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.