurking in third after starting in row three, and he took advantage of the slowing #77 to take over the lead. With Bollinger pitting and returning to the track with fresh rubber, the battle was now between Wallace and Long. As Wallace ran the low line, Long was following him in turns one and two, then taking the high line in three and four. Meanwhile, track points leader Dave Weitholder used the top side to charge from a row six start to enter the top five. The final caution came with seven laps remaining, and those final circuits saw the front duo side by side, with Wallace holding a slight advantage. But Long was able to get a run on the final lap, and he used that high side momentum to edge Wallace at the line, as the huge crowd rose from their seats. Dixon took third, while Bollinger rebounded all the way to fourth, just ahead of Weitholder. NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champ Matt Crafton was on hand in a black #88 machine, but was not a factor in the outcome. It was now late model time, With Sheppard and Babb on the front row. Babb led the first trip around, with third starting Bronson in tow. Babb was riding the cushion, Bronson down low when the first caution waved for a slowing Shirley. Back under green, Shirley ducked back to the infield as Sheppard was able to clear Babb for second on lap seven, with Bronson now in command. Bronson began to open a lead, catching slower traffic on lap 13. But the leader bobbled on the high side on lap 15, with Sheppard vaulting to the top spot. As the lap was scored, fourth running Erb smacked the front stretch wall hard, ending his run. Babb cleared Bronson on the single file restart, and it was soon a four car battle, with Sheppard and third running Bronson up top, and Babb and now fourth Pierce on the bottom. The caution waved at the half way mark for Schlenk needing a tire change. Babb regained the lead back under green, but Sheppard fought back to retake the spot. Pierce advanced to third on lap 24, with Bronson fighting back before a yellow on lap 25. One final caution came out on lap 29, following the restart, Sheppard stumbled, but held the lead. Pierce was now the man on the move on the high side. But he suffered a broken shock, slowing his momentum. Babb was a shadow to Sheppard for the final eleven circuits, and again everyone was on their feet as he made one final charge coming to the checkers. But the big check went to Sheppard. Babb and Pierce grabbed podium finishes. Gundaker came from ninth to fourth, with Bronson completing the top five. Unzicker drove a steady race to claim sixth ahead of Gardner,Toland,19th starting Larson, and Moyer Jr. Reed and Nobbe were the final two cars running at the checkers. The sport mod finale paid a cool $500 to win. Brandon Lennox was the first to cross the stripe on lap one, with tanner Klingele in hot pursuit. It was a two car scrum before a lap seven caution. Back under green, Austen Becerra now began to pressure Klingele for second. After another caution period, the two swapped the second spot. One final yellow came with three laps to go, and the field was not set in single file order. Lennox cruised to the flag to flag win ahead of Klingele, Becerra, Justin Ebbing, and Billy Deroy. Although a long night of racing in warm temps, it was an action packed event, the highlight of 2017 thus far at Quincy Raceways! Happy July 4, and thanks for reading!

