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!
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