The MLRA series kicked off a three race championship weekend on Friday with a $5,000 to win show at Kevin and Tammy Gundakers' Tri City Speedway near Granite City, Illinois. UMP modifieds were also on the card, battling for a $2,000 top prize. The series would be right back at Tri City on Saturday with $7,000 on the line, backed by both mods and B mods. The 2020 season would then wrap up on Sunday at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri, making their third stop of the season at the high banks, supported by B mods and hornets. Dubuque, Iowa veteran racer Jeremiah Hurst made the decision last off season to run for rookie of the year honors, but after strong finishes in a pair of races the weekend prior at the Lucas Oil Speedway, he found himself not only leading the rookie points, but also with a ten point lead over Payton Looney in the championship standings. Former series champion Chad Simpson entered the weekend in third place, thirty points behind with fourth place Tony Jackson Jr. still in the running trailing by one hundred and ten points. So with two hundred points awarded for a feature win, plus points earned in qualifying, all four still had a legitimate shot at the prestigious title.
Even with a stiff breeze and chilly temps, we were hoping for a solid field of cars, but we were pleased and surprised when a whopping forty seven late models checked in representing by my count thirteen different states! Twenty nine modifieds also came through the pit gate, with many of the top drivers in the area on hand.
The action kicked off with late model hot laps followed by hot laps combined with time trial qualifying for the modifieds. Kyle Steffens paced the mods, eclipsing the seventeen second mark by nearly a half second. With the track starting to come around, the late models were next to qualify. First Chris Simpson, then Mason Oberkramer sat atop the leader board before Ryan Gustin broke through the fifteen second barrier with a lap of 14.961 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval.
Each class was split into four heat races, with the top four from each moving to their main event. One B main for the mods taking the top six, and a pair of B's for the late models taking the top three were next. A pair of point provisionals were added to the late model lineup while Brennon Willard used an emergency provisional to swell the field to twenty five.
Following a brief intermission, the late models lined up for thirty laps. The four heat winners occupied the first two rows, with Oberkramer and Tim Manville in row one, and Simpson and Jason Papich in row two. Things got off to a rocky start, as the first two attempts were called back when the front duo alternated getting the jump on each other. Finally they came to the green side by side, and we were racing! Oberkramer paced the early laps hugging the inside line while Manville went to work up top. Finding a bite on the cushion, Manville put his #33 out front on lap four, but three laps later Oberkramer regained the point. Simpson began to close in and he took the runner up spot from Manville on lap eleven. Two more trips past the flag stand and Oberkramer had caught the back of the pack. Simpson was now poised to make a move for the lead, but Oberkramer was able to clear Willard and put some distance between himself and Simpson. By lap twenty, Simpson was back in the hunt and we now had a two car race in heavy traffic. While Chris rode the bumper of the #93, the caution waved with just five laps left. As he was being lapped, Hurst tried to duck into the pits and slammed the concrete barrier at the pit exit entering turn three. As the field was reset, surprisingly Hurst was able to restart at the tail of the field and still chase some valuable points. The clear track ahead proved to be all Oberkramer needed, as the excited young man stretched his lead and captured his second MLRA feature of the season. Simpson crossed the line in second, trailed by Manville, Shannon Babb, and Bobby Pierce. Pierce had started in the tenth position and spent a good deal of the race running around tenth before a late charge vaulted him to fifth. Billy Moyer led the next five in front of Papich, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jackson Jr. wheeling a #21 car, and Rusty Schlenk. Gustin lost a top five finish when he appeared to have a tire go down at the end, dropping him to twenty first in the order. Looney skipped his B main, took a provisional and raced his way from row twelve to fifteenth. With Hurst credited with twentieth, Payton regained the point lead heading into Saturday night.
With post race festivities complete, twenty two modifieds lined up for twenty five laps. Heat winners Rick Stevenson and Steffens sat on row one, with Will Krup and Rick Conoyer in the #9W in row two. Steffens drove his #8S to the high side of the smooth, slick track, leaving the low line for Stevenson. Krup powered to second just ahead of a lap five caution. Steffens and Krup drove away from the pack as racing resumed while seventh starting Mike McKinney moved to third on lap eight. Krup was using the inside groove to challenge for the lead as the caution came again with eleven laps in the books. During the caution, top contenders Mike Harrison and Dean Hoffman went to the infield, their night over. As the Delaware realignment formed, double duty Bobby Pierce, who had started fifteenth, now lined up in seventh. He won his race to turn one as the green flag waved, then split the cars of Stevenson and Jeff Leka on the backstretch to climb to fourth. As the race passed the halfway point, Krup pulled alongside the leader and drove to the front. With seven circuits remaining, Pierce used a crossover move to clear McKinney for third, and began searching high and low for some grip on the black slick surface. He found a bite on the low line, clearing Steffens for second with five laps left on the scoreboard. Stalking the #19 of Krup, he was able to pull a slide job coming off turn four to the white flag and take over the lead. He then held on for the checkers and the $2,000 win. Krup took runner up honors, while Steffens, McKinney, and Stevenson also scored top fives. Leka ran sixth ahead of Michael Long who picked up the B main win, then started in row nine of the feature. Steve Meyer, Josh Harris, and Conoyer filled out the top ten.
The final checkers waved just after 10:30 in front of a decent sized crowd considering the chilly and breezy conditions. The MLRA stars will finish up their championship drive tonight at Tri City with a $7,000 top prize on the line, while the mods will again race for $2,000 and the B mods join the card competing for $1,000. It had been our plan to catch the MLRA finale on Sunday at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Mo., but the forecast of rain and chilly conditions has persuaded promoter Jason Goble to pull the plug on the show.
As of now, we have our sights set on next Saturday for night number two of the Calvin Meyer Memorial at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. Late models have been added to the Saturday card with modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, hobby stocks, and sport compacts in action on both Friday and Saturday. The season is winding down, so grab your sweatshirt and head to the track!
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