When the former Quincy Raceways reopened this spring as the newly reincarnated Adams County, Illinois Speedway, the first major event on the schedule was a visit by the MARS super late model group led by legendary racer/promoter Tony Izzo Jr. The first four weeks of racing at the .29 mile oval would have to be deemed a success, so there was great anticipation for the Sunday, May 22 event. It was scheduled to be the finale of a three night MARS series mini tour through Illinois, with the forty lap feature paying a weekend high $7,000 to win. As in life, things don't always (usually?) go according to plan, especially in 2022! The first two nights at Kankakee and Charleston were rained out, leaving Quincy as a stand alone event. Further complicating matters, the Lucas Oil late model series race scheduled for Saturday night seventy five miles up the road in West Burlington, Iowa was also washed out. Having been rained out something like nine times already this season, the folks at 34 Raceway reached an agreement with the Lucas Oil group to reschedule that event for Sunday, as well. So instead of two races feeding super late models to Adams County, they would now be competing for racers and fans alike.
On the other side of the coin, loyal and enthusiastic race fans dipped in their pockets with donations to the purse. As a result, ten dollars per feature lap money is on the line for all four classes and there is a hard charger bonus for each class, as well. In addition to the $7,000 top prize for the late models, the winners' share for UMP modifieds is at least $1,700 and a cool $1,500 for IMCA sport mods. The UMP 4 cylinders tops out at $600 in addition to a $200 bounty on Jeffery Delonjay, winner of the first three features before last Sundays rain shortened program.
Under cool but sunny conditions, a steady flow through the pit gate saw ninety one race teams sign in, including twenty four late models and a whopping thirty two 4 cylinders! In addition, a crowd large enough in number to put a big smile on promoter Jimmy Lieurence face created a party atmosphere.
Two lap time trial qualifying was the first order of the evening, with one time track regular McKay Wenger rolling in from Fairbury, Illinois to top the late models with a lap of 12.862 seconds. Local favorite Dave Weitholder then paced the mods at 14.251 ticks.
Late models ran three qualifying heat races where all twenty four cars would move on to the main event. As expected, the straight up by time starts yielded three front row winners, with Ryan Unzicker, Jason Feger, and Indiana driver Joe Godsey picking up wins. St Louis area racers Kyle Steffens and Kenny Wallace grabbed the modified heats. Week one feature winner Shane Paris, Logan Cumby, and Adam Birck were sport mod victors. The 4 bangers ran four eight lap heats, two more laps than usual, and the winners were Nick Johnson, Jaden Delonjay, Michael Grossman, and Billy Mason, who towed the 188 miles from Brownstown, Illinois!
The racing surface was easily in the best shape of the young season for the heats, but track personnel none the less took advantage of the intermission to manicure the dirt, creating a multi groove track for the features. First, however, the 4 cylinders clicked off a pair of B mains to set their feature grid. Austin Harris and Dallas Strauch took those wins, and while it was supposed to be a top four transfer, there were apparently some scratches as a couple of non qualified cars lined up come feature time.
