Bill Leighton Jr., from La Vista, Nebraska entered the weekend third in SLMR west division points. But he decided to make the four and a half hour drive to Davenport, Iowa for the opening nights of the Quad City trifecta. Leighton had never raced on the fairgrounds 1/4 mile, having only watched videos, so his fourteenth place finish on Friday night would serve as a learning experience. By Saturday he was ready for his " final. " He would line up outside row one for the forty lap feature, and when the checkered flag waved he would be holding the $5,000 " big check " in victory lane.
The car count was down only slightly on Saturday, with 119 drivers across five divisions, topped by thirty one super late model entries.
The timing device was back up and working , and veteran Dave Eckrich celebrated the birthday we share by posting the fastest lap of 14.979 seconds, the only driver to crack the fifteen second barrier.
While heat race action went off without a hitch on Friday, there were multiple caution periods this night, particularly in the four late model qualifiers as the track stayed somewhat slick during preliminary events. A six car invert from time trials with the top sixteen in passing points qualifying for the forty lap finale and all others to one B main made for some itchy trigger fingers. Friday feature winner Andy Eckrich topped heat one, while his runner up Justin Kay claimed heat two. " Chargin' Charlie Mckenna and Curt Schroder also picked up heat wins. Nick Marolf topped the six B main qualifiers with Gabe Umbarger and Gary Webb added as provisionals to fill out the twenty four car starting field.
Changing things up a bit from Friday, the street stocks would be first on the feature grid, fourteen starters racing for fifteen laps. Pole sitter Jeff Struck Jr. paced the opening circuit with his row one mate Jesse Owen in second. Joe Bonney moved up to challenge on lap two. With the track still a bit slick for the smaller tires on the street stocks, the leaders lined up running the inside line ahead of a lap six caution. On the restart, Bonney decided to try a middle groove around the oval while seventh starting Nick Hixson went one lane higher yet. Following a second and final yellow on lap twelve, Hixson began to apply pressure to the leader, again from the top side of the track. When the checkers waved, it was the second generation racer Hixson with the win. Struck held on for runner up honors in front of Bonney, Owen, Rob Henry, and Friday night winner Donnie Louck.
Twelve laps would be the distance for the fourteen IMCA sport compacts signed in. Thomas Adams put his #47 out front at the drop of the green and drove off to a commanding lead and win in the non stop event. Shane Kelly gave chase in second, with Jimmy Dutlinger, Cody Staley, and Shawn McDermott also recording top five runs.
Late models again ran third on the grid with forty laps the distance and $5,000 the top prize bookended by $400 to start. Spencer Diercks powered to the front from the pole, taking third starting McKenna along in second. Weekly racing track champion Matt Ryan came from row three to the runner up spot on lap three running his usual low line while Diercks alternated between the narrow cushion, the middle groove and the inside line. Outside row one starter Leighton Jr. fell back a bit, but soon rejoined the leaders in a three car tussle. Ryan took over the top spot on lap seven, and one lap later Leighton cleared Diercks for second. With Ryan on the bottom and Leighton up top the duo pulled away with Leighton grabbing the lead on lap eleven. One more circuit and slower traffic became a factor. Leighton had little trouble negotiating the lapped cars and now running a middle groove he had a nearly straightaway lead by the mid point of the race. From the fifth row, Richie Gustin was now applying heat to Ryan for second, but it was Jeff Aikey who found some magic, passing both cars to slide into second on lap twenty two. Gustin followed in third three circuits later, but Leighton was nearly flawless in heavy traffic as he maintained his advantage. Eventually Aikey was able to close in as traffic continued to be a factor, and as lap thirty five was scored he was on the back bumper of Leightons' #24. In fact, he pulled alongside the leader briefly, but Leighton was able to use a lapped car as a pick to gain separation once again entering turn three. After that Aikey was not able to mount another serious challenge, and Leighton rode to victory in another caution free race. By my count, all but three of the starters were still on the track at the end, making the lack of yellows quite astounding. Aikey took runner up honors while " G Money " Gustin was third. Ryan came home fourth, and Kay took over the east division points lead from Tad Pospisil with his fifth place finish. Jaason Hahne paced the next five, besting Diercks, McKenna, Dave Eckrich, and Pospisil.
It was nearing 10:00 PM as the sport mod feature took the green, and we made the decision to begin the journey home, quite pleased with what we had seen in our two nights at the storied fairgrounds track. Reports this moring show pole sitter Logan Veloz with the win over heat three winner Shane Paris, Jeremy Gustaf, heat two victor Logan Anderson, and Ryan Walker. The IMCA modified finale went to seventh starting Chris Simpson who redeemed a pair of frustrating nights in his late model with the $1,000 win. Eric Barnes lined up behind Chris and rolled home second, trailed by row six starter Kollin Hibdon, Chris Zogg, and Dennis Laveine.
Thanks to Ricky and Brenda Kay and the gang at Davenport for two nights of hospitality and great racing. The SLMR mini tour wraps up tonight at the Bullring at RICO in East Moline, Ilinois. We will need to recuperate, with an eye towards next weekend. Friday night will be the final Drive for Five IMCA late model qualifier at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, where the Sprint Invaders will also be on the card. Then on Saturday the SLMR east division will invade the West Liberty Raceway for a $3,000 to win show. And finally on Sunday, it will be ASCS sprint cars at the Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, Missouri. Get out and support these events or another close to you while this awesome weather lasts!
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