Quincy Raceways Says " Let's Go Racing!"

 The weatherman finally smiled on Quincy Raceways, at least enough to get the 2018 lid lifter in the books. New owner/promoter Jason Goble is entering his first full season at QR, and it is obvious that he has been busy during the off season. The most notable change - read "improvement" - was burying tires in the turns. I would like to have a dollar for every yellow flag at QR over the years for a tractor tire kicked out on the racing surface! Jason also moved the tires much lower in the corners, creating a wider surface for racing, and creating a different look, with the inside line flat before a gradual increase in the banking, which looks to have perhaps been cut down a bit. Another change that most folks would not notice is the creation of a brush free path behind the pit road barriers. This is most appreciated for those of us who make trips back and forth from grandstands to pits during the night.
  The unfortunate part of opening night was a stiff breeze that created a lot of dust for the drivers. The easterly direction of the wind kept the dust out of the grandstands, although the cars sometimes disappeared in turns one and two, and one driver told me he just raced around the turns hoping no one stopped in front of him. This also created a somewhat slippery surface, but surprisingly there were minimal caution periods throughout the night. Track workers did do some extra watering during intermission, and the nice sized opening night crowd seemed to be having a good time on this cool April evening.
   As Goble looks for what classes will create the most interest, excitement, and car counts, he will be rotating about nine classes in 2018 with a count of six on most nights. With the extra class added, start times have been moved up, and hot laps on Sunday began close to 5:15 as advertised.
  The UMP modifieds were the only class to time trial, with Ray Bollinger setting quick time to open the season. The eleven heat races clicked off in good time, and as it turned out only five classes raced, as there was only one entrant in the reincarnated two person cruiser class. I had no idea what to expect for the class that once drew close to 100 cars for a stand alone Thursday night show 20 plus years ago. So we will see if there is indeed enough interest in the cars going forward.
   After a candy dash for the large group of youngsters in attendance and some track prep, it was feature time.
  First on the card was 305 sprint cars, eight entrants for 20 laps. The top two from the Saturday night show at 34 Raceway, Brayden Gaylord and Tanner Gebhardt sat on row one. Tanner got the early lead, and quickly moved to the inside line around the oval. Gaylord stayed within striking distance, but with zero caution periods, Gebhardt maintained his advantage all the way to the checkers, as the front duo swapped their finishing spots from the night before. Ben Wagner came home third ahead of Daniel Bergquist and Dillon Tuxhorn.
  The UMP mods were up next, ten cars strong for 20 laps. The car count was a bit light, but some of the best UMP drivers around were ready to do battle. Local hot shoe Michael  Long and Bollinger sat on row one, and they crossed the stripe to score lap one in that order, with defending track champion Dave Weitholder in third. Michael quickly opened a comfortable lead as Bollinger and Weitholder slugged it out behind him. On lap eight Weitholder was able to get his nose under Bollinger and grab the runner up spot. He then tried to run down the leader, but again the race went caution free, and he could never get close enough to challenge for the win. Bollinger came home third ahead of Todd Bates and Dugan Thye.
  Next to the oval came the USAC/IMRA SpeeD2 midgets. Nine cars ran the pair of heat races, but when the green flag finally waved for the feature, only six remained, with 18 laps to be contested. Chase McDermond put his #40 out front as the green waved, although he had a strong challenge early from Andy Baugh. As the laps clicked down, McDermond stretched his lead, with Baugh settling comfortably in second. For the third straight feature there were zero cautions, and McDermond held serve for the win. Baugh held the runner up spot ahead of Bart Andrews, Mark Billings, and Derek Goble.
  As might be expected, the yellow flag got some use in the 18 lap IMCA sport mod finale. All 19 competitors made the call, and it was a star studded field. Adam Birck, who has raced late models, two person cruisers, and pretty much everything in between sat on row one alongside former track champ Nathan Bringer. The caution waved on lap one for debris. When the first lap was scored, Birck held the top spot with row two starter Daniel Fellows in second. Caution periods came again on laps four and five, and the Delaware restarts created some excitement. As Birck continued to lead, a battle developed between top runners Brandon Lennox and Austen Becerra, while they contested the fourth and fifth positions. The yellow came out again on lap eight, and then two laps later came one more caution as Becerra went for a spin out of turn two. After some discussion, Lennox was asked to join Becerra at the back of the pack. When racing resumed, Austen ducked to the pits, but Brandon began to pick off cars. Tanner Klingele had been running a strong third, but got shuffled back on the twelfth circuit, with Bringer grabbing third and Jeffrey Delonjay following in fourth. Austin Howes had started seventh, and he entered the top five with three laps to go. But no one had anything for Birck, who led flag to flag for the win. Fellows had a strong run in second followed by Bringer, Howes, and Delonjay. Lennox worked his way back to sixth at the checkers.
  The last race on the card was the 15 lap IMCA sport compact battle. With the help of the unique three car open trailer of Girard Racing from central Missouri, eleven drivers checked in for the action. Unfortunately, Alyssa Steele lost an engine in hot laps. and the same appeared to be the case for David Prim in his heat race. So nine cars lined up for feature racing. Darin Weisinger Jr. and defending All Iowa point champ Barry Taft lined up in row one. Taft held the top spot by inches as lap one was scored, but Weisinger took the lead on lap two. A pair of yellow flags on laps eight and eleven kept things close, but Weisinger remained in control. On the final couple of laps, he slipped ever so slightly off the inside line, and going down the backstretch on the final circuit Taft was able to stick the nose of his #57 inside of the leader, completing the winning pass out of turn four. Weisinger collected runner up honors, with Kimberly Abbott picking her way to third. Jayden Delonjay and veteran Rick Girard scored the next two spots.
  While I neglected to check the time as I headed to the pits, the action concluded well before 10:00.
   Next Sunday, Quincy Raceways will feature mods, sport mods, sport compacts, the return of the IMCA stock cars, mod lites, and hopefully the two person cruisers will see a few more teams ready to go. The track will also host a Night of Destruction next Saturday, April 28. The first night for the UMP crate late models will be May 13.
  Thanks to Jason Goble and the QR staff for a fun Sunday night of racing.