Simpson Tops SLMR at Davenport

      This Memorial Day weekend has been a microcosm of the 2024 racing season. After drought conditions throughout the winter, it has been wet, wet, wet in the Mississippi valley once the calendar flipped to spring. In past days we might have logged whatever miles were necessary to find an event, but for a host of reasons times have changed, and so we were left hoping the rescheduled SLMR event at the Davenport Speedway would actually take place on Monday. A starting time moved up one hour with four classes on the card added to the appeal. 

   This would be my first visit to the track under the direction of rookie promoter Jeff Struck, and it would be his first foray into special events, with the $3,000 to win Super Late Model headliner supported by a $1,000 to win Fast Shafts All Star Invitational for IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, and Hobby Stocks filling out the card.

   A solid group of twenty six Late Models gathered on the black top parking area in an attempt to limit the number of super sized haulers in the soggy regular pit area. Twenty one Modifieds, sixteen Sport Mods and an even dozen Hobby Stocks rounded out the seventy five teams set to do battle around the quarter mile fairgrounds oval. 

   SLMR uses a combination of time trial points with a fast six invert for heat races combined with passing points in those heats to qualify sixteen cars for the money race. Chad Holladay rolled out near the end of the three at a time qualifiers and easily set fast time with a lap of 14.059 seconds. That was just over three tenths of a second quicker than Andy Eckrich at 14.361. As it turned out, that effort by Andy was key to his night, as he was involved in a lap one pile up in his eight lap heat race which sent him to the pits saddled with an eighth place finish, but with enough points to still avoid the B main and roll off thirteenth in the twenty five lap finale. Fate was not so kind to long distance traveler Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa, who never made it past hot laps. Another victim of that second heat race crash, Bryan Klein also scored enough points to line up beside Eckrich in the feature, but could not make the call. With the top four from the B main and a pair of provisional starters, twenty one competitors took the green flag for the main event. 

   Whether by design or as a shield against the threatening weather which gave us only a few sprinkles and a gorgeous rainbow, the Late Model feature would be first following a brief intermission for some track work on the tacky, dust free racing surface. Luke Pestka and Nick Marolf would line up in row one, with Pestka putting his #99 out front followed by fourth starting Holladay, Marolf, Charlie McKenna, and Chad Simpson. Simpson would clear McKenna on lap two, and the front four would soon breakaway running in nose to tail fashion around the top of the banking. Simpson grabbed third on lap eight, and one lap later Holladay crossed the line in first by a nose. Seventh starting Derrick Stewart then joined the front runners, and as lap ten went in the books, Simpson charged to the runner up position. The next time around Marolf slipped over the tricky cushion in turn four, turning third over to the on rushing Stewart, with the first and only caution waving for Marolf. Following the Delaware Style restart the two Chads drove away from the pack, Holladay staying true to the top line and Simpson showing his nose one groove lower. With just five circuits remaining, Holladay slipped over the top of turn two, and though he recovered quickly, both Simpson and Stewart drove by. Slower cars came into play three laps from the finish, but Simpson is no stranger to traffic, and he closed the deal, putting his #25 on the victory lane stage. Stewart took runner up honors while Holladay filled out the podium. Luke Goedert started fifth and held off eighth starting Justin Kay to complete the top five. Dave Eckrich gained four spots to sixth, followed by Curtis Glover, Jeff Tharp, hard charger Dylan Thornton, and the worlds fastest art teacher, Matt Ryan. 

   IMCA Sport Mods would be next, fourteen cars going at it for fifteen laps. The caution flag waved on the opening corner for a multi car scrum. On the next attempt at green, Kevin Rasdon charged ahead from the pole position as Perry Gellerstedt and Logan Veloz battled side by side for second. On lap four, Gellerstedt looked ready to pounce on the leader, but the yellow waved once again. Back to racing, the front three now raced three wide, with Gellerstedt nosing ahead and Veloz following in second as lap five was scored. Another caution came as that lap went in the books, and was followed by ten green flag circuits to the checkers. Just past the halfway mark a suddenly hard charging Shane Paris powered to second, and then grabbed the lead on lap nine, followed by Veloz in second. The tenth starting Paris would then hold on for the win with Veloz nabbing second. Dakota Cole raced to a third place finish in front of Gellerstedt while Kevin Goben made a late charge to fifth. 