Barnes Goes the "Extra Miles" at Donnellson

Friday was Military Appreciation Night at the Lee County Speedway, with a nice crowd on hand to witness five classes of racing action plus a fireworks display afterwards. A total of 67 drivers checked in, led by 20 IMCA sport mods. A new sport mod was the # 51 of Mike Benjamin, who many of you might remember as a pretty good late model driver from more than a few years ago! Following heat race action and intermission, the IMCA sport compact 15 lap feature came to the track. Eleven drivers had signed in, but Josh Barnes blew up his # 13B in his heat race. But there he was, starting in the back row of the main event in his "other" car. Brandon Lambert powered to the early lead, holding off a three car contingent battling on his back bumper. Meanwhile Barnes worked his way into the runner up spot, and the pair crossed the line side by side as lap 13 was scored. On the following circuit, Barnes took over the lead and held on for the win in the non stop event. Lambert settled for second ahead of Daniel Fellows, Kimberly Abbott, and the Reus, Brandon and Mike. It is not unusual for the big time late model and modified guys to roll a backup car out of the double decker hauler if they have trouble with their primary ride. But in victory lane, Barnes said his team loaded the crippled machine and drove home to Keokuk, about 20 miles, loaded up the other car and made it back by feature time! And that, my friends, is old school racing! The sport mod feature was up next. A lap one melee saw row four starter and top contender Brandon Lennox spin in turn one, sending him to the tail of the restart. Jason Reigel led the opening circuit, with Austen Becerra taking over on lap two. Meanwhile Tony Dunker charged to third, taking along Logan Anderson in fourth. On the fourth lap, the pair moved to second and third. Following the second caution of the race on about lap six, Anderson used the Delaware restart to move to second, while Brandon Dale entered the top four. Becerra opened a big lead as Anderson, running high and Dunker running low battled behind him. After a third and final caution with eight laps remaining, Dunker took back the second spot, and he also moved to the top side of the track while Anderson worked the inside groove. A nip and tuck battle for fourth developed between a pair of second generation hot shoes,Dale and Vance Wilson. But this night belonged to Becerra, who drove a flawless race, picking up the win. Dunker held off Anderson for second, and Wilson edged Dale for fourth. Lennox advanced back to seventh at the checkers. A dozen UMP Pro Crate late models checked in, but only eleven took the feature green after young Chase Frank smacked the turns one and two guardrail in his heat. The redraw found heat two winner Jeff Guengerich on the pole, and he paced the first lap ahead of Jay Johnson and fifth starting Denny Woodworth. Woodworth and Johnson swapped the runner up spot on lap three before Derek Liles looped his ride while running fourth on lap five. As the green flag waved for the restart, Todd Frank got into the back of Johnson, with the pair getting hooked together. After a lengthy delay, Johnson rejoined the field at the tail, while Frank retired to the pits. Guengerich again shot to the lead, with Woodworth, Sam Halstead and Tommy Elston now in a four car lead pack. After a pair of well executed slide jobs, Woodworth took command on lap eight, while Elston moved to third. As Elston set his sights on Guengerich, Woodworth opened a sizable lead. Lap 13 saw Elston take second, but with no more cautions, he could not run the down the racing attorney. At the checkers, it was Woodworth, Elston, Guengerich, Halstead, and Gunner Frank completing the top five. Clint Kirkham ran sixth in his first visit to LCS in 2017, Johnson was seventh, followed by heat one winner Matt Strasshein, Trent Grotz, and Liles. All 14 IMCA stock cars took the main event green flag, but a lap one restart slowed the action. The second try saw row two starter Abe Huls shoot to the lead ahead of Jason See. As the front pair battled with Huls on the low line and See pounding the cushion, a three car scrum took shape for third between Jeremy Pundt, Cory Strothman, and John Oliver Jr. Huls was able to lengthen his advantage with good runs off turn two, while See made up ground off the turn four cushion. Oliver won the battle for third on lap nine, as Huls began to put some distance between himself and See. Oliver tiried to run down See, but could not get the yellow flag he needed to close the gap. The final rundown was Huls, See, Oliver Jr., Pundt, and Strothman. The IMCA modifieds closed out the program on the ever slickening 3/8 mile oval. Michael Long used the high line to come from row two to the lead on the opening lap, with Dennis Laveine and Chris Zogg training. Jeff Waterman advanced to fourth on lap three as the yellow waved for Bill Roberts Jr and Dugan Thye, erasing an already commanding lead for Long. Zogg used the Delaware restart to claim second, but he had nothing for the #18L, as Long stretched his lead to nearly a full straightaway. The race stayed green to the checkers, with Long cruising to the win. Zogg took second over Laveine, Waterman, and Jerod Fuller. The final checkers waved before 10:15. Next up for me will be the UMP late model Summernationls show at Quincy Raceways on Monday night, July 3. Along with the super late models racing for a $5,000 check, it will be the Summit UMP modified for a $1,000 top prize, and IMCA sport mods competing for a $500 payday. Hot laps around 6:30, I believe, with racing at 7:00. Hope to see you there!