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.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
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!
Pierce Invades MARS
After watching the weather forecasts throughout the week, Saturday we headed south for our first visit of 2019 to Ray Marler and Ken Schraders' Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway near Pevely, Missouri. Spring flooding of the nearby stream lasted well into summer, leaving a mess behind, and as a result, it was mid July before any racing took place at the 1/3 mile high banked facility. Having been forced to cancel several high profile shows, Saturday would be the first late model " special " of the season, as the cars and starts of the MARS series stopped by for night number two of a three night swing which began with a Friday stop at nearby Tri City Speedway near Granite City,Illinois and is scheduled to finish off with Sunday racing at the Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, Illinois.
The Saturday card featured a $3,000 winners check for the late models. Joining them on the card were four regular weekly classes, the UMP modifieds, UMP Pro Mods, UMP/AARA Sportsman, and UMP/AARA Pro 4 Stocks. A strong total of 108 cars checked in on a hot and humid Saturday night.
Following hot laps, the action began with time trial qualifying for the late models. Although still over 1/2 second off the track record, surprise entrant Bobby Pierce set a blistering pace of 12.648 seconds on a tacky track that stayed fast and mostly smooth all night long. The appearance by Pierce in the twenty two car field was unexpected, as he had announced on social media that he would be taking the weekend off. With preparations mostly done for next weeks race in Mansfield, Ohio, the team made a last minute decision to load the back up car and head to Pevely.
Setting quick time put Pierce on the pole for heat one, and although his row one mate Rickey Frankel shot to the early lead, Pierce used one of his familiar slide jobs to take the lead and the win over Frankel, Brian Shirley, and series regular David Siebers.
Friday night winner Daryn Klein rolled off from the pole in heat two, leading all ten laps ahead of Spencer Diercks, Michael Kloos, and Dean Carpenter. California driver Jason Papich led the distance in heat three, topping Jason Riggs, Jeff Herzog, and Brent McKinnon.
The fifteen heat races, plus a B main for the Pro Mods clicked off in timely fashion with a total of only four yellow flags and one red flag event.
Feature action started with a twelve lapper for the Pro 4's. All but two of the twenty two competitors took the green flag. Four caution flags slowed the action, with the final one at the lap nine mark resulting in the field being realigned single file. Outside row one starter Anthony Sunshine - what a great name! - grabbed the early lead over pole sitter Joshua Hawkins. While there was plenty of slicing and dicing behind him, Sunshine held on to the top spot throughout to pick up the win. Sixth starting Andrew Dudash, known as " Young Money " came on strong in the closing laps, but settled for second. Hawkins took third, with Morgan Greene in fourth. Fourth starting Aaron Garcia charged to the runner up spot before falling to fifth after a lap eight restart.
All twenty two late models then lined up for thirty laps of racing. With the straight up starting order, Frankel was set to roll off fourth, but he quickly fell to the tail with obvious issues . His car had been trailing a bit of smoke in the closing laps of his heat race, as his nightmare season continued. As the cars formed up for their four wide parade lap, Scott Henseler had a wheel come off his #3 machine. The cars continued to circle the oval until he could make his return. As the green flag waved, Pierce powered to the lead with Klein on his heels. The front pair gained separation from the pack before encountering slower traffic by lap five. As they worked lapped traffic, Klein appeared to make contact with Paul Roider, nearly losing control. Pierce was able to open a commanding lead until the first caution came one lap past halfway, as third running Shirley slowed on the track, his night over. One more lap was scored before Riggs, who was running in seventh slowed to bring out the caution, his run also over. With clean air ahead, Pierce pulled away to a big lead, catching slower traffic by lap twenty one. However the yellow waved again, as fourth running Rusty Griffaw slowed, the victim of a broken crankshaft. With ten laps to go, Pierce again opened a sizable lead, while Klein maintained a healthy distance over the pack in second. As Pierce continued to run up against the concrete wall, perhaps even making light contact at one point, the white flag flew and the checkers was displayed. It appeared the race was over, as even one of the photographers jumped over the wall onto the track. However it was determined that the caution had come out ahead of the checkers, and the field was formed from the last fully completed lap, leaving us with a green, white, checkers finish. Controversy was avoided as Pierce clicked off the final pair of laps for a dominant wire to wire win. Klein continued his strong weekend with runner up honors, while Papich claimed third in front of Diercks and Kloos. Track regulars Kenny Rumble, Herzog, and Tim Ratajcyyk ( pronounced Ratacheck) were next, with MLRA regular Joe Gorby in ninth and MARS regular Carpenter completing the top ten.
It was now south of 10:00 PM, so we reluctantly headed for the car and the three hour drive home as the Pro Mods waited on the track for the post race interviews to end. Checking results, I see that first heat winner and pole sitter Tim Hancock Sr. captured the event. Rick Conoyer came from row two to top an outstanding field of modifieds, while Chris Soutiea ( pronounced Sooshay ) also started fourth and was the Sportsman victor.
It was an outstanding night of racing at I-55, and although there was some delay between races, due mainly to the placement of the scales in the infield, the large number of cars simply made for a long night of action.
It looks as though the weatherman may play nice today after all, so I will soon be heading for Quincy Raceways where the IMCA Deery Brothers late models will make a long awaited return, supported by outlaw stock cars and IMCA sport compacts. Hope to see you there!
The Saturday card featured a $3,000 winners check for the late models. Joining them on the card were four regular weekly classes, the UMP modifieds, UMP Pro Mods, UMP/AARA Sportsman, and UMP/AARA Pro 4 Stocks. A strong total of 108 cars checked in on a hot and humid Saturday night.
Following hot laps, the action began with time trial qualifying for the late models. Although still over 1/2 second off the track record, surprise entrant Bobby Pierce set a blistering pace of 12.648 seconds on a tacky track that stayed fast and mostly smooth all night long. The appearance by Pierce in the twenty two car field was unexpected, as he had announced on social media that he would be taking the weekend off. With preparations mostly done for next weeks race in Mansfield, Ohio, the team made a last minute decision to load the back up car and head to Pevely.
Setting quick time put Pierce on the pole for heat one, and although his row one mate Rickey Frankel shot to the early lead, Pierce used one of his familiar slide jobs to take the lead and the win over Frankel, Brian Shirley, and series regular David Siebers.
Friday night winner Daryn Klein rolled off from the pole in heat two, leading all ten laps ahead of Spencer Diercks, Michael Kloos, and Dean Carpenter. California driver Jason Papich led the distance in heat three, topping Jason Riggs, Jeff Herzog, and Brent McKinnon.
The fifteen heat races, plus a B main for the Pro Mods clicked off in timely fashion with a total of only four yellow flags and one red flag event.
Feature action started with a twelve lapper for the Pro 4's. All but two of the twenty two competitors took the green flag. Four caution flags slowed the action, with the final one at the lap nine mark resulting in the field being realigned single file. Outside row one starter Anthony Sunshine - what a great name! - grabbed the early lead over pole sitter Joshua Hawkins. While there was plenty of slicing and dicing behind him, Sunshine held on to the top spot throughout to pick up the win. Sixth starting Andrew Dudash, known as " Young Money " came on strong in the closing laps, but settled for second. Hawkins took third, with Morgan Greene in fourth. Fourth starting Aaron Garcia charged to the runner up spot before falling to fifth after a lap eight restart.