   As stated, the IMCA Modifieds would be vying for a cool $1,000 and a Fast Shafts invite, and all twenty one cars were ready to duke it out for twenty five trips around the oval. Jeff Larson looked like he might be hard to beat having earned the pole position, but he got too high in turns three and four on the opening lap, giving way to fourth starting Matt Werner, and veteran Bob Dominacki.Werner quickly opened a sizable lead even as sixth starting Spencer Diercks powered to second on lap four, also putting distance between his #21 and the now third running #1 of Eric Barnes. As the laps clicked off under green flag conditions, Werner soon caught the back of the pack allowing Diercks to quickly erase his big lead. With eleven laps scored, the first caution would give the leaders a clear track ahead on the restart, with Werner and Diercks again driving well ahead. A second caution came with fifteen down, and back under green, Diercks executed a slide job, only to have Werner cross it over and retain the lead. At the same time, tenth starting Chris Zogg found another gear and advanced to third before falling back one position. A final stoppage left us with a six lap shootout, and three laps in it was eleventh starting Joel Rust on the move to third while closing on the front duo. As Werner held serve to take the checkers, Rust used a last lap slider to grab the second spot from Diercks. Zogg would cross the line in fourth while Barnes rounded out the top five. 

   Hobby Stocks would be last on the card for fifteen laps of racing. With a long drive around the Highway 92 detour to negotiate, we agreed to hold on until a possible second caution from the twelve car field. Unfortunately, those two caution flags would come before one lap was scored, so we hit the road to what sounded like a third wave of the yellow. We checked results as we worked our way down the two lanes and found that outside pole sitter Daniel Wauters scored the win ahead of Cody Staley, Luke Phillips, Randy LaMar, and Jordon Miles.

   It was a solid night of racing, and track personnel did a fine job of moving the show along. Additionally it was fun catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones! Thanks to promoter Jeff Struck and his team, especially the helpful ladies at the pit gate for their hospitality. Davenport has become one of my favorite venues, and despite the now even more challenging drive, I hope to make it back a few more times in 2024. 

   The forecast for next weekend does not look any more favorable than this one was, but hopefully we can squeeze in some racing somewhere Down the Road. Thanks for reading!

Havermale Scores Big at Adams County

    After a week spent cruising with family in the Caribbean it was back to reality - and the race track - Sunday at Adams County, Il. Speedway. It would be night number two of weekly racing, and a balanced field of sixty seven cars signed in, not counting a pair of the Crown Vic machines, out for practice laps ahead of their debut next Sunday. 

   The Pro Crate Late Models are no longer time trial qualifying, which saves a bit of time in the program, while the DirtCar UMP Modifieds combine three at a time hot lap - qualifying which saw Rick Conoyer the lone driver in the seventeen car field under the fifteen second mark with a lap of 14.948 seconds.

   A scorching sun with temps pushing 90 degrees made track prep a challenge, particularly with a 5:30 start time for hot laps, and many of the drivers had a hard time getting their machines to behave on the soon slick track which also sported a tall and treacherous cushion in turns one and two. As a result, the yellow flag flew early and often in heat race action. During intermission the track crew was able to knock down that cushion a bit, widening the racing groove, but the yellow flag continued to be displayed frequently during the five feature races.

   The more than normal number of heat race incidents took a bit of a toll on the competitors, but still all but one of the thirteen Street Stocks lined up for fifteen scheduled laps of what would be often interrupted action. The caution would fly six times in the first eleven laps before the time limit resulted in a green, white, checkers conclusion. Two class hot shoe Jacob Rexing powered from outside row one to the initial lead, with his front row mate Rudy Zaragoza and fifth starting Robert Cottom racing side by side for second. Following a restart around lap eight, Zaragoza jumped the turn three cushion, temporarily falling to fifth. However three more cautions with the field finally going single file kept Rudy in the hunt. Cottom mounted a strong challenge during the two lap dash to the checkers, but an exhausted Rexing held on for the hard fought win. Zaragoza climbed back to third ahead of Alan Cottom and the #357 of Braydon Rich. 

   The IMCA Northern Sport Mod field was inexplicably slim on the night, with ten of the dozen checked in coming to the track for eighteen circuits. Quinton Shelton charged to a big lead from the outside pole as the pack scrambled for position behind him. On lap three, fifth starting A J Tournear moved to second and began to close on the leader. Just ahead of the crossed flags to signal the half way mark, Tournear charged to the lead, taking along Logan Cumby to second. Two laps later Cumby moved to the front, and on lap twelve the yellow flew - perhaps too soon - when third running Reed Wolfmeyer got crossed up, drove through the front stretch infield, never stopping, but was sent to the back with a charged caution. Now it was eighth starting Tanner Klingele on the move, taking second on the Delaware Style restart, then grabbing the lead ahead of a second and final caution four laps from the finish. Back to racing, Klingele pulled away to a convincing win, while Tournear found his way around Cumby for runner up honors. Wolfmeyer rebounded from his penalty to fourth, and Shelton completed the top five. 

