Quincy Dodges the Raindrops on Sunday

 Race night number four in five days found me at Quincy Raceways for Sunday night action. Rain clouds swirled around the area, with heavy showers reported to the north and south, but the race track stayed dry. Six classes of cars were in action, with the UMP Pro Crate late models now on the card every week except for a pair of special events, and the 305 sprint experiment cancelled.
  It took a while to get the track rolled in, but when things got under way, UMP modified qualifying got the show started. Dave Weitholder set the quick time with a lap of 14.721 seconds, pacing the twelve car field.
  With eight heat races and intermission in the books, the IMCA stock cars headed up the feature parade. Beau Taylor jumped to the early lead by a comfortable margin before a lap five caution for debris brought him back to the pack. When racing resumed, Taylor again pulled away from the field, cruising to his second win in a row at the track. Point leader Michael Larsen battled Steve Mast before finally claiming the second spot. Jake Powers got by Mast late for third. Jerry Jansen came home in fifth, followed by Austen Becerra taking a turn behind the wheel of the Brandon Lambert machine.
  Darin Weisinger Jr. also led flag to flag in the six car IMCA sport compact main event. As the yellow flag flew on lap two, heavy smoke spewed from under the hood of the Kimberly Abbott #71, ending her night. From there the race stayed green, and although point leader Barry Taft found his way to second and applied pressure, Weisinger held on for his second win of the year. Jake Dietrich ran third, followed by Alyssa Steele and Taylor Vandermaiden. It was announced that their were " mystery drivers" in the two young ladies cars, but the official finish gave credit to Alyssa and Taylor.
  Dugan Thye unloaded his #11 modified, but never made it to the track and Josh Newman appeared to lose an engine during his heat race, so ten UMP mods took the feature green for 20 laps. Fast timer and heat one winner Weitholder jumped from the pole to the early lead. Joined by Spencer Havermale and Kevin Blackburn, the front three surged to a big lead, with Blackburn taking second on lap six. Two circuits later, Steve Grotz and Craig Roden went for a spin in turn three, with both cars leaving on the hook. As the leaders rolled around, Weitholder had a flat right rear tire. He was able to get it changed during the clean up, restarting in the eighth and final spot in the running order. When the green waved, the cars went four wide on the backstretch, and Charlie Baker ran out of room, tagging the guardrail, ending his run. On the next attempt, Shaun Deering was able to wrestle the runner up spot from Havermale. Meanwhile, Weitholder was on a mission, executing slide jobs to take fourth on lap ten and third two laps later. By this time, Blackburn had a big lead, and he cruised to victory lane in the Mike Begley #B4. Deering held off pressure from Weitholder to score the runner up finish, while Havermale and Joey Gower completed the top five.
  All 14 IMCA sport mods lined up for 18 laps of feature racing. John Renier paced the opening lap before the caution came out for a slowing Justin Ebbing. Tanner Klingele used the restart to grab the lead, followed by Brandon Lennox, Adam Birck, and Daniel Fellows. The front four soon broke away from the pack, as Birck and Fellows staged a back and fourth battle for third. The yellow came out for an Adam Niekamp spin on lap nine, and back to racing it was now a three car battle for second behind Klingele, Birck running the high line, Lennox down low, and Fellows looking for an opening. A final caution came on lap 13 as a pair of cars went for a spin. Lennox took control of second on the Delaware restart, going to work on the leader. As the pair took the white flag, Lennox had a nose in front, and he and Klingele raced side by side for the final lap. It was a photo finish at the checkers, and even announcer Doug Mealy was uncertain who had the advantage for a few seconds. It was then determined that Klingele was the victor. The race for third was nearly as close, with Birck edging Fellows for the spot. Renier came home in fifth. This finish mirrored the modified main at Tri City Speedway, but did not take nearly as long to determine the winner, and as nearly as I could tell, there was no controversy!
  A disappointing count of six UMP Pro Crate late models signed in to do battle, and Cliff Powell saw his night end in hot laps with possible engine woes. Point leader Denny Woodworth started on the pole of the main event, and promptly moved to a different time zone. Only Clint Kirkham remained on the lead lap as the race went 20 laps non stop. Charles Vanzandt was third, while first time visitor Graham Fate made the trip from Peoria and ran fourth. Melvin Linder wheeled the Woodworth back up car to a fifth place finish. With owner/promoter Jason Goble now committed to the late models on a full time basis, I would hope drivers in the area would respond to at least get the count into double figures. We shall see.
  The two person cruisers wrapped up the night, with the #88 taking the win.
  Quincy Raceways will be back in action next Sunday, July 1 for a regular night of racing. The following Sunday will be the highlight of 2018 for QR fans, as the UMP Summernationals comes to town. The super late models will be joined by the Summernational Summit racing UMP modifieds and the sport mods. At this time, it looks like my next adventure will be at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa this Thursday, as the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models headline the show.
  Thanks for reading!