All twenty two late models then lined up for thirty laps of racing. With the straight up starting order, Frankel was set to roll off fourth, but he quickly fell to the tail with obvious issues . His car had been trailing a bit of smoke in the closing laps of his heat race, as his nightmare season continued. As the cars formed up for their four wide parade lap, Scott Henseler had a wheel come off his #3 machine. The cars continued to circle the oval until he could make his return. As the green flag waved, Pierce powered to the lead with Klein on his heels. The front pair gained separation from the pack before encountering slower traffic by lap five. As they worked lapped traffic, Klein appeared to make contact with Paul Roider, nearly losing control. Pierce was able to open a commanding lead until the first caution came one lap past halfway, as third running Shirley slowed on the track, his night over. One more lap was scored before Riggs, who was running in seventh slowed to bring out the caution, his run also over. With clean air ahead, Pierce pulled away to a big lead, catching slower traffic by lap twenty one. However the yellow waved again, as fourth running Rusty Griffaw slowed, the victim of a broken crankshaft. With ten laps to go, Pierce again opened a sizable lead, while Klein maintained a healthy distance over the pack in second. As Pierce continued to run up against the concrete wall, perhaps even making light contact at one point, the white flag flew and the checkers was displayed. It appeared the race was over, as even one of the photographers jumped over the wall onto the track. However it was determined that the caution had come out ahead of the checkers, and the field was formed from the last fully completed lap, leaving us with a green, white, checkers finish. Controversy was avoided as Pierce clicked off the final pair of laps for a dominant wire to wire win. Klein continued his strong weekend with runner up honors, while Papich claimed third in front of Diercks and Kloos. Track regulars Kenny Rumble, Herzog, and Tim Ratajcyyk ( pronounced Ratacheck) were next, with MLRA regular Joe Gorby in ninth and MARS regular Carpenter completing the top ten.
It was now south of 10:00 PM, so we reluctantly headed for the car and the three hour drive home as the Pro Mods waited on the track for the post race interviews to end. Checking results, I see that first heat winner and pole sitter Tim Hancock Sr. captured the event. Rick Conoyer came from row two to top an outstanding field of modifieds, while Chris Soutiea ( pronounced Sooshay ) also started fourth and was the Sportsman victor.
It was an outstanding night of racing at I-55, and although there was some delay between races, due mainly to the placement of the scales in the infield, the large number of cars simply made for a long night of action.
It looks as though the weatherman may play nice today after all, so I will soon be heading for Quincy Raceways where the IMCA Deery Brothers late models will make a long awaited return, supported by outlaw stock cars and IMCA sport compacts. Hope to see you there!
Monday, August 12, 2019
Ryan Claims Deery Dollars
Sunday night I made my first 2019 visit to the Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Illinois. With the threat of rain throughout the mid west, there was still a full pit area of just shy of one hundred cars at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds 1/4 mile as well as a nice crowd in the grandstands. The featured attraction was the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models, with IMCA modifieds and sport mods, along with street stocks, four cylinders, and mod lites on the card.
Upon our arrival, it was obvious that the track had received quite a bit of rain, and the prep crew was hard at work trying to get the surface race ready. In fact, the Dralle - Aikey late model team elected to load up and head down the road even as the drivers meeting was taking place. While the infield was a treacherous place, the track was ready to go just minutes after the scheduled start time.
The racing surface had a lot of " character " during heat race action, but even then the track crew kept trying to improve conditions. They then used the intermission to rework the dirt even as the late model Caseys pizza box redraw was going on, and there was multi groove racing in the main events.
The first feature on the card was a fifteen lapper for the dozen street stocks on hand. After a false start, Roger Rickets used his pole start to jump to the lead, opening about a six car length advantage. Just before the half way mark, sixth starting Cary Brown took over the second spot, quickly running down the leader as they raced side by side as lap eight was scored. Brown took over the top spot on lap ten, with Rick Schriner tagging along in second. As flag man Doug Haack prepared to show the " two to go " sign, he instead had to flip on the yellow light for a spinning car. The field was realigned in Delaware formation with three laps still to go. One more lap was scored before a final caution period. Brown was not to be deterred however, taking the win over Schriner, Jesse Owen, Rickets, and Jeffery Peterson.
Next it was fifteen laps for the sport mods, with all but one making the call. Heat one winner Josh Marth shot to the early lead from his pole position with third starting Steven Spiker trailing. The first caution came for a multi car spin on lap three. As the field was reset, eleventh starting Jason Bahrs had been running sixth but was now in fourth. Bahrs, who has driven just about every class at the track, moved briefly to third, then fell back to fourth ahead of another quick yellow. Back to green, row four starter Joe Grant powered to second while ninth starting Keith Blum entered the top five. Bahrs again took third at mid race as the leaders all searched the inside line around the track. With five circuits to go, Marth began to fade out of contention, with Grant and Bahrs gaining separation on the field. Three laps remained, and the yellow waved again, as a jam up on the restart eliminated Spiker, who was apparently displeased with Bahrs. On the final Delaware restart, Chane Houston charged to second, but Grant held on for the victory. Bahrs rolled home in third in front of C J Durbin and Blum.
The late models had been scheduled last in the running order all night long. After some conversation it was announced that they would run third in heat race action, but would still be the last feature. Sometime after I left the pit area, an agreement was apparently reached that would also move their feature up, while the scheduled forty laps would also be cut by ten. So all twenty two heat race starters came to the grid. When Justin Kay wound up with the number one pizza box he had to be considered the favorite, especially if he could use the preferred inside line to out run his front row mate Andy Nezworski to turn one. But as they say, that is why we race 'em!
