Sunday afternoon we were back at Adams County, Il. Speedway east of Quincy. Despite the rains that canceled Kart racing on Saturday, improved conditions on Sunday allowed the track crew to whip the racing surface into excellent condition. So even though the clouds moved in early on, it was a beautiful night for racing - except for an invasion of cicadas, especially on and near pit road! I did notice however as the sun set they seemed to disappear. But enough about that!
The final car count was seventy five - sixty nine in the regular five divisions with six showing up for the opening night of the Crown Vic class. Curiously, the IMCA Sport Mods, the top division in 2023 turned out just eight cars. Putting our heads together, we came up with at least another half dozen or so that are currently in need of repair, so perhaps the shortage will correct its self.
Only the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds are using time trial qualifying now, and it was Success, Mississippi hot shoe Chase Holland picking up the $50 bonus with a quick lap of 13.838 seconds around the .29 mile oval. Heat racing clicked off in good time, and after a medical call in the grandstands halted the Crown Vic heat one lap from the finish, we were ready for feature racing.
DIRTcar Pro Crate Late Models kicked things off, battling for twenty five laps. Only rookie Kruze Miles, who blew his engine in hot laps was absent from the fourteen car field. Veterans Denny Woodworth and Tommy Elston filled out row one, with Elston grabbing the early lead. Young Christian Miles joined the party on lap two, and ran side by side with Woodworth for several laps while chasing the leader. By lap five Woodworth had claimed the position, working the low line around the track as Elston ripped the cushion. As those two pulled away from the pack, Darin Weisinger Jr. made a strong move to third before slipping off the top off turn two, falling to sixth ahead of the first caution nineteen laps in for Sam Halstead. Miles was shuffled well back from his fourth place run on the restart before a second yellow flag two laps later for an Eric Rutherford spin. On the single file restart, contact from Spencer Havermale left Miles with broken suspension and found Havermale sent to the tail for the final green flag. In the closing circuits, both low riding Jason Perry and rim riding Jamie Wilson were able to squeeze past Woodworth, but there would be no catching Elston, who claimed his second win of the weekend. Braden Bilger completed the first five followed by birthday boy Jason Oenning, Weisinger Jr., Jeffrey Delonjay, Terry Wilson, and Mark Enk. Wilson was the hard charger after lining up in the twelfth position.
One benefit of the low count in the Sport Mods was the often caution plagued class ripped off eighteen laps with zero stops. Patrick Phillips sat on the pole position and survived challenges to pick up his first ACS win of the season. Early on it was AJ Tournear and and Reed Wolfmeyer battling for the runner up spot. Soon we had a five car breakaway with Phillips hugging the low line, Tournear in second and Wolfmeyer pounding the cushion, Tanner Klingele working the bottom, and Logan Cumby upstairs. With just five laps to go, Wolfmeyer found a way around Tournear and he quickly closed on the front runner. Phillips held on for the win by less than a full second over Wolfmeyer, while Cumby, Klingele, and Tournear filled out the first five spots.
Next up it was all but one of the seventeen Modifieds racing for twenty laps. It was Holland jumping to the lead ahead of a pair of early cautions. With five green flag laps, Holland, Dave Weitholder, and Trevor Neville drove away in a three car scrum, with Austen Becerra joining the party in fourth after starting in seventh. Another caution came at the half way mark, then two laps later Neville used a slide job to take over second. After three more trips around, Neville was set to execute a slider on Holland in turn one, but Holland crossed him back over out of turn two to retain the lead. However Neville again did another slider in turns three and four, and this time it stuck. Holland then drifted a bit high in turn two, with Weitholder powering to second. With the battle behind him, Neville pulled away, cruising to his second consecutive win at the speedway. Weitholder, Holland and Becerra, followed, with Jacob Rexing nosing Justin Reed in the Begley #B4 to round out the top five.
Eleven of the dozen Street Stocks battled for fifteen laps. Jake Powers made his return to the track and led early on, while Rudy Zaragoza, Robert Cottum, and Jacob Rexing ran three wide at times for second. Cottom cleared that group and grabbed the lead on lap four ahead of the first of two cautions on lap seven. Powers was able to retake the lead as he swapped spots with Cottom, but Robert was ahead by a nose when the final yellow flag waved four laps from the end. With the top five running in close formation, the last restart went single file. Cottom held on for the victory over Powers, Zaragoza, Rexing, and Rickey Frankel III.
Fifteen laps would be on the docket for the DIRTcar 4 Cylinders. Travis Demint finished second in his heat race, but was a no show for the feature, along with double duty Kruze Miles, who rolled his ride on the first lap of his heat after losing his brakes. Outside row one starter Matthew Mackey paced the fourteen car field, with another double duty driver, Jeffrey Delonjay jumping to second on lap three. However, Delonjay, the defending series champion, would go off the top of turn two and drive to the trailer. Mackey built a commanding lead before Jaden Delonjay powered to the runner up spot in a new #3. Following the first of two stoppages, Mackey and Delonjay raced nose to tail for the top spot. With five laps left Kimberly Abbott went for a wild ride on the backstretch before smacking the tire barrier in turn four, bringing out that final yellow flag. Back to racing, Delonjay worked high and low, but could not overtake the front runner, with Mackey crossing the line less than a car length ahead. Spencer Coats gained nine positions to finish third in front of Jeremy Lee and Jordon Delonjay.
The Crown Vics were set to go for a dozen laps, and I must confess that I headed for the car after the third caution. A future trivia answer will be that Jacob Jones drove his black #32 to the first ever win at the track.
Thanks as always to Jim and Tammy, celebrating their forty fifth wedding anniversary at the track, for their hospitality. Racing season is hopefully now kicking into high gear, so check the schedules and enjoy some dirt track racing!
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