It was fifteen years before Jimmy Owens added his name to the list of winners of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. It took only one more year for him to become one of the two time winners of the event. The Newport, Tennessee veteran topped a field of fifty or so super late models on Saturday night, taking his first lead about lap eighty five of the one hundred lap race, then holding off a late charge from Brandon Sheppard to claim the $40,000 top prize.
Threatening skies throughout the day did nothing to hold down a large and enthusiastic gathering of fans, as all but a handful of the original fifty five Lucas Oil late models from Thursday qualifying were joined by all thirty two invited SLMR late models packing the pit area for a full night of racing.
The brainchild of legendary late model pilot Joe Kosiski, the Eastern Nebraska based series ran a complete show in support of the Lucas Oil weekend finale, culminating with a scheduled twenty two lap feature paying $4,000 to win. Invitations were based on various race and point finishes at series tracks and special events during the 2019 season. Series rookie Josh Leonard set quick time, with heat race wins going to Jason Rauen, Allan Hopp, and Ricky Thornton Jr., one of several drivers competing in both classes during the evening, with the only requirement being they could not use the same car in both divisions.
The two classes alternated events during the evening as officials attempted to keep the show moving.
Eight cars started the fifteen lap C main for the Lucas Oil division, with the top four set to move on to the B main. Outside pole sitter Brian Harris, wheeling the Curless Racing #99 was well out front when his transmission let go, ending his weekend. California driver Cody Laney then drove to victory, with J C Wyman, Mike Fryer, and Reid Millard also earning transfers.
Following hot laps for the twenty four cars already locked in to the A feature by virtue of their point accumulation on either Thursday or Friday, the twenty lap B main lined up, with twenty two cars scheduled to take the green. From this final qualifier, the top six would fill out the thirty car starting field for the big dance.
Shannon Babb and Billy Moyer Jr. started row one, with Moyer Jr. grabbing the early lead.As the race approached the half way point. Moyer Jr. attempted to put Fryer a lap down in turns three and four. However he wound up sliding across the nose of the #54, sending Fryer hard into the fence. As the veteran pilot showed his displeasure and the safety crew prepared to pick up his badly damaged machine, a slight sprinkle turned into a steady shower, sending fans scattering for cover and bringing a halt to the action.
While short of a downpour, and lasting only a few minutes, there was enough rain to cancel racing at most venues. But the black dirt surface at the famed 1/2 mile and a track crew that is second to none had us racing again after a total delay of perhaps just over an hour.
With a " new " surface now in place, crowd favorite Brian Birkhofer shot to the lead and the win in his newly debuted #15B. Tim McCreadie, who was, along with Moyer Jr. the only drivers eligible for series provisionals should they be needed, came home in second. Babb held on for third ahead of Chase Junghans, while Moyer Jr. fell to fifth. His father Billy, with an amazing 840 career wins to his credit, started in row seven and looked as though he would be watching the feature from the trailer. However as the laps wound down, he was able to find that old magic, and he edged Johnny Scott at the line for the final transfer spot in a battle so close we had to wait for the official scorer for determination.
It was now time for the SLMR headliner. Points earned with fast time and a runner up heat race finish put Leonard on the pole. Outside row one was to be filled by Hopp, but his engine likely expired during a hot lap session following the rain delay, as he left a trail of oil on the racing surface. Another double duty driver, Tyler Bruening then moved to the front row. Third starting Tad Pospisil took the lead coming off turn two before Leonard reclaimed the spot ahead of the first caution period. Row three starter Jeff Aikey used the Delaware double file restart to power to second, even as Leonard checked out on the field. With ten laps scored, the red flag was displayed when Jason Wallace jumped the cushion in turns one and two, climbing the fence, then rolling his #13 onto its top. During the cleanup, it was announced that the race would be cut to eighteen laps, four less than originally scheduled. When the green flag again waved, Rauen shot from third to the lead, quickly distancing himself from the pack. A couple laps later, Bruening moved to the runner up spot and began a pursuit of the leader. With no more stops, however, Rauen held on for the win. Bruening settled for second ahead of Leonard, Aikey, and Pospisil. Thornton Jr. drove the Todd Cooney #30RT to a sixth place finish in front of double duty Chad Simpson, series points leader Kyle Berck, South Dakota driver Scott Ward, and Josh Krug.
As fireworks lit up the sky, thirty high powered machines came to the oval. With the rain delay in mind, I am sure, on track driver introductions were cancelled, and we were ready to go racing!