Justin did indeed win the drag race to turn one, even as sixth starting Tommy Elston decided to take a look up top. With Elston moving to third in turns three and four of lap two, eighth starting Brian Harris also moved to the high side, jumping to fourth. Following a lap three yellow for a Tegan Evans spin, Elston took over the runner up spot. Seven laps in, Elston had fallen to fourth, but as the leaders exited turn four, the now second running Nezworski suddenly slowed and tried to pull to the infield. Trapped behind, Elston attempted to drive under the #7 , but contact sent Elstons ride into the air, slamming down hard and spinning sideways. As the yellow waved, both Nezworski and Elston were done for the night. It was now Harris taking up the chase, staying with the top groove while Kay remained glued to the bottom. Meanwhile, row seven starter Andy Eckrich found himself in third, while Lake Knutti and eleventh starting Curt Martin filled out the top five. The high line around the oval continued to come in, and Harris grabbed the lead about lap ten while Martin charged to third. Kay headed to the infield at lap eleven, his night over. With Martin now in second, he continued to close on Harris, running the short way around the track. As the crossed flags signaled the halfway mark, the caution came out again for Evans. Fourteen cars remained on the track as a debris caution came at lap eighteen. Harris had been a rocket off turn two, but Martin was quicker down low coming off turn four, so following the restart, Harris dropped to the inside line in three and four. With ten circuits left, Martin grabbed the lead,and Harris slowed, possibly with a tire down. A mix up on the restart jammed up the field, with Jeremiah Hurst winding up behind the wrecker as he showed unhappiness with Martin. Eleven cars remained, and series rookie Brandt Cole put the #35C in second on the restart. Martin now found himself with a flat rear tire, and he began to fall back in the top five, while Cole, Eckrich, and twelfth starting Matt Ryan drove around him. After a couple of laps, the black flag was shown to Martin, but he continued on the track. Then as the flag man was reaching for the white flag, Martin stopped in turn one with the yellow flying one last time. As the field formed for a green, white, checkers finish, Martin quickly changed tires and rejoined the field. Ryan now knew it was time to go, and he jumped to the outside line, blowing past the leader to lead the lap that counted! Cole was a dark horse who parlayed a heat race win into an unlikely runner up finish. Eckrich settled for third, while Knutti ran a strong fourth. Joel Callahan gained eleven spots to complete the top five. Late model rookie Dalton Simonsen ran sixth in front of twenty second starter Mike Guldenpfennig, and Eric Sanders. David Norton was credited with ninth while Martin was scored tenth even though he lead Norton across the stripe.
With the four cylinders lining up for twelve laps and the clock ticking past 9:30, we headed for the car. Reports this morning show Nick Proehl bested Travis Hawkins for the win, while Michael Dominquez topped Mike Morrow in the mod lite main. The IMCA modified finale was pushed to next week, possibly due to time constraints.
Thanks to the QCS staff for their hospitality and as always to Summer Series front man Kevin Yoder for his help.
The IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series will be in my back yard next Sunday with a long awaited return to Quincy Raceways. While I have an outside commitment on Friday, there are several good choices for Saturday night, so maybe we will see each other Racin' Down the Road!
Upon our arrival, it was obvious that the track had received quite a bit of rain, and the prep crew was hard at work trying to get the surface race ready. In fact, the Dralle - Aikey late model team elected to load up and head down the road even as the drivers meeting was taking place. While the infield was a treacherous place, the track was ready to go just minutes after the scheduled start time.
The racing surface had a lot of " character " during heat race action, but even then the track crew kept trying to improve conditions. They then used the intermission to rework the dirt even as the late model Caseys pizza box redraw was going on, and there was multi groove racing in the main events.
The first feature on the card was a fifteen lapper for the dozen street stocks on hand. After a false start, Roger Rickets used his pole start to jump to the lead, opening about a six car length advantage. Just before the half way mark, sixth starting Cary Brown took over the second spot, quickly running down the leader as they raced side by side as lap eight was scored. Brown took over the top spot on lap ten, with Rick Schriner tagging along in second. As flag man Doug Haack prepared to show the " two to go " sign, he instead had to flip on the yellow light for a spinning car. The field was realigned in Delaware formation with three laps still to go. One more lap was scored before a final caution period. Brown was not to be deterred however, taking the win over Schriner, Jesse Owen, Rickets, and Jeffery Peterson.
Next it was fifteen laps for the sport mods, with all but one making the call. Heat one winner Josh Marth shot to the early lead from his pole position with third starting Steven Spiker trailing. The first caution came for a multi car spin on lap three. As the field was reset, eleventh starting Jason Bahrs had been running sixth but was now in fourth. Bahrs, who has driven just about every class at the track, moved briefly to third, then fell back to fourth ahead of another quick yellow. Back to green, row four starter Joe Grant powered to second while ninth starting Keith Blum entered the top five. Bahrs again took third at mid race as the leaders all searched the inside line around the track. With five circuits to go, Marth began to fade out of contention, with Grant and Bahrs gaining separation on the field. Three laps remained, and the yellow waved again, as a jam up on the restart eliminated Spiker, who was apparently displeased with Bahrs. On the final Delaware restart, Chane Houston charged to second, but Grant held on for the victory. Bahrs rolled home in third in front of C J Durbin and Blum.
The late models had been scheduled last in the running order all night long. After some conversation it was announced that they would run third in heat race action, but would still be the last feature. Sometime after I left the pit area, an agreement was apparently reached that would also move their feature up, while the scheduled forty laps would also be cut by ten. So all twenty two heat race starters came to the grid. When Justin Kay wound up with the number one pizza box he had to be considered the favorite, especially if he could use the preferred inside line to out run his front row mate Andy Nezworski to turn one. But as they say, that is why we race 'em!
Justin did indeed win the drag race to turn one, even as sixth starting Tommy Elston decided to take a look up top. With Elston moving to third in turns three and four of lap two, eighth starting Brian Harris also moved to the high side, jumping to fourth. Following a lap three yellow for a Tegan Evans spin, Elston took over the runner up spot. Seven laps in, Elston had fallen to fourth, but as the leaders exited turn four, the now second running Nezworski suddenly slowed and tried to pull to the infield. Trapped behind, Elston attempted to drive under the #7 , but contact sent Elstons ride into the air, slamming down hard and spinning sideways. As the yellow waved, both Nezworski and Elston were done for the night. It was now Harris taking up the chase, staying with the top groove while Kay remained glued to the bottom. Meanwhile, row seven starter Andy Eckrich found himself in third, while Lake Knutti and eleventh starting Curt Martin filled out the top five. The high line around the oval continued to come in, and Harris grabbed the lead about lap ten while Martin charged to third. Kay headed to the infield at lap eleven, his night over. With Martin now in second, he continued to close on Harris, running the short way around the track. As the crossed flags signaled the halfway mark, the caution came out again for Evans. Fourteen cars remained on the track as a debris caution came at lap eighteen. Harris had been a rocket off turn two, but Martin was quicker down low coming off turn four, so following the restart, Harris dropped to the inside line in three and four. With ten circuits left, Martin grabbed the lead,and Harris slowed, possibly with a tire down. A mix up on the restart jammed up the field, with Jeremiah Hurst winding up behind the wrecker as he showed unhappiness with Martin. Eleven cars remained, and series rookie Brandt Cole put the #35C in second on the restart. Martin now found himself with a flat rear tire, and he began to fall back in the top five, while Cole, Eckrich, and twelfth starting Matt Ryan drove around him. After a couple of laps, the black flag was shown to Martin, but he continued on the track. Then as the flag man was reaching for the white flag, Martin stopped in turn one with the yellow flying one last time. As the field formed for a green, white, checkers finish, Martin quickly changed tires and rejoined the field. Ryan now knew it was time to go, and he jumped to the outside line, blowing past the leader to lead the lap that counted! Cole was a dark horse who parlayed a heat race win into an unlikely runner up finish. Eckrich settled for third, while Knutti ran a strong fourth. Joel Callahan gained eleven spots to complete the top five. Late model rookie Dalton Simonsen ran sixth in front of twenty second starter Mike Guldenpfennig, and Eric Sanders. David Norton was credited with ninth while Martin was scored tenth even though he lead Norton across the stripe.