   Despite an only half joking plea for more time from Rexing in his victory lane interview, Modifieds would be next, with all but two going at it for twenty laps. Trevor Neville, who now calls Quincy his "home track," and Dave Weitholder sat in row one, with Weitholder grabbing the lead as the green flag flew. When he bobbled in that tricky first corner on lap three, Neville was there to take over. The first caution came at lap six as Weitholder slowed with a flat tire, and after pulling to the work area he moved on to the trailer with apparently more damage than was visible. The caution flag would be displayed three more times, with Conoyer breathing down the back of the leader while Austen Becerra lurked close behind in third. The final restart came with sixteen in the books, and one lap later Becerra rode the high line to second. But this race belonged to Neville, who stated in victory lane that he would be back next week to defend his Chad McCoy Memorial victory from 2023. Following Becerra in second, Conoyer held off Rexing for fourth. Michael Vanderiet bested visiting Daniel Fellows to round out the first five. 

   Dirtcar Four Cylinders produced only eight cars for the night, with seven lining up for fifteen laps. Dyllan Bonk shot ahead from the pole, leaving the Delonjay brothers, Jeffrey and Jaden, to battle side by side for second. On lap three the leaders came upon a slower car on the backstretch, with the tight pack scrambling to get around him. Luck ran out for Landon Neisen, who made contact then went nearly head on into the backstretch guardrail, ending his run. With only five cars still on the track, Bonk was still holding off the brothers until Jeffrey cleared Jaden, then used a high side power move to grab the top spot ahead of a final yellow. Jeffrey Delonjay picked up the win with Bonk in second, Jaden Delonjay third, and Kimberly Abbott close behind as the last car on the track. 

   All seventeen Late Models made the call to contest twenty five laps. Branden Bilger and Jason Perry led the parade, with Bilger setting the pace. Last weeks' winner Jamie Wilson finished fifth in his stacked heat race and lined up fourteenth on the starting grid. But by the time rookie driver Matthew Kay spun on lap three, Wilson had climbed to eighth. On the restart,another Late Model rookie, long time Modified driver Spencer Havermale moved to second. He then set sail after the leader, keeping his #7H glued to the inside groove, and taking the lead with nine laps scored. Slower traffic was about to play in to the action when the next yellow came with eleven down with an accident that eliminated yet another rookie, Jackson Frankel, with heavy body damage on his #2F. Back under green Bilger was shuffled back while sixth starting Denny Woodworth took over the runner up spot. Havermale again stayed true to the low line, pulling well ahead, and with no more stoppages, cruised to his first Late Model win after only a handful of starts. Woodworth held off Tommy Elston to complete the podium finishes, Jamie Wilson gained ten positions to fourth while Perry came home fifth. Bilger was sixth, topping visiting Ryan Miller, Jason Oenning ( number 5o, not fifty!), Superman Sam Halstead, and Darin Weisinger Jr. 

   Racing wrapped up at about 9:30 in front of the late arriving crowd. ( Heat and many graduation activities no doubt impacted both the crowd and car count!) As mentioned, next Sunday will be the Chad McCoy Modified Memorial, with a whopping $4,545 going to the winner. There is added purse money in the other four regular classes, and the Crown Vic class will make its' debut.  

   The cranky spring weather and the VERY PLEASURABLE vacation have this blogger way behind on race nights, so lets all cross our fingers and hope for a great holiday weekend of racing!

Erb, Gossum, Rexing, Delonjay Top Quincy Opener

    The 2024 MLRA season is off to a nightmare start, with seven weather related cancellations in the first nine events. Only a mid April two day show at the series' "home" track, Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., was in the books as the calendar flipped to May. Heavy downpours last weekend likewise wiped out the later than usual season opener at Adams County, Il. Speedway near Quincy. So even though MLRA typically schedules multiple days in the same weekend, both the series directors and the Lieurance family at Adams County were eager to see cars on the track. That was the scene as the gates swung open late Sunday afternoon at the .29 mile semi banked bullring formerly known as Quincy Raceways. 

   In addition to the high powered Super Late Models, three of the weekly classes at the track, UMP Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Dirtcar 4 Cylinders would fill out the card, with the Late Models vying for a $5,000 top prize.

   As is to be expected with the traveling series, there were already several heavy hitters in the pits when I arrived three hours before race time. And going forward, a steady stream of racers continued to pull through the new check in area until a final tally of eighty four teams signed in. Between the large number of super size haulers and multiple areas of too soft for parking areas, by the time Frank Heckenast Jr. rolled in as the thirtieth and final late model, parking spots were at a premium. Indeed, promoter Jim Lieurance commented that in addition to all the recent downpours we have experienced in the area, there was an additional inch and a half of rain on Thursday, and had Saturdays sketchy forecast dumped even another tenth, he would have been forced to cancel. Thanks to the hard work of Steve Grotz and his crew, the track was in excellent condition, and aside from a couple of whoop-de-dos, held up remarkably well through many laps of qualifying and racing!

