Time for a quick look back at the final season of the teens as we wait to turn the calendar over. Having settled firmly into retirement, my practical mind tells me I should cut back on the long trips and late nights ( not to mention the expense!), but the notion of being able to travel far and wide no matter the day of the week remains too powerful to resist!
Combining the two ideas, I came away with fifty three nights of racing this season, at a record ( for me ) twenty two different venues. Staying in the tri states, the breakdown is as follows: Iowa, Lee County Speedway, eight, 34 Raceway, four, two each for Knoxville Raceway, Marshalltown Speedway, Benton County Speedway, and my one new track, Stuart Speedway. Weather and other commitments resulted in only one trip to Davenport Speedway, along with single trips to West Liberty, Independence, Farley, and Tipton for a total of twenty five nights, not counting a pair of weather aborted trips to Davenport and Columbus Junction. Illinois hosted twenty four visits, with Quincy Raceways leading the way with sixteen, while Tri City Speedway was next with three. There were single trips to Jacksonville, Macon, LaSalle, Spoon River, and Quad City Speedway. Ironically, my home state of Missouri came in last, with one night each at Pevely, Wheatland, Springfield, and the Dome in St. Louis.
Some may think that because this site is called "Positively Racing" that we ignore the negative things at various tracks, I can honestly say that while some nights are challenging, and I do try to mention - but not harp on - certain shortcomings, there is not a track on this list that I would hesitate to visit in 2020.
With that said, scheduling and "real life", ( see LaSalle Speedway) may not make that possible, but I hope to attend as many as is practical going forward. For the past several years, I have attempted to add at least one new track each season. With 2020 being, as near as I can tell, my sixty fifth year of going to races, I hope to add two in 2020, which would give me a total of sixty five tracks, a rather pedestrian total when compared to many of my cohorts. Unfortunately, during my working years, venturing far from home was often not practical! With grandson Keagan, one of my faithful racing companions, having moved to the western part of Missouri, I hope to add a new track or two in that area.
In years past, it seemed like special races would be scheduled within a three to four hour drive, and we would then decide if we would or could make the trip. Looking at the early schedule releases for the coming season, I am amazed at the number of special events on the same night, which will force many fans to make a choice of not only if, but where to go. Great for fans, but perhaps not so for promoters. This appears to be happening particularly in the late model division. Just as the MLRA becomes more established in Iowa and the surrounding tracks, we have the SLMR series purchasing the IMCA Summer Series with rules welcoming open as well as spec engines. At the same time, Tony Izzo Jr., a well known personality in late model circles as a driver and promoter has purchased the MARS series and is attempting a revival of the once southern Missouri dominant tour in eastern Iowa, and western and central Illinois.
At the same time, there is no lack of sprint car specials in the three state area, including the reopening of the now 3/8 mile dirt oval at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., which will host the World of Outlaw sprint cars on their opening night, a risky undertaking in my humble opinion, but that is another story!
While we await the various track schedules, I hope everyone remembers that weekly racing remains the backbone of our sport, and we all attend our home tracks as often as we can!
Happy New Year, and we hope to see you at a track in 2020!
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Carpenter, Babb, Larson Take Dome Wins
With the weather on our side, we made the trip to St. Louis for the Friday night portion of the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome at Americas Center. With the format tweeked a bit, we hoped to be on the road home ahead of the midnight hour this year, even though we would be seeing only half of the invited modifieds and midgets along with the full compliment of late models. As it turned out, we did walk out of the facility about 11:30, but without seeing a single lap of modified action. After arriving in the Gateway City, we received a Facebook post stating that the format had again been changed, and that the complete mod program, including time trials, heats and feature would run after the completion of the midget and late model action. The reason given was that track officials hoped the track would be better packed in so that the high horsepower, narrow tired mods would be better able to navigate the choppy surface. Considering the constant reworking the 1/5 mile oval received throughout the night, I was not convinced it would make much of a difference, but Keagan, Fred, and I made the decision to not sit through time trial qualifying to find out.
After hot laps for the midgets and late models and time trials for the eighteen midgets signed in, it was heat race time. The eighty five late models, who had held their time trials on Thursday, were split into two divisions, with six eight lap heats each. Heat number one for the " A " bracket was billed as a " Who's Who " of late models, but some of the intrigue ended quickly. On the third attempt at a green flag, outsider pole sitter Scott Bloomquist had his night end as his engine let loose in a cloud of smoke and spilled oil. Heat four was the best of the night, as Tyler Carpenter and Tanner English crossed the line in a photo finish, with Carpenter declared the winner, then entertaining the crowd with a celebratory declaration during his televised interview. Heat five saw Quincy, Il. crate late model driver Vance Wilson take advantage of a last lap mixup to jump from one spot out of a transfer spot in fourth to finish in a redraw spot in second. The sixth qualifier found Buddy Isles Jr. upside down in the turn two catch fence, creating a lengthy delay for repairs. Two races later, Mike Epplet pounded head on into the catch fence near the end of the front stretch, and again a long delay resulted. It would be conservative to estimate these two stoppages at over an hour combined.
A pair of midget heats clicked off in good time, with fast qualifier Tanner Thorson outrunning veteran Sammy Swindell , then NASCAR star Kyle Larson out dueling Michael Pickens to set the feature field.
Late model C main two had an unexplained event, as a caution with five laps to go saw the checkered flag wave with six cars still running although only the top four were scheduled to transfer to the " B. " As it turned out, with one B main scratch, the top five moved on, and Michael Santangelo was left out.
The first B main provided another thrilling moment. Jason Feger had dropped out of his heat race, then advanced to third in his C main. Starting in row eight of the ten lap " B, " he charged through the field, high and low, to cross the line in the second and final transfer spot behind Robbie Stuart. The final qualifier ended with another of the multitude of yellow flags on the final lap, with Duane Chamberlain taking the win and Eric Hickerson nosing out Mark Shipman to move on.
Pickens and Larson sat on row one for the twenty lap $3,000 to win midget main event. Pickens charged to the lead with Larson falling back. A lap eleven restart, the result of a Swindell spin, saw Kyle make a dandy move forward, but it was negated by a double flip in turn two, the final of three cautions during the event. Pickens and Larson gained separation on the field as the laps clicked off and slower traffic came into play. With five circuits left on the scoreboard, Larson made his move to the lead. Pickens was able to stay close as lapped traffic cost the leader some momentum, but when Larson cleared the lapped car, he pulled away for the win. Cannon McIntosh found his way around Pickens late for second, while Thorson and Cole Bodine completed the top five in the star studded field.
More track prep, then it was time for the first of the pair of twenty lap, $5,000 to win late model features. Heat winners Ryan Unzicker and Billy Moyer lined up in row one. A lap two caution saw Fegers' Cinderella run end with a broken radiator, while local favorite Rusty Griffaw, the heat five victor also retired from the action. Amazingly, that would be the only caution of the race! Heavy traffic came into play by lap eight, as Unzicker set a quick pace and heat two winner Mike Spatola came from row two to the runner up spot. Five laps from the finish, third starting Tyler Carpenter joined the party, racing Spatola for second. With Carpenter taking the spot, he pulled alongside the leader at lap sixteen. He then completed his charged to the front, hanging on for a popular win followed by a victory " speech. " Unzicker held on to second, followed by " Opie " Spatola, English, and Scott James. Moyer faded to sixth, leading Bobby Pierce, row seven starter Brandon Sheppard, heat one winner Chad Zobrist, and Jeremiah Hurst to complete the top ten.
More track prep, then heat winners Patrick Daniel and Shannon Babb led the second group of twenty to the grid. Daniel and Babb were followed by tenth heat victor Rusty Schlenk before a lap two yellow saw heat eight winner Scott Ward pull to the infield. The caution waved again on lap four, then for a final time on the first restart. From their it was green until the checkers. Lap eight saw Babb take the lead, and begin his successful charge through slower traffic. Ricky Thornton Jr. had started twelfth and was already running third when his night ended just after the halfway mark. As the white flag was displayed, Schlenk powered to the runner up slot. Daniel crossed the line in third, while Jonathon Davenport held off Gordy Gundaker for fifth. Jason Wagner drove from fifteenth to sixth, followed by Kevin Smith, heat eleven winner Blair Nothdurft, Joey Coulter, and Jadon Frame. Heat twelve winner Matt Henderson started sixth, but was an early exit to finish eighteenth.
The top three finishers from each feature are locked in to tonight's $30,000 to win main event.
Nine and a half hours made for a full day and night, so we headed for the car and the two and a half hour drive home, finishing off an active 2019 season. In the coming days, I will do a recap of my fifty three night season.
Thanks for reading, Merry Christmas to all!
After hot laps for the midgets and late models and time trials for the eighteen midgets signed in, it was heat race time. The eighty five late models, who had held their time trials on Thursday, were split into two divisions, with six eight lap heats each. Heat number one for the " A " bracket was billed as a " Who's Who " of late models, but some of the intrigue ended quickly. On the third attempt at a green flag, outsider pole sitter Scott Bloomquist had his night end as his engine let loose in a cloud of smoke and spilled oil. Heat four was the best of the night, as Tyler Carpenter and Tanner English crossed the line in a photo finish, with Carpenter declared the winner, then entertaining the crowd with a celebratory declaration during his televised interview. Heat five saw Quincy, Il. crate late model driver Vance Wilson take advantage of a last lap mixup to jump from one spot out of a transfer spot in fourth to finish in a redraw spot in second. The sixth qualifier found Buddy Isles Jr. upside down in the turn two catch fence, creating a lengthy delay for repairs. Two races later, Mike Epplet pounded head on into the catch fence near the end of the front stretch, and again a long delay resulted. It would be conservative to estimate these two stoppages at over an hour combined.
A pair of midget heats clicked off in good time, with fast qualifier Tanner Thorson outrunning veteran Sammy Swindell , then NASCAR star Kyle Larson out dueling Michael Pickens to set the feature field.
Late model C main two had an unexplained event, as a caution with five laps to go saw the checkered flag wave with six cars still running although only the top four were scheduled to transfer to the " B. " As it turned out, with one B main scratch, the top five moved on, and Michael Santangelo was left out.
The first B main provided another thrilling moment. Jason Feger had dropped out of his heat race, then advanced to third in his C main. Starting in row eight of the ten lap " B, " he charged through the field, high and low, to cross the line in the second and final transfer spot behind Robbie Stuart. The final qualifier ended with another of the multitude of yellow flags on the final lap, with Duane Chamberlain taking the win and Eric Hickerson nosing out Mark Shipman to move on.
Pickens and Larson sat on row one for the twenty lap $3,000 to win midget main event. Pickens charged to the lead with Larson falling back. A lap eleven restart, the result of a Swindell spin, saw Kyle make a dandy move forward, but it was negated by a double flip in turn two, the final of three cautions during the event. Pickens and Larson gained separation on the field as the laps clicked off and slower traffic came into play. With five circuits left on the scoreboard, Larson made his move to the lead. Pickens was able to stay close as lapped traffic cost the leader some momentum, but when Larson cleared the lapped car, he pulled away for the win. Cannon McIntosh found his way around Pickens late for second, while Thorson and Cole Bodine completed the top five in the star studded field.
More track prep, then it was time for the first of the pair of twenty lap, $5,000 to win late model features. Heat winners Ryan Unzicker and Billy Moyer lined up in row one. A lap two caution saw Fegers' Cinderella run end with a broken radiator, while local favorite Rusty Griffaw, the heat five victor also retired from the action. Amazingly, that would be the only caution of the race! Heavy traffic came into play by lap eight, as Unzicker set a quick pace and heat two winner Mike Spatola came from row two to the runner up spot. Five laps from the finish, third starting Tyler Carpenter joined the party, racing Spatola for second. With Carpenter taking the spot, he pulled alongside the leader at lap sixteen. He then completed his charged to the front, hanging on for a popular win followed by a victory " speech. " Unzicker held on to second, followed by " Opie " Spatola, English, and Scott James. Moyer faded to sixth, leading Bobby Pierce, row seven starter Brandon Sheppard, heat one winner Chad Zobrist, and Jeremiah Hurst to complete the top ten.
More track prep, then heat winners Patrick Daniel and Shannon Babb led the second group of twenty to the grid. Daniel and Babb were followed by tenth heat victor Rusty Schlenk before a lap two yellow saw heat eight winner Scott Ward pull to the infield. The caution waved again on lap four, then for a final time on the first restart. From their it was green until the checkers. Lap eight saw Babb take the lead, and begin his successful charge through slower traffic. Ricky Thornton Jr. had started twelfth and was already running third when his night ended just after the halfway mark. As the white flag was displayed, Schlenk powered to the runner up slot. Daniel crossed the line in third, while Jonathon Davenport held off Gordy Gundaker for fifth. Jason Wagner drove from fifteenth to sixth, followed by Kevin Smith, heat eleven winner Blair Nothdurft, Joey Coulter, and Jadon Frame. Heat twelve winner Matt Henderson started sixth, but was an early exit to finish eighteenth.
The top three finishers from each feature are locked in to tonight's $30,000 to win main event.
Nine and a half hours made for a full day and night, so we headed for the car and the two and a half hour drive home, finishing off an active 2019 season. In the coming days, I will do a recap of my fifty three night season.
Thanks for reading, Merry Christmas to all!
Monday, November 25, 2019
A Full Day of Racing at Springfield
For the past dozen years, Springfield, Mo. Speedway has ended their season with the event known as the Turkey Bowl, scheduled the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Though well to the south, the weather always makes this race a gamble, and over the years it has often been moved back one day to Sunday, or if necessary even the weekend following the holiday. 2019 marked my third time as an attendee, all in the last three seasons, and for the second time, an unfavorable forecast saw the action moved to Sunday. After spending Saturday night in the Ozarks, we arrived early at the 1/4 mile facility to what appeared to be an already crowded pit area. As we speculated about what the car count for the six division program might have been had this days' sixty degree temps and sunny skies come a day earlier, haulers continued to come in waves down pit road.
The drivers were informed in their pre race meeting that their would be no hot laps, and with good reason, as the final tally was an even two hundred cars checked in to race! For us long distance travelers with our own self imposed curfew, this represented a mixed bag of good and bad news.
As advertised, heat races started right on time at 2:30, and there would be twenty three of them along with ten B main qualifiers needed to set the feature fields.
Although the racing surface had obviously received quite a bit of precipitation, the crew had done a nice job of creating a smooth, racy track, which they continued to work to maintain between races. One unfortunate result of the abundance of mud was a tall berm around the inside groove which effectively prevented competitors from exiting to the infield. This along with a decision to forego a one spin rule, a quick on the draw flagman, and the aggressive driving needed to advance in to a qualifying spot created caution periods measured in dozens.
The qualifying action wrapped up about 6:45, with feature races still to go. First up was a twenty lapper for the twenty one legend cars on hand. Long distance visitor Drew Papke made the tow from Bismarck, North Dakota, started in row three and took home the familiar turkey trophy and the big check that goes with it. Following a pair of early yellows, Papke took the lead for good, then walked away for the win. A trio of Joplin, Missouri drivers, Justin Comer, Grayson Cox, and Trenton Simon sandwiched fourth place Tim Brockhouse from Shakopee, Minnesota with top five runs. Super late model driver Jesse Stovall was the two hundreth driver to sign in, wheeling a sharp looking #00 legend car, but his top ten run ended with a multi car accident between turns three and four.
Next up all but one of the twenty Midwest Modified qualifiers, whittled down from forty five entrants lined up for twenty trips around the oval. Trent Wynn, Elijah Keeper, and Casey Burnett were locked in an entertaining three car battle before contact sent the front runner Wynn spinning to a stop. Keeper powered through the infield without stopping, and was lined up in the number two position for the restart. He overtook Barnett in the closing laps and held him off the rest of the way for the win, followed by another pair of home state pilots, Jerad McIntire and Jaren Martin. Overland Park, Kansas driver Shawn Burns completed the top five.
The clock now read 7:40, and although the track was still smooth and racy with three grooves in play, track officials followed their pre race plan, bringing out the grader. This was to be followed by a hot lap session for twelve of the qualified late models, then features for USRA B mods, late models, IMCA mods, and finally mini late models. Knowing this would take us well past our 8:30 curfew, we headed for the car to begin the five plus hour trip home.
A check of the results shows Ryan Gilmour topping J C Morton, Clint Johnson, Jackie Dalton, who also qualified his late model, and Ricky Watkins in the B mods and Logan Martin cashing the $2,000 late model check after besting Payton Looney, Scott Crigler, and Cole and Justin Wells. Topeka Kansas driver Steven Bowers Jr. outran one of the two Iowa pilots on hand, Ethan Braaksma, from Newton to capture modified honors, followed by Robbie Reed, Denison, Iowas' Shane Demay, and Sawyer Crigler. Jaxon Ertel topped the ten mini late models in his car number 1/4.
Even though we were not able to stay until the end, we were still treated to a full night of action with thirty five races. Hopefully the 2020 version of the Turkey Bowl will happen on Saturday and we can stay until the final checkers!
Cold and snow may be upon us, but I hope to squeeze out one more night of racing this season. The fourth annual Gateway Dirt Nationals is set for December 19-21 at the Dome in St. Louis, with open late models in action along with modifieds and midgets by invitation. How can you turn down racing in December!?!
The drivers were informed in their pre race meeting that their would be no hot laps, and with good reason, as the final tally was an even two hundred cars checked in to race! For us long distance travelers with our own self imposed curfew, this represented a mixed bag of good and bad news.
As advertised, heat races started right on time at 2:30, and there would be twenty three of them along with ten B main qualifiers needed to set the feature fields.
Although the racing surface had obviously received quite a bit of precipitation, the crew had done a nice job of creating a smooth, racy track, which they continued to work to maintain between races. One unfortunate result of the abundance of mud was a tall berm around the inside groove which effectively prevented competitors from exiting to the infield. This along with a decision to forego a one spin rule, a quick on the draw flagman, and the aggressive driving needed to advance in to a qualifying spot created caution periods measured in dozens.
The qualifying action wrapped up about 6:45, with feature races still to go. First up was a twenty lapper for the twenty one legend cars on hand. Long distance visitor Drew Papke made the tow from Bismarck, North Dakota, started in row three and took home the familiar turkey trophy and the big check that goes with it. Following a pair of early yellows, Papke took the lead for good, then walked away for the win. A trio of Joplin, Missouri drivers, Justin Comer, Grayson Cox, and Trenton Simon sandwiched fourth place Tim Brockhouse from Shakopee, Minnesota with top five runs. Super late model driver Jesse Stovall was the two hundreth driver to sign in, wheeling a sharp looking #00 legend car, but his top ten run ended with a multi car accident between turns three and four.
Next up all but one of the twenty Midwest Modified qualifiers, whittled down from forty five entrants lined up for twenty trips around the oval. Trent Wynn, Elijah Keeper, and Casey Burnett were locked in an entertaining three car battle before contact sent the front runner Wynn spinning to a stop. Keeper powered through the infield without stopping, and was lined up in the number two position for the restart. He overtook Barnett in the closing laps and held him off the rest of the way for the win, followed by another pair of home state pilots, Jerad McIntire and Jaren Martin. Overland Park, Kansas driver Shawn Burns completed the top five.
The clock now read 7:40, and although the track was still smooth and racy with three grooves in play, track officials followed their pre race plan, bringing out the grader. This was to be followed by a hot lap session for twelve of the qualified late models, then features for USRA B mods, late models, IMCA mods, and finally mini late models. Knowing this would take us well past our 8:30 curfew, we headed for the car to begin the five plus hour trip home.
A check of the results shows Ryan Gilmour topping J C Morton, Clint Johnson, Jackie Dalton, who also qualified his late model, and Ricky Watkins in the B mods and Logan Martin cashing the $2,000 late model check after besting Payton Looney, Scott Crigler, and Cole and Justin Wells. Topeka Kansas driver Steven Bowers Jr. outran one of the two Iowa pilots on hand, Ethan Braaksma, from Newton to capture modified honors, followed by Robbie Reed, Denison, Iowas' Shane Demay, and Sawyer Crigler. Jaxon Ertel topped the ten mini late models in his car number 1/4.