By virtue of his outstanding run on Thursday, Zebulon, Georgia pilot Shane Clanton sat on the pole, flanked by Darrell Lanigan. Clanton jumped to a commanding lead, and was just catching slower traffic when the caution waved at lap nine. Canadian Ricky Weiss now slipped around Lanigan for second, but another quick yellow and Lanigan was back in the runner up slot. Clanton was again well out front as the next caution came about lap twenty two. Tyler Erb moved to third as racing resumed, with Brandon Sheppard charging to fourth. Sheppard then used a low side move in turns one and two to ease around Erb, and four laps later, a major pile up knocked out three top contenders. The #5 of Don Oneal appeared to get the worst of things, although McCreadie and Josh Richards were now also out of action. Although Clanton continued to lead, in typical Knoxville fashion, there was action all around the track, with drivers battling for and swapping positions at dizzying rates. Six laps from the half way mark, Thornton Jr. had placed his #20RT ride in the fourth position when he slipped over the cushion in turns three and four, contacting the fence and rolling onto his top, much as Wallace had earlier in the other set of turns. Sheppard climbed to second on the restart, taking along Chris Madden in third, but the race was stopped at lap fifty for a scheduled fuel stop. The cars were stopped on the front straightaway, and crews were only allowed to top off fuel and offer drivers a " clean " helmet if needed.
With everyone having caught their breath, Sheppard elected the inside line on the restart, and Madden moved ahead briefly before Brandon regained the spot exiting turn four. Following a caution for Tyler Erb five laps later, Sheppard this time restarted on the outside, and used that momentum to take the lead out of turn two. However the caution waved for a stalled Bobby Pierce, turning the top spot back over to Clanton. On this restart, Clanton moved up the track to counter Sheppard, and Madden shot to the front from the inside line, ending Clantons' fifty five lap domination. Both Sheppard and hard charging Kyle Bronson, who had come from row ten into the top five, were shuffled back on the restart. Madden, driving a second Bloomquist Racing entry, opened a sizable advantage before catching slower traffic about lap sixty eight. Sheppard was again on the move, taking third at that point, then second three laps later. Clanton saw his night end as he brought out a final caution with twenty eight laps remaining. Sheppard again pounded the cushion, taking the lead off turn two, as eighteenth starting Jimmy Owens now appeared on the scene in third. About the same time, Hudson Oneal, who had run outside the top ten for much of the race suddenly advanced five spots to fifth. Twenty laps remained on the board when Owens took over the second spot, and as Sheppard caught traffic two circuits later, Owens closed the gap to the front. In traffic at lap eighty five, the " Newport Nightmare " took his first lead, pulling ahead to what looked like might be a comfortable win. But B Shepp was not done yet, and the last five laps had the crowd holding its collective breath. After a pair of failed slide jobs in turn one at lap ninety five and ninety six, Sheppard followed immediately in the tire tracks if the #20 until the white flag waved. No one was sitting as the third generation driver gave it a last ditch effort coming to the final flying checkers by retiring Doug Clark, but he was a half car length short at the line! It gave Owens back to back wins at the historic 1/2 mile.
Sheppard claimed second to lead a contingent of young guns at the finish. Hudson Oneal, Devin Moran, and Bronson, all a big part of the next generation of dirt racers, completed the top five. Madden continued his strong run for Team Bloomquist in sixth, trailed by Stormy Scott, Weiss, Earl Pearson Jr., and Frank Heckenast Jr.
Sitting in the rain two and a half hours from home after a full day of sight seeing and bench racing in Knoxville had me wondering if it was time for Grandpa ( thanks to Keagan and Megan for coming along! ) to rethink his choices. And then here comes another typical Knoxville finish, and well, the 2020 dates for the Nationals is September 17-19. Hopefully I will see you there!
