Our four race weekend came to a climax Sunday as the Midwest Late model Racing Association made their first ever visit to Quincy Raceways. Despite a considerable toll on equipment at both Stuart and West Liberty, eighteen cars signed in to do battle on the .29 mile oval, with 16 IMCA sport mods and 13 open stock cars also on hand.
Mother Nature has been no friend to mid western race tracks this spring, and while the bright sunshine on Sunday was a welcome sight, the combination of sun and a steady southerly breeze quickly dried the racing surface resulting in a dusting of the large crowd, especially during heat race action.
As they had all weekend - the scheduled Friday night program at the Davenport, Iowa Speedway was lost to wet conditions - the late model drivers drew for their starting spots in the heat races, with passing points then determining the feature line up. Bobby Pierce was two for two during the weekend swing, so when he came from outside row two to capture the first ten lap heat, it looked like he would be the pole sitter. World of Outlaw series regular Dennis Erb Jr. then led the distance from the pole to win heat two. But it was Lucas Oil series competitor Kyle Bronson coming from row three to claim the third heat, thus earning the pole start for the forty lap headliner, shifting Pierce to the outside of the front row.
The track was given another treatment from the water truck during intermission, then it was feature time. The sport mods were up first for twenty laps, with all sixteen cars making the call. Defending track champion Adam Birck jumped to the lead from his front row start, with Justin Ebbing and Austen Becerra on his heels. The first of eight - unless I missed one!- caution periods came on lap two, and it was downhill from there. Daniel Fellows eventually made his way to second and appeared ready to mount a serious challenge for the lead. However he made contact with Ebbing following a Delaware restart, and as he exited turn four, his steering seemed to fail, as his car made a sharp right turn into the path of Tanner Klingele. The contact sent him spinning towards the front stretch wall, and he was then hit hard by another car, ending up in the wall. While Daniel was uninjured, his car suffered heavy damage. As the cautions piled up and the field dwindled to seven, eventually it became a train race around the high line of the track. With the time limit nearing, the checkers finally waved, with Birck leading the distance to get his first win of 2019. Ebbing took runner up honors, followed by Terry Wilson, Klingele, and Nathan Bringer.
The late models came to the track next with a $3,000 top prize on the line. Missing from the lineup was series points leader Will Vaught. The Crane, Missouri driver, who is the track one lap record holder, suffered a broken crankshaft in his heat race, and was already on the way home by feature time. As the green flag waved, Bronson and Pierce, battled side by side, with Pierce gaining the edge by lap two. With the race staying green, Pierce caught the back of the pack by lap seven, even as third starting Brian Shirley began to apply pressure to Bronson. The high line continued to be the preferred way around the track, but Shirley was forced to work a lower groove. Pierce remained patient in what was now heavy traffic, aided by Bronson and Shirley now preoccupied with each other, as Shirley seemed to have the edge coming off turn four and Bronson charging back in front in turn one. Behind them, Erb was looking for an opening, while another Lucas Oil refugee, Hudson Oneal was working to hold off Logan Martin for fifth. When Bronson attempted to slide in front of the leader on lap sixteen, Shirley was able to move around him for second. With the front four nose to tail, Pierce had his hands full with Joe Gorby clinging to the lead lap running the same line as the leader. With Pierce reluctant to give up the top side in traffic, Shirley made several looks to the inside, pulling alongside the #32 with about ten laps to go. However Pierce used his momentum off the corner to stay out front. Meanwhile Erb slipped around Bronson for third, and Martin cleared Oneal for fifth. Everyone was finally able to catch their breath when the only caution of the race came with just four laps to go. The clear track on the restart was the right medicine for Pierce, and from there he ran the table for the weekend, adding $11,000 to his bank. Shirley and Erb Jr. joined the youngster on the podium, followed by Bronson and Martin. Oneal ran sixth, while Mark Burgtorf scored the highest finish by a " local " driver in seventh. Series points runner up Mitch McGrath, Dewayne Kiefer, and Quincian Jamie Wilson completed the top ten.
As many headed for the exits, a dozen open stock cars lined up for a scheduled eighteen laps. Craig Bangert sat on the pole, but when it was decided that he had jumped the start in violation of a drivers meeting warning, he was sent to the tail. This moved the inside row up one spot, leaving Beau Taylor to pace the field. The slick racing surface along with several newcomers created an unusual number of yellow flags in the division, and track personnel seemed to lose patience early, relegating the cars to a single file restart after four caution periods. Still three more times did the yellow flag fly before the action was called to a halt by the time limit. Taylor scored the flag to flag win, with first time visitor Scott Jordon in second. Jesse Wegs held off newcomer Shane Richardson for third, the top four all racing IMCA cars. The final checkers waved about 8:30.
Random thoughts : Rain outs on the national tours made for unexpected visitors for the final two nights of the mini tour. Oneal, son of late model legend Don Oneal, made the trek to Davenport on Friday, then on to Quincy before heading home to Indiana. Bronson, who calls Florida home, stayed in Illinois, racing Friday in Farmer City and Saturday in Fairbury before heading to Quincy. The trip to QR accomplished multiple goals for the #40B team, as Kyle dates Cierra Pierce, sister of Bobby. After the World of Outlaw Saturday show was lost to weather, Erb Jr. made the long trip from North Carolina to QR before heading home to Carpentersville,Il. Shirley grabbed the checkers Friday at Farmer City, then scored a top three at Fairbury before heading south. Former QR regular Justin Reed, now living in Camp Point, is wheeling a car out of the state of Wisconsin. Justin was scored thirteenth on Sunday. The MLRA will take two weeks off before being a part of the Show Me 100 at their " home track, " in Wheatland, Missouri over the Memorial Day weekend.
Thanks to Jason Goble and crew for a special night of racing.
We will now rest up, regroup, and see where the weather takes us next weekend.
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