   Fresh off the Lucas Oil Late Model Tour, "Turbo" Tyler Erb took a misguided route from World of Outlaw Saturday action at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Wisconsin to Quincy after initially pointing to the similarly named Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa. That turned out to be his only misadventure, as he proceeded to set overall quick time, win his heat race, and with possibly one exception lead all forty laps of the $5,000 to win headliner. 

   Following his 12.647 lap in qualifying and his first heat flag to flag win from the pole, front row starters Earl Pearson Jr. and Derrick Stewart scored heat wins. Only in the second preliminary did the winner advance from the pack, as defending series champion Chad Simpson nosed ahead of Tony Jackson Jr. to capture heat two. And it was Trevor Gundaker scoring a front row victory in the lone B main, with eleven of fourteen scheduled starters taking the green flag for ten laps.

   With intermission complete, Street Stocks would be up first, all but three of the eighteen signed in racing for fifteen circuits. Chuck Mitchell would line up on the pole and pace the field through a caution with three in the books. One lap after the restart, defending track champ Jake Powers and Robert Cottom were battling for position when they became hooked together, bringing out a second and final yellow. It would be the end of the night for Powers. Back to racing, third starting double duty driver Jacob Rexing charged to the lead and gradually pulled away to a convincing win. Mitchell and Rickey Frankel III waged a side by side battle for second with Frankel eventually securing the position. Rudy Zaragoza and Cottom completed the top five. 

   It was now Late Model time. Erb and Pearson would lead the way with the low line the preferred way around the .29 mile oval. So third running Stewart decided to try the top side, putting pressure on Pearson but never quite able to complete the pass. He would eventually fall back a bit off the pace. Four caution periods in the first eleven laps would keep Erb in clean air, but the final twenty nine circuits would produce "edge of your seat" action. By the halfway point, only a couple of cars had dropped out, and the leaders found themselves in heavy traffic. Pearson at several times was able to pull alongside the leader, and may have actually led one lap. The Jacksonville, Florida veteran decided to stay true to the bottom groove, and soon found himself trapped momentarily behind a lapped car. That was all the help Erb needed, as he was able to open a bit of cushion and drive home for the win. In the closing laps Pearson had to fight to hold off sixth starting Gordy Gundaker for the final podium spots. The drive of the night went to Garrett Alberson, who methodically weaved his way from row eight to steal fourth away from Chad Simpson at the finish. Stewart hung around for sixth, topping Heckenast Jr.,  nineteenth starting Chris Simpson, Daniel Hilsabeck, and B main winner Trevor Gundaker, giving us two sets of brothers in the top ten!

   While some of the estimated 1800 fans headed for the gates, eleven 4 Bangers lined up for fifteen laps. Among the three not able to take the green flag was popular local Kimberly Abbott, who took multiple tours around the oval courtesy of a push truck, but could not get her #71 to keep running. Travis Demint charged to the early lead before giving way to Derrick Deford on the third circuit. Deford held on through the first of two cautions, but at the crossed flags, defending track champion Jeffrey Delonjay powered to the front. He was soon joined by brother Jaden as the two hot shoes picked up where they left off in 2023. Deford came home third while Demint held off a hard charging Dyllan Bonk to round out the first five.

   Modifieds would stage the finale, with all twenty two cars coming to the track for twenty laps. Trevor Neville was the heat one winner, and he shot to the early lead from the pole. With four in the books, defending track champ Austen Becerra headed to the hot pit under caution, effectively ending his chances at a win. Back to racing, Neville pulled well in front, but eight laps in heavy traffic became a factor. Now it was ninth starting Hunt Gossum on the move, and he drove to the runner up spot at lap ten. A pair of yellow flags followed, and now the front pair were fighting a tight battle. A caution with five laps remaining saw the field line up single file. Again it was Neville and Gossum dueling hard, and as they battled out of turn two on the final lap, a pile up in turn one brought a dramatic final caution. A one lap shootout followed, and Gossum found a way around Neville for a thrilling end to the evening. Dave Weitholder had the best seat in the house in third, while Chris Spading came on late, gaining seven spots to finish in fourth. Austin Seets crossed the line where he started, in fifth. 

   The final checkers waved a bit after 10:00, bringing a close to a very successful season opener. 

   Thanks as always to Jim, Tammy, and the helpful smiles at the newly situated and constructed pit gate for their hospitality! On a personal note, I will be away from the track for a couple of weeks, with my next report planned from this same fine facility for the May 19 event. Thanks for reading, and we will see you soon as we go Racin' Down the Road!