Familiar Faces in Victory Lane at Quincy

 After a week off due to wet grounds, Quincy Raceways got back to action Sunday night. Six divisions of cars were on the docket plus a pair of vintage car classes on an unusually cool July evening.
  Hot laps began on time at 6:15, followed by qualifying for the UMP modifieds. St Louis area racer Trey Harris set quick time in the car driven previously by Rick Conoyer. A dozen heat races took the green flag at 7:00 on Christmas in July night sponsored by Sherwin Williams and On The Rail.
 The track had become a bit dry slick during the qualifying races, with turns one and two particularly prone to spins, so the track crew did a bit of maintenance during intermission, giving us a racy feature surface.
  First up was 18 laps for the dozen IMCA sport mods. A J Tournear grabbed the early lead, pacing the field until a lap five caution. Adam Birck powered to the lead on the restart and stretched his advantage before the yellow waved again with eight laps complete. This began a spate of yellows, with four more stoppages and only one lap scored. It was then announced that the time limit had expired, and the next caution would be yellow checkers, and the field was restarted single file. Amazingly the final nine of the scheduled laps clicked off caution free. Birck checked out for his third win of the season. Jeffrey Delonjay wrestled the runner up spot from Tournear. Tanner Klingele recovered for a spin to rebound to fourth ahead of Brandyn Ryan. Birck took over the points lead with the win.
 The vintage car groups ran a pair of twelve lap features next. Kevin Buckley wheeled a green AMC Gremlin to the modified win over four time track champion Terry Gallaher and Tim Rose captured the open wheel event ahead of former sprint car driver Gary Bonar.
  IMCA sport compacts were next on the card. Alyssa Steele led the pack down the back stretch, but point leader Barry Taft eased ahead as the opening lap was scored. Darin Weisinger Jr. moved up to pressure Taft, and the duo passed the flag stand side by side completing the second circuit. The next time around, Taft was in control, and he captured the non stop event. Weisinger Jr. ran second, and Kimberly Abbott debuted a new car in third, slipping past Steele mid race. David Prim also brought out a new ride and came home in fifth. It was I believe the sixth win of 2018 for Taft.
  Heat winner Vance Wilson and point leader Denny Woodworth lined up in the front row of the 20 lap UMP Pro Crate late model main event. Wilson grabbed the lead, then jumped to the preferred high line with Woodworth in hot pursuit. The front pair separated from an intense three car battle for third. With no cautions, the leaders caught slower traffic on lap 14, with Tucker Finch and Cliff Powell running side by side for position. As the two veterans looked for racing room, Denny was nosing ahead down the backstretch while Vance continued to win the battle off turn four. Wilson was the first to clear the slower cars, but a spin by Finch brought out the yellow with three laps to go. Wilson was up to the task, however, taking what announcer Doug said was his second win of the season. Woodworth settled for second, followed by Powell, Charles Vanzandt, Finch, and Jason Oenning in sixth.
  Beau Taylor started in row two and charged to the front of the IMCA stock car headliner on the first lap. A caution stopped the action on lap two, with Taylor maintaining the lead on the restart. As Beau opened a nice lead, point leader Michael Larsen moved to second on lap four, and the caution came out one lap later. When racing resumed, Jerry Jansen used the high groove to drive past Larsen for second, and again Taylor pulled away. Larsen dropped off the top of turn three, falling to fifth mid race. As the race stayed green, Taylor won by a straightaway, his third win in the last four stock car features. Jansen followed in second, besting Jake Powers, Brandon Lambert, and Larsen.
  The UMP mods lined up for 20 laps with Harris and Kevin Blackburn on the front row. Blackburn shot to the lead, taking along outside row two starter Dave Weitholder in second. Blackburn was running the very top of turns one and two, and he slipped ever so slightly off turn two on lap three, with Weitholder charging to the lead. With the race staying green, Blackburn rebounded and moved to the rear bumper of the leader. Harris had fallen off the pace a bit at the start, but he was now closing quickly on the front pair. Slower traffic became a factor on lap 14, and one lap late Harris cleared Blackburn for second. As Harris and Blackburn battled, Weitholder opened some breathing room, but the yellow waved at lap16. On the restart, Blackburn down low and Harris up top continued their duel, losing ground to the leader. The checkers waved for the point leader Weitholder, Harris won the battle for second in what I believe was his first trip to QR. Blackburn was third, followed by Steve Grotz and Dugan Thye.
  With the clock now hitting the 10:00 mark, I headed for the car as the final race of the night for the two person cruisers lined up.
  Thanks to Jason Goble and crew for a show that began on time and kept moving in a timely manner. Next Sunday QR will be featuring a six class program with a buy one, get one free grandstand ticket.
  Next up for me is the World of Outlaw late model and IMCA sport mod special on the Davenport, Iowa Speedway 1/2 mile oval on Tuesday, July 24. Area fans might be interested to know that in addition to the WoO cars and stars, Lucas Oil late model regular Bobby Pierce, and semi retired Iowa favorite Brian Birkhofer are scheduled to be in action at Davenport!  Hope to see you there!