Even though we were not able to stay until the end, we were still treated to a full night of action with thirty five races. Hopefully the 2020 version of the Turkey Bowl will happen on Saturday and we can stay until the final checkers!
Cold and snow may be upon us, but I hope to squeeze out one more night of racing this season. The fourth annual Gateway Dirt Nationals is set for December 19-21 at the Dome in St. Louis, with open late models in action along with modifieds and midgets by invitation. How can you turn down racing in December!?!
Monday, October 28, 2019
Spatola, Woodworth, and Gilmour Top Pratt Memorial
Persistent showers on Saturday caused Quincy Raceways officials to reschedule night number two of the inaugural Kenny Pratt Memorial to Sunday afternoon. When I arrived at the track at noon, it was obvious that start times would be delayed, as the pit area as well as the track itself had received considerable moisture. The track crew proved to be up to the task, and on track action began soon under sunny skies and sixty degree plus temps.
Drivers in all three classes had indicated their desire for time trial qualifying, and this time there was no issues with the transponder system, with the forty six cars on hand each receiving one qualifying lap around the .29 mile oval. Steve Dieckmann paced the outlaw stock cars, Friday night feature winner Jose Parga topped the Pro Crate/ IMCA late models, and Rich Bell turned a lap of 13.538 seconds to lead the super late models.
There was still an issue with a bit of standing water at the bottom of turns two and three narrowing the racing surface as heat races began, but thanks to several adventurous competitors, the track was soon widened out. Still, in typical Quincy Raceways fashion the high side was dominate for the ten lap heats.
Robert Cottom came from outside row one to capture the first stock car heat, with veteran Larry Winn topping heat two from his pole start.
Limited late model qualifier victories went to pole sitters Parga and Dakota Ewing, both UMP Pro Crate regulars.
Sixteen super lates were split into three heats. Outside row one starters Mike Spatola and Jeremiah Hurst claimed wins, with the final ten lapper going to pole sitter and Friday night feature winner Dennis Erb Jr.
The Pratt family was recognized during intermission, with track owner/promoter Jason Goble indicating his desire to continue to grow this event going forward.
Feature races would all be fifty laps, with the stock cars having a fuel stop at the half way mark.
Fast qualifier Dieckmann had dropped out of his heat, and he was the only one of the fifteen drivers to not take the feature green flag. Cottom took off from his pole position ahead of a lap one caution. Back to racing, Cottom, Winn , and sixth starting Shane Myers in his " grocery getter " station wagon soon gained separation from the field. Cottom caught slower traffic on lap eleven, putting several cars between himself and Winn just ahead of yellow number two for a B J Thompson spin. As the field was reset, Winn headed to the pits, his night over. Cottom then dove to the hot pit turning the lead over to Myers. A tall and heavy cushion got the best of Myers in turn three on lap fiften, as he nearly slipped over the top, and Rudy Zaragoza charged to the lead. On the following circuit Myers retook the point, even as Zaragoza faded to fourth. Only eight cars remained following the fuel stop at the halfway mark. On lap thirty, the turn three cushion again bit Myers, and now it was row two starter Tyler Gilmour grabbing the lead. Two more cautions interrupted the action even as Myers and Dennis Wernle staged an entertaining battle for second, allowing Gilmour to build a comfortable lead. Five cars remained as the checkers flew, with the Peoria driver Gilmour taking the win. Wernle won the battle for second, followed by Myers, Zaragoza, and Michael Larsen. The win was worth a cool $1,000 for the winner.
As the sun began to disappear behind the trees in turn one, the moisture in the track came to the surface, and lap times actually increased during the Pro Crate/ IMCA main. Parga shot to the early lead, with third starting Jeff Tharp, making the long tow from Sherrill, Iowa with his IMCA ride, following in second. The first of nine cautions came on lap four, as Sam Halstead saw his night come to an end. On lap eight the caution waved as Melvin Linder went for a spin, Keith Pratt in the Weisinger #11 left the track taking evasive action while Parga jumped the cushion in turn four. Parga and Pratt retained their positions on the restart, while Linder was sent to the tail. Parga was now showing rear spoiler damage after tagging the front stretch wall, and it seemed to slow his momentum. As racing resumed, Tharp jumped to the lead, with third running Denny Woodworth also clearing Parga for second. After a lap thirteen yellow for a Tristan Bainter spin, Woodworth charged to the front. The Quincy Raceways track champion then held serve through several more cautions, at times opening a wide lead only to see it evaporate as the yellow flag waved. Woodworth and Tharp made it a two car race after a lap thirty six caution while Friday runner up Andy Nezworski chased the front pair in third. With three circuits to go, Pratt, Chuck Hanna, and Parga had been locked in a back and forth battle for fourth when contact sent Parga for a spin, bringing out the final yellow. Woodworth was not to be denied, claiming the win and the $2,000 payday. Tharp was solid in second, followed by Nezworski, Pratt, and Hanna. Tucker Finch topped the second five in front of Roben Huffman, Linder, Parga, and Ewing. Ewing lost his sixth place run, jumping the turn three cushion on the final lap, making him the final car still running at the end.
It was now time for the $5,000 headliner for the open late models.
Spatola took off from the pole to lead lap one, with Erb Jr. moving to the front one lap later. Meanwhile, Jamie Wilson and outside pole sitter Hurst were already headed to the trailer. The caution came out at lap seven for a Scott Bourland spin, and shockingly, Erb headed pit side, his shot at a weekend sweep over. Spatola now found himself again out front, with McKay Wenger and Bell side by side behind him for the restart. Bell took the runner up spot from Wenger on lap twelve, with eighth starting Brent Larson moving to third on the next circuit. The top three caught slower traffic at lap eighteen, but a pair of cautions in the next couple of laps left eleven cars still on track. After another caution just before halfway, with the leaders now running a low line around the oval, Wenger began pounding the treacherous cushion. When the caution waved at lap twenty nine, Spatola, Bell, Wenger, and Larson were involved in a dog fight for position. Spatola used the now single file restart to open an advantage, as Bell and Wenger now dueled for second. While Wenger continued to run the high line, Bell was moving around the track, holding the runner up spot. At lap forty, Wenger had a run as the pair entered turn one, and contact sent Bell for a spin. He then ducked to the hot pit, quickly rejoining the race and offering a greeting to Wenger before taking his spot at the back of the pack. As Bell attempted to charge back towards the front and Spatola went on cruise control, Larson cleared Wenger with five laps to go. Spatola, the driver known as " Opie, " collected the big check in what he said was his first time actually getting to race at QR after having been rained out previously. Larson turned in his second top five of the weekend, with former track semi regular Wenger in third. Rusty Griffaw added a fourth to his third place run on Friday, and Quincy native Matt Bailey, who now calls Highland, Illinois home scored a fifth at his former home track. Bell was able to charge back to sixth, and sixteen time track champion Mark Burgtorf was seventh in front of Derek Fetter and Quincian Joey Gower. Brian Wolfmeier was credited with tenth after dropping out late in the fifty lapper.
The inaugural Kenny Pratt Memorial must be considered a success, even with the challenging weather, and I look forward to this hopefully becoming an annual event. Planning did not begin until late August, so perhaps an earlier date in 2020 could be considered, as many drivers ( and fans? ) had already put a wrap on the racing season.
Although I will not be able to attend this year, there is one more weekend of racing close by, as the C J Speedway in Columbus Junction, Iowa will expand their Turkey Dash to a pair of separate events next weekend, with action starting at 4:00 on Saturday and 1:00 on Sunday. A mods, sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts will be in action.
Looking forward, I hope to make it to the annual Turkey Bowl in Springfield, Missouri on November 23 and of course hoping for good weather for the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome in St. Louis December 19-21.
Thanks for reading!
Drivers in all three classes had indicated their desire for time trial qualifying, and this time there was no issues with the transponder system, with the forty six cars on hand each receiving one qualifying lap around the .29 mile oval. Steve Dieckmann paced the outlaw stock cars, Friday night feature winner Jose Parga topped the Pro Crate/ IMCA late models, and Rich Bell turned a lap of 13.538 seconds to lead the super late models.
There was still an issue with a bit of standing water at the bottom of turns two and three narrowing the racing surface as heat races began, but thanks to several adventurous competitors, the track was soon widened out. Still, in typical Quincy Raceways fashion the high side was dominate for the ten lap heats.
Robert Cottom came from outside row one to capture the first stock car heat, with veteran Larry Winn topping heat two from his pole start.
Limited late model qualifier victories went to pole sitters Parga and Dakota Ewing, both UMP Pro Crate regulars.
Sixteen super lates were split into three heats. Outside row one starters Mike Spatola and Jeremiah Hurst claimed wins, with the final ten lapper going to pole sitter and Friday night feature winner Dennis Erb Jr.
The Pratt family was recognized during intermission, with track owner/promoter Jason Goble indicating his desire to continue to grow this event going forward.
Feature races would all be fifty laps, with the stock cars having a fuel stop at the half way mark.
Fast qualifier Dieckmann had dropped out of his heat, and he was the only one of the fifteen drivers to not take the feature green flag. Cottom took off from his pole position ahead of a lap one caution. Back to racing, Cottom, Winn , and sixth starting Shane Myers in his " grocery getter " station wagon soon gained separation from the field. Cottom caught slower traffic on lap eleven, putting several cars between himself and Winn just ahead of yellow number two for a B J Thompson spin. As the field was reset, Winn headed to the pits, his night over. Cottom then dove to the hot pit turning the lead over to Myers. A tall and heavy cushion got the best of Myers in turn three on lap fiften, as he nearly slipped over the top, and Rudy Zaragoza charged to the lead. On the following circuit Myers retook the point, even as Zaragoza faded to fourth. Only eight cars remained following the fuel stop at the halfway mark. On lap thirty, the turn three cushion again bit Myers, and now it was row two starter Tyler Gilmour grabbing the lead. Two more cautions interrupted the action even as Myers and Dennis Wernle staged an entertaining battle for second, allowing Gilmour to build a comfortable lead. Five cars remained as the checkers flew, with the Peoria driver Gilmour taking the win. Wernle won the battle for second, followed by Myers, Zaragoza, and Michael Larsen. The win was worth a cool $1,000 for the winner.
As the sun began to disappear behind the trees in turn one, the moisture in the track came to the surface, and lap times actually increased during the Pro Crate/ IMCA main. Parga shot to the early lead, with third starting Jeff Tharp, making the long tow from Sherrill, Iowa with his IMCA ride, following in second. The first of nine cautions came on lap four, as Sam Halstead saw his night come to an end. On lap eight the caution waved as Melvin Linder went for a spin, Keith Pratt in the Weisinger #11 left the track taking evasive action while Parga jumped the cushion in turn four. Parga and Pratt retained their positions on the restart, while Linder was sent to the tail. Parga was now showing rear spoiler damage after tagging the front stretch wall, and it seemed to slow his momentum. As racing resumed, Tharp jumped to the lead, with third running Denny Woodworth also clearing Parga for second. After a lap thirteen yellow for a Tristan Bainter spin, Woodworth charged to the front. The Quincy Raceways track champion then held serve through several more cautions, at times opening a wide lead only to see it evaporate as the yellow flag waved. Woodworth and Tharp made it a two car race after a lap thirty six caution while Friday runner up Andy Nezworski chased the front pair in third. With three circuits to go, Pratt, Chuck Hanna, and Parga had been locked in a back and forth battle for fourth when contact sent Parga for a spin, bringing out the final yellow. Woodworth was not to be denied, claiming the win and the $2,000 payday. Tharp was solid in second, followed by Nezworski, Pratt, and Hanna. Tucker Finch topped the second five in front of Roben Huffman, Linder, Parga, and Ewing. Ewing lost his sixth place run, jumping the turn three cushion on the final lap, making him the final car still running at the end.
It was now time for the $5,000 headliner for the open late models.
Spatola took off from the pole to lead lap one, with Erb Jr. moving to the front one lap later. Meanwhile, Jamie Wilson and outside pole sitter Hurst were already headed to the trailer. The caution came out at lap seven for a Scott Bourland spin, and shockingly, Erb headed pit side, his shot at a weekend sweep over. Spatola now found himself again out front, with McKay Wenger and Bell side by side behind him for the restart. Bell took the runner up spot from Wenger on lap twelve, with eighth starting Brent Larson moving to third on the next circuit. The top three caught slower traffic at lap eighteen, but a pair of cautions in the next couple of laps left eleven cars still on track. After another caution just before halfway, with the leaders now running a low line around the oval, Wenger began pounding the treacherous cushion. When the caution waved at lap twenty nine, Spatola, Bell, Wenger, and Larson were involved in a dog fight for position. Spatola used the now single file restart to open an advantage, as Bell and Wenger now dueled for second. While Wenger continued to run the high line, Bell was moving around the track, holding the runner up spot. At lap forty, Wenger had a run as the pair entered turn one, and contact sent Bell for a spin. He then ducked to the hot pit, quickly rejoining the race and offering a greeting to Wenger before taking his spot at the back of the pack. As Bell attempted to charge back towards the front and Spatola went on cruise control, Larson cleared Wenger with five laps to go. Spatola, the driver known as " Opie, " collected the big check in what he said was his first time actually getting to race at QR after having been rained out previously. Larson turned in his second top five of the weekend, with former track semi regular Wenger in third. Rusty Griffaw added a fourth to his third place run on Friday, and Quincy native Matt Bailey, who now calls Highland, Illinois home scored a fifth at his former home track. Bell was able to charge back to sixth, and sixteen time track champion Mark Burgtorf was seventh in front of Derek Fetter and Quincian Joey Gower. Brian Wolfmeier was credited with tenth after dropping out late in the fifty lapper.
The inaugural Kenny Pratt Memorial must be considered a success, even with the challenging weather, and I look forward to this hopefully becoming an annual event. Planning did not begin until late August, so perhaps an earlier date in 2020 could be considered, as many drivers ( and fans? ) had already put a wrap on the racing season.
Although I will not be able to attend this year, there is one more weekend of racing close by, as the C J Speedway in Columbus Junction, Iowa will expand their Turkey Dash to a pair of separate events next weekend, with action starting at 4:00 on Saturday and 1:00 on Sunday. A mods, sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts will be in action.
Looking forward, I hope to make it to the annual Turkey Bowl in Springfield, Missouri on November 23 and of course hoping for good weather for the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome in St. Louis December 19-21.
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Erb Jr., Parga, Calvert Top Pratt Memorial Opener
Friday night was the highly anticipated opening night of the Kenny Pratt Memorial at Quincy Raceways. UMP type super late models, UMP crate/ IMCA late models, and open stock cars made up the three division card.
Things got off to a bit of a rough start, as issues with the transponder system led officials to finish off time trials for the three classes the old fashioned way. First time visitor Josh Calvert made the long tow from from Hallsville,Mo. to set quick time over the seventeen stock cars on hand. Track point champion Denny Woodworth was tops in the limited late models, and World of Outlaw late model standout Dennis Erb Jr. paced the supers with a lap of 13.490 seconds around the .29 mile oval.
Steve Dieckmann, John Ketterer, and another newcomer, Dennis Wernle opened racing with heat race wins for the stock cars. Woodworth and Buffalo, Iowa IMCA ace Andy Nezworski captured the limited heats, while Erb Jr., hometown favorite Jamie Wilson, and Festus, Missouri pilot Rusty Griffaw took home wins in the ten lap super heats.
Following a brief intermission, it was feature time, with all classes contesting 34 lap main events, as 34 was the number displayed on the cars Kenny Pratt raced during his career at the track.
Stock cars were up first, with the straight up starts putting Dieckmann and Ketterer on row one. Ketterer put his #90, which resembled an early 1990's late model out front ahead of the first of eight caution periods on lap two. As racing resumed with the Delaware restart, Galesburg, Il. driver Robert Cottom grabbed the lead with his UMP street stock after starting in row three. Michael Larsen had dropped out of his heat race, relegating him to a row eight starting spot, but he was charging through the pack when a mix up on the front stretch following a lap six yellow forced him and Rudy Zaragoza to take evasive action, ending the night for an unhappy Zaragoza and sending Larsen to the tail. As Cottom paced the field, Dieckmann and Ketterer swapped the runner up spot even as third starting Wernle stalked the front runners. For the second time, on lap fourteen, Cottom was just catching lapped traffic, but here came a yellow flag, and things seemed to be breaking his way. Larsen ducked to the hot pit, restarting at the back of the pack. Ketterer was applying heavy pressure to the leader when he spun in turn two just after the crossed flags by Blake Dotson signaled the halfway mark. The resulting pile up eliminated Ketterer, Dieckmann , and Kale Foster. The field was now realigned single file for the remaining laps. Wernle and Calvert were locked in a side by side battle for second while keeping Cottom close and fending off Jake Powers, who was looking for racing room behind them. A lap twenty seven yellow, and another hot pit visit for Larsen, things were getting good, as Cottom hugged the low line, Wernle ran one groove higher, and Calvert pounded the cushion. When the last caution came with four laps to go, Calvert had nosed ahead of Cottom, and with the single file restart he was able to hang on for the win. Cottom was the runner up followed by Wernle, Powers, and Shane Myers in his #15 station wagon. Pete Stodgel, Larsen, Cletus Coates, Alex Hatfield, and Brandon Boden completed the top ten. The win was worth a cool $500.
The Pro Crate/ IMCA feature was next, with a $1,000 awaiting the victor. Woodworth and Nezworski paced the twelve car field. Woodworth led early, running the top line around the track while Nezworski worked down low. Andy finally gained enough momentum to snag the lead coming off turn two at the lap eleven mark. Meanwhile, seventh starting Jose Parga worked his way to third one lap later. Woodworth and Nezworski swapped the lead again at lap seventeen, with Andy pulling off a crossover move to retain the top spot. As Parga moved in on the front duo, Dakota Ewing stayed close in fourth. Woodworth charged ahead once again with a strong move off turn two on lap twenty two, then caught slower traffic three laps later. Parga now powered to second, and charged to the lead as lap twenty six was scored. Parga was able to hold his line without being seriously challenged before the only caution came with five laps to go as Brandon Queen appeared to suffer a mechanical issue, backing his car off turn two. This set up a battle for second, allowing Parga to pull away for the win. Nezworski took second ahead of Woodworth. Ewing ran a steady fourth, while Luke Goedert came on strong after the caution to grab a top five slot. Sam Halstead, Chuck Hanna, and Mike Smith in the Barton Racing #7 were next. Keith Pratt returned to the track for the weekend honoring his late father, piloting the Weisinger Racing # 11 to a ninth place finish, and Tucker Finch completed the top ten.
Fourteen super late models lined up for a shot at the $2,000 payday. It was the pole sitter Erb Jr. jumping to the lead, but the start was called back as Brian Wolfmeier spun the Jacober Racing #5 in turns one and two. Erb again took the point, with Griffaw and Rich Bell in tow before Dylan Hoover brought out a lap three yellow, ending his night. Derek Fetter also headed for the trailer at this time. By the sixth circuit, Erb was opening a comfortable lead, while Bell powered to second. Meanwhile, Matt Bailey, Darrell Defrance, surprise entrant Brent Larson, and Jeremiah Hurst ran side by side and nose to tail for fourth, with Bailey finally grabbing the spot. The leader caught the back of the pack at lap fourteen, then came upon Mark Burgtorf and Wolfmeier locked in a side by side duel while fighting to stay on the lead lap. Scott Halley brought out the final caution at lap twenty one. With the help of the Delaware restart, Hurst, who is planning to run more open engine events in 2020, charged to fourth, with Bailey shuffled back several spots. All the while, Erb was on cruise control, leading all thirty four laps to earn the checkers. Bell came home second, besting Griffaw, Hurst, and Larson, the World of Outlaw late model regular from Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Defrance topped the second five ahead of Bailey, Wilson, Burgtorf, and Wolfmeier.
