Champions Crowned at Quincy Raceways

  Sunday night was the final points racing event of 2018 at Quincy Raceways. With the sun shining when we arrived home from Keagan and Megans wedding weekend, I decided to fit in one night of action.
  The six "regular " classes were on the card, with all but the IMCA stock car title already determined.
  UMP modified qualifying led things off with champion Dave Weitholder posting quick time. Heat races were moving along nicely until the UMP Pro Crate late model ten lapper. Melvin Linder in the Woodworth backup #45DW was out front when he made hard contact with the front stretch wall, ripping the back right quarter from the car. Then in the stock car heat, point leader Jake Powers clipped the backstretch guardrail, spun around and rolled his car 1 3/4 times, landing on his roof, compromising his shot at the title.
  Finally it was feature time, with all 14 IMCA sport mods taking the green for 18 laps. Pole sitter and class champion Adam Birck jumped out front ahead of a lap two caution. On the restart, row four starter Austen Becerra and row six starter Daniel Fellows took up the chase, with Becerra second on lap four and Fellows third one lap later. The three leaders hit slower traffic at the halfway mark. With Becerra pulling nearly even with Birck as lap twelve was scored, John Renier clipped the inside boundary tire on turn one while about to be lapped, and he became airborne, flipping twice before landing on his wheels. When racing resumed, Becerra followed Birck in the high line, while Fellows looked for traction down low. Soon after Becerra tried the inside move on the leader, Fellows was able to make it stick in turn two on lap 16, taking over the runner up slot. While Daniel and Austen continued to battle, Birck was able to put a bit of distance on his pursuers, picking up his fifth feature checkers of the season. Fellows rolled home second ahead of Becerra and Tanner Klingele.
   Normally last on the card, the two person cruisers were up next, with only four cars checked in. The duo of Logan Cumby and Matt Wentura grabbed the win, while the #99 Boden car topped the point sheet.
  The late model field was also short on their final race night, five strong. Denny Woodworth went flag to flag to win the twenty lap event by 1/2 lap, also collecting championship honors. Laine Vanzandt out ran father Charles for second, with Cliff Powell in fourth.
  Weitholder led the 13 car modified field throughout their twenty lap distance. Kevin Blackburn was beginning to apply pressure to second place Josh Newman  even as his power plant developed a miss when the yellow waved for first time visitor Tony Walker. During the caution period, fourth running Steve Grotz also headed to the trailer. Back under green, Blackburn raced to second, taking along Frankie Wellman in third. Blackburn stayed close to the leader, while Wellman put distance on the remainder of the pack, running by himself in third. Blackburn began to fade ahead of a lap eleven caution, and he eventually retired two laps later. Weitholder cruised to his eleventh win of 2018, topping Wellman, Newman, Dugan Thye, and late arriving Mark Enk.
  Surprisingly, Powers was able to make the feature call, lining up at the back of the eight car field. Michael Larsen was six points behind in the title chase, and he grabbed the early lead, while you could have thrown a blanket over the next six cars. Dean Kratzer emerged from the pack to lead lap two, with a five car battle behind him using all three lanes around the .29 mile oval. Brandon Lambert held the runner up spot until Abe Huls moved around him on lap twelve. One lap later the caution came out as Beau Taylor stopped in turn four. Huls pulled alongside Kratzer on laps 15 and 16, but the Fort Madison, Iowa veteran was up to the challenge, picking up his second win of the year. Huls claimed second in front of Larsen, Brandon Savage, and Taylor. Powers hung around to claim the championship by two points over Larsen.
 The final race of the night saw eight cars line up in the IMCA sport compact feature. Darin Weisinger Jr. lined up in row one outside point champ Barry Taft, charging to the lead even as Taft began to fade. Fourth starting Alyssa Steele powered to second, staying close to the leader as Kimberly Abbott gained ground in third. As the race stayed green throughout the twelve laps, Abbott moved up to challenge Steele, allowing Weisinger to cruise to the win. Steele came home ahead of Abbott in the battle of the ladies, with Craig Bangert in fourth.
  A bit of a late start, intermission, and driver introductions for all six classes pushed the final checkered flag to just past 10:00.
  There is one more racing event scheduled at the track, next Sunday night. Extra money is being offered up for the stock car, modified, sport mod, and sport compact classes based on a minimum of 15 cars in each class, with the stock car winner taking home a cool $1,000. There are also a couple non circle track events in the following weeks, with details on the track website.
  At this time, I am looking at night one of the Darkside Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa on Thursday night, highlighted by a $1500 to win feature for the IMCA/Lee County late models. After that....?