With the four cylinders lining up for twelve laps and the clock ticking past 9:30, we headed for the car. Reports this morning show Nick Proehl bested Travis Hawkins for the win, while Michael Dominquez topped Mike Morrow in the mod lite main. The IMCA modified finale was pushed to next week, possibly due to time constraints.
Thanks to the QCS staff for their hospitality and as always to Summer Series front man Kevin Yoder for his help.
The IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series will be in my back yard next Sunday with a long awaited return to Quincy Raceways. While I have an outside commitment on Friday, there are several good choices for Saturday night, so maybe we will see each other Racin' Down the Road!
Monday, August 5, 2019
Woodworth,Weitholder,Larsen,Birck,Becerra, Taft Tops at Quincy
Sunday night we wrapped up our three race weekend with a visit to Quincy Raceways. Following hot laps and UMP modified qualifying, the night began with a make up IMCA sport mod feature event from a rain out two weeks prior. Eight of the fourteen sport mods signed in were eligible for the race, which was set at fourteen laps. Following three early yellow flags, race leader Austen Becerra began to click off the laps. But as lap seven was scored, he spun on the front stretch, a mechanical issue ending his run. Points leader Adam Birck then inherited the lead, holding on for the remaining laps to pick up his second win this weekend at the track after topping the sport mods on Saturday during an appearance by the Iowa Sprint League traveling series. Michael Goodwin, Brandon Symmonds, Brandon Lambert, and Kelly Bartz also scored top five finishes.
Heat race action and a brief intermission brought us to feature racing for the five divisions on hand.
Nine IMCA sport compacts were up first for a dozen laps. An impromptu crowd fund bounty on Barry Taft generated $90.00 for a driver who could out run the #57. Pole sitter Isaiah Penton shot to the lead as Taft, Kimberly Abbott, and Dylan Schantz raced three wide for second. A lap two caution cleared the way for Taft to grab the lead on the restart, with Abbott coming along in second. From there, Barry cruised to the win. Penton came back to edge Abbott at the line for second, while David Prim and Schantz recored top fives. Taft was awarded $20.00 of the bounty for his win.
The outlaw stock cars drew an interesting mix of drivers in their
(season high?) fourteen car field. IMCA, UMP, USRA were all represented, as well as three refugees from the defunct two person cruiser class. The top six cars might have fit under a large comforter before row three starter Michael Larsen took command at lap six. With the first caution waving with those six laps scored, Larsen led Brandon Savage and Beau Taylor on the restart. Taylor slipped around his brother in law Savage after a lap ten yellow, but when the caution waved again with four to go, Taylor got shuffled back on the restart, falling to fifth. One final caution at lap fifteen resulted in a single file restart. Larsen was hooked up on the high side, and hit his marks each time to also repeat a Saturday night win. Savage rebounded from a disappointing DNF Friday at Lee County Speedway to grab runner up honors, trailed by Jake Powers, Taylor, and Steve Dieckmann, the top finishing non IMCA car.
Only four UMP Pro Crate late models signed in to race, so they contested a fifteen lap feature. Denny Woodworth survived a pair of early cautions to take a flag to flag win. Chuck Mitchell ran second in his #75C, followed by Melvin Linder and Darin Weisinger Jr.
Dave Weitholder was the winner of heat one for the UMP modifieds, and he lined up on the pole of the twenty lap feature next to heat two winner Craig Spegal. All but one of the fourteen entrants took the green flag. Weitholder shot to the lead, and following two early cautions, fourth starting Rick Stevenson climbed to second. The leader was hard at work riding the cushion, when Stevenson showed his nose on the low side of turn one. After a lap six caution, Weitholder then changed his line, running a middle groove down the chutes and dropping low in the turns. Kevin Blackburn decided to take a run at the cushion, closing within striking of the front duo before dropping back. Cautions at laps fourteen and seventeen produced single file restarts, and Weitholder held off Stevenson for a flag to flag win. He celebrated in victory lane with wife Tanya on their twenty fourth wedding anniversary! Third place went to Blackburn, followed by veteran Steve Grotz and fast qualifier Frankie Wellman.
The final race of the night was the regularly scheduled eighteen lapper for the IMCA sport mods. Outside row one starter Tyler Burton paced the opening circuit ahead of a caution period. Fifth starting Becerra took over the lead as action resumed. Birck began his run in row four, powering to third on lap three, and second one lap later. Jake Griffin, back from competing in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, was wheeling the Patrick Profeta #20 machine again. Unfortunately, starter issues forced Jake to be push started from staging, and he had to forfeit his row four position to start at the back of the field. By lap seven, Griffin was in the top five. Becerra hit slower traffic at lap ten, but continued to stretch his lead. While working lapped traffic at lap fourteen, Birck suddenly spun, stopping between turns one and two, effectively ending his chance at a three peat. Griffin had been running fourth, and now lined up in the row behind the leader in the Delaware format. Becerra was not to be denied, however, as he picked up the win. Griffin was second, while Goodwin finished up a solid night in third. Burton and Reed Wolfmeyer completed the top five.
The final checkers waved at about 10:00. Thanks to Jason and the gang for a good night of racing.
Quincy Raceways will host a regular night of racing next Sunday, then the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models make a long awaited return on August 18. Both Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway are idle next weekend, but there is plenty of "Racin' Down the Road," including a little event known as the Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals!
Heat race action and a brief intermission brought us to feature racing for the five divisions on hand.
Nine IMCA sport compacts were up first for a dozen laps. An impromptu crowd fund bounty on Barry Taft generated $90.00 for a driver who could out run the #57. Pole sitter Isaiah Penton shot to the lead as Taft, Kimberly Abbott, and Dylan Schantz raced three wide for second. A lap two caution cleared the way for Taft to grab the lead on the restart, with Abbott coming along in second. From there, Barry cruised to the win. Penton came back to edge Abbott at the line for second, while David Prim and Schantz recored top fives. Taft was awarded $20.00 of the bounty for his win.
The outlaw stock cars drew an interesting mix of drivers in their
(season high?) fourteen car field. IMCA, UMP, USRA were all represented, as well as three refugees from the defunct two person cruiser class. The top six cars might have fit under a large comforter before row three starter Michael Larsen took command at lap six. With the first caution waving with those six laps scored, Larsen led Brandon Savage and Beau Taylor on the restart. Taylor slipped around his brother in law Savage after a lap ten yellow, but when the caution waved again with four to go, Taylor got shuffled back on the restart, falling to fifth. One final caution at lap fifteen resulted in a single file restart. Larsen was hooked up on the high side, and hit his marks each time to also repeat a Saturday night win. Savage rebounded from a disappointing DNF Friday at Lee County Speedway to grab runner up honors, trailed by Jake Powers, Taylor, and Steve Dieckmann, the top finishing non IMCA car.
Only four UMP Pro Crate late models signed in to race, so they contested a fifteen lap feature. Denny Woodworth survived a pair of early cautions to take a flag to flag win. Chuck Mitchell ran second in his #75C, followed by Melvin Linder and Darin Weisinger Jr.