While the car count was less than hoped for, the racing was top notch in front of a well chilled group of hearty spectators. More cars are expected for the increased night two purses, as the fifty lap main events will pay $1,000 to the stock cars, $2,000 to the limited lates, and a whopping $5,000 to the supers! Action will once again kick off with hot laps at 7:00. With the possibility of rain, track officials have set Sunday as a rain date, with things kicking off at 3:00. Check the Quincy Raceways website or Facebook page for more info.
Also the Lee County Speedway roars back to action today, weather permitting, with Shiverfest, featuring five classes of cars. The program at the Donnellson, Iowa 3/8 mile fairgrounds facility begins with hot laps at 5:00. The clock is ticking on racing in the Tri State area, so dress warm and get to the track!
Update!!!
Racing for Saturday has been postponed until Sunday. Gates open at noon, qualifying at 1:30. See everyone at Shiverfest!
Update, part two!!!
Shiverfest also rescheduled to Sunday afternoon.
Things got off to a bit of a rough start, as issues with the transponder system led officials to finish off time trials for the three classes the old fashioned way. First time visitor Josh Calvert made the long tow from from Hallsville,Mo. to set quick time over the seventeen stock cars on hand. Track point champion Denny Woodworth was tops in the limited late models, and World of Outlaw late model standout Dennis Erb Jr. paced the supers with a lap of 13.490 seconds around the .29 mile oval.
Steve Dieckmann, John Ketterer, and another newcomer, Dennis Wernle opened racing with heat race wins for the stock cars. Woodworth and Buffalo, Iowa IMCA ace Andy Nezworski captured the limited heats, while Erb Jr., hometown favorite Jamie Wilson, and Festus, Missouri pilot Rusty Griffaw took home wins in the ten lap super heats.
Following a brief intermission, it was feature time, with all classes contesting 34 lap main events, as 34 was the number displayed on the cars Kenny Pratt raced during his career at the track.
Stock cars were up first, with the straight up starts putting Dieckmann and Ketterer on row one. Ketterer put his #90, which resembled an early 1990's late model out front ahead of the first of eight caution periods on lap two. As racing resumed with the Delaware restart, Galesburg, Il. driver Robert Cottom grabbed the lead with his UMP street stock after starting in row three. Michael Larsen had dropped out of his heat race, relegating him to a row eight starting spot, but he was charging through the pack when a mix up on the front stretch following a lap six yellow forced him and Rudy Zaragoza to take evasive action, ending the night for an unhappy Zaragoza and sending Larsen to the tail. As Cottom paced the field, Dieckmann and Ketterer swapped the runner up spot even as third starting Wernle stalked the front runners. For the second time, on lap fourteen, Cottom was just catching lapped traffic, but here came a yellow flag, and things seemed to be breaking his way. Larsen ducked to the hot pit, restarting at the back of the pack. Ketterer was applying heavy pressure to the leader when he spun in turn two just after the crossed flags by Blake Dotson signaled the halfway mark. The resulting pile up eliminated Ketterer, Dieckmann , and Kale Foster. The field was now realigned single file for the remaining laps. Wernle and Calvert were locked in a side by side battle for second while keeping Cottom close and fending off Jake Powers, who was looking for racing room behind them. A lap twenty seven yellow, and another hot pit visit for Larsen, things were getting good, as Cottom hugged the low line, Wernle ran one groove higher, and Calvert pounded the cushion. When the last caution came with four laps to go, Calvert had nosed ahead of Cottom, and with the single file restart he was able to hang on for the win. Cottom was the runner up followed by Wernle, Powers, and Shane Myers in his #15 station wagon. Pete Stodgel, Larsen, Cletus Coates, Alex Hatfield, and Brandon Boden completed the top ten. The win was worth a cool $500.
The Pro Crate/ IMCA feature was next, with a $1,000 awaiting the victor. Woodworth and Nezworski paced the twelve car field. Woodworth led early, running the top line around the track while Nezworski worked down low. Andy finally gained enough momentum to snag the lead coming off turn two at the lap eleven mark. Meanwhile, seventh starting Jose Parga worked his way to third one lap later. Woodworth and Nezworski swapped the lead again at lap seventeen, with Andy pulling off a crossover move to retain the top spot. As Parga moved in on the front duo, Dakota Ewing stayed close in fourth. Woodworth charged ahead once again with a strong move off turn two on lap twenty two, then caught slower traffic three laps later. Parga now powered to second, and charged to the lead as lap twenty six was scored. Parga was able to hold his line without being seriously challenged before the only caution came with five laps to go as Brandon Queen appeared to suffer a mechanical issue, backing his car off turn two. This set up a battle for second, allowing Parga to pull away for the win. Nezworski took second ahead of Woodworth. Ewing ran a steady fourth, while Luke Goedert came on strong after the caution to grab a top five slot. Sam Halstead, Chuck Hanna, and Mike Smith in the Barton Racing #7 were next. Keith Pratt returned to the track for the weekend honoring his late father, piloting the Weisinger Racing # 11 to a ninth place finish, and Tucker Finch completed the top ten.
Fourteen super late models lined up for a shot at the $2,000 payday. It was the pole sitter Erb Jr. jumping to the lead, but the start was called back as Brian Wolfmeier spun the Jacober Racing #5 in turns one and two. Erb again took the point, with Griffaw and Rich Bell in tow before Dylan Hoover brought out a lap three yellow, ending his night. Derek Fetter also headed for the trailer at this time. By the sixth circuit, Erb was opening a comfortable lead, while Bell powered to second. Meanwhile, Matt Bailey, Darrell Defrance, surprise entrant Brent Larson, and Jeremiah Hurst ran side by side and nose to tail for fourth, with Bailey finally grabbing the spot. The leader caught the back of the pack at lap fourteen, then came upon Mark Burgtorf and Wolfmeier locked in a side by side duel while fighting to stay on the lead lap. Scott Halley brought out the final caution at lap twenty one. With the help of the Delaware restart, Hurst, who is planning to run more open engine events in 2020, charged to fourth, with Bailey shuffled back several spots. All the while, Erb was on cruise control, leading all thirty four laps to earn the checkers. Bell came home second, besting Griffaw, Hurst, and Larson, the World of Outlaw late model regular from Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Defrance topped the second five ahead of Bailey, Wilson, Burgtorf, and Wolfmeier.
While the car count was less than hoped for, the racing was top notch in front of a well chilled group of hearty spectators. More cars are expected for the increased night two purses, as the fifty lap main events will pay $1,000 to the stock cars, $2,000 to the limited lates, and a whopping $5,000 to the supers! Action will once again kick off with hot laps at 7:00. With the possibility of rain, track officials have set Sunday as a rain date, with things kicking off at 3:00. Check the Quincy Raceways website or Facebook page for more info.
Also the Lee County Speedway roars back to action today, weather permitting, with Shiverfest, featuring five classes of cars. The program at the Donnellson, Iowa 3/8 mile fairgrounds facility begins with hot laps at 5:00. The clock is ticking on racing in the Tri State area, so dress warm and get to the track!
Update!!!
Racing for Saturday has been postponed until Sunday. Gates open at noon, qualifying at 1:30. See everyone at Shiverfest!
Update, part two!!!
Shiverfest also rescheduled to Sunday afternoon.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Hold Up 2020, 2019 Not Done Yet
The racing season in the midwest may be winding down, but that does not mean we are ready for the " silly season " just yet!
In fact, this coming weekend has me wishing I could be at two race tracks at the same time, and even wondering if there might be a way to ( almost ) make it work!
Friday night will be a no brainer, with night one of the Kenny Pratt Memorial at Quincy, Il. Raceways, honoring the gentleman who was a fixture at the track for many years as a car owner, driver, and super fan before losing his life due to an accident. Three classes of cars will be in competition, with UMP super late models vying for a $2,000 top prize, while UMP Pro Crate/ IMCA late models ( $1,000 to win ) and outlaw stock cars ( $500 to win ) will round out the card. All classes will qualify in a one lap time trial format. The feature races will all be 34 laps, as that was the number Kenny displayed on the cars he raced at the Broadway Bullring. After the final checkers, the band " Eleven " featuring the outstanding vocals of Lee Ann ( Weisinger ) Lambert will play.
As it does on Friday, Saturday action will kick off with hot laps at 7:00 followed by time trials and racing. Fifty lap features will be contested in all three classes, with top prizes of $5,000 for supers, $2,000 for crates, and $1,000 for stock cars making this one of the biggest shows ever in the long history of Q.R.
Saturday is also the date for the annual Shiverfest races at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. This event includes hay rack rides, trick or treating, and boxcar races for the youngsters as well as five classes of cars battling for the coveted Shiverfest honors, including a place on 2020 apparel. IMCA/Pro Crate/limited late models, IMCA modifieds, stock cars, and sport compacts will be in action as well as sport mods under IMCA, UMP, or USRA rules.Hayrack rides kick things off at 3:00, while hot laps begin at 5:00.
Hopefully Mother Nature is kind, and both tracks are blessed with full grandstands and lots of race cars!
Even as we anticipate the weekend ahead, plans for the 2020 season are being made. Over the weekend, the Lucas Oil Late Model Series released their 2020 schedule. Dates of particular interest to those in my area are April 24 and July 17 at Tri City Speedway in Granite City, Il., and Thursday, May 14 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Ia. That date will be the opening of a three race weekend including a Friday stop at 300 Raceway in Farley, Iowa and Saturday at Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, Mn.
Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. has also released their 2020 schedule, with eight race nights beginning on March 20 and 21.
And today we have the surprising announcement that the MARS racing series has been sold to former racer/promoter Tony Izzo Jr., who was the point man at the recently shuttered LaSalle, Il. Speedway. MARS had been owned by Chris Tilley, who is also involved with a late model tour which is based in the south. He operated MARS for the past two seasons, working to rebuild the brand after it suffered some negative P.R. concerning a couple of events in Iowa in 2016. His focus for the last two seasons has been in the Kentucky, Indiana, and St.Louis area, so it will be interesting to see what direction Izzo takes the series.
Whatever you decide to do this weekend, I hope it involves a trip to the race track. If you see me there, stop by and say " Hi."
In fact, this coming weekend has me wishing I could be at two race tracks at the same time, and even wondering if there might be a way to ( almost ) make it work!
Friday night will be a no brainer, with night one of the Kenny Pratt Memorial at Quincy, Il. Raceways, honoring the gentleman who was a fixture at the track for many years as a car owner, driver, and super fan before losing his life due to an accident. Three classes of cars will be in competition, with UMP super late models vying for a $2,000 top prize, while UMP Pro Crate/ IMCA late models ( $1,000 to win ) and outlaw stock cars ( $500 to win ) will round out the card. All classes will qualify in a one lap time trial format. The feature races will all be 34 laps, as that was the number Kenny displayed on the cars he raced at the Broadway Bullring. After the final checkers, the band " Eleven " featuring the outstanding vocals of Lee Ann ( Weisinger ) Lambert will play.
As it does on Friday, Saturday action will kick off with hot laps at 7:00 followed by time trials and racing. Fifty lap features will be contested in all three classes, with top prizes of $5,000 for supers, $2,000 for crates, and $1,000 for stock cars making this one of the biggest shows ever in the long history of Q.R.
Saturday is also the date for the annual Shiverfest races at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. This event includes hay rack rides, trick or treating, and boxcar races for the youngsters as well as five classes of cars battling for the coveted Shiverfest honors, including a place on 2020 apparel. IMCA/Pro Crate/limited late models, IMCA modifieds, stock cars, and sport compacts will be in action as well as sport mods under IMCA, UMP, or USRA rules.Hayrack rides kick things off at 3:00, while hot laps begin at 5:00.
Hopefully Mother Nature is kind, and both tracks are blessed with full grandstands and lots of race cars!
Even as we anticipate the weekend ahead, plans for the 2020 season are being made. Over the weekend, the Lucas Oil Late Model Series released their 2020 schedule. Dates of particular interest to those in my area are April 24 and July 17 at Tri City Speedway in Granite City, Il., and Thursday, May 14 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Ia. That date will be the opening of a three race weekend including a Friday stop at 300 Raceway in Farley, Iowa and Saturday at Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, Mn.
Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. has also released their 2020 schedule, with eight race nights beginning on March 20 and 21.
And today we have the surprising announcement that the MARS racing series has been sold to former racer/promoter Tony Izzo Jr., who was the point man at the recently shuttered LaSalle, Il. Speedway. MARS had been owned by Chris Tilley, who is also involved with a late model tour which is based in the south. He operated MARS for the past two seasons, working to rebuild the brand after it suffered some negative P.R. concerning a couple of events in Iowa in 2016. His focus for the last two seasons has been in the Kentucky, Indiana, and St.Louis area, so it will be interesting to see what direction Izzo takes the series.
Whatever you decide to do this weekend, I hope it involves a trip to the race track. If you see me there, stop by and say " Hi."
Monday, October 14, 2019
Tony Jackson Goes Flag to Flag at Wheatland
When rain fell mid week and the forecast offered chilly temps for the weekend, the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Ia. pulled the plug on the entire two day Fall Extravaganza. With a family outing three hours south on Saturday evening, it looked as though there would be no racing for me. But when Jeff Broeg offered up a chance to tag along to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland,Mo. for the rescheduled second day of the MLRA Fall Nationals, I hustled home on Sunday morning and jumped in with him, Fred, and Darryl and headed three and a half hours back south for our first 2019 visit to the Diamond of Dirt Tracks.
The original scenario for this event, which also offered up a $3,000 to win forty lap finale for B mods was two sets of B mod heats on night one followed by E,D,C,B mains preceding the money race on night two. Meanwhile, the late models, co sanctioned with the southern Missouri, northern Arkansas Comp Cams series would run a complete $3,000 to win show on night one and a separate $5,000 to win headliner on night two. Here a switch was made, with the $5,000 to win forty lapper staying on Saturday, while the $3,000 to win show moved to Sunday. For the B mods, everything slid back one day. While the late models boasted solid fields of thirty eight cars on Friday and thirty one on Sunday, the B mod count was about twenty less than we saw in 2018, with fifty three on night one and fifty one returning on Sunday, with the drop most likely due to the finale being on a Sunday. Although we were not sure how many cars had qualified through the two sets of heats, we speculated that likely a C and B main would be sufficient to set the starting grid. Apparently the folks at Lucas Oil subscribe to the " more is better " philosophy, sticking to the full slate of qualifiers, even though things kicked off about thirty minutes after the posted start times on a quickly cooling Sunday night.
Unfortunately, " yellow fever " was rampant during the B mod preliminary events, and even though the officials did an excellent job of transitioning from one race to the next, the clock continued to move. Interspersed with the B mod " alphabet " races, the late models contested four ten lap heats, with the top fourteen in passing points ( the race schedule said sixteen? ) locking into the feature. Those qualifiers were evenly balanced, with three advancing from heat one, Tony Jackson Jr. topping Hunter Rasdon and Jason Papaich. Raymond Merrill in his own #12M led surprise entrant Brent Larson, Terry Phillips, and Mason Oberkramer from heat two. Tyler Bruening, Payton Looney, and MLRA point leader Will Vaught moved on from heat three, and Ryan Gustin, Joe Gorby, Timothy Culp, and Logan Martin moved on from the last ten lapper. A pair of ten lap B mains for the late models saw 2018 MLRA champ Chad Simpson, Colton Horner, and Steve Drake advance followed by Minnesota driver Jake Timm, B.J. Robinson, and Mitch McGrath also making the transfer. Two point provisionals from each series, Brian Rickman, Morgan Bagley, Jeremy Grady, and Reid Millard completed the starting field.
We were still in pretty good shape, but the twenty minute intermission for track prep became closer to forty, and our self imposed curfew was now looming large.
The late models came to the 3/8 mile oval first, with Jackson Jr. and Bruening setting the pace. A rare mistake by Bruening saw him spin on the top side of turn two on the opening lap, and he would be forced to line up at the tail for the restart. Whether he would have had anything for Jackson we will never know, but it is safe to say that no one else did. Jackson was already stretching his lead when Millard went for the first of two spins on lap two. Back to racing, fifth starting Looney charged to second while tenth starting Martin entered the top five. Soon Jackson, Looney, and third place Merrill all had put distance on the car behind them. Jackson hit slower traffic on lap eleven, but he was having no issues ahead of a spinning Millard two laps later. On the restart, Looney tried to stay with the leader, while Gustin challenged Merrill for third, and row seven starter Vaught raced his way to fifth about lap eighteen, then fourth just past the halfway mark. Jackson again caught the back of the pack at lap twenty three, but he continued to maintain his advantage as Vaught moved to third. Soon Vaught was challenging Looney for second, and he took the spot with three circuits remaining. As he worked through turn two, he became trapped momentarily behind a lapped car, allowing Looney to retake the position. Jackson Jr. led all forty laps to grab the win, with Looney and the 2019 champion Vaught next in line. Gustin, the Saturday night winner, ran fourth in front of Culp. Simpson began a high side charge about mid race, advancing nine spots to sixth, followed by Oberkramer, Merrill, McGrath, and Martin.
The clock had now ticked past 7:30 as on track interviews began, and the working man in our group would now have to hustle to get home before midnight, so we regretfully headed for the parking lot. A check of results on the ride home told us that Kris Jackson had topped the B mod finale, followed by Andy Bryant, Gunner Martin, J.C. Morton, and Ryan Gilmore.
This is my second year in a row attending the Fall Nationals, and even with a few hiccups, it is still a good show. I am not sure what the issue was, but I do hope we will be better able to hear the race announcer if we ( hopefully! ) make it back in 2020!
As of now, I am not sure if I will be able to get to the track this weekend, but there is still plenty of good racing to be found.
Thanks for reading!
The original scenario for this event, which also offered up a $3,000 to win forty lap finale for B mods was two sets of B mod heats on night one followed by E,D,C,B mains preceding the money race on night two. Meanwhile, the late models, co sanctioned with the southern Missouri, northern Arkansas Comp Cams series would run a complete $3,000 to win show on night one and a separate $5,000 to win headliner on night two. Here a switch was made, with the $5,000 to win forty lapper staying on Saturday, while the $3,000 to win show moved to Sunday. For the B mods, everything slid back one day. While the late models boasted solid fields of thirty eight cars on Friday and thirty one on Sunday, the B mod count was about twenty less than we saw in 2018, with fifty three on night one and fifty one returning on Sunday, with the drop most likely due to the finale being on a Sunday. Although we were not sure how many cars had qualified through the two sets of heats, we speculated that likely a C and B main would be sufficient to set the starting grid. Apparently the folks at Lucas Oil subscribe to the " more is better " philosophy, sticking to the full slate of qualifiers, even though things kicked off about thirty minutes after the posted start times on a quickly cooling Sunday night.
Unfortunately, " yellow fever " was rampant during the B mod preliminary events, and even though the officials did an excellent job of transitioning from one race to the next, the clock continued to move. Interspersed with the B mod " alphabet " races, the late models contested four ten lap heats, with the top fourteen in passing points ( the race schedule said sixteen? ) locking into the feature. Those qualifiers were evenly balanced, with three advancing from heat one, Tony Jackson Jr. topping Hunter Rasdon and Jason Papaich. Raymond Merrill in his own #12M led surprise entrant Brent Larson, Terry Phillips, and Mason Oberkramer from heat two. Tyler Bruening, Payton Looney, and MLRA point leader Will Vaught moved on from heat three, and Ryan Gustin, Joe Gorby, Timothy Culp, and Logan Martin moved on from the last ten lapper. A pair of ten lap B mains for the late models saw 2018 MLRA champ Chad Simpson, Colton Horner, and Steve Drake advance followed by Minnesota driver Jake Timm, B.J. Robinson, and Mitch McGrath also making the transfer. Two point provisionals from each series, Brian Rickman, Morgan Bagley, Jeremy Grady, and Reid Millard completed the starting field.
