MLRA Invades Randolph County Raceway

  After being sidelined with a health issue for about two weeks        ( hasn't 2020 just been a treat? ), I was more than ready to get back to the race track for only the fourth time this season. With an assist from my racing buddies Fred and Darryl, it was off to the Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, Missouri on Friday night. The high banked 3/8 mile oval had set idle for two plus seasons, but after running out of patience waiting for Illinois to allow tracks to open, Quincy Raceways owner/promoter Jason Goble struck a deal with track owners David and Janelle Claypoole to basically move his operation eighty five miles south. Goble will be staging events on Sunday nights at least until Quincy Raceways is allowed to open, but this would be a Friday night special featuring the MLRA late models paying $3,000 to win, with sport mods and sport compacts also on the card.
  As with any facility that had not seen action for a while, RCR was in need of some TLC, and Goble and his team set to work cleaning, painting and most importantly working the high banks into racing shape. They held their season opener last Sunday in front of a nice sized crowd, and both drivers and fans I spoke with gave the event good grades, particularly considering the amount of time the track had been idled. The five division program drew seventy three race teams with sixteen races that saw the final checkers wave at 8:45 PM.
  Unfortunately, things would not go quite as smoothly this night. When we arrived at the track, early as always, the parking lot was jammed with haulers waiting to roll through the pit gate to the infield pit area. However the Dennis Erb Jr. rig had apparently hesitated for a moment as it started across the backstretch, and became stuck, high centered on the berm. After a considerable amount of work, a wrecker was finally able to get the trailer freed and officials then used machinery to knock down the offending berm. A hot sun and stiff northwesterly breeze continued to bake the racing surface, so copious amounts of water were applied to the oval, and necessarily so. However the result was a slimy surface that required a lot of packing, and it took quite a bit of time and urging to convince the thirty seven MLRA late models on hand to join the twenty B mods and dozen compacts to lend a hand.
  As things developed. I decided not to look at the clock, however it was well past 8:00 when hot laps finally hit the track.
  The MLRA has scrapped the passing points qualifying format in favor of time trials followed by straight up starts in the heat races. Qualifying was split into two groups, with Shannon Babb the fastest in Group A , while Chad Simpson had the overall top time of 17.178 seconds in Group B. Bobby Pierce was on his way to a pair of fast laps when his #32 went up in smoke in turn three, with a blown rear end possibly the culprit. His crew went to work preparing his back up car, and he would now be starting at the tail of his heat race. Garrett Alberson was driving the second car of the Ken Roberts/Jeremiah Hurst team, with strategically placed tape turning it into a #59. He was late to staging for qualifying, but still turned in a solid time on his one allowed lap. Joe Godsey parked his #14G after hot laps, done for the night.
   The heat races clicked off in timely fashion. By the late model heats it was obvious that the pesky breeze mentioned earlier was going to be an issue for the large throng in the grandstands. The track, however, was holding up well, except for a ripple in the preferred lower line coming off turn four. As you might expect, all but one of the late model ten lappers was won from the front row, with Tony Jackson Jr. coming from row two to grab heat three, passing polesitter Chad Simpson with a pair of laps remaining, followed by Californian Tony Toste and Erb Jr. After going to his back up car, Pierce started ninth in heat two, wowing the crowd as he used the high line to jump to fifth, one spot away from a transfer with a pair of laps left. As luck would have it, third running Kolby Vandenbergh slowed on the backstretch to bring out the yellow. But on the Delaware  restart, Pierce was shuffled back to sixth, sending him to the first of two B mains. Peyton Looney was victorious over Chris Simpson, Billy Moyer, and Jeremy Conaway. Babb captured the first heat, besting Aaron Marrant, Jason Papich, and Gordy Gundaker.  Opening night feature winner Justin Reed suddenly pulled away from heat four staging, heading back to his trailer with some kind of issue. Will Vaught took top honors in this one in front of Ryan Gustin, Jeremiah Hurst, and Daryn Klien, wheeling the Circle 7 machine.
  Three cars qualified out of each of the two B mains, with Mitch McGrath topping Tim Manville and Pierce in the first contest. With rookie of the year contender Justin Duty, who calls the state of Oregon home, leading the second B, a five car skirmish in turn two saw only Trevor Gundaker and Brennon Willard, who came to the track three laps down, not stopping ahead of the yellow flag. In command for the restart, the younger of the racing Gundaker brothers held on for the win in this, his first full season in a super late model. Alberson and Jordon Yaggy also qualified. Provisionals then went to Jeremy Grady and Joe Gorby.
   The B mods ran the first main event, and it was nothing short of a marathon with both yellow and red flags galore. Finally the eighteen laps were scored, with Cole Campbell avoiding the mayhem behind him to lead each lap for the win. Earl Pryor applied pressure in the closing laps, but settled for runner up honors. Terry Wilson, David Snyder, and Trevor Gladbach followed.
   Kyle Burton took command of the compact feature. Jeffrey Delonjay, the final car to the track, was challenging for the lead when his car got sideways coming down the front chute. As the crowd rose to their feet expecting a barrel roll or worse, the young driver somehow saved his #32D, only dropping to fifth in the process. As the laps clicked off, he charged back to second, again challenging for the win, but coming up short at the checkers. Following Burton and Delonjay, it was Alvin Cooney, Austin Parks, and Matt Barnett.
  Now it was late model feature time, with the scheduled forty laps cut to thirty. Polesitter Babb jumped to the lead in front of Jackson Jr. and Vaught. With a comfortable lead, Babb began to close in on slower traffic, and now Jackson was gaining fast. Just as things got interesting, Marrant stopped on the track, bringing out the yellow. Back under green, however, Jackson powered to the lead even as all eyes were also on eighth starting Gustin who was using a diamond move off the high banks of turn two, moving to third at the halfway mark. Jackson had his #56 well out front when another caution came about lap eighteen for Manville. Jackson remained in charge, even as he hit slower traffic, as they were not racing the leader, but heading to the pits as they were being lapped. On the restart, Babb returned the favor, snatching the lead back, and as the pack raced out of turn four to complete lap nineteen, Klein, Hurst, and Alberson stacked up, bringing out the final yellow. With the green waving again, Chad Simpson drove from fourth to the runner up spot with Jackson trading him spots. Over the closing circuits, Babb stretched his margin, cruising to the win and the $3,000 payday. With two laps to score, Gustin was able to clear Simpson for second. Simpson, Jackson, and Vaught completed the top five, followed by Looney, Chris Simpson, Erb, Moyer, and McGrath in the top ten. Toste and Conaway were the final two cars running at the checkers.
  The series picks back up tonight, Saturday, with a $5,000 to win event at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Maquoketa, Iowa, and we plan to be on hand for the finale of the three night swing Sunday, as the mini tour moves to the West Liberty Raceway for another $5,000 to win show, backed up by A mods, sport mods, and the always entertaining A.I.R.S. cars and stars.
  Meanwhile Randolph County Raceway will be back in action Sunday hosting the Sprint Invaders on the high speed 3/8 mile.
  Thanks to Jason Goble and his team for their hospitality and for bringing RCR back to life and staging some great late model action. As Illinois begins to allow racing again, we will see what Gobles' plans are for both RCR and Quincy Raceways.