Dave Weitholder was the winner of heat one for the UMP modifieds, and he lined up on the pole of the twenty lap feature next to heat two winner Craig Spegal. All but one of the fourteen entrants took the green flag. Weitholder shot to the lead, and following two early cautions, fourth starting Rick Stevenson climbed to second. The leader was hard at work riding the cushion, when Stevenson showed his nose on the low side of turn one. After a lap six caution, Weitholder then changed his line, running a middle groove down the chutes and dropping low in the turns. Kevin Blackburn decided to take a run at the cushion, closing within striking of the front duo before dropping back. Cautions at laps fourteen and seventeen produced single file restarts, and Weitholder held off Stevenson for a flag to flag win. He celebrated in victory lane with wife Tanya on their twenty fourth wedding anniversary! Third place went to Blackburn, followed by veteran Steve Grotz and fast qualifier Frankie Wellman.
The final race of the night was the regularly scheduled eighteen lapper for the IMCA sport mods. Outside row one starter Tyler Burton paced the opening circuit ahead of a caution period. Fifth starting Becerra took over the lead as action resumed. Birck began his run in row four, powering to third on lap three, and second one lap later. Jake Griffin, back from competing in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, was wheeling the Patrick Profeta #20 machine again. Unfortunately, starter issues forced Jake to be push started from staging, and he had to forfeit his row four position to start at the back of the field. By lap seven, Griffin was in the top five. Becerra hit slower traffic at lap ten, but continued to stretch his lead. While working lapped traffic at lap fourteen, Birck suddenly spun, stopping between turns one and two, effectively ending his chance at a three peat. Griffin had been running fourth, and now lined up in the row behind the leader in the Delaware format. Becerra was not to be denied, however, as he picked up the win. Griffin was second, while Goodwin finished up a solid night in third. Burton and Reed Wolfmeyer completed the top five.
The final checkers waved at about 10:00. Thanks to Jason and the gang for a good night of racing.
Quincy Raceways will host a regular night of racing next Sunday, then the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series late models make a long awaited return on August 18. Both Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway are idle next weekend, but there is plenty of "Racin' Down the Road," including a little event known as the Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals!
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Hurst the Comeback Kid at 34
Saturday evening we headed for 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa with IMCA late models receiving top billing in a draw/redraw event with a $1,000 top prize on the line. While the weekly IMCA tracks point season is complete for late models, the other sanctioned classes in action, including modifieds, sport mods, and sport compacts were running their regular point invert rules. In addition, 305 winged sprint cars, a popular attraction at the high banked 3/8 mile facility were also in action. It was High 5 for Kids night, with 83 bikes, 25 scooters, school supplies, and various other gifts for the throng of youngsters on hand. I could not help but wonder how many of these kids had been to a race track before last night, and hoping just a few might get hooked on racing in the way I did as a four or five year old attending my first race!
Seventy cars across the five divisions signed in, with the late models leading the way with nineteen competitors. In addition, a pair of vintage cars did some hot lapping/racing during the evening.
With heat races in the books, the IMCA sport mods led off the features, twelve strong for fifteen laps. As is too often the case with the sport mods, "yellow fever" dominated the event, with a total of five caution periods interrupting the race, four coming in the first five laps resulting in the field be realigned single file for the next restart. Ron Kibbe started on the outside pole, and quickly established himself as the man to beat. Following each restart, he pulled away to a comfortable lead. Pole sitter Colton Livezey gave chase, as row five starter Sean Wyatt steadily worked his way through the pack. Following a final caution at lap eleven, Wyatt took over the runner up spot, but fell short in his attempt to make it two wins in two nights after his Friday victory in Donnellson. It was an excited Kibbe with the win, with Wyatt, Livezey, Kevin Goben, and Adam Shelman completing the top five.
The 305 winged sprints, perhaps the most popular class at 34, came to the track next, with sixteen cars racing for twenty laps. Dan Keltner shot to the lead from his pole position, taking along his row one mate, Brayden Gaylord. Following a pair of lap two cautions, the front pair drove nose to tail away from the field. With slower traffic coming in to play at lap eight, Keltner was able to put some distance on Gaylord, but a caution at lap ten brought the pack back to the leader. Back to racing, Keltner again stretched his lead, but the race was red flagged at lap fourteen when Nick Guernsey came to a stop off turn two when he was splashed with hot water from his #7 machine. After being checked out, Nick was deemed to be okay, and racing resumed. Behind the leader, Gaylord, Tanner Gebhardt, and Wyatt Wilkerson were engaged in a close battle, and when Wilkerson tried to find a high line around Gaylord coming off turn two, he ran out of real estate, spinning into the boundary tire marking the entrance to the pit area, bringing out one final caution. He was able to restart at the back of the field for the final three laps. As lap eighteen was scored, Gebhardt headed to the pits, his top three run over. As the checkers waved, it was Keltner with a flag to flag win. Gaylord took the runner up spot, with Justin Parrish starting seventh and finishing third in front of row three starter Daniel Berquist. Wilkerson passed a half dozen or so cars in the closing laps to score the fifth position.
Ten IMCA modifieds were up next for fifteen laps. Chris Zogg started outside row one, leading the first circuit over row two starters John Oliver Jr., and Dennis Laveine. There was a treacherous spot high on the cushion between turns three and four, and twice in the early laps, Oliver found himself sucked into the concrete barrier, falling to fourth after contact on lap six. By the time the modified rookie made his way back to second, Zogg had opened a commanding lead. However, a lap ten spin by Tyler Smith wiped out Zoggs' adavantage. Back under green, Oliver again tagged the wall, this time losing several positions. Another spin by Smith set up a green, white, checkers finish, and although Laveine was able to pull alongside the leader, he was unable to complete the pass. Zogg took the hard fought win in front of Laveine and Newton, Iowa driver Ethan Braaksma. Veteran Dean McGee edged Jeff Waterman for the fourth spot.
Thirteen IMCA sport compacts made the call for their twelve lap feature. The only caution of the race came for debris on lap one. Adam Christy held the top spot after starting outside row one, with Jason Ash battling alongside, and Barry Taft looking to join the party in third. With Ash taking over the lead, Christy and Taft now fought for second, with Barry taking over at lap nine. But the race belonged to Ash, who took the checkers ahead of Taft, Christy, Jerrod Nichols in the pink pig, and Cody Bowman.