We were still in pretty good shape, but the twenty minute intermission for track prep became closer to forty, and our self imposed curfew was now looming large.
The late models came to the 3/8 mile oval first, with Jackson Jr. and Bruening setting the pace. A rare mistake by Bruening saw him spin on the top side of turn two on the opening lap, and he would be forced to line up at the tail for the restart. Whether he would have had anything for Jackson we will never know, but it is safe to say that no one else did. Jackson was already stretching his lead when Millard went for the first of two spins on lap two. Back to racing, fifth starting Looney charged to second while tenth starting Martin entered the top five. Soon Jackson, Looney, and third place Merrill all had put distance on the car behind them. Jackson hit slower traffic on lap eleven, but he was having no issues ahead of a spinning Millard two laps later. On the restart, Looney tried to stay with the leader, while Gustin challenged Merrill for third, and row seven starter Vaught raced his way to fifth about lap eighteen, then fourth just past the halfway mark. Jackson again caught the back of the pack at lap twenty three, but he continued to maintain his advantage as Vaught moved to third. Soon Vaught was challenging Looney for second, and he took the spot with three circuits remaining. As he worked through turn two, he became trapped momentarily behind a lapped car, allowing Looney to retake the position. Jackson Jr. led all forty laps to grab the win, with Looney and the 2019 champion Vaught next in line. Gustin, the Saturday night winner, ran fourth in front of Culp. Simpson began a high side charge about mid race, advancing nine spots to sixth, followed by Oberkramer, Merrill, McGrath, and Martin.
The clock had now ticked past 7:30 as on track interviews began, and the working man in our group would now have to hustle to get home before midnight, so we regretfully headed for the parking lot. A check of results on the ride home told us that Kris Jackson had topped the B mod finale, followed by Andy Bryant, Gunner Martin, J.C. Morton, and Ryan Gilmore.
This is my second year in a row attending the Fall Nationals, and even with a few hiccups, it is still a good show. I am not sure what the issue was, but I do hope we will be better able to hear the race announcer if we ( hopefully! ) make it back in 2020!
As of now, I am not sure if I will be able to get to the track this weekend, but there is still plenty of good racing to be found.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, October 7, 2019
Shane Kelley Tops Bash 4 Cash at Quincy
Under cloudy skies, occasional sprinkles and cooling temps, Quincy Raceways was finally able to stage their twice postponed Bash 4 Cash 4 cylinder special. Thirty four competitors signed in for the $1,000 top prize, with all legal IMCA or UMP cars eligible to run.
The race was held in conjunction with " Cheaters Night " for the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars, with drivers encouraged to also remove the roof from their machines in those four divisions.
Twenty five sport mods signed in as part of the eighty eight car field, and following heat race action plus a pair of B mains for the four cylinders, they led off the feature program.
All but one driver, Jamie Aleshire, lined up for eighteen laps, with Nathan Bringer and John Renier in row one. It was Austen Becerra, however, who charged to the front at the drop of the green as Bringer left the door open on the low side. As seems to so often be the case at QR, it was soon after that yellow fever took hold. Following a pair of lap two cautions for Michael Terry and then Kevin Morrow, Becerra suddenly exited the track off turn four, needing a hook on the back end from the wrecker, suggesting rear end issues. This turned the lead over to Chris Spalding, wheeling an unfamiliar plain black #71 car. The caution was out again on lap four as Dakota Girard went for a spin, and back under green, topless Tanner Klingele had moved up six spots to fourth. With the caution out again as lap five was scored, the field was realigned single file. Topless Terry Wilson, side panels and all, made a move as the green flew, but another caution negated his charge forward. On the next restart, Klingele moved to third, one lap was scored, and it was caution time again. With the crowd caught unaware, the time limit had been reached, and the checkers came mercifully with only six laps scored. Spalding took the win, followed by Bringer, Klingele, London Mills, Il. driver Dustin Branch, and Wilson.
Next it was twenty laps for the crate late models. Todd Frank and topless Darin Weisinger Jr. lined up on the front row, with Frank leading the early laps. The yellow flag waved on lap three for Melvin Linder, and his car owner and teammate Denny Woodworth powered to second on the restart. Two more laps clicked off before Joey Gower, making his first late model start of the season brought out a caution when he spun out the driveshaft in his #31G. As the green flag waved, Woodworth charged to the lead while Gunner Frank retired to the pits. Todd Frank and Linder locked in a battle for second ahead of a lap nine spin by Tristan Bainter in the #63 formerly driven by Jake Dietrich. Linder cleared Frank for second on lap eleven, but all eyes were on the back and forth battle for fourth between Weisinger Jr. and Brandon Queen. A caution for Bainter on the final circuit set up a green, white, checkers finish. Woodworth would cruise to the win, besting Linder, Todd Frank, Weisinger Jr., and Queen. Bainter, Gunner Frank, and Gower would round out the scoring.
Kevin Blackburn and Steve Grotz paced the modified twenty lapper, with Blackburn leading the opening pair of laps ahead of first Josh Newman, then Dave Weitholder. With a smoking car, Blackburn exited the track on lap five, turning the top spot over to Newman. He had opened a nearly straightaway lead over Weitholder before Frankie Wellman looped his ride on lap fourteen. With the yellow still out, Newman parked his #40 off turn one, his shot at his first win of 2019 over. With Weitholder, who had issues in both hot laps and the heat race now in control, Shaun Deering eased into second as racing resumed. Weitholder crossed the stripe with the win followed by Deering, Wellman, and Grotz. Newman would be scored in fifth.
A pair of late arrivals swelled the stock car count to thirteen, with track regulars Jake Powers and Michael Larsen firing off from row one. But it was row two starter Robert Cottom and fifth starting Rudy Zaragoza who paced the field ahead of an Andy Gaines lap three spin. Larsen suffered a flat tire, ducking to the work area and coming back to the track about 1/2 lap behind as the green flag waved. However a B J Thompson spin allowed him to catch up. Lap four saw the three wheeling Zaragoza take the lead, and the yellow was out for Brandon Boden on lap five. A four car scrum developed as racing resumed, with Craig Roden and Cottom side by side in front of Zaragoza and Larsen, and they came to the flag four wide as lap eight was scored! Zaragoza regained the point and the caution came out again for debris on the front stretch on lap fourteen. The field was now lined up single file for the final four circuits. Running second, Cottom retired with only two laps remaining. Seemingly in control, Zaragoza bobbled slightly coming off turn two on the final lap, giving Roden the break he needed, and he took the checkers inches ahead of Zaragoza. Powers, Larsen, and Kale Foster completed the top five.
The finale for the evening would bring twenty four compacts to the track for fifty laps and a $1,000 top prize. Peoria, Illinois driver Shane Kelley and track regular Kimberly Abbott drew the front row to pace the twenty four car field. While Kelley jumped to the lead, row two starters Joe Reed and Matt Mackey slid into the next two spots. Kelley and Mackey soon gained separation from the pack, running nose to tail before Mackey retired at a lap nine caution. With the yellow again waving one lap later, Kelley appeared to miss a gear, falling off the pace. However the red flag came as Morgan Greene rolled his #36 entering turn three, giving the lead back to Kelley. Reed grabbed the lead on the restart, but Kelley moved back to the front at lap eleven. With a yellow at lap seventeen and another red five laps later, the realignment went single file. Tenth starting Josh Barnes had climbed to fourth and seemed poised to challenge the leaders when he brought out the caution at lap thirty, his run ended. One more red flag situation came two laps later, but the final eighteen circuits clicked off caution free. Kelley pulled away to a commanding lead while Reed and Abbott raced side by side, lap after lap for second. Abbott was able to edge ahead coming to the checkers to earn runner up honors ahead of the driver from Decatur,Il. Pekin, Il. racer Danny Oates and row seven starter David Prim completed the top five. Nine ( or was it ten?) cars remained on the track at the checkers, with a lot of mechanical issues thinning the field.
A long night of racing saw the final checkers wave on the wrong side of 10:00.
Quincy Raceways has one more weekend of racing on the schedule for 2019, and it is a big one! The Kenny Pratt Memorial will run on Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26 featuring super late models racing for $2,000 on Friday and $5,000 on Saturday. Also competing for large purses are crate late models and outlaw stock cars, with details on the track website.
Next up I plan to be at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa this Friday , October 11 for opening night of the eighth annual Fall Extravaganza featuring late models, mods, sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts. With good money on the line on Friday, purses will be even bigger on Saturday, but outside commitments will keep me away from the track for night number two. Maybe I will see you on Friday!
The race was held in conjunction with " Cheaters Night " for the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars, with drivers encouraged to also remove the roof from their machines in those four divisions.
Twenty five sport mods signed in as part of the eighty eight car field, and following heat race action plus a pair of B mains for the four cylinders, they led off the feature program.
All but one driver, Jamie Aleshire, lined up for eighteen laps, with Nathan Bringer and John Renier in row one. It was Austen Becerra, however, who charged to the front at the drop of the green as Bringer left the door open on the low side. As seems to so often be the case at QR, it was soon after that yellow fever took hold. Following a pair of lap two cautions for Michael Terry and then Kevin Morrow, Becerra suddenly exited the track off turn four, needing a hook on the back end from the wrecker, suggesting rear end issues. This turned the lead over to Chris Spalding, wheeling an unfamiliar plain black #71 car. The caution was out again on lap four as Dakota Girard went for a spin, and back under green, topless Tanner Klingele had moved up six spots to fourth. With the caution out again as lap five was scored, the field was realigned single file. Topless Terry Wilson, side panels and all, made a move as the green flew, but another caution negated his charge forward. On the next restart, Klingele moved to third, one lap was scored, and it was caution time again. With the crowd caught unaware, the time limit had been reached, and the checkers came mercifully with only six laps scored. Spalding took the win, followed by Bringer, Klingele, London Mills, Il. driver Dustin Branch, and Wilson.
Next it was twenty laps for the crate late models. Todd Frank and topless Darin Weisinger Jr. lined up on the front row, with Frank leading the early laps. The yellow flag waved on lap three for Melvin Linder, and his car owner and teammate Denny Woodworth powered to second on the restart. Two more laps clicked off before Joey Gower, making his first late model start of the season brought out a caution when he spun out the driveshaft in his #31G. As the green flag waved, Woodworth charged to the lead while Gunner Frank retired to the pits. Todd Frank and Linder locked in a battle for second ahead of a lap nine spin by Tristan Bainter in the #63 formerly driven by Jake Dietrich. Linder cleared Frank for second on lap eleven, but all eyes were on the back and forth battle for fourth between Weisinger Jr. and Brandon Queen. A caution for Bainter on the final circuit set up a green, white, checkers finish. Woodworth would cruise to the win, besting Linder, Todd Frank, Weisinger Jr., and Queen. Bainter, Gunner Frank, and Gower would round out the scoring.
Kevin Blackburn and Steve Grotz paced the modified twenty lapper, with Blackburn leading the opening pair of laps ahead of first Josh Newman, then Dave Weitholder. With a smoking car, Blackburn exited the track on lap five, turning the top spot over to Newman. He had opened a nearly straightaway lead over Weitholder before Frankie Wellman looped his ride on lap fourteen. With the yellow still out, Newman parked his #40 off turn one, his shot at his first win of 2019 over. With Weitholder, who had issues in both hot laps and the heat race now in control, Shaun Deering eased into second as racing resumed. Weitholder crossed the stripe with the win followed by Deering, Wellman, and Grotz. Newman would be scored in fifth.
A pair of late arrivals swelled the stock car count to thirteen, with track regulars Jake Powers and Michael Larsen firing off from row one. But it was row two starter Robert Cottom and fifth starting Rudy Zaragoza who paced the field ahead of an Andy Gaines lap three spin. Larsen suffered a flat tire, ducking to the work area and coming back to the track about 1/2 lap behind as the green flag waved. However a B J Thompson spin allowed him to catch up. Lap four saw the three wheeling Zaragoza take the lead, and the yellow was out for Brandon Boden on lap five. A four car scrum developed as racing resumed, with Craig Roden and Cottom side by side in front of Zaragoza and Larsen, and they came to the flag four wide as lap eight was scored! Zaragoza regained the point and the caution came out again for debris on the front stretch on lap fourteen. The field was now lined up single file for the final four circuits. Running second, Cottom retired with only two laps remaining. Seemingly in control, Zaragoza bobbled slightly coming off turn two on the final lap, giving Roden the break he needed, and he took the checkers inches ahead of Zaragoza. Powers, Larsen, and Kale Foster completed the top five.
The finale for the evening would bring twenty four compacts to the track for fifty laps and a $1,000 top prize. Peoria, Illinois driver Shane Kelley and track regular Kimberly Abbott drew the front row to pace the twenty four car field. While Kelley jumped to the lead, row two starters Joe Reed and Matt Mackey slid into the next two spots. Kelley and Mackey soon gained separation from the pack, running nose to tail before Mackey retired at a lap nine caution. With the yellow again waving one lap later, Kelley appeared to miss a gear, falling off the pace. However the red flag came as Morgan Greene rolled his #36 entering turn three, giving the lead back to Kelley. Reed grabbed the lead on the restart, but Kelley moved back to the front at lap eleven. With a yellow at lap seventeen and another red five laps later, the realignment went single file. Tenth starting Josh Barnes had climbed to fourth and seemed poised to challenge the leaders when he brought out the caution at lap thirty, his run ended. One more red flag situation came two laps later, but the final eighteen circuits clicked off caution free. Kelley pulled away to a commanding lead while Reed and Abbott raced side by side, lap after lap for second. Abbott was able to edge ahead coming to the checkers to earn runner up honors ahead of the driver from Decatur,Il. Pekin, Il. racer Danny Oates and row seven starter David Prim completed the top five. Nine ( or was it ten?) cars remained on the track at the checkers, with a lot of mechanical issues thinning the field.
A long night of racing saw the final checkers wave on the wrong side of 10:00.
Quincy Raceways has one more weekend of racing on the schedule for 2019, and it is a big one! The Kenny Pratt Memorial will run on Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26 featuring super late models racing for $2,000 on Friday and $5,000 on Saturday. Also competing for large purses are crate late models and outlaw stock cars, with details on the track website.
Next up I plan to be at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa this Friday , October 11 for opening night of the eighth annual Fall Extravaganza featuring late models, mods, sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts. With good money on the line on Friday, purses will be even bigger on Saturday, but outside commitments will keep me away from the track for night number two. Maybe I will see you on Friday!
Friday, October 4, 2019
Fall Bash Starts with a Bang
After two weeks off due to Mother Nature and a 50th class reunion, I was ready to get back to the track. The opening night of the Hoker Trucking Fall Bash at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa has become a yearly destination for us, as the event staged by Ryan Duhme and Timmy Current with Darkside Promotions continues to grow.
We arrived Thursday night to a pit area that was once again overflowing with cars, and by hot lap time, roughly 230 cars had signed in for the six divisions featured on this first of three nights of racing!
Despite receiving more than 3/4 inches of rain on Wednesday, the 1/4 mile banked track was perfectly prepared, with multiple grooves available throughout the night, none more dominant than the others.
With the late influx of cars on a week night, hot laps still kicked off just after 6:00, and using the green, white, checkers format for those hot laps, the first of the twenty six heat races hit the track at 6:55.
With a long night staring them in the face, a " one and done " rule was adopted for the heat races, meaning if you were stopped when the caution flag waved, you were done for that race. Promoters, please take note, it is amazing how many cars can refire quickly with this rule in place! Heat race action gave way to ten B mains, beginning about 9:15, and wrapping up in exactly one hour. With sixty and sixty two cars respectively, the IMCA modified and IMCA sport mod classes in particular had what would have been quality feature fields on the trailer already by feature time.
The only class not needing a B was the eleven car two person cruiser class, so they came to the track first for a ten lap feature. The #32K car of Keith Keltner and Wayne Hora established their dominance in their heat race, and then survived a handful of cautions to take the checkers after starting in row three.
With no intermission taken, the only delay in the program, and it was a short one, came at this time. The IMCA late models had been slated to run next, but with a short turn around time following them running the final B, it was decided to move the IMCA stock car finale up in the order. Unfortunately due to the packed and spread out pit area, several drivers were out of earshot of the pit P.A. and had to be notified in person. Soon, the twenty four car field was on the track, ready for twenty laps of action. Andrew Lokenvitz and Elijah Zevenbergen lined up in row one, but it was inside row two starter Joe Zrostlik who grabbed the lead as starter Doug Haack waved the green flag. The first of three cautions came for a multi car tangle in turn two on lap four, with five cars eliminated from the event. Back under green, John Oliver Jr. vaulted to third behind Zrostlik and Zevenbergen after starting in row three. A debris caution slowed the action one lap later, and disaster struck Oliver, as he clipped a boundary tire on the next restart, bringing out the final caution and sending him to the back of the remaining nineteen cars. With the Delaware restarts keeping the field bunched, the father son duo of Damon and Dallon Murty raced in the top eight positions after starting eleventh and fourteenth, respectively. Zrostlik, who was competing in three divisions on the night, elected to keep his #50 in the bottom groove, while Zevenbergen took the high line. As the race hit the halfway mark, the Murtys were racing side by side for third and fourth. With three circuits remaining, Dallon found his way to the runner up spot and tried to close the gap to the leader. Zrostlik, who in his victory lane interview stated in graphic terms that he was aware of the drivers immediately behind him, held his line and picked up the win. The younger Murty settled for second, while Damon advanced to third. Jay Schmidt came from row five to overtake a fading Zevenbergan, completing the top five.
All but five of the twenty nine IMCA late models lined up next to race twenty five laps for a $1,500 payday. Chad Holladay and Andy Eckrich both turned in third place runs in their heats, but were fortunate in drawing the front row for the main event. Eckrich shot ahead at the start, with Holladay and row two starters Matt Ryan and Dave Wada, both heat winners, close behind. The front duo began to distance themselves from the pack, with Eckrich running about a half car width higher than the bottom hugging Holladay. As the race stayed green, they caught slower traffic on lap nine, allowing the next group of Ryan, Zrostlik, and first heat winner Joel Callahan to close in. A surprise entry, Chad Simpson in his #25 was also on the move, charging to sixth on lap fifteen after lining up in row five. Meanwhile, Zrostlik found the track to his liking as he had in the stock car, and he drove around Ryan and to the bumper of Holladay. As the laps wound down in the caution free race, Holladay became trapped behind the lapped car of Dirk Hamilton as Ryan decided to search the top of the track for some extra speed. Finding plenty of bite, he charged around Zrostlik and Holladay to second, then pulled even with Eckrich as the white flag waved. He was then able to use that momentum off turn four to cross the line less than a car length ahead of Eckrich as the checkers flew. Needless to say, he was pumped in victory lane. Eckrich was steady in second, besting Holladay, Callahan, and Zrostlik. Simpson led the second five, topping Terry Neal who started fourteenth, Jeff Aikey, Jeff Tharp, and Darin Duffy in the Beckler #35. Also of note was fifteen year old Kollin Hibdon, the youngster from Pahrump, Nevada who spent the summer racing an IMCA modified in Iowa under the watchful eye of Jeff Aikey. Kollin competed for the first time ever in an IMCA late model, wheeling a car out of the Justin Kay stable. Failing to qualify through his heat, Kollin captured the B main, then advanced six spots to finish eleventh in the feature.
The IMCA sport compacts were preparing to hit the track as the clocked ticked past 11:00, the temperature hovered in the mid forties, so we made the difficult decision to head for the car.
I was not surprised to see that second starting Zrostlik picked up his second win of the night, and third top five in the ten lap event.
The fifteen lap sport mod finale went to third starting Ryan Maitland over row five starters Brayton Carter and Jake McBirnie. Rookie Dylan Vanwyk finished fourth, while Tony Olson came from fifteenth after capturing the third B main to round out the top five.
The final contest of the night, the twenty five lapper for the IMCA modifieds went to fifth starting Cayden Carter, topping Joel Rust, Jeff Larson, Jeff Aikey, and Richie Gustin, who moved up eight spots after winning the first B main.
