Tri City Speedway near Granite City, Illinois was the setting for race night number fifty of my 2021 season. This would mark championship night for the MLRA late model series. Originally scheduled as a two night grand finale, the Friday portion as well as the Thursday practice were cancelled due to rain and wet conditions. The Saturday show would pay a tidy $7,000 to the feature winner, with UMP modifieds racing for $2,000 and B mods filling out the card chasing $1,000 at the top. Lebanon, Missouri driver Tony Jackson Jr. came into the weekend with a healthy points advantage over second place Garrett Alberson. Unofficially, it looked as though Jackson need only to qualify for the main event to lock up the title, which would would be his second overall, the first coming in 2013. While Jackson looked for the $15,000 championship check, fourth place Mason Oberkramer had secured headed for Rookie of the Year honors for the series.
Having just a single day of racing no doubt had an affect on car counts, but still fields of twenty five late models, twenty five modifieds, and thirty three B mods made for plenty of action. Following late model hot laps, the modifieds did a combo hot lap/qualifying round, with Mike Harrison fastest overall at 16.406 seconds. Late models then came back with two qualifying laps. Alberson was one of the last to make his run, and he was tops at 14.622 seconds, nipping Shannon Babb by .002 ticks. B mods then hot lapped ahead of heat race action.
In typical "time 'em and start 'em up front" fashion, the pole sitter topped all three mod heats, with Timmy Hill, Rick Conoyer, and Harrison taking wins. Late model ten lappers all went to the outside row one starter, with Jeff Herzog, Gordy Gundaker, and Brian Shirley claiming wins. B mods were draw and go. John Stanton, Curt Young, and Cole Cygan came from row two for wins, while Shad Prescott advanced seven spots to capture the final heat.
A ten minute break turned into nearly thirty as track workers decided to try and smooth out a couple of rough spots on the track caused no doubt by the obviously heavy rains the track had received. The B mods then completed qualifying with a B main where Rob Neubauer gained six positions to take the win.
The late model forty lap headliner would be first on the feature docket. All twenty five drivers made the call. Oberkramer was forced to start at the tail after unloading his back up car for his heat race. Herzog paced the opening pair of laps ahead of the first caution for a Tim Simpson spin. Back to racing, Jackson Jr. moved to third after starting in seventh, and Gordy Gundaker rebounded to fourth after falling to sixth from the outside pole. Shirley took over the lead on lap five and began to pull away from the field. Alberson got up in the crumbs in turns one and two, falling well back in the top ten. Slower traffic was in play by lap nine, with cars running side by side and nose to tail. Jackson used the opportunity to jump to second and as he did, the yellow waved, with Brennon Willard looping his car in turns one and two, nearly collecting the #56 of Jackson. As racing resumed thirteen laps in, the leaders all ducked to the inside line, while row six starter Bobby Pierce moved to the cushion. But now it was Shannon Babb on the move, taking fifth on lap fifteen as Gundaker charged to third. Shirley was again running away from the pack as Alberson climbed back in the hunt and Pierce began to fade. But with traffic again in play at the halfway mark, Pierce again charged to fifth. Following another caution with twenty eight laps scored, Pierce rolled to a stop on the backstretch. Debris had hit his air cleaner, exposing the engine, and after officials confirmed the issue, he elected to call it a night. Gundaker took over the runner up spot on the restart as Frank Heckenast Jr. powered to third and Jackson dropped to fourth. With Shirley again on cruise control, a final yellow came with four laps to go for sixth running Chad Simpson, who retired to the trailer. This final restart was single file. Two more laps and Heckenast cleared Gundaker for second and began to run down the leader. As the white flag waved, Shirley stayed low on the track while Heckenast moved to his outside. It was a drag race out of turn four to the checkers, with Shirley out front and Heckenast on his bumper. Gundaker was pleased to come home third. Alberson finished fourth, one spot in front of Jackson Jr., securing the runner up spot in the championship standings. Herzog led the second five, followed by a strong run from row seven starter Aaron Marrant. Daniel Hilsabeck was eighth, while Babb faded to ninth. Justin Duty advanced eight spots to finish tenth.
After considerable post race hoopla by MLRA officials, all but one of the modifieds lined up for thirty laps of racing. Conoyer and Hill ran side by side for the first pair of laps before Hill settled in front. Slower traffic was already in play by lap four, and when one got out of shape, Conoyer made contact, ending his night. Two more quick yellows eliminated top challengers Dean Hoffman and Michael Long. By the time five laps had been scored we were down to fourteen cars on the track, and frustrated officials went with a single file restart. Harrison moved to second before another caution two laps later. Delaware style restarts resumed, Trey Harris took over second, two more laps down and another caution. We were at six cautions before things finally settled down, At the fifteen lap mark, Hill was driving away from the field, Harris was in second, and Dylan Sharp had charged from twentieth to third! As Hill worked efficiently through lapped traffic, Harrison was able to nose past Sharp for third before the next caution at lap twenty one. Back under green Harris mounted a challenge for the lead, but drifted into the crumbs in turns one and two, turning second over to Harrison. Hill was hugging the low line with Harrison working the top. But now it was Harrisons turn to get too close to the wall and Harris reclaimed the spot. With all this going on behind, Hill was stretching his advantage, until a spin by Harris with just three circuits remaining brought out a final caution flag. Sixth starting Danny Ems entered the picture, snatching second away on the restart, and coming to the white flag, Hill suddenly began to fall off the pace. In the right place at the right time, the veteran Ems grabbed the lead and the win. Harrison came home in second while Brandon Bollinger, hung around all race and finished in third. Hill was able to limp to a disappointing fourth, followed by nineteenth starting Jake Trebilcock. Dave Weitholder drove an unfamiliar #27 to a sixth place finish, topping Harris, T.J.Eilers, and Rayce Baker, the only cars remaining on the track. Sharp was credited with tenth.
Well chilled, we headed for the car ahead of the B mod finale which was captured by Clint Young over Tommy Seets Jr., Dustin Bosson, Prescott, and Treb Jacoby.
Thanks to Kevin, Tammy, and crew for staging an entertaining night of racing under very challenging conditions. The week ahead looks busy, but I hope to catch a night of racing next weekend in Memphis, Missouri at the Calvin Meyer Memorial. This first annual event, postponed from 2020 will offer racing on both Friday and Saturday. Hope to see you there!
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