Opening Night at Quincy

 Seven days earlier when we pulled in to LaSalle Speedway, the temperature read 37 degrees. This Sunday afternoon as I pulled down pit road for the Quincy Raceways opener, my Equinox registered 78 degrees! Gotta love mid west weather!
  Just a couple of days earlier, it did not look good for Sunday racing, with high percentage chances of steady rains in the Quincy area. And sure enough, the sunny skies turned ominous by feature time, with the dark clouds building to the north. Just as quickly however, the clouds circled past the speedway, settling to the south, giving us a lightning show as track officials hurried the show along.
  Five of the six rotating classes at the track were on the opening night card, with the two man cruiser debut still two weeks away. The car count was surely less than hoped for, but the track held up surprisingly well, even needing an extra dose of water after the first couple of heat races.
  IMCA sport mods were the first to take the feature green. Nathan Bringer jumped to the early lead from the outside pole position, with defending track champ Adam Birck and Austen Becerra charging from row four to second and third one lap later. As those three put distance on the field, Birck and Becerra swapped positions back and forth with Becerra clearing Birck on lap five. Becerra then moved up to challenge Bringer, grabbing the lead on lap seven. Birck followed, nabbing the runner up spot one lap later. As Becerra opened a commanding lead, Tanner Klingele joined the party, moving to third on the eleventh circuit of the eighteen lapper. With the race staying green the entire way, Becerra scored an " easy " win. Birck came home second, followed by Klingele, Bringer, and Bobby Six, sporting a brand new ride with duct tape numbers, while promising a new wrap for next week.
  The IMCA stock cars turned out only four competitors, coming to the track for twelve laps. Michael Larsen set the pace early with heat winner Beau Taylor in pursuit, both running high on the track. Five laps in, Larsen suddenly slowed coming out of turn four, heading to the pits, turning the lead over to Taylor. Just when it looked like Taylor would cruise to the win, he began slowing, while Jesse Weggs began to close the gap. Once again the race went caution free, and Weggs could not quite get close enough to challenge for the win. Taylor picked up the win, but needed assistance from the push truck to get to the scale, then back to his pit. Weggs settled for runner up honors, with Brandon Boden in third.
  Tommy Elston cruised to the win in the UMP Pro Crate heat race, but the fifteen lap feature was a different story. Elston lined up on the pole with Denny Woodworth alongside, and it was Woodworth jumping out to the lap one lead. As the defending track champion began to stretch his lead, his teammate Melvin Linder brought out the first feature yellow with a turn four spin on lap two. The late model lawyer was undeterred, charging out to a comfortable margin as racing resumed. When the checkers waved, Woodworth had a nearly straightaway lead over Elston. Visiting Tucker Finch ran third, with Darin Weisinger Jr. debuting his new late model in fourth. Linder came home in fifth.
  As the lightning flashed, the UMP modifieds came to the track for fifteen laps. Polesitter Ryan Meyer, out of semi retirement with a sharp looking #82M grabbed the lead even as the field stacked up behind him in turns one and two. The yellow waved the next time around as St. Louis area visitor Earl Pryor spun in turn two. 2018 champion Dave Weitholder powered to second on the restart, then slipped around Meyer exiting turn four. As Meyer ran his favored high line, Josh Newman slipped under him for second on lap four. By then Weitholder had a sizable lead, but he looped his #05 in turn four on the fifth curcuit, bringing out the caution. Back under green, it was Newman and Meyer up front while Weitholder seemed stuck in traffic. But he was up to fourth on lap eight, then cleared Pryor for third two laps later. On the twelfth circuit he drove around Meyer for second, but Meyer fought back as the pair ran side by side. Finally Weitholder took the spot, and on the final lap he mounted a challenge for the lead. Coming to the checkers, Newman stayed in the middle of the track and Weitholder was able to generate enough momentum down low to put his nose out front by inches at the line. Following the lead duo, it was Meyer, Pryor, and Chris Spaulding collecting top fives.
  The final event of the night was the twelve lap main for the IMCA sport compacts, with all but one of the nine entrants taking the green. Polesitter and defending champ Barry Taft outran Kimberly Abbott to pace the first lap. Dylan Schantz cleared Abbott and took up the chase one lap later. Kimberly fought back to second on lap three, with Jeffrey Delonjay following in third. Delonjay then took the runner up spot on lap four, while Alyssa Steele grabbed fourth just before the halfway mark. But on lap seven, the Delonjay machine erupted in a ball of flames. While the fire went out quickly, fluid and engine parts were scattered down the front straightaway into turn one, bringing out the red flag. During the delay, Steele needed a push to the work area, and she did not return to the track, while Quinton Shelton was able to make some needed repairs. The final five laps saw Abbott apply heavy pressure to Taft, but she was unable to make the pass. Shelton rebounded to finish third, with David Prim in fourth the final car still running at the checkers.
  With the threatening weather, track officials waved the final checkers just before 8:00.
  Next Sunday night the Sprint Invaders will open their championship season at QR, with the UMP modifieds and IMCA sport compacts also in action. There is also a host of specials mixed in with weekly shows firing up next weekend, and we will keep an eye on the weather forecasts while hoping for our first three race weekend of 2019.