Next up for me, 34 Raceway will be hosting the Gangbusters 41, featuring the 500th edition of the IMCA late model Summer Series sponsored by Deery Brothers, along with the Dirt Knights modified tour as well as IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts next Saturday to honor the memory of a long time friend and racer, Jim Oliver Sr.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Friday, September 13, 2019
Clanton a First Time Winner at Knoxville
I have been a faithful attendee of the final night of the Lucas Oil late model nationals at Knoxville, Iowa for all of the previous fifteen years of its existence. The only 100 lap finale I missed was in 2009 when treacherous track conditions prompted track officials to move the feature back to Sunday. But for all most of those years, the risk of taking two vacation days to make the trip to the qualifying nights seemed too great given the fickle fall mid western weather. So part of my retirement " bucket list " was to take in at least the Thursday night event before any of the participants decided to load up and head home. For the first time in 2018 I was able to do so, mooching a ride from Positively Racing guru Jeff Broeg. Apparently I was not too big of a pain, as Jeff invited me to again tag along from Mt. Pleasant this year. The fly in the ointment, however was a weather forecast that would have likely made me cancel those vacation days during my working years. You can call us optimists or even foolish, but after several conversations, we decided to roll the dice, as the forecasted storms seemed to be breaking up as they approached the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Although we drove through a few sprinkles en route, no moisture had fallen all day at the track, and with a slight breeze, it was a delightful evening, weather wise.
The track and series officials presented the single class, fifty five car program as though rain might be coming, and while hot laps may have started a bit later than the 6:45 advertised time, the program, consisting of time trials, six twelve lap heat races, a pair of fifteen lap B mains, and a twenty five lap $7,000 to win feature wrapped up before 9:45! Of course, having only two yellow flags all night long contributed to the speed of the program, as well as a testament to excellent track prep and skillful driving.
Jeff has a detailed account of the action on his " Backstretch " column on this site, so I will just add some random musings.
It is no secret that the " professional " series drivers tirelessly advocate for straight up heat race starts based on qualifying times. However Knoxville, with their unique points formula stands firm on their invert format, with the result being heat races which require drivers to actually " race " their way into and through the main events leading up to the Saturday 100 lap $40,000 to win finale. Georgia driver Shane Clanton was the only one to time below eighteen seconds in qualifying, with a lap of 17.932 seconds. This landed him outside row three in the first heat from where he worked his way to the third and final transfer spot. Starting seventh in the main event, he charged to the lead right at the half way point, then cruised to the victory. Shane was clearly the class of the field on Thursday, and the outcome likely would have been a similar one with a straight up start, but under this format he was forced to pass two cars in the heat and six in the feature, creating a much more entertaining program.
There were several home state drivers in the field who turned in solid runs on Thursday. Brian Birkhofer in a new Jason Rauen owned Rocket car, qualified second out of heat one. Jeremiah Hurst, who has announced his team will switch to open engine racing in 2020 led the second heat until the final turn, finishing second to Bobby Pierce, while Chris Simpson came home in third. Tyler Bruening gave up the lead to Darrell Lanigan with three laps left in heat five, then held on for second. And Chad Simpson, wheeling the Moring Motorsports #1 raced home second in the final B main. Bruening ( sixth ) and Chris Simpson ( tenth ) also had impressive runs in the feature.
Two former champions of the event were on the pre entry list but failed to show. One of them, Mike Marlar, is rumored to be racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series this weekend. The other, Brian Shirley is possibly down a crew man, although neither has been confirmed.
Action will resume tonight, Friday, with another complete show. Drivers will then be able to keep their best points night of the two to determine their starting spot in either the B main or the big dance on Saturday.
With points awarded for time trials, heats, and the feature, the leaders from Thursday racing are as follows: Clanton, Lanigan, Ricky Thornton Jr. Tyler Erb, and Ricky Weiss. Iowa drivers Chris Simpson and Breuning are next, followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Sheppard, and Devin Moran. As mentioned, all drivers can take their best night of two, with the top twenty four locked in for the Saturday finale, while another six or so will be added from the B main, along with possible " emergency provisionals " for eligible non qualified Lucas Oil regulars.
The feature top ten on Thursday was Clanton, Tyler Erb, Lanigan, Weiss, Thornton Jr., Bruening, Sheppard, Moran, Pierce, and Chris Simpson, so you can see that qualifying times and heat finishes play a roll in point accumulation.
As of now the weather looks good, and I plan to be back at the historic 1/2 mile for the sixteenth edition of the fall classic on Saturday, so check back on Sunday for a recap. Maybe I will see you in Knoxville!
Although we drove through a few sprinkles en route, no moisture had fallen all day at the track, and with a slight breeze, it was a delightful evening, weather wise.
The track and series officials presented the single class, fifty five car program as though rain might be coming, and while hot laps may have started a bit later than the 6:45 advertised time, the program, consisting of time trials, six twelve lap heat races, a pair of fifteen lap B mains, and a twenty five lap $7,000 to win feature wrapped up before 9:45! Of course, having only two yellow flags all night long contributed to the speed of the program, as well as a testament to excellent track prep and skillful driving.
