Sunday was night number three at Adams County, Illinois Speedway outside Quincy, Il. Seventy one race teams signed in to do battle on the .29 oval in front of a nice sized crowd. Those hearty souls had to brave a stubborn southerly breeze, but were treated to some intense battles, side by side racing, and a couple of rollovers during the features.
After Kenny Wallace topped nineteen UMP modifieds, qualifying with a lap of 14.359 seconds, the track crew did a bit of work ahead of a dozen heat races to set the feature fields.
Following intermission, the street stocks kicked things off with all but one of the nine cars entered lining up for fifteen laps. Rudy Zaragoza and Sage Martin paced the field, with Rudy charging out to a big lead. By the time lap one was scored, fourth starting Robert Cottom had eased into the runner up spot, and it took him about five laps to close in and slip around the leader. With the race staying green until the end, Cottom gradually built his lead to the checkers, making him three for three this season at the Bullring. Zaragoza took runner up honors in front of Leremy Jackson and Jake Powers. Martin won a tight battle with Robert Thompson to claim the fifth position.
All fifteen IMCA sport mods came to the track to contest eighteen laps. The first caution period came on lap one as pole sitter Kevin Nichelson spun in turn one. Back to racing, last weeks' winner Logan Cumby charged from row three to pace the first scored lap, taking along Justin Bartz in second. Four laps in, Reed Wolfmeyer powered to second while row six starter Adam Birck charged to third. Cumby saw his sizable lead wiped out one lap later as debris on the track brought out the caution flag. Birck used the Delaware style restart to move to second, then he set his car on the cushion while Cumby drove low around the tire barrier. The duo crossed the stripe at the halfway mark in a tight side by side battle as the yellow waved for a spin by Quinton Shelton. Back under green, it took Birck two laps to grab the lead, and with no more stops, he gradually pulled away to his first win of the season. Cumby remained strong in second, trailed by Wolfmeyer. Michael Goodwin and Nicholas Profeta staged an entertaing battle for fourth, with Goodwin ahead at the line. While most of the action to this point had been in the low and middle lines on the ever slickening track, Birck let the cat out of the bag in his post race interview by announcing that he had indeed proved to unnamed skeptical drivers that there was indeed a cushion!
One of the few downsides to a successful early season at the track is the car count in the now sanctioned UMP Pro Crate late model division. Only five drivers signed in on Sunday, down two from the season high seven last week. Heat race winner Denny Woodworth lined up on the pole, and led all eighteen laps in the non stop event. Darin Weisinger Jr. stayed close to the leader in the early going before giving up the position on lap ten to first time visitor Braden Bilger. Weisinger held on for third ahead of week one winner Sam Halstead and Spencer Coats. The victory was the second on the year for the veteran Woodworth.
The highlight of the night may have been the star studded nineteen car field in the UMP modified class. An influx of top performers from the St. Louis area must have listened to the glowing reports the previous week from Wallace, and several followed him north to try their luck against the regular hot shoes on Sunday. As the green flag waved on the twenty lapper, heat race winners Dave Wietholder and Rick Conoyer charged from the front row joined by Wallace in a three wide bottle neck at the front. Unfortunately, a spinning Reid Sammons brought out the first yellow flag. Sammons again had trouble on the restart, and after that restart two laps were scored before an out of shape Jacob Rexing triggered a multi car pile up in turn one which brought the red flag out. Back to racing the action was tight with Conoyer out front. however he slowed with a flat four laps in, turning the lead over to Wietholder as Rick retired to the trailer. It was now Austen Becerra on a mission as he abused the cushion searching for a way around the leader. Austen slipped off the track exiting turn two, dropping several spots, but another debris caution seven laps in bunched the field. As action resumed, Wietholder began to open a nice lead, but by lap twelve Becerra had made it back to second and was again closing fast. With four laps to go, he tried to force the issue in turn four and ran out of real estate, going over the edge, losing considerable ground. Wietholder sailed under the white flag, but a late yellow then replaced it as Drake Stevenson looped his #77. This set up a one lap dash to the checkers, and Wietholder remained in control for win number two at the track this season. Wallace took the bridesmaid spot with Becerra in third. Bethalto, Illinois ace Steve Myers claimed fourth as steady Mike Vanderiet checked in fifth.
UMP 4 cylinders would close out the program, with all but one of the twenty three on hand coming to the track for fifteen laps. Before lap one was scored, the red flag flew as St. Louis area driver Sage Thornhill got upside down in turn three. After a lengthy delay, he tried to tag the tail of the field, but it seems there is a track rule preventing a car that rolls from returning to that race. Also, he apparently took his car to the trailer for a quick once over, also eliminating him from competition. Another caution marred the attempted restart, but then we were racing. Decatur, Illinois pilot Brady Reed and two time winner Jeffery Delonjay battled through another stoppage on lap five, staging a bumper to bumper and side by side duel through slower traffic as the laps clicked off. In search of win number three, Delonjay tried a high line, inside moves, and even a bump draft on the leader. As the white flag waved, Jeffery was able to slip inside for the lead. Entering turn one side by side, Reed tried to shut the door, got crossed up, and rolled his #324 machine. This set up another one lap shootout, and Delonjay made certain no one would collect the $100 bounty on his head on this night. Jeremy Reed, also from Decatur, would then take runner up honors, while Jimmy Dutlinger made his third trip from Peoria to claim third. Younger brother Jaden Delonjay was fourth, while Burlington, Iowa driver Justin Stevenson was fifth.
It was another good night of racing at the track as then team continues to work to knock out any glitches. It is good to have the scoreboard back up and running, even if some of the numbers do not always match up! Several of the debris cautions were caused by the (barely) buried boundary tires being kicked out on the track. After issues on opening night, track personnel attempted a fix that still needs a bit of tweaking. Fixing that, improving flow at the concession stands, and the addition of a second wrecker could really move this show to an even higher level!
Thanks as always to Jim, Tammy, Blake, and the crew for a fun Sunday evening!
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