Rain Halts Quincy Action

 A late start to the program and a mid race caution left Quincy Raceways a few laps short of a ( nearly ) complete program on Sunday night as a steady rain shower moved in.
 Stung by a too dry early track the week before and with a stiff southeasterly breeze, the track prep crew gave the racing surface a heavy dose of water on Sunday. But there was no sun to help bake the moisture in, so it took an extra long packing session to render the track race ready. The reward was a smooth, lightning fast surface, but the delay left things minutes short of a complete show.
  The car count increased for the third consecutive week, aided in part by a change to the stock car class. As an experiment, IMCA points for the class were suspended this week, and UMP and USRA street stocks were welcomed to run their individual rules packages against the IMCA regulars. The result was a doubling of the car count to an even dozen, so we will see what the track decides going forward.
 The first feature to run was for the six car IMCA sport compact division. Noticeably absent was Kimberly Abbott, who lost an engine Friday night at Lee County Speedway, and was unable to get any of her  cars ready for Sunday. Defending champion Barry Taft shot to the lap one lead from row two, and led all caution free twelve laps. Dylan Schantz and Alyssa Steele staged a race long battle for second, crossing the line in that order, with rookie Quinton Shelton staying close in fourth.
  The UMP Pro Crate late models were up next, nine cars for twenty laps. By virtue of his heat race victory, Tommy Elston sat on the pole position, flanked by heat two winner Trevor Gundaker. Elston won the race to turn one, ahead of a lap two caution for Jake Dietrich, who left on the hook after contact left him with front end damage. On the restart, point leader Denny Woodworth powered to third, with first time visitor Andy Minett joining the top four one lap later. Elston began to stretch his lead as Gundaker found himself busy holding off Woodworth. The leader hit slower traffic on lap fourteen, but he had no trouble, actually adding to his lead. With no more cautions, Elston cruised to the win, with Gundaker holding back Woodworth for second. Minett drove a steady race in fourth, with Darin Weisinger Jr. completing the top five. Melvin Linder, Laine Vanzandt, and Brandon Queen battled for sixth, crossing the line in that order.
  The stock car eighteen lapper was the race of the night. A full restart was needed when a multi car scrum on the first lap found Pete Stodgell facing the wrong way on the backstretch. Outside polesitter Brandon Rothzen charged ahead with Rudy Zaragoza and third row starter Beau Taylor in hot pursuit. Zaragoza put his UMP car out front on lap five, while Rothzen and Taylor battled side by side for second, Taylor taking the spot on lap eight. Taylor then moved to the lead one lap later, and now it was Zaragoza and Rothzen in a duel for the runner up spot. Taylor had no issues with slower traffic, as Rothzen now followed, but Zaragoza and fourth running Dakota Girard got together with a lapped car, creating a lengthy delay as they ground together. Eventually it was the end of the night for both Zaragoza and Girard. Michael Larsen had been lurking in fifth, and he used the Delaware restart to jump ahead of Rothzen to second, even as the two made contact. As the white flag waved, Rick Girard found his way around Rothzen, and at the checkers it was Taylor ( IMCA ) with his second win of 2019, Larsen ( IMCA ) in second, Girard ( USRA ) third, then Rothzen and Jesse Wegs ( both IMCA ) rounding out the top five.
  The UMP modified class was short on cars this week, with six cars set to go sixteen laps. However, Chris Spalding could not get his #29 to fire as his night ended early. As the green flag waved, polesitter Vance Wilson charged into turn one, sliding up the track while outside row one starter Michael Long dove under him for the lead. Wilson returned the favor in the next set of corners before Long took command on the front stretch. Point leader Dave Weitholder was able to ease past Wilson by lap three, but Long used the clear track to open a straightaway lead as the laps clicked off caution free. At the checkers, it was Long with the easy win, followed by Weitholder, Wilson, and Josh Newman.
 All seventeen IMCA sport modifieds lined up for eighteen laps of action. Outside row one starter Adam Birck paced the first circuit ahead of Tyler Burton, Bobby Six, and row three starter Austen Becerra. Seventh starting Daniel Fellows entered the top four on lap three. By lap six, Birck was in traffic as Fellows and Becerra began a battle for third. As lap eight was scored, Justin Ebbing looped his ride in turn two, bringing out the first caution, with another couple of cars taking evasive action. As things were being sorted out, what had been off and on sprinkles turned to a steady shower, and radar indicated that the rain was now here to stay. It was quickly announced that the race would be suspended, and resumed in two weeks with eight laps scored. When the rain came, it was Birck, Six, Becerra, Fellows, and Tanner Klingele holding the top five spots.
  With only three two person cruisers signed, it had been determined that they would run only a feature, so I am not sure what their fate will be.
  Next Sunday night, the MLRA late models will make their first ever appearance at Quincy Raceways in a $3,000 to win event. Stock cars and sport mods are also on the card. For the Missouri based MLRA series, the event will mark the final night of a four race northern swing, going through Stuart, Davenport, and West Liberty, Iowa before finishing in Quincy. With an eye on the weather, we are hoping to take in as much of the long weekend as we can. And for all you Bobby Pierce fans, as of now, the popular youngster has all four races on his schedule!