Jeff has a detailed account of the action on his " Backstretch " column on this site, so I will just add some random musings.
It is no secret that the " professional " series drivers tirelessly advocate for straight up heat race starts based on qualifying times. However Knoxville, with their unique points formula stands firm on their invert format, with the result being heat races which require drivers to actually " race " their way into and through the main events leading up to the Saturday 100 lap $40,000 to win finale. Georgia driver Shane Clanton was the only one to time below eighteen seconds in qualifying, with a lap of 17.932 seconds. This landed him outside row three in the first heat from where he worked his way to the third and final transfer spot. Starting seventh in the main event, he charged to the lead right at the half way point, then cruised to the victory. Shane was clearly the class of the field on Thursday, and the outcome likely would have been a similar one with a straight up start, but under this format he was forced to pass two cars in the heat and six in the feature, creating a much more entertaining program.
There were several home state drivers in the field who turned in solid runs on Thursday. Brian Birkhofer in a new Jason Rauen owned Rocket car, qualified second out of heat one. Jeremiah Hurst, who has announced his team will switch to open engine racing in 2020 led the second heat until the final turn, finishing second to Bobby Pierce, while Chris Simpson came home in third. Tyler Bruening gave up the lead to Darrell Lanigan with three laps left in heat five, then held on for second. And Chad Simpson, wheeling the Moring Motorsports #1 raced home second in the final B main. Bruening ( sixth ) and Chris Simpson ( tenth ) also had impressive runs in the feature.
Two former champions of the event were on the pre entry list but failed to show. One of them, Mike Marlar, is rumored to be racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series this weekend. The other, Brian Shirley is possibly down a crew man, although neither has been confirmed.
Action will resume tonight, Friday, with another complete show. Drivers will then be able to keep their best points night of the two to determine their starting spot in either the B main or the big dance on Saturday.
With points awarded for time trials, heats, and the feature, the leaders from Thursday racing are as follows: Clanton, Lanigan, Ricky Thornton Jr. Tyler Erb, and Ricky Weiss. Iowa drivers Chris Simpson and Breuning are next, followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Sheppard, and Devin Moran. As mentioned, all drivers can take their best night of two, with the top twenty four locked in for the Saturday finale, while another six or so will be added from the B main, along with possible " emergency provisionals " for eligible non qualified Lucas Oil regulars.
The feature top ten on Thursday was Clanton, Tyler Erb, Lanigan, Weiss, Thornton Jr., Bruening, Sheppard, Moran, Pierce, and Chris Simpson, so you can see that qualifying times and heat finishes play a roll in point accumulation.
As of now the weather looks good, and I plan to be back at the historic 1/2 mile for the sixteenth edition of the fall classic on Saturday, so check back on Sunday for a recap. Maybe I will see you in Knoxville!
Monday, September 2, 2019
Pierce Takes Quincy MLRA Dollars
For the second time in 2019, Bobby Pierce rolled in to Quincy Raceways and claimed the victory in MLRA action. This time, it was the Scottie 45, a tribute to the founder of Quincy Raceways, Albert Scott in this, the 45th year of operation of the track, now owned by Jason Goble. For this second ever visit by the south Missouri based series, the 45 lap main event paid a cool $5,000, and drew a stout field of twenty one participants.
The evening began with the drivers requesting time trial qualifying, and Pierce set quick time with a lap of 13.046 seconds around the .29 mile oval, giving him the pole start for the first heat race. He then took a flag to flag win over California driver Jason Papich, local legend Mark Burgtorf, and Matt Shannon, wheeling an Allen Weisser decaled #25W. MLRA points leader Will Vaught, the track qualifying record holder, led the distance in heat two, topping J C Wyman, Dave Eckrich, and Joe Godsey. The final ten lapper went to Mitch McGrath in front of Chad Simpson, Jeremy Grady, and top rookie contender Logan Martin.
