Under cloudy skies, occasional sprinkles and cooling temps, Quincy Raceways was finally able to stage their twice postponed Bash 4 Cash 4 cylinder special. Thirty four competitors signed in for the $1,000 top prize, with all legal IMCA or UMP cars eligible to run.
The race was held in conjunction with " Cheaters Night " for the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, and stock cars, with drivers encouraged to also remove the roof from their machines in those four divisions.
Twenty five sport mods signed in as part of the eighty eight car field, and following heat race action plus a pair of B mains for the four cylinders, they led off the feature program.
All but one driver, Jamie Aleshire, lined up for eighteen laps, with Nathan Bringer and John Renier in row one. It was Austen Becerra, however, who charged to the front at the drop of the green as Bringer left the door open on the low side. As seems to so often be the case at QR, it was soon after that yellow fever took hold. Following a pair of lap two cautions for Michael Terry and then Kevin Morrow, Becerra suddenly exited the track off turn four, needing a hook on the back end from the wrecker, suggesting rear end issues. This turned the lead over to Chris Spalding, wheeling an unfamiliar plain black #71 car. The caution was out again on lap four as Dakota Girard went for a spin, and back under green, topless Tanner Klingele had moved up six spots to fourth. With the caution out again as lap five was scored, the field was realigned single file. Topless Terry Wilson, side panels and all, made a move as the green flew, but another caution negated his charge forward. On the next restart, Klingele moved to third, one lap was scored, and it was caution time again. With the crowd caught unaware, the time limit had been reached, and the checkers came mercifully with only six laps scored. Spalding took the win, followed by Bringer, Klingele, London Mills, Il. driver Dustin Branch, and Wilson.
Next it was twenty laps for the crate late models. Todd Frank and topless Darin Weisinger Jr. lined up on the front row, with Frank leading the early laps. The yellow flag waved on lap three for Melvin Linder, and his car owner and teammate Denny Woodworth powered to second on the restart. Two more laps clicked off before Joey Gower, making his first late model start of the season brought out a caution when he spun out the driveshaft in his #31G. As the green flag waved, Woodworth charged to the lead while Gunner Frank retired to the pits. Todd Frank and Linder locked in a battle for second ahead of a lap nine spin by Tristan Bainter in the #63 formerly driven by Jake Dietrich. Linder cleared Frank for second on lap eleven, but all eyes were on the back and forth battle for fourth between Weisinger Jr. and Brandon Queen. A caution for Bainter on the final circuit set up a green, white, checkers finish. Woodworth would cruise to the win, besting Linder, Todd Frank, Weisinger Jr., and Queen. Bainter, Gunner Frank, and Gower would round out the scoring.
Kevin Blackburn and Steve Grotz paced the modified twenty lapper, with Blackburn leading the opening pair of laps ahead of first Josh Newman, then Dave Weitholder. With a smoking car, Blackburn exited the track on lap five, turning the top spot over to Newman. He had opened a nearly straightaway lead over Weitholder before Frankie Wellman looped his ride on lap fourteen. With the yellow still out, Newman parked his #40 off turn one, his shot at his first win of 2019 over. With Weitholder, who had issues in both hot laps and the heat race now in control, Shaun Deering eased into second as racing resumed. Weitholder crossed the stripe with the win followed by Deering, Wellman, and Grotz. Newman would be scored in fifth.
A pair of late arrivals swelled the stock car count to thirteen, with track regulars Jake Powers and Michael Larsen firing off from row one. But it was row two starter Robert Cottom and fifth starting Rudy Zaragoza who paced the field ahead of an Andy Gaines lap three spin. Larsen suffered a flat tire, ducking to the work area and coming back to the track about 1/2 lap behind as the green flag waved. However a B J Thompson spin allowed him to catch up. Lap four saw the three wheeling Zaragoza take the lead, and the yellow was out for Brandon Boden on lap five. A four car scrum developed as racing resumed, with Craig Roden and Cottom side by side in front of Zaragoza and Larsen, and they came to the flag four wide as lap eight was scored! Zaragoza regained the point and the caution came out again for debris on the front stretch on lap fourteen. The field was now lined up single file for the final four circuits. Running second, Cottom retired with only two laps remaining. Seemingly in control, Zaragoza bobbled slightly coming off turn two on the final lap, giving Roden the break he needed, and he took the checkers inches ahead of Zaragoza. Powers, Larsen, and Kale Foster completed the top five.
The finale for the evening would bring twenty four compacts to the track for fifty laps and a $1,000 top prize. Peoria, Illinois driver Shane Kelley and track regular Kimberly Abbott drew the front row to pace the twenty four car field. While Kelley jumped to the lead, row two starters Joe Reed and Matt Mackey slid into the next two spots. Kelley and Mackey soon gained separation from the pack, running nose to tail before Mackey retired at a lap nine caution. With the yellow again waving one lap later, Kelley appeared to miss a gear, falling off the pace. However the red flag came as Morgan Greene rolled his #36 entering turn three, giving the lead back to Kelley. Reed grabbed the lead on the restart, but Kelley moved back to the front at lap eleven. With a yellow at lap seventeen and another red five laps later, the realignment went single file. Tenth starting Josh Barnes had climbed to fourth and seemed poised to challenge the leaders when he brought out the caution at lap thirty, his run ended. One more red flag situation came two laps later, but the final eighteen circuits clicked off caution free. Kelley pulled away to a commanding lead while Reed and Abbott raced side by side, lap after lap for second. Abbott was able to edge ahead coming to the checkers to earn runner up honors ahead of the driver from Decatur,Il. Pekin, Il. racer Danny Oates and row seven starter David Prim completed the top five. Nine ( or was it ten?) cars remained on the track at the checkers, with a lot of mechanical issues thinning the field.
A long night of racing saw the final checkers wave on the wrong side of 10:00.
Quincy Raceways has one more weekend of racing on the schedule for 2019, and it is a big one! The Kenny Pratt Memorial will run on Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26 featuring super late models racing for $2,000 on Friday and $5,000 on Saturday. Also competing for large purses are crate late models and outlaw stock cars, with details on the track website.
Next up I plan to be at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa this Friday , October 11 for opening night of the eighth annual Fall Extravaganza featuring late models, mods, sport mods, stock cars, and sport compacts. With good money on the line on Friday, purses will be even bigger on Saturday, but outside commitments will keep me away from the track for night number two. Maybe I will see you on Friday!
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