The final race of the night was the IMCA late model headliner. All nineteen cars made the call to battle for twenty five laps. Jeremiah Hurst redrew the pole position after winning the second heat, while John Emerson, again driving the Richie Gustin #19G, sat alongside. Hurst was trying to erase the memory of Friday, when he was leading the first heat at Donnellson only to have his car die, ending his night. Hurst and Emerson paced the field through the early laps, with Matt Ryan, Chad Holladay, and Matt Strasshein lurking in the top five. With the leaders catching the back of the pack, the first caution came just before halfway, as Ray Raker stopped off turn two. One more lap was scored before a caution for a spin by late model rookie Jared Miller. As racing resumed, row six starters Tommy Elston, and Mark Burgtorf, behind the wheel of the Lynn Richard #15R, began to ease through the field. On lap fifteen, Strassheim moved to fourth as Ryan found the problem spot in turns three and four. Lap nineteen saw a final caution, as modified driver Damion Stewart, driving a car from the Nick Marolf stable, went for a spin. As Strassheim began to have issues with his #41, Holladay was now the man on the move, as he took the runner up spot following the Delaware restart and began applying heavy pressure to Hurst. The veteran duo raced door to door on the final lap, but Jeremiah used his top side momentum to arrive first at the stripe, taking a flag to flag but still hard fought win. Holladay settled for second, besting Emerson and Ryan. Sam Halstead crossed the line in fifth, but apparently failed to stop at the tech area, resulting in a disqualification. This moved Elston to fifth, with the remainder of the top ten going to Burgtorf, Jay Johnson, Marolf, Brandon Queen, and Darrell Defrance. It was a nice comeback for Queen, who started in row seven after exiting his heat race when a radiator hose blew on his #12, spewing water and steam over the track.
As Hurst headed to victory lane, we were treated to a quick and colorful fireworks display, courtesy of J & M! Thanks to Jessi and Brad for a fun filled Saturday night at 34 Raceway.
Tonight we will cap off our three night weekend in our usual perch at Quincy Raceways., as five classes of cars will be in competition.
Thanks for reading!
Seventy cars across the five divisions signed in, with the late models leading the way with nineteen competitors. In addition, a pair of vintage cars did some hot lapping/racing during the evening.
With heat races in the books, the IMCA sport mods led off the features, twelve strong for fifteen laps. As is too often the case with the sport mods, "yellow fever" dominated the event, with a total of five caution periods interrupting the race, four coming in the first five laps resulting in the field be realigned single file for the next restart. Ron Kibbe started on the outside pole, and quickly established himself as the man to beat. Following each restart, he pulled away to a comfortable lead. Pole sitter Colton Livezey gave chase, as row five starter Sean Wyatt steadily worked his way through the pack. Following a final caution at lap eleven, Wyatt took over the runner up spot, but fell short in his attempt to make it two wins in two nights after his Friday victory in Donnellson. It was an excited Kibbe with the win, with Wyatt, Livezey, Kevin Goben, and Adam Shelman completing the top five.
The 305 winged sprints, perhaps the most popular class at 34, came to the track next, with sixteen cars racing for twenty laps. Dan Keltner shot to the lead from his pole position, taking along his row one mate, Brayden Gaylord. Following a pair of lap two cautions, the front pair drove nose to tail away from the field. With slower traffic coming in to play at lap eight, Keltner was able to put some distance on Gaylord, but a caution at lap ten brought the pack back to the leader. Back to racing, Keltner again stretched his lead, but the race was red flagged at lap fourteen when Nick Guernsey came to a stop off turn two when he was splashed with hot water from his #7 machine. After being checked out, Nick was deemed to be okay, and racing resumed. Behind the leader, Gaylord, Tanner Gebhardt, and Wyatt Wilkerson were engaged in a close battle, and when Wilkerson tried to find a high line around Gaylord coming off turn two, he ran out of real estate, spinning into the boundary tire marking the entrance to the pit area, bringing out one final caution. He was able to restart at the back of the field for the final three laps. As lap eighteen was scored, Gebhardt headed to the pits, his top three run over. As the checkers waved, it was Keltner with a flag to flag win. Gaylord took the runner up spot, with Justin Parrish starting seventh and finishing third in front of row three starter Daniel Berquist. Wilkerson passed a half dozen or so cars in the closing laps to score the fifth position.
Ten IMCA modifieds were up next for fifteen laps. Chris Zogg started outside row one, leading the first circuit over row two starters John Oliver Jr., and Dennis Laveine. There was a treacherous spot high on the cushion between turns three and four, and twice in the early laps, Oliver found himself sucked into the concrete barrier, falling to fourth after contact on lap six. By the time the modified rookie made his way back to second, Zogg had opened a commanding lead. However, a lap ten spin by Tyler Smith wiped out Zoggs' adavantage. Back under green, Oliver again tagged the wall, this time losing several positions. Another spin by Smith set up a green, white, checkers finish, and although Laveine was able to pull alongside the leader, he was unable to complete the pass. Zogg took the hard fought win in front of Laveine and Newton, Iowa driver Ethan Braaksma. Veteran Dean McGee edged Jeff Waterman for the fourth spot.
Thirteen IMCA sport compacts made the call for their twelve lap feature. The only caution of the race came for debris on lap one. Adam Christy held the top spot after starting outside row one, with Jason Ash battling alongside, and Barry Taft looking to join the party in third. With Ash taking over the lead, Christy and Taft now fought for second, with Barry taking over at lap nine. But the race belonged to Ash, who took the checkers ahead of Taft, Christy, Jerrod Nichols in the pink pig, and Cody Bowman.
The final race of the night was the IMCA late model headliner. All nineteen cars made the call to battle for twenty five laps. Jeremiah Hurst redrew the pole position after winning the second heat, while John Emerson, again driving the Richie Gustin #19G, sat alongside. Hurst was trying to erase the memory of Friday, when he was leading the first heat at Donnellson only to have his car die, ending his night. Hurst and Emerson paced the field through the early laps, with Matt Ryan, Chad Holladay, and Matt Strasshein lurking in the top five. With the leaders catching the back of the pack, the first caution came just before halfway, as Ray Raker stopped off turn two. One more lap was scored before a caution for a spin by late model rookie Jared Miller. As racing resumed, row six starters Tommy Elston, and Mark Burgtorf, behind the wheel of the Lynn Richard #15R, began to ease through the field. On lap fifteen, Strassheim moved to fourth as Ryan found the problem spot in turns three and four. Lap nineteen saw a final caution, as modified driver Damion Stewart, driving a car from the Nick Marolf stable, went for a spin. As Strassheim began to have issues with his #41, Holladay was now the man on the move, as he took the runner up spot following the Delaware restart and began applying heavy pressure to Hurst. The veteran duo raced door to door on the final lap, but Jeremiah used his top side momentum to arrive first at the stripe, taking a flag to flag but still hard fought win. Holladay settled for second, besting Emerson and Ryan. Sam Halstead crossed the line in fifth, but apparently failed to stop at the tech area, resulting in a disqualification. This moved Elston to fifth, with the remainder of the top ten going to Burgtorf, Jay Johnson, Marolf, Brandon Queen, and Darrell Defrance. It was a nice comeback for Queen, who started in row seven after exiting his heat race when a radiator hose blew on his #12, spewing water and steam over the track.
As Hurst headed to victory lane, we were treated to a quick and colorful fireworks display, courtesy of J & M! Thanks to Jessi and Brad for a fun filled Saturday night at 34 Raceway.
Tonight we will cap off our three night weekend in our usual perch at Quincy Raceways., as five classes of cars will be in competition.