Special thanks to Ryan, Timmy, and the all star crew assembled for a fast paced night of superb racing on a smooth, fast track. Racing continues tonight and Saturday with six classes of cars each night, and there are already 69 cars signed in for tonight, Friday, as of 2:30! But would someone please be sure Jerry gets at least one cup of coffee brought to the tower!
Friday and Saturday are filled with outside activities, but I hope to see you Sunday night at Quincy Raceways for open competition topless racing in the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars, as well as the twice postponed $1,000 to win sport compact event for IMCA and UMP four cylinders.
Stop by and say " Hi! "
We arrived Thursday night to a pit area that was once again overflowing with cars, and by hot lap time, roughly 230 cars had signed in for the six divisions featured on this first of three nights of racing!
Despite receiving more than 3/4 inches of rain on Wednesday, the 1/4 mile banked track was perfectly prepared, with multiple grooves available throughout the night, none more dominant than the others.
With the late influx of cars on a week night, hot laps still kicked off just after 6:00, and using the green, white, checkers format for those hot laps, the first of the twenty six heat races hit the track at 6:55.
With a long night staring them in the face, a " one and done " rule was adopted for the heat races, meaning if you were stopped when the caution flag waved, you were done for that race. Promoters, please take note, it is amazing how many cars can refire quickly with this rule in place! Heat race action gave way to ten B mains, beginning about 9:15, and wrapping up in exactly one hour. With sixty and sixty two cars respectively, the IMCA modified and IMCA sport mod classes in particular had what would have been quality feature fields on the trailer already by feature time.
The only class not needing a B was the eleven car two person cruiser class, so they came to the track first for a ten lap feature. The #32K car of Keith Keltner and Wayne Hora established their dominance in their heat race, and then survived a handful of cautions to take the checkers after starting in row three.
With no intermission taken, the only delay in the program, and it was a short one, came at this time. The IMCA late models had been slated to run next, but with a short turn around time following them running the final B, it was decided to move the IMCA stock car finale up in the order. Unfortunately due to the packed and spread out pit area, several drivers were out of earshot of the pit P.A. and had to be notified in person. Soon, the twenty four car field was on the track, ready for twenty laps of action. Andrew Lokenvitz and Elijah Zevenbergen lined up in row one, but it was inside row two starter Joe Zrostlik who grabbed the lead as starter Doug Haack waved the green flag. The first of three cautions came for a multi car tangle in turn two on lap four, with five cars eliminated from the event. Back under green, John Oliver Jr. vaulted to third behind Zrostlik and Zevenbergen after starting in row three. A debris caution slowed the action one lap later, and disaster struck Oliver, as he clipped a boundary tire on the next restart, bringing out the final caution and sending him to the back of the remaining nineteen cars. With the Delaware restarts keeping the field bunched, the father son duo of Damon and Dallon Murty raced in the top eight positions after starting eleventh and fourteenth, respectively. Zrostlik, who was competing in three divisions on the night, elected to keep his #50 in the bottom groove, while Zevenbergen took the high line. As the race hit the halfway mark, the Murtys were racing side by side for third and fourth. With three circuits remaining, Dallon found his way to the runner up spot and tried to close the gap to the leader. Zrostlik, who in his victory lane interview stated in graphic terms that he was aware of the drivers immediately behind him, held his line and picked up the win. The younger Murty settled for second, while Damon advanced to third. Jay Schmidt came from row five to overtake a fading Zevenbergan, completing the top five.
All but five of the twenty nine IMCA late models lined up next to race twenty five laps for a $1,500 payday. Chad Holladay and Andy Eckrich both turned in third place runs in their heats, but were fortunate in drawing the front row for the main event. Eckrich shot ahead at the start, with Holladay and row two starters Matt Ryan and Dave Wada, both heat winners, close behind. The front duo began to distance themselves from the pack, with Eckrich running about a half car width higher than the bottom hugging Holladay. As the race stayed green, they caught slower traffic on lap nine, allowing the next group of Ryan, Zrostlik, and first heat winner Joel Callahan to close in. A surprise entry, Chad Simpson in his #25 was also on the move, charging to sixth on lap fifteen after lining up in row five. Meanwhile, Zrostlik found the track to his liking as he had in the stock car, and he drove around Ryan and to the bumper of Holladay. As the laps wound down in the caution free race, Holladay became trapped behind the lapped car of Dirk Hamilton as Ryan decided to search the top of the track for some extra speed. Finding plenty of bite, he charged around Zrostlik and Holladay to second, then pulled even with Eckrich as the white flag waved. He was then able to use that momentum off turn four to cross the line less than a car length ahead of Eckrich as the checkers flew. Needless to say, he was pumped in victory lane. Eckrich was steady in second, besting Holladay, Callahan, and Zrostlik. Simpson led the second five, topping Terry Neal who started fourteenth, Jeff Aikey, Jeff Tharp, and Darin Duffy in the Beckler #35. Also of note was fifteen year old Kollin Hibdon, the youngster from Pahrump, Nevada who spent the summer racing an IMCA modified in Iowa under the watchful eye of Jeff Aikey. Kollin competed for the first time ever in an IMCA late model, wheeling a car out of the Justin Kay stable. Failing to qualify through his heat, Kollin captured the B main, then advanced six spots to finish eleventh in the feature.
The IMCA sport compacts were preparing to hit the track as the clocked ticked past 11:00, the temperature hovered in the mid forties, so we made the difficult decision to head for the car.
I was not surprised to see that second starting Zrostlik picked up his second win of the night, and third top five in the ten lap event.
The fifteen lap sport mod finale went to third starting Ryan Maitland over row five starters Brayton Carter and Jake McBirnie. Rookie Dylan Vanwyk finished fourth, while Tony Olson came from fifteenth after capturing the third B main to round out the top five.
The final contest of the night, the twenty five lapper for the IMCA modifieds went to fifth starting Cayden Carter, topping Joel Rust, Jeff Larson, Jeff Aikey, and Richie Gustin, who moved up eight spots after winning the first B main.
Special thanks to Ryan, Timmy, and the all star crew assembled for a fast paced night of superb racing on a smooth, fast track. Racing continues tonight and Saturday with six classes of cars each night, and there are already 69 cars signed in for tonight, Friday, as of 2:30! But would someone please be sure Jerry gets at least one cup of coffee brought to the tower!
Friday and Saturday are filled with outside activities, but I hope to see you Sunday night at Quincy Raceways for open competition topless racing in the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars, as well as the twice postponed $1,000 to win sport compact event for IMCA and UMP four cylinders.
Stop by and say " Hi! "
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Owens Doubles Up at Knoxville
It was fifteen years before Jimmy Owens added his name to the list of winners of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. It took only one more year for him to become one of the two time winners of the event. The Newport, Tennessee veteran topped a field of fifty or so super late models on Saturday night, taking his first lead about lap eighty five of the one hundred lap race, then holding off a late charge from Brandon Sheppard to claim the $40,000 top prize.
Threatening skies throughout the day did nothing to hold down a large and enthusiastic gathering of fans, as all but a handful of the original fifty five Lucas Oil late models from Thursday qualifying were joined by all thirty two invited SLMR late models packing the pit area for a full night of racing.
The brainchild of legendary late model pilot Joe Kosiski, the Eastern Nebraska based series ran a complete show in support of the Lucas Oil weekend finale, culminating with a scheduled twenty two lap feature paying $4,000 to win. Invitations were based on various race and point finishes at series tracks and special events during the 2019 season. Series rookie Josh Leonard set quick time, with heat race wins going to Jason Rauen, Allan Hopp, and Ricky Thornton Jr., one of several drivers competing in both classes during the evening, with the only requirement being they could not use the same car in both divisions.
The two classes alternated events during the evening as officials attempted to keep the show moving.
Eight cars started the fifteen lap C main for the Lucas Oil division, with the top four set to move on to the B main. Outside pole sitter Brian Harris, wheeling the Curless Racing #99 was well out front when his transmission let go, ending his weekend. California driver Cody Laney then drove to victory, with J C Wyman, Mike Fryer, and Reid Millard also earning transfers.
Following hot laps for the twenty four cars already locked in to the A feature by virtue of their point accumulation on either Thursday or Friday, the twenty lap B main lined up, with twenty two cars scheduled to take the green. From this final qualifier, the top six would fill out the thirty car starting field for the big dance.
Shannon Babb and Billy Moyer Jr. started row one, with Moyer Jr. grabbing the early lead.As the race approached the half way point. Moyer Jr. attempted to put Fryer a lap down in turns three and four. However he wound up sliding across the nose of the #54, sending Fryer hard into the fence. As the veteran pilot showed his displeasure and the safety crew prepared to pick up his badly damaged machine, a slight sprinkle turned into a steady shower, sending fans scattering for cover and bringing a halt to the action.
While short of a downpour, and lasting only a few minutes, there was enough rain to cancel racing at most venues. But the black dirt surface at the famed 1/2 mile and a track crew that is second to none had us racing again after a total delay of perhaps just over an hour.
With a " new " surface now in place, crowd favorite Brian Birkhofer shot to the lead and the win in his newly debuted #15B. Tim McCreadie, who was, along with Moyer Jr. the only drivers eligible for series provisionals should they be needed, came home in second. Babb held on for third ahead of Chase Junghans, while Moyer Jr. fell to fifth. His father Billy, with an amazing 840 career wins to his credit, started in row seven and looked as though he would be watching the feature from the trailer. However as the laps wound down, he was able to find that old magic, and he edged Johnny Scott at the line for the final transfer spot in a battle so close we had to wait for the official scorer for determination.
It was now time for the SLMR headliner. Points earned with fast time and a runner up heat race finish put Leonard on the pole. Outside row one was to be filled by Hopp, but his engine likely expired during a hot lap session following the rain delay, as he left a trail of oil on the racing surface. Another double duty driver, Tyler Bruening then moved to the front row. Third starting Tad Pospisil took the lead coming off turn two before Leonard reclaimed the spot ahead of the first caution period. Row three starter Jeff Aikey used the Delaware double file restart to power to second, even as Leonard checked out on the field. With ten laps scored, the red flag was displayed when Jason Wallace jumped the cushion in turns one and two, climbing the fence, then rolling his #13 onto its top. During the cleanup, it was announced that the race would be cut to eighteen laps, four less than originally scheduled. When the green flag again waved, Rauen shot from third to the lead, quickly distancing himself from the pack. A couple laps later, Bruening moved to the runner up spot and began a pursuit of the leader. With no more stops, however, Rauen held on for the win. Bruening settled for second ahead of Leonard, Aikey, and Pospisil. Thornton Jr. drove the Todd Cooney #30RT to a sixth place finish in front of double duty Chad Simpson, series points leader Kyle Berck, South Dakota driver Scott Ward, and Josh Krug.
As fireworks lit up the sky, thirty high powered machines came to the oval. With the rain delay in mind, I am sure, on track driver introductions were cancelled, and we were ready to go racing!
By virtue of his outstanding run on Thursday, Zebulon, Georgia pilot Shane Clanton sat on the pole, flanked by Darrell Lanigan. Clanton jumped to a commanding lead, and was just catching slower traffic when the caution waved at lap nine. Canadian Ricky Weiss now slipped around Lanigan for second, but another quick yellow and Lanigan was back in the runner up slot. Clanton was again well out front as the next caution came about lap twenty two. Tyler Erb moved to third as racing resumed, with Brandon Sheppard charging to fourth. Sheppard then used a low side move in turns one and two to ease around Erb, and four laps later, a major pile up knocked out three top contenders. The #5 of Don Oneal appeared to get the worst of things, although McCreadie and Josh Richards were now also out of action. Although Clanton continued to lead, in typical Knoxville fashion, there was action all around the track, with drivers battling for and swapping positions at dizzying rates. Six laps from the half way mark, Thornton Jr. had placed his #20RT ride in the fourth position when he slipped over the cushion in turns three and four, contacting the fence and rolling onto his top, much as Wallace had earlier in the other set of turns. Sheppard climbed to second on the restart, taking along Chris Madden in third, but the race was stopped at lap fifty for a scheduled fuel stop. The cars were stopped on the front straightaway, and crews were only allowed to top off fuel and offer drivers a " clean " helmet if needed.
With everyone having caught their breath, Sheppard elected the inside line on the restart, and Madden moved ahead briefly before Brandon regained the spot exiting turn four. Following a caution for Tyler Erb five laps later, Sheppard this time restarted on the outside, and used that momentum to take the lead out of turn two. However the caution waved for a stalled Bobby Pierce, turning the top spot back over to Clanton. On this restart, Clanton moved up the track to counter Sheppard, and Madden shot to the front from the inside line, ending Clantons' fifty five lap domination. Both Sheppard and hard charging Kyle Bronson, who had come from row ten into the top five, were shuffled back on the restart. Madden, driving a second Bloomquist Racing entry, opened a sizable advantage before catching slower traffic about lap sixty eight. Sheppard was again on the move, taking third at that point, then second three laps later. Clanton saw his night end as he brought out a final caution with twenty eight laps remaining. Sheppard again pounded the cushion, taking the lead off turn two, as eighteenth starting Jimmy Owens now appeared on the scene in third. About the same time, Hudson Oneal, who had run outside the top ten for much of the race suddenly advanced five spots to fifth. Twenty laps remained on the board when Owens took over the second spot, and as Sheppard caught traffic two circuits later, Owens closed the gap to the front. In traffic at lap eighty five, the " Newport Nightmare " took his first lead, pulling ahead to what looked like might be a comfortable win. But B Shepp was not done yet, and the last five laps had the crowd holding its collective breath. After a pair of failed slide jobs in turn one at lap ninety five and ninety six, Sheppard followed immediately in the tire tracks if the #20 until the white flag waved. No one was sitting as the third generation driver gave it a last ditch effort coming to the final flying checkers by retiring Doug Clark, but he was a half car length short at the line! It gave Owens back to back wins at the historic 1/2 mile.
Sheppard claimed second to lead a contingent of young guns at the finish. Hudson Oneal, Devin Moran, and Bronson, all a big part of the next generation of dirt racers, completed the top five. Madden continued his strong run for Team Bloomquist in sixth, trailed by Stormy Scott, Weiss, Earl Pearson Jr., and Frank Heckenast Jr.
Sitting in the rain two and a half hours from home after a full day of sight seeing and bench racing in Knoxville had me wondering if it was time for Grandpa ( thanks to Keagan and Megan for coming along! ) to rethink his choices. And then here comes another typical Knoxville finish, and well, the 2020 dates for the Nationals is September 17-19. Hopefully I will see you there!
Next up for me, 34 Raceway will be hosting the Gangbusters 41, featuring the 500th edition of the IMCA late model Summer Series sponsored by Deery Brothers, along with the Dirt Knights modified tour as well as IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts next Saturday to honor the memory of a long time friend and racer, Jim Oliver Sr.
Thanks for reading!
Threatening skies throughout the day did nothing to hold down a large and enthusiastic gathering of fans, as all but a handful of the original fifty five Lucas Oil late models from Thursday qualifying were joined by all thirty two invited SLMR late models packing the pit area for a full night of racing.
The brainchild of legendary late model pilot Joe Kosiski, the Eastern Nebraska based series ran a complete show in support of the Lucas Oil weekend finale, culminating with a scheduled twenty two lap feature paying $4,000 to win. Invitations were based on various race and point finishes at series tracks and special events during the 2019 season. Series rookie Josh Leonard set quick time, with heat race wins going to Jason Rauen, Allan Hopp, and Ricky Thornton Jr., one of several drivers competing in both classes during the evening, with the only requirement being they could not use the same car in both divisions.
The two classes alternated events during the evening as officials attempted to keep the show moving.
Eight cars started the fifteen lap C main for the Lucas Oil division, with the top four set to move on to the B main. Outside pole sitter Brian Harris, wheeling the Curless Racing #99 was well out front when his transmission let go, ending his weekend. California driver Cody Laney then drove to victory, with J C Wyman, Mike Fryer, and Reid Millard also earning transfers.
Following hot laps for the twenty four cars already locked in to the A feature by virtue of their point accumulation on either Thursday or Friday, the twenty lap B main lined up, with twenty two cars scheduled to take the green. From this final qualifier, the top six would fill out the thirty car starting field for the big dance.
Shannon Babb and Billy Moyer Jr. started row one, with Moyer Jr. grabbing the early lead.As the race approached the half way point. Moyer Jr. attempted to put Fryer a lap down in turns three and four. However he wound up sliding across the nose of the #54, sending Fryer hard into the fence. As the veteran pilot showed his displeasure and the safety crew prepared to pick up his badly damaged machine, a slight sprinkle turned into a steady shower, sending fans scattering for cover and bringing a halt to the action.
While short of a downpour, and lasting only a few minutes, there was enough rain to cancel racing at most venues. But the black dirt surface at the famed 1/2 mile and a track crew that is second to none had us racing again after a total delay of perhaps just over an hour.
With a " new " surface now in place, crowd favorite Brian Birkhofer shot to the lead and the win in his newly debuted #15B. Tim McCreadie, who was, along with Moyer Jr. the only drivers eligible for series provisionals should they be needed, came home in second. Babb held on for third ahead of Chase Junghans, while Moyer Jr. fell to fifth. His father Billy, with an amazing 840 career wins to his credit, started in row seven and looked as though he would be watching the feature from the trailer. However as the laps wound down, he was able to find that old magic, and he edged Johnny Scott at the line for the final transfer spot in a battle so close we had to wait for the official scorer for determination.
It was now time for the SLMR headliner. Points earned with fast time and a runner up heat race finish put Leonard on the pole. Outside row one was to be filled by Hopp, but his engine likely expired during a hot lap session following the rain delay, as he left a trail of oil on the racing surface. Another double duty driver, Tyler Bruening then moved to the front row. Third starting Tad Pospisil took the lead coming off turn two before Leonard reclaimed the spot ahead of the first caution period. Row three starter Jeff Aikey used the Delaware double file restart to power to second, even as Leonard checked out on the field. With ten laps scored, the red flag was displayed when Jason Wallace jumped the cushion in turns one and two, climbing the fence, then rolling his #13 onto its top. During the cleanup, it was announced that the race would be cut to eighteen laps, four less than originally scheduled. When the green flag again waved, Rauen shot from third to the lead, quickly distancing himself from the pack. A couple laps later, Bruening moved to the runner up spot and began a pursuit of the leader. With no more stops, however, Rauen held on for the win. Bruening settled for second ahead of Leonard, Aikey, and Pospisil. Thornton Jr. drove the Todd Cooney #30RT to a sixth place finish in front of double duty Chad Simpson, series points leader Kyle Berck, South Dakota driver Scott Ward, and Josh Krug.
As fireworks lit up the sky, thirty high powered machines came to the oval. With the rain delay in mind, I am sure, on track driver introductions were cancelled, and we were ready to go racing!
By virtue of his outstanding run on Thursday, Zebulon, Georgia pilot Shane Clanton sat on the pole, flanked by Darrell Lanigan. Clanton jumped to a commanding lead, and was just catching slower traffic when the caution waved at lap nine. Canadian Ricky Weiss now slipped around Lanigan for second, but another quick yellow and Lanigan was back in the runner up slot. Clanton was again well out front as the next caution came about lap twenty two. Tyler Erb moved to third as racing resumed, with Brandon Sheppard charging to fourth. Sheppard then used a low side move in turns one and two to ease around Erb, and four laps later, a major pile up knocked out three top contenders. The #5 of Don Oneal appeared to get the worst of things, although McCreadie and Josh Richards were now also out of action. Although Clanton continued to lead, in typical Knoxville fashion, there was action all around the track, with drivers battling for and swapping positions at dizzying rates. Six laps from the half way mark, Thornton Jr. had placed his #20RT ride in the fourth position when he slipped over the cushion in turns three and four, contacting the fence and rolling onto his top, much as Wallace had earlier in the other set of turns. Sheppard climbed to second on the restart, taking along Chris Madden in third, but the race was stopped at lap fifty for a scheduled fuel stop. The cars were stopped on the front straightaway, and crews were only allowed to top off fuel and offer drivers a " clean " helmet if needed.