Following intermission, which included a candy dash, it was feature time. Sport mods led off main event action, with all eighteen cars coming to the track for twenty laps. Tyler Burton sat on the pole, and he shot to the early lead with fourth starting Terry Wilson and row three starter Sean Wyatt next in line ahead of a yellow flag as lap one was scored. Wyatt charged to second following the Delaware double file restart. After a lap three caution, Wyatt, Wilson, and row five stater Bobby Six began a back and forth battle for the runner up spot. As Burton approached a slower car on lap eight, he slid off the top of the backstretch, turning the lead over to Wyatt. However, a third caution before the lap was counted turned the top spot back over to Burton. Back under green, Wyatt again grabbed the lead only to have Six drive around him, before Wyatt put a slide job on Six to regain the lead. As the leaders entered turn one, Burton made contact with Six, stacking up several cars, and bringing out the red flag. As track crews sorted things out, a track light caught fire in turn three, resulting in a lengthy delay. Fortunately, the adjoining go kart track has some portable lighting, which was moved over to the big track so racing could resume.The field was now reset single file, with Wyatt and Six up front. Two more cautions on laps ten and thirteen finally put us at the time limit, meaning the next caution would bring out the checkers. Amazingly, ( yeah, right) a couple of spinning cars after that were able to keep going! In the closing laps, the front duo exchanged sliders and crossover moves several times with Six finally able to gain a few car lengths separation, taking the checkered flag. Wyatt settled for second, with Reed Wolfmeier, A J Tournear, and Brandon Symmonds completing the top five.
While the track was bad fast and high side dominate with a tall cushion in qualifying and during the heats, the sport mods did a good job of widening the surface during their feature. All but one of the late models ( Jeff Roth ) made the feature call. The straight up start saw Pierce and Vaught on row one, and Pierce shot to the lead as Vaught and McGrath fought for second. Pierce caught the back of the pack on lap twelve, allowing Vaught to chip away at his lead, but the only yellow of the race came two laps later when Reid Millard stopped at the top of turn three. Vaught elected the outside for the restart, and when Pierce did not hit full speed, McGrath was able to slide under him, taking over the lead off turn two even as Pierce was forced to check up to avoid more serious contact. Burgtorf had been running an impressive fourth, just behind the lead group, but fell to eighth on the restart. The top three quickly pulled away from the pack, and as slower traffic again became a factor at lap twenty nine, McGrath moved down the track to a more middle line. This opened the top side for Pierce, which is a no no at Quincy, and he returned the favor, pulling a slider on McGrath, who was forced to check up, allowing Vaught to also drive around him. Now it was a two car duel, with Vaught actually taking the lead briefly at lap thirty three. But Pierce was now using all grooves, and he quickly regained the lead. As he stretched his margin in the closing laps, an intense side by side, back and forth three car battle for the fourth position was going on between Papich, Martin, and Simpson. With fourteen cars still on the track as the checkers waved, Pierce had lapped up to the seventh place car, even though he reported in victory lane that he thought he had dropped one or possibly two cylinders about the time he retook the lead. Vaught increased his points lead with the runner up finish, while McGrath came home in third. Papaich won the battle for fourth ahead of Martin and Simpson, with Wyman the last car on the lead lap. Grady edged Burgtorf on the final circuit and Eckrich completed the top ten.
Only eight sport compacts signed in for the evening, and they now lined up for twelve laps. Craig Bangert powered to a commanding lead on the start, while David Prim and Kimberly Abbott quickly settled into a duel for second. At about the mid point of the caution free race, Bangerts' #99B began to sound under the weather, although he was able to maintain his speed. With just two laps left, however, he began to slow noticeably, allowing Prim and Abbott to hurriedly close the gap. As the trio charged to the line side by side by side, Prim was able to nose in front for his first feature win. Bangert held on for second, with Abbott in third. Dylan Schantz and Jared Heule rounded out the top five.
The final checkers flew just after 9:30.
Next up for Quincy Raceways, and likely for me as well is the rescheduled appearance of the Sprint Invaders next Sunday, September 8. In addition, the 4 cylinder special featuring IMCA and UMP type cars with a top prize of $1,000 will be on the card, as well as UMP modifieds. Hot laps about 5:15 with racing to follow. Hope to see you there!
The evening began with the drivers requesting time trial qualifying, and Pierce set quick time with a lap of 13.046 seconds around the .29 mile oval, giving him the pole start for the first heat race. He then took a flag to flag win over California driver Jason Papich, local legend Mark Burgtorf, and Matt Shannon, wheeling an Allen Weisser decaled #25W. MLRA points leader Will Vaught, the track qualifying record holder, led the distance in heat two, topping J C Wyman, Dave Eckrich, and Joe Godsey. The final ten lapper went to Mitch McGrath in front of Chad Simpson, Jeremy Grady, and top rookie contender Logan Martin.
