Meyers a First Time Winner at Quincy

   Sunday night we were back in familiar territory at Quincy Raceways for weekly racing. All six regular classes were on the card. UMP modifieds are the only cars that use a time trial format, and track points leader Dave Weitholder paced the field with a lap of 14.585 seconds around the .29 mile oval.
  The heat races rolled off quickly, and following intermission, it was go time for the six main events.
  The UMP Pro Crate late models were up first for fifteen laps. Points leader Denny Woodworth picked up the heat race win, earning a pole start for the feature. However, outside row one starter Laine Vanzandt shot to the lead on the high side dominate track. On the fourth lap, Woodworth was able to execute a slide job in turns one and two to grab the lead. He gradually built his lead as the race went caution free. The late model lawyer picked up his fourth feature win at the track in 2019. Vanzandt crossed the stripe in second, but failed post race tech, and was shown in fifth place in the final results. Darin Weisinger was awarded runner up honors, with Cliff Powell scored third and Melvin Linder fourth.
  Weitholder turned his fast qualifying time into a heat race win and a pole position start in the twenty lap feature, with heat two winner Rick Stevenson to his outside. They raced side by side as lap one was scored, with Weitholder ahead by a nose ahead of a lap two caution for newcomer Troy Carter. Back to green flag racing, Weitholder built a big lead, while Stevenson ran well ahead of the race for third. Those advantages were wiped out with a lap eight caution for a spinning Ronnie Yelton. As lap ten was scored, Stevenson ducked to the infield, giving up the runner up spot, continuing what has been a frustrating weekend for the driver of the #77. With Weitholder in control, Frankie Wellman and Kevin Blackburn slugged it out for second. A final caution came with six laps to go, but it was no problem for Weitholder, who led the distance for win number two of the season. Blackburn edged Wellman for second, with Shaun Deering, Josh Newman, and Yelton the only other cars running at the checkers.
  Barry Taft lined up outside row two for the twelve lap, eight car IMCA sport compact main event. Taft was able to split the front row cars to grab the point entering turn one, and the race was now for second. Michael Grossman and Jeffrey Delonjay battled side by side for the spot as the race went caution free. At the checkers it was Taft topping Delonjay, Grossman, the smoking #71 of Kimberly Abbott, and David Prim.
  A dozen cars lined up for the eighteen lap IMCA sport mod event. Austin Poage and Brandon Lambert sat on row one, with Michael Goodwin and Jake Griffin in row two. Griffin was a teenage phenom at QR who moved south to try his hand in select NASCAR events. He had not been behind the wheel for a couple of years, but recently landed a ride in the upcoming NASCAR truck race on the dirt at Eldora Speedway. So he struck a deal with sport mod driver Patrick Profeta to turn some laps in his #20 machine. Jake ran a sport mod heat, removed the rear spoiler and competed in the UMP mod feature, then reattached the spoiler for the sport mod finale.
Before one lap was scored, a jam up in turn one found three cars stopped on the track. Officials decided to use a no fault rule and reset the field. Lambert jumped to the lead as the green flag waved, with Austen Becerra charging from row three to second. Becerra took over the top spot on lap three, while points leader Adam Birck moved to second. Coincidently, Becerra and Birck had been two of the cars coming to a stop in the lap one melee. Birck used the high groove to take the lead just ahead of a lap six caution for debris. Perhaps as a result of the debris, Becerra now ducked to the work area with a flat tire. He was able to rejoin the pack in eleventh position, but another pair of cautions moved him to eighth before another lap was scored. With the time limit now potentially becoming a factor, everyone settled down, even as Lambert, Griffin, and Goodwin staged a three wide battle behind the leader. By the time Griffin took command of second, Birck had checked out to a nearly straightaway lead. Meanwhile, Becerra continued to pick off cars, and on the final circuit he nosed ahead of Griffin for runner up honors behind Birck. Griffin came home third followed by a pair of #14s', Lambert in the #14L, and A J Tournear, #14.
  Outlaw stock cars were up next for fifteen laps. Brandon Savage shot to the early lead from inside row two, while Beau Taylor, Michael Larsen and Steve Dieckmann ran three wide for second. Soon Shane Meyers, who had fallen back after starting in row two, joined the party in fourth. As the race neared halfway, Savage slowed coming out of turn four, pulling to the infield, out of the race. Larsen now assumed the lead, and the suddenly fast Meyers was hot on his tail. Although the high line had been the fast way around all night, the two front runners were glued to the inside line. Meyers, however, found his #15 was able to stick to the groove while Larsen tended to drift ever so slightly towards the middle of the track. As lap twelve was scored, the duo were side by side, but Meyers took over at that point, hanging on for the win. His victory was unique in a couple of ways. One, it was apparently the  first ever feature win for this second generation driver from Mexico, Missouri, and two, his car has a station wagon body, a " grocery getter " as Skip Dunker called it in his victory lane interview. Larsen held on for second in front of Taylor, Dieckmann, and Pete Stodgell.
  With the three car two man cruiser feature lining up, I headed for the car, happy to be headed home before 9:30 following two late nights of racing on Thursday and Friday.
  Next on the calender is a Wednesday night visit to Columbus Junction, Iowa, as the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA late models make their yearly stop at the 4/10 mile fairgrounds facility. Modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars will also be on the card. I would remind anyone heading to this race from my area that at last report, Highway 92 is closed just west of Columbus Junction due to road damage, so an alternate route will be needed. Following my visit to C. J., I will be away from the race track for ten days or so with other commitments.
  Thanks for reading!