With everyone having caught their breath, Sheppard elected the inside line on the restart, and Madden moved ahead briefly before Brandon regained the spot exiting turn four. Following a caution for Tyler Erb five laps later, Sheppard this time restarted on the outside, and used that momentum to take the lead out of turn two. However the caution waved for a stalled Bobby Pierce, turning the top spot back over to Clanton. On this restart, Clanton moved up the track to counter Sheppard, and Madden shot to the front from the inside line, ending Clantons' fifty five lap domination. Both Sheppard and hard charging Kyle Bronson, who had come from row ten into the top five, were shuffled back on the restart. Madden, driving a second Bloomquist Racing entry, opened a sizable advantage before catching slower traffic about lap sixty eight. Sheppard was again on the move, taking third at that point, then second three laps later. Clanton saw his night end as he brought out a final caution with twenty eight laps remaining. Sheppard again pounded the cushion, taking the lead off turn two, as eighteenth starting Jimmy Owens now appeared on the scene in third. About the same time, Hudson Oneal, who had run outside the top ten for much of the race suddenly advanced five spots to fifth. Twenty laps remained on the board when Owens took over the second spot, and as Sheppard caught traffic two circuits later, Owens closed the gap to the front. In traffic at lap eighty five, the " Newport Nightmare " took his first lead, pulling ahead to what looked like might be a comfortable win. But B Shepp was not done yet, and the last five laps had the crowd holding its collective breath. After a pair of failed slide jobs in turn one at lap ninety five and ninety six, Sheppard followed immediately in the tire tracks if the #20 until the white flag waved. No one was sitting as the third generation driver gave it a last ditch effort coming to the final flying checkers by retiring Doug Clark, but he was a half car length short at the line! It gave Owens back to back wins at the historic 1/2 mile.
Sheppard claimed second to lead a contingent of young guns at the finish. Hudson Oneal, Devin Moran, and Bronson, all a big part of the next generation of dirt racers, completed the top five. Madden continued his strong run for Team Bloomquist in sixth, trailed by Stormy Scott, Weiss, Earl Pearson Jr., and Frank Heckenast Jr.
Sitting in the rain two and a half hours from home after a full day of sight seeing and bench racing in Knoxville had me wondering if it was time for Grandpa ( thanks to Keagan and Megan for coming along! ) to rethink his choices. And then here comes another typical Knoxville finish, and well, the 2020 dates for the Nationals is September 17-19. Hopefully I will see you there!
Next up for me, 34 Raceway will be hosting the Gangbusters 41, featuring the 500th edition of the IMCA late model Summer Series sponsored by Deery Brothers, along with the Dirt Knights modified tour as well as IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts next Saturday to honor the memory of a long time friend and racer, Jim Oliver Sr.
Thanks for reading!
Friday, September 13, 2019
Clanton a First Time Winner at Knoxville
I have been a faithful attendee of the final night of the Lucas Oil late model nationals at Knoxville, Iowa for all of the previous fifteen years of its existence. The only 100 lap finale I missed was in 2009 when treacherous track conditions prompted track officials to move the feature back to Sunday. But for all most of those years, the risk of taking two vacation days to make the trip to the qualifying nights seemed too great given the fickle fall mid western weather. So part of my retirement " bucket list " was to take in at least the Thursday night event before any of the participants decided to load up and head home. For the first time in 2018 I was able to do so, mooching a ride from Positively Racing guru Jeff Broeg. Apparently I was not too big of a pain, as Jeff invited me to again tag along from Mt. Pleasant this year. The fly in the ointment, however was a weather forecast that would have likely made me cancel those vacation days during my working years. You can call us optimists or even foolish, but after several conversations, we decided to roll the dice, as the forecasted storms seemed to be breaking up as they approached the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Although we drove through a few sprinkles en route, no moisture had fallen all day at the track, and with a slight breeze, it was a delightful evening, weather wise.
The track and series officials presented the single class, fifty five car program as though rain might be coming, and while hot laps may have started a bit later than the 6:45 advertised time, the program, consisting of time trials, six twelve lap heat races, a pair of fifteen lap B mains, and a twenty five lap $7,000 to win feature wrapped up before 9:45! Of course, having only two yellow flags all night long contributed to the speed of the program, as well as a testament to excellent track prep and skillful driving.
Jeff has a detailed account of the action on his " Backstretch " column on this site, so I will just add some random musings.
It is no secret that the " professional " series drivers tirelessly advocate for straight up heat race starts based on qualifying times. However Knoxville, with their unique points formula stands firm on their invert format, with the result being heat races which require drivers to actually " race " their way into and through the main events leading up to the Saturday 100 lap $40,000 to win finale. Georgia driver Shane Clanton was the only one to time below eighteen seconds in qualifying, with a lap of 17.932 seconds. This landed him outside row three in the first heat from where he worked his way to the third and final transfer spot. Starting seventh in the main event, he charged to the lead right at the half way point, then cruised to the victory. Shane was clearly the class of the field on Thursday, and the outcome likely would have been a similar one with a straight up start, but under this format he was forced to pass two cars in the heat and six in the feature, creating a much more entertaining program.
There were several home state drivers in the field who turned in solid runs on Thursday. Brian Birkhofer in a new Jason Rauen owned Rocket car, qualified second out of heat one. Jeremiah Hurst, who has announced his team will switch to open engine racing in 2020 led the second heat until the final turn, finishing second to Bobby Pierce, while Chris Simpson came home in third. Tyler Bruening gave up the lead to Darrell Lanigan with three laps left in heat five, then held on for second. And Chad Simpson, wheeling the Moring Motorsports #1 raced home second in the final B main. Bruening ( sixth ) and Chris Simpson ( tenth ) also had impressive runs in the feature.
Two former champions of the event were on the pre entry list but failed to show. One of them, Mike Marlar, is rumored to be racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series this weekend. The other, Brian Shirley is possibly down a crew man, although neither has been confirmed.
Action will resume tonight, Friday, with another complete show. Drivers will then be able to keep their best points night of the two to determine their starting spot in either the B main or the big dance on Saturday.
With points awarded for time trials, heats, and the feature, the leaders from Thursday racing are as follows: Clanton, Lanigan, Ricky Thornton Jr. Tyler Erb, and Ricky Weiss. Iowa drivers Chris Simpson and Breuning are next, followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Sheppard, and Devin Moran. As mentioned, all drivers can take their best night of two, with the top twenty four locked in for the Saturday finale, while another six or so will be added from the B main, along with possible " emergency provisionals " for eligible non qualified Lucas Oil regulars.
The feature top ten on Thursday was Clanton, Tyler Erb, Lanigan, Weiss, Thornton Jr., Bruening, Sheppard, Moran, Pierce, and Chris Simpson, so you can see that qualifying times and heat finishes play a roll in point accumulation.
As of now the weather looks good, and I plan to be back at the historic 1/2 mile for the sixteenth edition of the fall classic on Saturday, so check back on Sunday for a recap. Maybe I will see you in Knoxville!
Although we drove through a few sprinkles en route, no moisture had fallen all day at the track, and with a slight breeze, it was a delightful evening, weather wise.
The track and series officials presented the single class, fifty five car program as though rain might be coming, and while hot laps may have started a bit later than the 6:45 advertised time, the program, consisting of time trials, six twelve lap heat races, a pair of fifteen lap B mains, and a twenty five lap $7,000 to win feature wrapped up before 9:45! Of course, having only two yellow flags all night long contributed to the speed of the program, as well as a testament to excellent track prep and skillful driving.
Jeff has a detailed account of the action on his " Backstretch " column on this site, so I will just add some random musings.
It is no secret that the " professional " series drivers tirelessly advocate for straight up heat race starts based on qualifying times. However Knoxville, with their unique points formula stands firm on their invert format, with the result being heat races which require drivers to actually " race " their way into and through the main events leading up to the Saturday 100 lap $40,000 to win finale. Georgia driver Shane Clanton was the only one to time below eighteen seconds in qualifying, with a lap of 17.932 seconds. This landed him outside row three in the first heat from where he worked his way to the third and final transfer spot. Starting seventh in the main event, he charged to the lead right at the half way point, then cruised to the victory. Shane was clearly the class of the field on Thursday, and the outcome likely would have been a similar one with a straight up start, but under this format he was forced to pass two cars in the heat and six in the feature, creating a much more entertaining program.
There were several home state drivers in the field who turned in solid runs on Thursday. Brian Birkhofer in a new Jason Rauen owned Rocket car, qualified second out of heat one. Jeremiah Hurst, who has announced his team will switch to open engine racing in 2020 led the second heat until the final turn, finishing second to Bobby Pierce, while Chris Simpson came home in third. Tyler Bruening gave up the lead to Darrell Lanigan with three laps left in heat five, then held on for second. And Chad Simpson, wheeling the Moring Motorsports #1 raced home second in the final B main. Bruening ( sixth ) and Chris Simpson ( tenth ) also had impressive runs in the feature.
Two former champions of the event were on the pre entry list but failed to show. One of them, Mike Marlar, is rumored to be racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series this weekend. The other, Brian Shirley is possibly down a crew man, although neither has been confirmed.
Action will resume tonight, Friday, with another complete show. Drivers will then be able to keep their best points night of the two to determine their starting spot in either the B main or the big dance on Saturday.
With points awarded for time trials, heats, and the feature, the leaders from Thursday racing are as follows: Clanton, Lanigan, Ricky Thornton Jr. Tyler Erb, and Ricky Weiss. Iowa drivers Chris Simpson and Breuning are next, followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Sheppard, and Devin Moran. As mentioned, all drivers can take their best night of two, with the top twenty four locked in for the Saturday finale, while another six or so will be added from the B main, along with possible " emergency provisionals " for eligible non qualified Lucas Oil regulars.
The feature top ten on Thursday was Clanton, Tyler Erb, Lanigan, Weiss, Thornton Jr., Bruening, Sheppard, Moran, Pierce, and Chris Simpson, so you can see that qualifying times and heat finishes play a roll in point accumulation.
As of now the weather looks good, and I plan to be back at the historic 1/2 mile for the sixteenth edition of the fall classic on Saturday, so check back on Sunday for a recap. Maybe I will see you in Knoxville!
Monday, September 2, 2019
Pierce Takes Quincy MLRA Dollars
For the second time in 2019, Bobby Pierce rolled in to Quincy Raceways and claimed the victory in MLRA action. This time, it was the Scottie 45, a tribute to the founder of Quincy Raceways, Albert Scott in this, the 45th year of operation of the track, now owned by Jason Goble. For this second ever visit by the south Missouri based series, the 45 lap main event paid a cool $5,000, and drew a stout field of twenty one participants.
The evening began with the drivers requesting time trial qualifying, and Pierce set quick time with a lap of 13.046 seconds around the .29 mile oval, giving him the pole start for the first heat race. He then took a flag to flag win over California driver Jason Papich, local legend Mark Burgtorf, and Matt Shannon, wheeling an Allen Weisser decaled #25W. MLRA points leader Will Vaught, the track qualifying record holder, led the distance in heat two, topping J C Wyman, Dave Eckrich, and Joe Godsey. The final ten lapper went to Mitch McGrath in front of Chad Simpson, Jeremy Grady, and top rookie contender Logan Martin.
Following intermission, which included a candy dash, it was feature time. Sport mods led off main event action, with all eighteen cars coming to the track for twenty laps. Tyler Burton sat on the pole, and he shot to the early lead with fourth starting Terry Wilson and row three starter Sean Wyatt next in line ahead of a yellow flag as lap one was scored. Wyatt charged to second following the Delaware double file restart. After a lap three caution, Wyatt, Wilson, and row five stater Bobby Six began a back and forth battle for the runner up spot. As Burton approached a slower car on lap eight, he slid off the top of the backstretch, turning the lead over to Wyatt. However, a third caution before the lap was counted turned the top spot back over to Burton. Back under green, Wyatt again grabbed the lead only to have Six drive around him, before Wyatt put a slide job on Six to regain the lead. As the leaders entered turn one, Burton made contact with Six, stacking up several cars, and bringing out the red flag. As track crews sorted things out, a track light caught fire in turn three, resulting in a lengthy delay. Fortunately, the adjoining go kart track has some portable lighting, which was moved over to the big track so racing could resume.The field was now reset single file, with Wyatt and Six up front. Two more cautions on laps ten and thirteen finally put us at the time limit, meaning the next caution would bring out the checkers. Amazingly, ( yeah, right) a couple of spinning cars after that were able to keep going! In the closing laps, the front duo exchanged sliders and crossover moves several times with Six finally able to gain a few car lengths separation, taking the checkered flag. Wyatt settled for second, with Reed Wolfmeier, A J Tournear, and Brandon Symmonds completing the top five.
While the track was bad fast and high side dominate with a tall cushion in qualifying and during the heats, the sport mods did a good job of widening the surface during their feature. All but one of the late models ( Jeff Roth ) made the feature call. The straight up start saw Pierce and Vaught on row one, and Pierce shot to the lead as Vaught and McGrath fought for second. Pierce caught the back of the pack on lap twelve, allowing Vaught to chip away at his lead, but the only yellow of the race came two laps later when Reid Millard stopped at the top of turn three. Vaught elected the outside for the restart, and when Pierce did not hit full speed, McGrath was able to slide under him, taking over the lead off turn two even as Pierce was forced to check up to avoid more serious contact. Burgtorf had been running an impressive fourth, just behind the lead group, but fell to eighth on the restart. The top three quickly pulled away from the pack, and as slower traffic again became a factor at lap twenty nine, McGrath moved down the track to a more middle line. This opened the top side for Pierce, which is a no no at Quincy, and he returned the favor, pulling a slider on McGrath, who was forced to check up, allowing Vaught to also drive around him. Now it was a two car duel, with Vaught actually taking the lead briefly at lap thirty three. But Pierce was now using all grooves, and he quickly regained the lead. As he stretched his margin in the closing laps, an intense side by side, back and forth three car battle for the fourth position was going on between Papich, Martin, and Simpson. With fourteen cars still on the track as the checkers waved, Pierce had lapped up to the seventh place car, even though he reported in victory lane that he thought he had dropped one or possibly two cylinders about the time he retook the lead. Vaught increased his points lead with the runner up finish, while McGrath came home in third. Papaich won the battle for fourth ahead of Martin and Simpson, with Wyman the last car on the lead lap. Grady edged Burgtorf on the final circuit and Eckrich completed the top ten.
Only eight sport compacts signed in for the evening, and they now lined up for twelve laps. Craig Bangert powered to a commanding lead on the start, while David Prim and Kimberly Abbott quickly settled into a duel for second. At about the mid point of the caution free race, Bangerts' #99B began to sound under the weather, although he was able to maintain his speed. With just two laps left, however, he began to slow noticeably, allowing Prim and Abbott to hurriedly close the gap. As the trio charged to the line side by side by side, Prim was able to nose in front for his first feature win. Bangert held on for second, with Abbott in third. Dylan Schantz and Jared Heule rounded out the top five.
The final checkers flew just after 9:30.
Next up for Quincy Raceways, and likely for me as well is the rescheduled appearance of the Sprint Invaders next Sunday, September 8. In addition, the 4 cylinder special featuring IMCA and UMP type cars with a top prize of $1,000 will be on the card, as well as UMP modifieds. Hot laps about 5:15 with racing to follow. Hope to see you there!
The evening began with the drivers requesting time trial qualifying, and Pierce set quick time with a lap of 13.046 seconds around the .29 mile oval, giving him the pole start for the first heat race. He then took a flag to flag win over California driver Jason Papich, local legend Mark Burgtorf, and Matt Shannon, wheeling an Allen Weisser decaled #25W. MLRA points leader Will Vaught, the track qualifying record holder, led the distance in heat two, topping J C Wyman, Dave Eckrich, and Joe Godsey. The final ten lapper went to Mitch McGrath in front of Chad Simpson, Jeremy Grady, and top rookie contender Logan Martin.
Following intermission, which included a candy dash, it was feature time. Sport mods led off main event action, with all eighteen cars coming to the track for twenty laps. Tyler Burton sat on the pole, and he shot to the early lead with fourth starting Terry Wilson and row three starter Sean Wyatt next in line ahead of a yellow flag as lap one was scored. Wyatt charged to second following the Delaware double file restart. After a lap three caution, Wyatt, Wilson, and row five stater Bobby Six began a back and forth battle for the runner up spot. As Burton approached a slower car on lap eight, he slid off the top of the backstretch, turning the lead over to Wyatt. However, a third caution before the lap was counted turned the top spot back over to Burton. Back under green, Wyatt again grabbed the lead only to have Six drive around him, before Wyatt put a slide job on Six to regain the lead. As the leaders entered turn one, Burton made contact with Six, stacking up several cars, and bringing out the red flag. As track crews sorted things out, a track light caught fire in turn three, resulting in a lengthy delay. Fortunately, the adjoining go kart track has some portable lighting, which was moved over to the big track so racing could resume.The field was now reset single file, with Wyatt and Six up front. Two more cautions on laps ten and thirteen finally put us at the time limit, meaning the next caution would bring out the checkers. Amazingly, ( yeah, right) a couple of spinning cars after that were able to keep going! In the closing laps, the front duo exchanged sliders and crossover moves several times with Six finally able to gain a few car lengths separation, taking the checkered flag. Wyatt settled for second, with Reed Wolfmeier, A J Tournear, and Brandon Symmonds completing the top five.
While the track was bad fast and high side dominate with a tall cushion in qualifying and during the heats, the sport mods did a good job of widening the surface during their feature. All but one of the late models ( Jeff Roth ) made the feature call. The straight up start saw Pierce and Vaught on row one, and Pierce shot to the lead as Vaught and McGrath fought for second. Pierce caught the back of the pack on lap twelve, allowing Vaught to chip away at his lead, but the only yellow of the race came two laps later when Reid Millard stopped at the top of turn three. Vaught elected the outside for the restart, and when Pierce did not hit full speed, McGrath was able to slide under him, taking over the lead off turn two even as Pierce was forced to check up to avoid more serious contact. Burgtorf had been running an impressive fourth, just behind the lead group, but fell to eighth on the restart. The top three quickly pulled away from the pack, and as slower traffic again became a factor at lap twenty nine, McGrath moved down the track to a more middle line. This opened the top side for Pierce, which is a no no at Quincy, and he returned the favor, pulling a slider on McGrath, who was forced to check up, allowing Vaught to also drive around him. Now it was a two car duel, with Vaught actually taking the lead briefly at lap thirty three. But Pierce was now using all grooves, and he quickly regained the lead. As he stretched his margin in the closing laps, an intense side by side, back and forth three car battle for the fourth position was going on between Papich, Martin, and Simpson. With fourteen cars still on the track as the checkers waved, Pierce had lapped up to the seventh place car, even though he reported in victory lane that he thought he had dropped one or possibly two cylinders about the time he retook the lead. Vaught increased his points lead with the runner up finish, while McGrath came home in third. Papaich won the battle for fourth ahead of Martin and Simpson, with Wyman the last car on the lead lap. Grady edged Burgtorf on the final circuit and Eckrich completed the top ten.
Only eight sport compacts signed in for the evening, and they now lined up for twelve laps. Craig Bangert powered to a commanding lead on the start, while David Prim and Kimberly Abbott quickly settled into a duel for second. At about the mid point of the caution free race, Bangerts' #99B began to sound under the weather, although he was able to maintain his speed. With just two laps left, however, he began to slow noticeably, allowing Prim and Abbott to hurriedly close the gap. As the trio charged to the line side by side by side, Prim was able to nose in front for his first feature win. Bangert held on for second, with Abbott in third. Dylan Schantz and Jared Heule rounded out the top five.
The final checkers flew just after 9:30.