Following intermission, which included a candy dash, it was feature time. Sport mods led off main event action, with all eighteen cars coming to the track for twenty laps. Tyler Burton sat on the pole, and he shot to the early lead with fourth starting Terry Wilson and row three starter Sean Wyatt next in line ahead of a yellow flag as lap one was scored. Wyatt charged to second following the Delaware double file restart. After a lap three caution, Wyatt, Wilson, and row five stater Bobby Six began a back and forth battle for the runner up spot. As Burton approached a slower car on lap eight, he slid off the top of the backstretch, turning the lead over to Wyatt. However, a third caution before the lap was counted turned the top spot back over to Burton. Back under green, Wyatt again grabbed the lead only to have Six drive around him, before Wyatt put a slide job on Six to regain the lead. As the leaders entered turn one, Burton made contact with Six, stacking up several cars, and bringing out the red flag. As track crews sorted things out, a track light caught fire in turn three, resulting in a lengthy delay. Fortunately, the adjoining go kart track has some portable lighting, which was moved over to the big track so racing could resume.The field was now reset single file, with Wyatt and Six up front. Two more cautions on laps ten and thirteen finally put us at the time limit, meaning the next caution would bring out the checkers. Amazingly, ( yeah, right) a couple of spinning cars after that were able to keep going! In the closing laps, the front duo exchanged sliders and crossover moves several times with Six finally able to gain a few car lengths separation, taking the checkered flag. Wyatt settled for second, with Reed Wolfmeier, A J Tournear, and Brandon Symmonds completing the top five.
While the track was bad fast and high side dominate with a tall cushion in qualifying and during the heats, the sport mods did a good job of widening the surface during their feature. All but one of the late models ( Jeff Roth ) made the feature call. The straight up start saw Pierce and Vaught on row one, and Pierce shot to the lead as Vaught and McGrath fought for second. Pierce caught the back of the pack on lap twelve, allowing Vaught to chip away at his lead, but the only yellow of the race came two laps later when Reid Millard stopped at the top of turn three. Vaught elected the outside for the restart, and when Pierce did not hit full speed, McGrath was able to slide under him, taking over the lead off turn two even as Pierce was forced to check up to avoid more serious contact. Burgtorf had been running an impressive fourth, just behind the lead group, but fell to eighth on the restart. The top three quickly pulled away from the pack, and as slower traffic again became a factor at lap twenty nine, McGrath moved down the track to a more middle line. This opened the top side for Pierce, which is a no no at Quincy, and he returned the favor, pulling a slider on McGrath, who was forced to check up, allowing Vaught to also drive around him. Now it was a two car duel, with Vaught actually taking the lead briefly at lap thirty three. But Pierce was now using all grooves, and he quickly regained the lead. As he stretched his margin in the closing laps, an intense side by side, back and forth three car battle for the fourth position was going on between Papich, Martin, and Simpson. With fourteen cars still on the track as the checkers waved, Pierce had lapped up to the seventh place car, even though he reported in victory lane that he thought he had dropped one or possibly two cylinders about the time he retook the lead. Vaught increased his points lead with the runner up finish, while McGrath came home in third. Papaich won the battle for fourth ahead of Martin and Simpson, with Wyman the last car on the lead lap. Grady edged Burgtorf on the final circuit and Eckrich completed the top ten.
Only eight sport compacts signed in for the evening, and they now lined up for twelve laps. Craig Bangert powered to a commanding lead on the start, while David Prim and Kimberly Abbott quickly settled into a duel for second. At about the mid point of the caution free race, Bangerts' #99B began to sound under the weather, although he was able to maintain his speed. With just two laps left, however, he began to slow noticeably, allowing Prim and Abbott to hurriedly close the gap. As the trio charged to the line side by side by side, Prim was able to nose in front for his first feature win. Bangert held on for second, with Abbott in third. Dylan Schantz and Jared Heule rounded out the top five.
The final checkers flew just after 9:30.
Next up for Quincy Raceways, and likely for me as well is the rescheduled appearance of the Sprint Invaders next Sunday, September 8. In addition, the 4 cylinder special featuring IMCA and UMP type cars with a top prize of $1,000 will be on the card, as well as UMP modifieds. Hot laps about 5:15 with racing to follow. Hope to see you there!
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