To the delight of the fans, the forty lap MARS main event would lead off feature racing. Donations now had the win worth $7,200 plus lap money. All twenty four cars came to the track, although Keokuk, Iowa pilot Brandon Queen was unable to take the green flag. After experiencing electrical issues in his heat and thrashing to make repairs, his #12 went silent during the parade laps. A pile up near the back of the pack marred the first attempt at a start, but when racing resumed, Feger shot to the front from outside row one. With Unzicker in hot pursuit, the pair caught slower traffic about lap six. Three laps later, a spin by Darin Weisinger Jr. brought a second caution, then one more lap was scored before Kayden Clatt rolled to a stop just inside the tire barrier, and the yellow waved again. Back under green, Feger was living up to his "Highside Hustler" nickname while Unzicker operated in the moisture around the bottom. Ryan set up a mean slider coming off turn four, but Jason was able to cross him over down the chute to maintain the lead. Unzicker then began moving around the track, searching for a way to the front, and sixteen laps in late model rookie Tommy Sheppard Jr. made his presence felt, clearing Mike Spatola and Jake Little, taking third after starting in tenth. Still as the crossed flags signaled the halfway mark, it was two car scrum between Feger and Unzicker. Three more laps, and Feger bobbled slightly at the top of turns three and four, and Unzicker pounced, grabbing the lead. At the same time, Sheppard Jr. was able to close in, making it a three car battle. Now Unzicker was pounding the cushion while Feger and Sheppard Jr. operated down low. Six laps from the finish, they were racing three wide, and Sheppard Jr. cleared Feger for second. Two more trips around and still committed to the inside line, Tommy was able to nose ahead. But now there was a gaggle of back markers racing two and three wide for position just ahead of the leader, with one car directly in the path of Sheppard. Somehow he was able to hold on, taking an emotional win. Unzicker was not entirely pleased with his runner up finish, and Feger completed the podium. Spatola held on to fourth in front of Little. In his first late model race, young modified standout Hunt Gossum from Mayfield, Kentucky, ran sixth ahead of Wenger, Dewayne Kiefer, local hot shoe Justin Reed, and the "Pink Panther" Bob Gardner.
In another wise move, the UMP modified twenty lapper ran next. All but Frankie Wellman took the green flag. Steffens shot to the lead from his pole start ahead of fourth starting Michael Long before a lap two caution. As Long and Weitholder battled on the restart, Wallace recovered to sneak into second. Two more laps brought another wave of the yellow, and the same on the first attempt at a restart. But from there it was green all the way to the checkers. Austen Becerra worked his way to third on lap seven, but by then it was Steffens down low and Weitholder up top locked in an intense two car duel. When the leaders caught the back of the pack with six circuits remaining, Steffens was able to gain just a bit of breathing room. Weitholder had one last charge to make, but on the white flag lap he bobbled a bit, allowing Steffens to cruise to the flag to flag win, collecting all $200 in lap money, making for a $1,900 payday. Becerra was able to slip around Weitholder on that final lap for second, with Mike Vanderiet Jr. gaining three spots to edge Wallace for fourth.
It was a bit surprising that the IMCA sport mod count stood at only eighteen, but such is often the result of a top heavy purse. At any rate, that suited Cumby just fine. He took off from outside row one and never looked back for eighteen caution free laps! Reed Wolfmeyer shared the front row and he tucked in behind Cumby as the leaders all migrated to the inside line around the newly minted and painted implement tires. It took only two laps for sixth starting Birck and ninth starting Paris to charge to third and fourth positions. Just after the halfway point, Birck was able to squeeze inside of Wolfmeyer for the runner up spot, and Paris again followed him through to take third. With no cautions, Cumby spent considerable time negotiating slower traffic, but he was up to the task, scoring a flag to flag win. Birck, Paris, Wolfmeyer, and twelfth starting Tanner Klingele completed the top five.
With many in the crowd having headed home, the UMP 4 cylinders lined up for twenty laps, twenty five cars strong. Pole sitter Jeffery Delonjay, the driver with a bounty on his head, led brother Jaden for the opening laps ahead of a lap two caution. Grossman was the man on the move, lining up fifth but moving up quickly to battle with Jaden for second. Following a caution eight laps in, Grossman used the top line to claim second, soon powering into a side by side lap after lap duel with Jeffery for the lead. With eight laps remaining, Michael put his #2 out front by a nose. Althought Delonjay stayed withing striking distance, Grossman eventually opened a bit of a lead and claimed the win. With all the extra moneys available he collected just over $900 for his efforts. Delonjay turned in another stellar performance in second, trailed by Bartonville, Illinois ace Nick Johnson, Jaden Delonjay, and Jeremy Reed, from Decatur.
The final checkers waved about 9:40, concluding an excellent night of racing. Thanks, as always to Jim, Tammy, Blake and the gang at Adams County for their hospitality.
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