Next up for Quincy Raceways, and likely for me as well is the rescheduled appearance of the Sprint Invaders next Sunday, September 8. In addition, the 4 cylinder special featuring IMCA and UMP type cars with a top prize of $1,000 will be on the card, as well as UMP modifieds. Hot laps about 5:15 with racing to follow. Hope to see you there!
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Taylor Wins, Then Rain at Quincy
Sunday night Quincy Raceways hosted a regular night of racing, with five classes on the card. Cloudy skies dominated the day, although the chance of rain was low. However when I arrived at the track, a few sprinkles were falling. With school underway, track officials had moved start times up, with hot laps set to roll at 5:15. The sprinkles moved out, the pits opened up, and hot laps began as everyone kept an eye on the sky.
UMP modifieds are the only class to time trial qualify at QR, and Kevin Blackburn paced a star studded field that included points leader Dave Weitholder, former champion Michael Long, and the hottest driver in the UMP mod ranks this season, Peoria ace Allen Weisser.
The IMCA sport compacts had a make up feature from an early rain out several weeks ago, but only six of the eligible cars signed in. Isaiah Penton took off from row one, leading each of the twelve laps, as the race went non stop. David Prim, Dylan Schantz, Kimberly Abbott, Ryan Mangold, and Quinton Shelton followed in that order.
The heat races clicked off in quick fashion, and with no intermission, the five outlaw stock cars lined up for fifteen laps. Shane Myers charged to the early lead in his #15 " grocery getter " station wagon. Points leader Beau Taylor and Steve Dieckmann remained hot on his heels and on lap four Myers bobbled out of turn two, turning the lead over to Taylor. Dieckmann drove around Myers two laps later, and at the end of that circuit, Brian Gaines slammed hard into the front stretch concrete wall. At the same time, Brandon Boden stopped between turns three and four, with smoke pouring from his #69X. When the green flag waved again, only three cars remained on the track. Despite a serious challenge from Myers, Taylor hit his marks on the top side of the track, leading the rest of the way to take the win. Myers again bobbled on the final lap, with Dieckmann again moving to the runner up spot at the checkers. Gaines was credited with fourth and Boden fifth.
Quickly the dozen IMCA sport modifieds came to the track for eighteen scheduled laps. A brief shower had been falling in the closing laps of the stock car feature, but the sport mods kept the surface run in as the rain subsided. The green flag waved, and Tyler Burton powered from the outside pole to lead the opening lap, followed by third starting Austen Becerra, and fifth starting Adam Birck, the series points leader. Burton jumped the backstretch cushion on lap two, with both Becerra and Birck getting around him. The yellow flag waved for a Kelly Bartz spin on lap three. On the Delaware restart, tenth starting Bobby Six joined the party in third. However, one lap later, the rain came again, increasing in intensity until the track was " lost, " and officials were forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the program. Remaining on the card in addition to the sport mod main, UMP Pro Crate late models, UMP modifieds, and IMCA sport compacts features may be made up at some point. Interestingly, the only other time the program was rained out this season came with the sport mod feature just short of the halfway mark.
Next Sunday at QR, the MLRA late models make their second visit of 2019 to the track for the Scottie 45 paying $5,000 to the winner. Bobby Pierce took the win when the series made their first ever stop at QR in May. IMCA sport mods and IMCA sport compacts will also be on the card. Then on Sunday, September 8, the rescheduled 360 cubic inch winged Sprint Invaders will take over the .29 mile oval. In addition, sport compacts will be racing that night for a $1,000 top prize! This race will feature a good payout behind the winner, with second place paying at least $500, $300 for third, and $200 for fourth, as more sponsor money continues to come in. UMP modifieds will round out the card.
UMP modifieds are the only class to time trial qualify at QR, and Kevin Blackburn paced a star studded field that included points leader Dave Weitholder, former champion Michael Long, and the hottest driver in the UMP mod ranks this season, Peoria ace Allen Weisser.
The IMCA sport compacts had a make up feature from an early rain out several weeks ago, but only six of the eligible cars signed in. Isaiah Penton took off from row one, leading each of the twelve laps, as the race went non stop. David Prim, Dylan Schantz, Kimberly Abbott, Ryan Mangold, and Quinton Shelton followed in that order.
The heat races clicked off in quick fashion, and with no intermission, the five outlaw stock cars lined up for fifteen laps. Shane Myers charged to the early lead in his #15 " grocery getter " station wagon. Points leader Beau Taylor and Steve Dieckmann remained hot on his heels and on lap four Myers bobbled out of turn two, turning the lead over to Taylor. Dieckmann drove around Myers two laps later, and at the end of that circuit, Brian Gaines slammed hard into the front stretch concrete wall. At the same time, Brandon Boden stopped between turns three and four, with smoke pouring from his #69X. When the green flag waved again, only three cars remained on the track. Despite a serious challenge from Myers, Taylor hit his marks on the top side of the track, leading the rest of the way to take the win. Myers again bobbled on the final lap, with Dieckmann again moving to the runner up spot at the checkers. Gaines was credited with fourth and Boden fifth.
Quickly the dozen IMCA sport modifieds came to the track for eighteen scheduled laps. A brief shower had been falling in the closing laps of the stock car feature, but the sport mods kept the surface run in as the rain subsided. The green flag waved, and Tyler Burton powered from the outside pole to lead the opening lap, followed by third starting Austen Becerra, and fifth starting Adam Birck, the series points leader. Burton jumped the backstretch cushion on lap two, with both Becerra and Birck getting around him. The yellow flag waved for a Kelly Bartz spin on lap three. On the Delaware restart, tenth starting Bobby Six joined the party in third. However, one lap later, the rain came again, increasing in intensity until the track was " lost, " and officials were forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the program. Remaining on the card in addition to the sport mod main, UMP Pro Crate late models, UMP modifieds, and IMCA sport compacts features may be made up at some point. Interestingly, the only other time the program was rained out this season came with the sport mod feature just short of the halfway mark.
Next Sunday at QR, the MLRA late models make their second visit of 2019 to the track for the Scottie 45 paying $5,000 to the winner. Bobby Pierce took the win when the series made their first ever stop at QR in May. IMCA sport mods and IMCA sport compacts will also be on the card. Then on Sunday, September 8, the rescheduled 360 cubic inch winged Sprint Invaders will take over the .29 mile oval. In addition, sport compacts will be racing that night for a $1,000 top prize! This race will feature a good payout behind the winner, with second place paying at least $500, $300 for third, and $200 for fourth, as more sponsor money continues to come in. UMP modifieds will round out the card.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Lee County Crowns Champs
Friday night it was season championship night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. In addition, track promoters Brian and Marcie Gaylord decided to get creative and offer $3.00 adult admission. With the weather close to perfect, there was a county fair sized crowd filling the stands, including a record 105 youngsters signed in to the Jr. Fan Club! Also, the 3/8 mile racing surface was in tip top condition. If there was a down side, the overall car count could have been better, but some excellent side by side racing more than made up for some smaller fields.
With heat race action wrapped up, it was feature time for the six principal classes that rotate through the LCS weekly program.
Up first was the IMCA sport compact event, fifteen cars for fifteen laps. Jason Ash powered from his fifth starting spot to lead the opening circuit, with his row three mate Trent Orwig moving to second one lap later. Orwig took over the top spot on lap five, and stayed in command until the yellow flag waved as Brandon Reu lost an engine with three laps to go, spilling oil in turn four. Back to racing, another caution came on lap fourteen, and at the same time Josh Barnes left the track, giving up his fourth position. Barnes was forced to park his primary car in his heat race, and now had issues with his backup after commandeering it from Brandon Ruffcorn for the feature. The first attempt at a green, white, checkers finish was unsuccessful, so the field was lined up single file. Orwig was not to be denied, picking up the win, followed by Ash, Kimberly Abbott, Cody Bowman, and Ashley Reuman. Surprise visitor Devin Jones towed in from Mason City, Iowa, running in the top five before having mechanical issues. Despite his troubles, Reu claimed the points title.
The 305 sprint car field was a bit short, with ten cars signed in. Tanner Gebhardt was behind the wheel of the #27 machine on Friday, and he shot to the lead from the pole position ahead of Mason Campbell, Harold Pohren and Brayden Gaylord. With Gebhardt well out front, the red flag was displayed eight laps into the eighteen lapper when Jeff Wilke made hard contact with the front stretch concrete wall. Although apparently uninjured, it took some time for Wilke to exit his #41, as the top wing collapsed on the roll cage. It was obvious the car suffered heavy damage. The restart was single file, and we stayed green for the final ten laps. Gebhardt cruised to the checkers, with Campbell in second. Gaylord used a last lap charge to edge Pohren for third, with Daniel Berquist completing the first five. Gebhardt also claimed the track championship.
Things took a turn for the worse as the seventeen IMCA sport mods lined up for eighteen laps. At least six ( did I miss any? ) caution periods interrupted what was the closest racing thus far on the night. Jim Powell paced the first lap, but following a lap two caution, row four starter Blaine Webster jumped to the lead, chased by Adam Birck. Birck grabbed the lead on lap five, but Webster refused to go away, and the two staged an exciting side by side battle before and after four more cautions in the next couple of laps. Meanwhile, veteran Jim Gillenwater, out for the first time in 2019 was working his way forward after starting tenth, taking over the third spot just past the halfway point. A final caution came with six laps remaining, and the field was now reset in single file formation. Webster now had his hands full with Gillenwater, and Birck cruised to the long awaited victory. Gillenwater took runner up honors, with Webster, Austen Becerra, and points champion Daniel Fellows rounding out the first five slots.
The IMCA late model championship points actually ended at the end of July per series rules, with Tommy Elston winning the title. However there was still a race to be run, twenty laps for the fifteen entrants. Nick Marolf and Gunner Frank made up row one, with Marolf charging to the lead. The redraw was not kind to Elston, who lined up tenth on the grid. With most of the leaders running a low line around the boundary tires, Tommy jumped to the high line and began to pick off cars. He entered the top five on lap four, advancing to fourth one lap later. With Marolf well out front, Elston cleared Frank for third at the half way mark. But just as quickly, he stopped at the top of turn three, a rare mechanical issue ending his run. Frank retook the runner up spot from Jay Johnson on the Delaware double file restart. but the two continued to battle as Marolf again opened a sizable lead. With no other cautions, Marolf cruised to his second LCS win of the season. Frank claimed second in his return, followed by Johnson, Matt Strassheim, and Sam Halstead. Ron Boyse rolled home sixth, with Ray Raker nosing past Jason Cook in the Lynn Richard #15R for seventh. Darin Weisinger Jr. and Brandon Queen also turned in top ten runs.
Those fans who wandered out the gates missed the closest racing of the night in the final two features. Only eight IMCA stock cars signed in, but their eighteen lap event was a classic! Brandon Savage paced the first pair of laps, with Jeremy Pundt taking over on lap three. With Savage married to the high line, Abe Huls sneaked to second on lap four, with Savage then ducking to the infield, his run over. From that point, Pundt and Huls staged an epic battle. Jeremy stayed glued to the low line, while Abe used his bag of tricks one lane higher. On at least two occasions, Pundt moved off the bottom far enough for Huls to pull alongside on the inside, but he could not complete the winning pass high or low. As the white flag waved, the duo were side by side, but it was Pundt claiming the win and the track title as well. Huls was second, followed by Chad Krogmeier, Kyle Boyd, and Louis Lynch.
IMCA modifieds rounded out the regular season card, with all but one of the nine cars signed in lining up for eighteen circuits. With Dean McGee giving up the pole, Jeff Waterman powered to the early lead. Bill Roberts Jr., John Oliver Jr. , and Dennis Laveine gained separation in a four car battle. Lap five saw Oliver Jr. take over the second spot, and he and Waterman set off on another epic duel. At lap eleven, Johnny used his high side momentum off turn two to move alongside the leader, but Jeff came up the track and the #05 tangled briefly with the guard rail, losing some momentum. Regaining his footing, Oliver Jr. began to make up the lost ground, and the front pair ran side by side to the while flag. The final circuit belonged to Oliver Jr., who took a thrilling win, a track title, and moved into the lead in the IMCA modified rookie points chase all in one lap! Waterman led Roberts, Laveine, and McGee in completing the top five.
With the final checkers waving just before 11:00, it was a fun night of racing. Thanks to the Gaylords and the LCS staff for another night of close racing on a well prepared track!
LCS will host several fall specials, be sure to check their website for the upcoming events, culminating with the ever popular Shiverfest the last Saturday in October. You should find me next at Quincy Raceways on Sunday. Hope to see you there!
With heat race action wrapped up, it was feature time for the six principal classes that rotate through the LCS weekly program.
Up first was the IMCA sport compact event, fifteen cars for fifteen laps. Jason Ash powered from his fifth starting spot to lead the opening circuit, with his row three mate Trent Orwig moving to second one lap later. Orwig took over the top spot on lap five, and stayed in command until the yellow flag waved as Brandon Reu lost an engine with three laps to go, spilling oil in turn four. Back to racing, another caution came on lap fourteen, and at the same time Josh Barnes left the track, giving up his fourth position. Barnes was forced to park his primary car in his heat race, and now had issues with his backup after commandeering it from Brandon Ruffcorn for the feature. The first attempt at a green, white, checkers finish was unsuccessful, so the field was lined up single file. Orwig was not to be denied, picking up the win, followed by Ash, Kimberly Abbott, Cody Bowman, and Ashley Reuman. Surprise visitor Devin Jones towed in from Mason City, Iowa, running in the top five before having mechanical issues. Despite his troubles, Reu claimed the points title.
The 305 sprint car field was a bit short, with ten cars signed in. Tanner Gebhardt was behind the wheel of the #27 machine on Friday, and he shot to the lead from the pole position ahead of Mason Campbell, Harold Pohren and Brayden Gaylord. With Gebhardt well out front, the red flag was displayed eight laps into the eighteen lapper when Jeff Wilke made hard contact with the front stretch concrete wall. Although apparently uninjured, it took some time for Wilke to exit his #41, as the top wing collapsed on the roll cage. It was obvious the car suffered heavy damage. The restart was single file, and we stayed green for the final ten laps. Gebhardt cruised to the checkers, with Campbell in second. Gaylord used a last lap charge to edge Pohren for third, with Daniel Berquist completing the first five. Gebhardt also claimed the track championship.
Things took a turn for the worse as the seventeen IMCA sport mods lined up for eighteen laps. At least six ( did I miss any? ) caution periods interrupted what was the closest racing thus far on the night. Jim Powell paced the first lap, but following a lap two caution, row four starter Blaine Webster jumped to the lead, chased by Adam Birck. Birck grabbed the lead on lap five, but Webster refused to go away, and the two staged an exciting side by side battle before and after four more cautions in the next couple of laps. Meanwhile, veteran Jim Gillenwater, out for the first time in 2019 was working his way forward after starting tenth, taking over the third spot just past the halfway point. A final caution came with six laps remaining, and the field was now reset in single file formation. Webster now had his hands full with Gillenwater, and Birck cruised to the long awaited victory. Gillenwater took runner up honors, with Webster, Austen Becerra, and points champion Daniel Fellows rounding out the first five slots.
The IMCA late model championship points actually ended at the end of July per series rules, with Tommy Elston winning the title. However there was still a race to be run, twenty laps for the fifteen entrants. Nick Marolf and Gunner Frank made up row one, with Marolf charging to the lead. The redraw was not kind to Elston, who lined up tenth on the grid. With most of the leaders running a low line around the boundary tires, Tommy jumped to the high line and began to pick off cars. He entered the top five on lap four, advancing to fourth one lap later. With Marolf well out front, Elston cleared Frank for third at the half way mark. But just as quickly, he stopped at the top of turn three, a rare mechanical issue ending his run. Frank retook the runner up spot from Jay Johnson on the Delaware double file restart. but the two continued to battle as Marolf again opened a sizable lead. With no other cautions, Marolf cruised to his second LCS win of the season. Frank claimed second in his return, followed by Johnson, Matt Strassheim, and Sam Halstead. Ron Boyse rolled home sixth, with Ray Raker nosing past Jason Cook in the Lynn Richard #15R for seventh. Darin Weisinger Jr. and Brandon Queen also turned in top ten runs.
Those fans who wandered out the gates missed the closest racing of the night in the final two features. Only eight IMCA stock cars signed in, but their eighteen lap event was a classic! Brandon Savage paced the first pair of laps, with Jeremy Pundt taking over on lap three. With Savage married to the high line, Abe Huls sneaked to second on lap four, with Savage then ducking to the infield, his run over. From that point, Pundt and Huls staged an epic battle. Jeremy stayed glued to the low line, while Abe used his bag of tricks one lane higher. On at least two occasions, Pundt moved off the bottom far enough for Huls to pull alongside on the inside, but he could not complete the winning pass high or low. As the white flag waved, the duo were side by side, but it was Pundt claiming the win and the track title as well. Huls was second, followed by Chad Krogmeier, Kyle Boyd, and Louis Lynch.
IMCA modifieds rounded out the regular season card, with all but one of the nine cars signed in lining up for eighteen circuits. With Dean McGee giving up the pole, Jeff Waterman powered to the early lead. Bill Roberts Jr., John Oliver Jr. , and Dennis Laveine gained separation in a four car battle. Lap five saw Oliver Jr. take over the second spot, and he and Waterman set off on another epic duel. At lap eleven, Johnny used his high side momentum off turn two to move alongside the leader, but Jeff came up the track and the #05 tangled briefly with the guard rail, losing some momentum. Regaining his footing, Oliver Jr. began to make up the lost ground, and the front pair ran side by side to the while flag. The final circuit belonged to Oliver Jr., who took a thrilling win, a track title, and moved into the lead in the IMCA modified rookie points chase all in one lap! Waterman led Roberts, Laveine, and McGee in completing the top five.
With the final checkers waving just before 11:00, it was a fun night of racing. Thanks to the Gaylords and the LCS staff for another night of close racing on a well prepared track!
LCS will host several fall specials, be sure to check their website for the upcoming events, culminating with the ever popular Shiverfest the last Saturday in October. You should find me next at Quincy Raceways on Sunday. Hope to see you there!
Friday, August 23, 2019
Aikey Tops Night One of the Yankee
" The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. " While this quote was attributed to author Mark Twain after it was falsely reported that he had died, it could also be uttered concerning the storied race track in Farley, Iowa. Formerly known as Farley Speedway, and at one time a half mile speed plant, it has undergone a name change to 300 Raceway, and is now a 3/8 mile venue, but despite social media buzz over the last couple of years, it is very much " alive and kicking." Although weekly racing is no longer presented, there have been several special events held since the track was sold a few years ago.
So when we received an offer to tag along for the Thursday night portion of the 42nd annual Yankee Dirt Track Classic, we were on board.
After a practice night on Wednesday, the Thursday show would consist of a full program of sport mods, stock cars, and modifieds, along with the headline class of Malvern Bank SLMR super late models vying for a $5,000 top prize. This would be the first time the Yankee would run under the SLMR sanction, although both Thursday and the $12,000 to win Friday finale would not count towards the series points title.The series is based in Omaha, Nebraska, the brain child of former late model standout Joe Kosiski, and features a combination of rules that allows different types of engines to be competitive, which has resulted in overall strong car counts.
Venturing a considerable distance from home on a week night, we were facing a self imposed curfew of 11:00 PM, and with the late models third in the running order, we were hoping for an efficiently run program.
We arrived during hot laps, and as they wrapped up, the late models moved to time trial qualifying, four cars at a time for two laps, with a total of forty nine drivers signed in! Tyler Bruening posted the quickest overall lap, with a mark of 16.422 seconds. The top six in time were then inverted in the six heat races, with passing points awarded. Only later did we learn - hat tip to roaming announcer Jerry Mackey - that points were also awarded for time trials, creating some rather odd scenarios. Heat five winner Ryan Griffith was forced to qualify for the twenty five lap feature through one of the two B mains, lining up in row one outside Josh Leonard, who finished sixth in heat two, while heat two winner John Emerson, and heat six runner up Matt Ryan sat on row one of the first " B ," with Emerson failing to transfer to the main event. Fourth place Justin Kay was the only driver to qualify for the feature out of that second heat race.