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Aikey Tops in Summer Series Return to LCS
In 2016, with the help and encouragement of long time car owner/driver Lynn Richard, the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa made the decision to bring late model racing back to southeast Iowa. The plan was to use the Chevrolet crate engine option, which was available for about $5,000. The first night of racing, with Colby Springsteen picking up the feature win, saw a turnout of ten cars, not bad for a fledgling class. The count went to a dozen on night two, but held around there for the next three seasons. An attempt to build up the class was made by offering UMP Crate late model points, but still the counts remained low. Then for the 2019 season, with IMCA also seeing dwindling car counts for weekly racing, the decision was made to add the crate engine option to their spec engine rules. Already IMCA sanctioned for their other classes, LCS made the decision to add the late model sanction, and car counts began to creep up. The culmination of the experiment came Friday night, with the return of the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series to the track for the first time since 2010. Twenty eight race teams signed in to do battle on the fairgrounds 3/8 mile.
On this night, the other IMCA sanctioned classes would also be on the card, with sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts running for track points. Some late sponsors came on board, so the modifieds were a late addition, and they would run a draw/redraw show with no track points awarded as they were not on the original schedule.
Heat race action was mostly uneventful, except for the first late model ten lapper. Jeremiah Hurst, running third in Summer Series points, was cruising towards the win, when his car stopped suddenly in front of the grandstand, a loud "pop" ending his night. On the restart, Jeff Aikey powered from fourth to second, but it was John Emerson in the Richie Gustin #19G taking the win. Sam Halstead claimed the third and final qualifying slot. Nick Marolf topped heat two over third starting Tommy Elston and fifth starting Andy Nezworski. Chad Holladay led the distance ahead of fifteen year old Logan Duffy and Joe Zrostlik in heat three, while Andy Eckrich came from row three to take the final heat, besting Ron Boyse, and Eric Pollard.
The remaining fifteen cars - minus Hurst - contested a twelve lap B main with the top ten moving on to the forty lap $2,000 to win headliner. Veteran Curt Martin took the win, outgunning Darrell Defrance, Justin Kay, series points leader Joel Callahan, Jay Johnson, Matt Ryan, Matt Strassheim, Mike Smith, Kyle Hinrichs, and Gary Webb. The final two starting spots went to the top two in series points not already qualified, and those spots went to late model rookie Dalton Simonsen and Brian Harris.
Feature racing began with eleven of the twelve sport mods taking the green for eighteen laps. Yellow fever then took hold, but after a pair of early cautions, fifth starting Sean Wyatt grabbed the lead after restarting third. Daniel Fellows restarted fifth in the Delaware formation and followed Wyatt to the front. After a lap six caution, Fellows took the outside on the restart, and third running Brandon Dale took advantage to nab the second spot. With seven laps left on the scoreboard, the front three went hard into turn one, and contact between Dale and Fellows sent Dale for a spin. Although he did not stop on the track, Fellows apparently took offense to the action, and gave Dale a nose to tail greeting as the field was reforming. For that he earned a trip to the trailer, his night over, while Dale lined up at the back of the dwindling field. Wyatt held on as the race stayed green, picking up the win. Tanner Klingele drove a steady race for second, with Dale rebounding to take third. Jim Walker and Steven Berry rounded out the five cars still running, with five cautions having marred the event.
The stock cars turned out a disappointing eight cars, but they all came to the track for eighteen laps of action. Jeremy Pundt and Brandon Savage paced the field running door to door before Savage took over on lap four, using the high line around the fast, tacky 3/8 mile D shaped oval. Savage built a lead of at least a dozen car lengths, while Pundt ran comfortably in second ahead of an entertaing four car battle for third. With a pair of laps to go, Savage suffered a flat right rear tire. It looked as though he might be able to hang on to the lead, but as he drove through turns one and two, a piece of sheet metal blew off his car landing in the racing groove, bringing out the caution flag. It proved the end of the night for the #47S. Pundt was not yet out of the woods, as Tyler Moore made a strong run at the leader over the final circuits, but Pundt held him off to collect the first place trophy. Chad Krogmeier, Jake Powers, Kyle Boyd, and Jerry Jansen rounded out the field.
It was now late model time, with Eckrich and Emerson having emerged from the Caseys pizza box draw to start on row one. Eckrich quickly established a sizable lead, catching the back of the pack on lap twelve. One lap later, the first yellow came, as Pollard, winner of the last series race at West Union, Iowa, saw his #P7 go up in smoke. A five car pile up near the back of the pack on the restart eliminated a handful of cars, and when racing resumed, Aikey powered to second. Following a three car scrum with Nezworski and Marolf, eleventh starting Elston entered the top five on lap seventeen. Just after the halfway mark, Aikey began to close quickly on the leader, who again caught slower traffic at lap twenty four. Two more trips around, and Aikey was challenging, diving low off the turns, moving around on the track, as Eckrich stayed married to the high groove. Eckrich used his mastery of lapped traffic to open up some breathing room, but with just six circuits left, Aikey was once again within striking distance. The front pair raced side by side for two laps before Eckrich bobbled in turns three and four as they raced lap thirty seven, his tires appearing to be losing grip. Aikey took advantage, then pulled away over the final three laps to collect his seventieth series win, which leads all drivers. Eckrich was probably a bit disappointed. but still took runner up honors. Emerson held off Elston for third while Zrostlik turned in a top five run. Kay came from fifteenth to finish sixth, besting Marolf, Holladay, Halstead, and Callahan. Harris was the unofficial Hard Charger, starting twenty fourth and coming home in eleventh.
As much of the crowd filed out, all but one of the fourteen sport compacts lined up for fifteen laps of racing. Trent Orwig came from row four to lead David Prim as lap one was scored. Josh Barnes came from his sixth starting spot to second one lap later, racing door to door with Orwig before taking the top spot on lap four. The first caution came as Barry Taft appeared to make contact with the turn two guardrail two laps from the finish, his night ending behind the wrecker. Back to racing, Brandon Reu spun to the apron on the backstretch, when Jason Ash made contact. Track officials were preparing to send Ash to the back on the restart when Reu informed them that he had slowed with engines woes, giving Ash no where to go. Jason was then given his spot back, nice job, Brandon! The two lap shootout saw Barnes hold on, even as he mentioned in victory lane that he had lost an alternator belt at some point. Orwig took second in front of Kimberly Abbott, Ash, and Cody Bowman.
The final race of the night found ten modifieds dueling for twenty laps. Teenage Kolin Hibdon from Pahrump, Nevada is spending his summer vacation in Iowa honing his skills. The redraw placed him on the pole position for the finale, and he quickly established himself as the car to beat. With the race firmly in hand, the only caution came with three laps to go. On the restart, Tyler Madigan began to put pressure on the youngster. As they came to the checkers, neither driver gave an inch, and Madigan sent sparks flying as he scraped the front stretch concrete. Hibdon took win, Madigan was second, followed by Dennis Laveine. Jeff Waterman emerged from a back and forth battle with John Oliver Jr. to grab fourth, with Oliver completing the top five.
Although the total car count could have been better, it was great to see twenty eight late models doing battle on the legendary fairgrounds track.
It was also good to hear Ryan Clark as guest announcer on the mic, irreverent as always and chock full of stats and information, even giving a shout out to Positively Racing and this blogger, thanks Ryan!
Tonight for the open wheel fans,the Iowa Sprint League invades the Quincy Raceways along with sport mods and outlaw stock cars. However we are going to make a visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, where the IMCA late models will headline the show with a draw/redraw event paying a $1,000 to the feature winner. Then Sunday we will be back at Quincy Raceways for weekly racing. Hope to see you somewhere Racin' Down the Road!
On this night, the other IMCA sanctioned classes would also be on the card, with sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts running for track points. Some late sponsors came on board, so the modifieds were a late addition, and they would run a draw/redraw show with no track points awarded as they were not on the original schedule.
Heat race action was mostly uneventful, except for the first late model ten lapper. Jeremiah Hurst, running third in Summer Series points, was cruising towards the win, when his car stopped suddenly in front of the grandstand, a loud "pop" ending his night. On the restart, Jeff Aikey powered from fourth to second, but it was John Emerson in the Richie Gustin #19G taking the win. Sam Halstead claimed the third and final qualifying slot. Nick Marolf topped heat two over third starting Tommy Elston and fifth starting Andy Nezworski. Chad Holladay led the distance ahead of fifteen year old Logan Duffy and Joe Zrostlik in heat three, while Andy Eckrich came from row three to take the final heat, besting Ron Boyse, and Eric Pollard.
The remaining fifteen cars - minus Hurst - contested a twelve lap B main with the top ten moving on to the forty lap $2,000 to win headliner. Veteran Curt Martin took the win, outgunning Darrell Defrance, Justin Kay, series points leader Joel Callahan, Jay Johnson, Matt Ryan, Matt Strassheim, Mike Smith, Kyle Hinrichs, and Gary Webb. The final two starting spots went to the top two in series points not already qualified, and those spots went to late model rookie Dalton Simonsen and Brian Harris.
Feature racing began with eleven of the twelve sport mods taking the green for eighteen laps. Yellow fever then took hold, but after a pair of early cautions, fifth starting Sean Wyatt grabbed the lead after restarting third. Daniel Fellows restarted fifth in the Delaware formation and followed Wyatt to the front. After a lap six caution, Fellows took the outside on the restart, and third running Brandon Dale took advantage to nab the second spot. With seven laps left on the scoreboard, the front three went hard into turn one, and contact between Dale and Fellows sent Dale for a spin. Although he did not stop on the track, Fellows apparently took offense to the action, and gave Dale a nose to tail greeting as the field was reforming. For that he earned a trip to the trailer, his night over, while Dale lined up at the back of the dwindling field. Wyatt held on as the race stayed green, picking up the win. Tanner Klingele drove a steady race for second, with Dale rebounding to take third. Jim Walker and Steven Berry rounded out the five cars still running, with five cautions having marred the event.
The stock cars turned out a disappointing eight cars, but they all came to the track for eighteen laps of action. Jeremy Pundt and Brandon Savage paced the field running door to door before Savage took over on lap four, using the high line around the fast, tacky 3/8 mile D shaped oval. Savage built a lead of at least a dozen car lengths, while Pundt ran comfortably in second ahead of an entertaing four car battle for third. With a pair of laps to go, Savage suffered a flat right rear tire. It looked as though he might be able to hang on to the lead, but as he drove through turns one and two, a piece of sheet metal blew off his car landing in the racing groove, bringing out the caution flag. It proved the end of the night for the #47S. Pundt was not yet out of the woods, as Tyler Moore made a strong run at the leader over the final circuits, but Pundt held him off to collect the first place trophy. Chad Krogmeier, Jake Powers, Kyle Boyd, and Jerry Jansen rounded out the field.
It was now late model time, with Eckrich and Emerson having emerged from the Caseys pizza box draw to start on row one. Eckrich quickly established a sizable lead, catching the back of the pack on lap twelve. One lap later, the first yellow came, as Pollard, winner of the last series race at West Union, Iowa, saw his #P7 go up in smoke. A five car pile up near the back of the pack on the restart eliminated a handful of cars, and when racing resumed, Aikey powered to second. Following a three car scrum with Nezworski and Marolf, eleventh starting Elston entered the top five on lap seventeen. Just after the halfway mark, Aikey began to close quickly on the leader, who again caught slower traffic at lap twenty four. Two more trips around, and Aikey was challenging, diving low off the turns, moving around on the track, as Eckrich stayed married to the high groove. Eckrich used his mastery of lapped traffic to open up some breathing room, but with just six circuits left, Aikey was once again within striking distance. The front pair raced side by side for two laps before Eckrich bobbled in turns three and four as they raced lap thirty seven, his tires appearing to be losing grip. Aikey took advantage, then pulled away over the final three laps to collect his seventieth series win, which leads all drivers. Eckrich was probably a bit disappointed. but still took runner up honors. Emerson held off Elston for third while Zrostlik turned in a top five run. Kay came from fifteenth to finish sixth, besting Marolf, Holladay, Halstead, and Callahan. Harris was the unofficial Hard Charger, starting twenty fourth and coming home in eleventh.
As much of the crowd filed out, all but one of the fourteen sport compacts lined up for fifteen laps of racing. Trent Orwig came from row four to lead David Prim as lap one was scored. Josh Barnes came from his sixth starting spot to second one lap later, racing door to door with Orwig before taking the top spot on lap four. The first caution came as Barry Taft appeared to make contact with the turn two guardrail two laps from the finish, his night ending behind the wrecker. Back to racing, Brandon Reu spun to the apron on the backstretch, when Jason Ash made contact. Track officials were preparing to send Ash to the back on the restart when Reu informed them that he had slowed with engines woes, giving Ash no where to go. Jason was then given his spot back, nice job, Brandon! The two lap shootout saw Barnes hold on, even as he mentioned in victory lane that he had lost an alternator belt at some point. Orwig took second in front of Kimberly Abbott, Ash, and Cody Bowman.
The final race of the night found ten modifieds dueling for twenty laps. Teenage Kolin Hibdon from Pahrump, Nevada is spending his summer vacation in Iowa honing his skills. The redraw placed him on the pole position for the finale, and he quickly established himself as the car to beat. With the race firmly in hand, the only caution came with three laps to go. On the restart, Tyler Madigan began to put pressure on the youngster. As they came to the checkers, neither driver gave an inch, and Madigan sent sparks flying as he scraped the front stretch concrete. Hibdon took win, Madigan was second, followed by Dennis Laveine. Jeff Waterman emerged from a back and forth battle with John Oliver Jr. to grab fourth, with Oliver completing the top five.
Although the total car count could have been better, it was great to see twenty eight late models doing battle on the legendary fairgrounds track.
It was also good to hear Ryan Clark as guest announcer on the mic, irreverent as always and chock full of stats and information, even giving a shout out to Positively Racing and this blogger, thanks Ryan!
Tonight for the open wheel fans,the Iowa Sprint League invades the Quincy Raceways along with sport mods and outlaw stock cars. However we are going to make a visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, where the IMCA late models will headline the show with a draw/redraw event paying a $1,000 to the feature winner. Then Sunday we will be back at Quincy Raceways for weekly racing. Hope to see you somewhere Racin' Down the Road!
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