A pair of heat races for the eighteen sport mods and seventeen stock cars, along with six heats and three B mains for the forty two modifieds set us up for feature racing, with no down time ahead of the sport mod twenty lapper.
Tony Olson and Bryan Moreland lined up at the front of the pack on what was now a heavily rubbered up racing surface. Following a first lap caution as Jason Roth came to a stop, Olson shot to the lead ahead of Moreland and fourth starting Brayton Carter. Carter eased his way to second one lap later, and row four starter Tyler Soppe entered the top five on lap three. Following the second and final caution, Soppe powered to third, moving up to challenge Carter on lap six as the leaders ran the inside line on the slick surface. As Carter and Soppe battled, Olson was able to gain a bit of separation. Tony hit his marks, picking up a flag to flag win. Carter won the race for second, with Soppe in third. Joe Docekal and Mitch Manternach completed the top five.
As Olson was being interviewed in victory lane, the stock cars came to the track for twenty laps. Dick Steadman sat on the pole, flanked by Joe Zrostlik. With Zrostlik shuffled back on the start, it was third starting David Brandies, fifth starting Phillip Holtz, and sixth starter Johnny Spaw chasing Steadman. Again, the leaders mostly stayed glued to the low groove, but tenth starting Damon Murty soon discovered he would need to find a higher line if he was going to move forward. Running one groove higher, Murty charged into the top five on lap seven. Holtz also took a look at the middle line as the top five cars ran in the tightest of packs, with non stop back and forth action. Several times Brandies was able to stick the nose of his #71 under Steadman coming off turn two, but he was unable to complete the pass. As lap seventeen was scored, contact up front sent the #00 of Spaw up on two wheels, Holtz for a spin, and another four machines unable to avoid the melee. Holtz would be forced to restart at the tail of the lead lap cars. As the race restarted, Brandies found his way to the lead, and the caution waved again with him out front with lap eighteen in the books. With a green, white, checkers finish ahead, Murty took one more shot at the higher line, and in the final lap came side by side with Brandies through turns three and four, and winning the drag race to the line. It was a hyped up Murty in victory lane, putting an exclamation mark on an epic battle! Brandies was left with runner up honors, with Spaw in third. Corey Brown and Brayton Boyer scored top five runs.
Twenty six late models lined up next for the twenty five lap, $5,000 to win headliner. Jeff Aikey ( third in his heat) and Bruening ( fast qualifier and fourth in his heat ) made up row one. Aikey jumped out front at the green, leading Bruening, third starting Jason Rauen, fifth starting Ricky Thornton Jr. in the Todd Cooney #30, and fourth starting Kay, in tow. Aikey was in command before catching slower traffic about lap eight. Bruening was able to close the gap, nosing ahead as lap ten was scored just as the only caution of the race came for Jason O'Brien, who stopped at the top of turn four. Following the single file restart format used by the SLMR, Bruening set sail to a comfortable lead. But slower traffic again made things interesting at the lap eighteen mark. It was then that Bruening moved briefly out of the bottom groove, giving Aikey the opening he needed. The veteran then made the decision to tuck in behind the back of the pack, daring Bruening to leave the preferred low line. For his part, Tyler stayed in line, and Aikey cruised to the win. Following Bruening at the checkers, it was Rauen, Thornton Jr., and Kay. Nebraska driver Tad Pospisil led the second five in front of Chris Simpson, Andy Eckrich, Chad Holladay, and Charlie McKenna. Pospisil was the only non Iowan in the top ten. Incredibly, O'Brien was the only one of the twenty six starters not running at the end.
With about five minutes left before our curfew, we headed for the parking lot, more than happy with the pace and presentation of the show. A text as we rolled down the highway let us know that pole sitter Justin Kay took the final checkered flag of the night, capturing the modified main event over Mike Mullen, Richie Gustin, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Jed Freiburger.
Action resumes tonight in Farley, with the late model feature paying a cool $12,000 to win along with the prestige of being a Yankee Dirt Track Classic winner.
Sticking closer to home, I will be heading to season championship night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Six classes of cars will be in action, including late models, mods, stock cars, sport mods, sport compacts and 305 winged sprints, with an adult admission price of only $3.00!
So when we received an offer to tag along for the Thursday night portion of the 42nd annual Yankee Dirt Track Classic, we were on board.
After a practice night on Wednesday, the Thursday show would consist of a full program of sport mods, stock cars, and modifieds, along with the headline class of Malvern Bank SLMR super late models vying for a $5,000 top prize. This would be the first time the Yankee would run under the SLMR sanction, although both Thursday and the $12,000 to win Friday finale would not count towards the series points title.The series is based in Omaha, Nebraska, the brain child of former late model standout Joe Kosiski, and features a combination of rules that allows different types of engines to be competitive, which has resulted in overall strong car counts.
Venturing a considerable distance from home on a week night, we were facing a self imposed curfew of 11:00 PM, and with the late models third in the running order, we were hoping for an efficiently run program.
We arrived during hot laps, and as they wrapped up, the late models moved to time trial qualifying, four cars at a time for two laps, with a total of forty nine drivers signed in! Tyler Bruening posted the quickest overall lap, with a mark of 16.422 seconds. The top six in time were then inverted in the six heat races, with passing points awarded. Only later did we learn - hat tip to roaming announcer Jerry Mackey - that points were also awarded for time trials, creating some rather odd scenarios. Heat five winner Ryan Griffith was forced to qualify for the twenty five lap feature through one of the two B mains, lining up in row one outside Josh Leonard, who finished sixth in heat two, while heat two winner John Emerson, and heat six runner up Matt Ryan sat on row one of the first " B ," with Emerson failing to transfer to the main event. Fourth place Justin Kay was the only driver to qualify for the feature out of that second heat race.
A pair of heat races for the eighteen sport mods and seventeen stock cars, along with six heats and three B mains for the forty two modifieds set us up for feature racing, with no down time ahead of the sport mod twenty lapper.
Tony Olson and Bryan Moreland lined up at the front of the pack on what was now a heavily rubbered up racing surface. Following a first lap caution as Jason Roth came to a stop, Olson shot to the lead ahead of Moreland and fourth starting Brayton Carter. Carter eased his way to second one lap later, and row four starter Tyler Soppe entered the top five on lap three. Following the second and final caution, Soppe powered to third, moving up to challenge Carter on lap six as the leaders ran the inside line on the slick surface. As Carter and Soppe battled, Olson was able to gain a bit of separation. Tony hit his marks, picking up a flag to flag win. Carter won the race for second, with Soppe in third. Joe Docekal and Mitch Manternach completed the top five.
As Olson was being interviewed in victory lane, the stock cars came to the track for twenty laps. Dick Steadman sat on the pole, flanked by Joe Zrostlik. With Zrostlik shuffled back on the start, it was third starting David Brandies, fifth starting Phillip Holtz, and sixth starter Johnny Spaw chasing Steadman. Again, the leaders mostly stayed glued to the low groove, but tenth starting Damon Murty soon discovered he would need to find a higher line if he was going to move forward. Running one groove higher, Murty charged into the top five on lap seven. Holtz also took a look at the middle line as the top five cars ran in the tightest of packs, with non stop back and forth action. Several times Brandies was able to stick the nose of his #71 under Steadman coming off turn two, but he was unable to complete the pass. As lap seventeen was scored, contact up front sent the #00 of Spaw up on two wheels, Holtz for a spin, and another four machines unable to avoid the melee. Holtz would be forced to restart at the tail of the lead lap cars. As the race restarted, Brandies found his way to the lead, and the caution waved again with him out front with lap eighteen in the books. With a green, white, checkers finish ahead, Murty took one more shot at the higher line, and in the final lap came side by side with Brandies through turns three and four, and winning the drag race to the line. It was a hyped up Murty in victory lane, putting an exclamation mark on an epic battle! Brandies was left with runner up honors, with Spaw in third. Corey Brown and Brayton Boyer scored top five runs.
Twenty six late models lined up next for the twenty five lap, $5,000 to win headliner. Jeff Aikey ( third in his heat) and Bruening ( fast qualifier and fourth in his heat ) made up row one. Aikey jumped out front at the green, leading Bruening, third starting Jason Rauen, fifth starting Ricky Thornton Jr. in the Todd Cooney #30, and fourth starting Kay, in tow. Aikey was in command before catching slower traffic about lap eight. Bruening was able to close the gap, nosing ahead as lap ten was scored just as the only caution of the race came for Jason O'Brien, who stopped at the top of turn four. Following the single file restart format used by the SLMR, Bruening set sail to a comfortable lead. But slower traffic again made things interesting at the lap eighteen mark. It was then that Bruening moved briefly out of the bottom groove, giving Aikey the opening he needed. The veteran then made the decision to tuck in behind the back of the pack, daring Bruening to leave the preferred low line. For his part, Tyler stayed in line, and Aikey cruised to the win. Following Bruening at the checkers, it was Rauen, Thornton Jr., and Kay. Nebraska driver Tad Pospisil led the second five in front of Chris Simpson, Andy Eckrich, Chad Holladay, and Charlie McKenna. Pospisil was the only non Iowan in the top ten. Incredibly, O'Brien was the only one of the twenty six starters not running at the end.
With about five minutes left before our curfew, we headed for the parking lot, more than happy with the pace and presentation of the show. A text as we rolled down the highway let us know that pole sitter Justin Kay took the final checkered flag of the night, capturing the modified main event over Mike Mullen, Richie Gustin, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Jed Freiburger.
Action resumes tonight in Farley, with the late model feature paying a cool $12,000 to win along with the prestige of being a Yankee Dirt Track Classic winner.
Sticking closer to home, I will be heading to season championship night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Six classes of cars will be in action, including late models, mods, stock cars, sport mods, sport compacts and 305 winged sprints, with an adult admission price of only $3.00!
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Hurst First in Deery Return to Quincy
Sunday night, the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models made their first visit to Quincy Raceways since 2011. The long running late model tour visited the " Broadway Bullring " twenty six times beginning in 1998, but not since the track switched to UMP for their late model class. IMCA is still the sanctioning body for the four cylinder Sport Compacts, which were also on the card on Sunday, along with outlaw stock cars, another class that began 2019 with IMCA affiliation before being opened up mid season in hopes of increasing car counts.
Heavy rain on Saturday morning turned the facility into a muddy mess, but the track crew worked all day Sunday to get the .29 mile oval into racing shape, and although it was still challenging conditions, by feature time, there was plenty of action.
Eighteen IMCA late models checked in to do battle, plus one misguided UMP Pro Crate driver who neglected to check the schedule before towing to QR for the first time. Although he was not legal to race, track officials did give him a hot lap session before he headed for home. In addition, eleven stock cars and ten sport compacts rounded out the field.
Stock cars started off the racing action, and things turned ugly in heat one as Michael Larsen lost a drive shaft coming down the front chute and drove off turn one, rolling his #48 as he contacted the pit gate. He was uninjured and would return in a borrowed ride for the feature. Abe Huls captured that ten lapper, while Steve Myers drove his #15 station wagon to the heat two win.
The late models were up next, with outside pole sitter Matt Ryan topping heat one over Joe Zrostlik, QR Hall of Famer Mark Burgtorf in the Lynn Richard #15R, and Ray Raker. Veteran Curt Martin captured the second heat ahead of Tommy Elston, Darrell Defrance ( who has entered all 497 Summer Series races! ), and Jay Johnson. Pole sitter Andy Nezworski led the distance in the final qualifier in front of Matt Strassheim, Joel Callahan and Jeremiah Hurst.
Heat race action wrapped up as rookie Landon Neisen and Dylan Schantz scored sport compact wins.
As track prep work was done, the top twelve late model drivers came to the grandstand side to do the Caseys' pizza box draw for feature starting positions. When the picking and trading was complete, Hurst and Nezworski would be starting in the front row for the forty - shortened to thirty - lap main event.
First, however, it would be twenty laps for the stock cars. The redraw found Beau Taylor and Andy Gaines lining up in row one. Taylor shot to the lead, with row two starter Steve Dieckmann and sixth starting Abe Huls in pursuit. As Taylor continued to lead, Dieckmann and Huls battled for second ahead of a lap five caution. Back under green, Huls went hard into turn one, losing the handle on the #30C , collecting Myers and Cletus Coats. After a trip to the work area, Huls returned to the lineup. As mentioned previously, Michael Larsen jumped in the Pete Stodgell #82, tagged the tail of the feature, then charged to the runner up spot on lap nine. At the same time, Huls headed to the trailer, his night over. Taylor opened a sizable lead, but Larsen began to reel him in, closing on his back bumper with four laps to go. Continuing to hit his marks, Beau picked up his eighth win of 2019 at QR. Larsen crossed in second followed by Dieckmann, Jake Powers, Gaines, Myers, and Coats. However Larsen apparently failed to go to the tech area after the race, and was subsequently disqualified.
It was now late model time. Hurst led the charge into turn one, with Nezworski and fourth starting Martin nipping at his heels. The leaders worked the low line of the speedway ahead of the first yellow for a slowing Elston with nine laps scored. On the restart, Martin, winner of the series race at QR in 1999, decided to look at the high line. He was challenging for the lead, but the top seemed to suddenly " go away, " and by lap sixteen he had fallen to fourth behind Nezworski and Ryan. Although track conditions had improved, there was a treacherous bump off turn two that would sometimes result in the cars bouncing through the hole. A second caution came at lap twenty two as Raker tried to exit the track, only to become mired in the mud in turn one. As the field reset, Hurst was trailing smoke from his Roberts Racing #58. Ryan took advantage of the Delaware restart to vault into second. As the laps wound down, Johnson and Burgtorf, who had both been running outside the top five, decided to give the top side another look. And voila, the idea worked! Johnson moved to third, then tucked back to the low side, while Burgtorf, who knows QR better than anyone, advanced to fourth before the laps ran out. As the checkers waved, Hurst scored the flag to flag win. Ryan came home second, besting Johnson, nine time QR summer series winner Burgtorf, and Nezworski. Callahan led the second five, followed by Martin, Zrostlik, Defrance, and Strassheim.
The final race on the card was the fifteen lap event for the sport compacts. The rookie Neisen paced the opening circuit, with Chance Bailey taking over on lap two. Craig Bangert put his #99B out front as lap four was scored, opening a commanding lead ahead of a debris caution at lap eleven. One more lap was counted before a second and third yellow for more debris. As racing resumed, former track champion Kimberly Abbott charged to second, and as the leaders came to the white flag, she powered to the front. Running the middle line, Kimberly was first to the checkers, besting Bangert, Bailey, Quinton Shelton, and Jared Heule in a Schantz racing #73.
With a lot of hard work under less than ideal conditions, the Quincy Raceways crew was able to offer up a night of racing that wrapped up about 9:15. As always, thanks to Jason Goble and his team for their efforts.
As weekly events begin to wind down, there is still plenty of racing to be had. For me, next weekend is still in the planning stages, although the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series race at the famed West Liberty, Iowa Raceway is on my wish list!
Thanks for reading!
Heavy rain on Saturday morning turned the facility into a muddy mess, but the track crew worked all day Sunday to get the .29 mile oval into racing shape, and although it was still challenging conditions, by feature time, there was plenty of action.
Eighteen IMCA late models checked in to do battle, plus one misguided UMP Pro Crate driver who neglected to check the schedule before towing to QR for the first time. Although he was not legal to race, track officials did give him a hot lap session before he headed for home. In addition, eleven stock cars and ten sport compacts rounded out the field.
Stock cars started off the racing action, and things turned ugly in heat one as Michael Larsen lost a drive shaft coming down the front chute and drove off turn one, rolling his #48 as he contacted the pit gate. He was uninjured and would return in a borrowed ride for the feature. Abe Huls captured that ten lapper, while Steve Myers drove his #15 station wagon to the heat two win.
The late models were up next, with outside pole sitter Matt Ryan topping heat one over Joe Zrostlik, QR Hall of Famer Mark Burgtorf in the Lynn Richard #15R, and Ray Raker. Veteran Curt Martin captured the second heat ahead of Tommy Elston, Darrell Defrance ( who has entered all 497 Summer Series races! ), and Jay Johnson. Pole sitter Andy Nezworski led the distance in the final qualifier in front of Matt Strassheim, Joel Callahan and Jeremiah Hurst.
Heat race action wrapped up as rookie Landon Neisen and Dylan Schantz scored sport compact wins.
As track prep work was done, the top twelve late model drivers came to the grandstand side to do the Caseys' pizza box draw for feature starting positions. When the picking and trading was complete, Hurst and Nezworski would be starting in the front row for the forty - shortened to thirty - lap main event.
First, however, it would be twenty laps for the stock cars. The redraw found Beau Taylor and Andy Gaines lining up in row one. Taylor shot to the lead, with row two starter Steve Dieckmann and sixth starting Abe Huls in pursuit. As Taylor continued to lead, Dieckmann and Huls battled for second ahead of a lap five caution. Back under green, Huls went hard into turn one, losing the handle on the #30C , collecting Myers and Cletus Coats. After a trip to the work area, Huls returned to the lineup. As mentioned previously, Michael Larsen jumped in the Pete Stodgell #82, tagged the tail of the feature, then charged to the runner up spot on lap nine. At the same time, Huls headed to the trailer, his night over. Taylor opened a sizable lead, but Larsen began to reel him in, closing on his back bumper with four laps to go. Continuing to hit his marks, Beau picked up his eighth win of 2019 at QR. Larsen crossed in second followed by Dieckmann, Jake Powers, Gaines, Myers, and Coats. However Larsen apparently failed to go to the tech area after the race, and was subsequently disqualified.
It was now late model time. Hurst led the charge into turn one, with Nezworski and fourth starting Martin nipping at his heels. The leaders worked the low line of the speedway ahead of the first yellow for a slowing Elston with nine laps scored. On the restart, Martin, winner of the series race at QR in 1999, decided to look at the high line. He was challenging for the lead, but the top seemed to suddenly " go away, " and by lap sixteen he had fallen to fourth behind Nezworski and Ryan. Although track conditions had improved, there was a treacherous bump off turn two that would sometimes result in the cars bouncing through the hole. A second caution came at lap twenty two as Raker tried to exit the track, only to become mired in the mud in turn one. As the field reset, Hurst was trailing smoke from his Roberts Racing #58. Ryan took advantage of the Delaware restart to vault into second. As the laps wound down, Johnson and Burgtorf, who had both been running outside the top five, decided to give the top side another look. And voila, the idea worked! Johnson moved to third, then tucked back to the low side, while Burgtorf, who knows QR better than anyone, advanced to fourth before the laps ran out. As the checkers waved, Hurst scored the flag to flag win. Ryan came home second, besting Johnson, nine time QR summer series winner Burgtorf, and Nezworski. Callahan led the second five, followed by Martin, Zrostlik, Defrance, and Strassheim.
The final race on the card was the fifteen lap event for the sport compacts. The rookie Neisen paced the opening circuit, with Chance Bailey taking over on lap two. Craig Bangert put his #99B out front as lap four was scored, opening a commanding lead ahead of a debris caution at lap eleven. One more lap was counted before a second and third yellow for more debris. As racing resumed, former track champion Kimberly Abbott charged to second, and as the leaders came to the white flag, she powered to the front. Running the middle line, Kimberly was first to the checkers, besting Bangert, Bailey, Quinton Shelton, and Jared Heule in a Schantz racing #73.
With a lot of hard work under less than ideal conditions, the Quincy Raceways crew was able to offer up a night of racing that wrapped up about 9:15. As always, thanks to Jason Goble and his team for their efforts.
As weekly events begin to wind down, there is still plenty of racing to be had. For me, next weekend is still in the planning stages, although the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series race at the famed West Liberty, Iowa Raceway is on my wish list!
Thanks for reading!
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