Perched in our usual spot above turn one at Adams County, Il. Speedway, there was still lots of chatter regarding the long awaited change of ownership of the forty nine year old speed plant. For the time being, it seems it will be business as usual, with the JT Promotions team headed up by Jim and Tammy Lieurance handling day to day and race night operations. New owner Jeff Delonjay is laser focused on making physical improvements to the grounds, and he has already identified several areas that will be addressed. A former racer himself and the father of two regular competitors at Quincy as well as other tracks in the area, Jeff has a successful local business, Be Dry Roofing and will surely use both his business expertise as well as local connections to guide the raceway to greater heights.
But in the mean time, there was on track action on this Sunday evening. And boy, was there some action! But more on that later.
Things got off to a bit of a late start with track personnel attempting to keep moisture in the racing surface as bright sunshine and a steady breeze kept things challenging. Car counts were a bit light, likely some drivers are holding out for the higher paying make up Chad McCoy special on Wednesday.
UMP Modifieds are the only class at the track using time trial qualifying and there was a bit of drama early as top contender Dave Weitholder exited the track before turning a qualifying lap, relegating him to the tail of his heat race. Jacob Rexing topped the board with a lap of 13.937 seconds around the .29 mile oval.
Following heat race action there was a lengthy intermission during which drivers brought their helmets to the stands to collect money for the victims of the Jacksonville Speedway tragedy, with over $2,000 raised.
Finally it was feature time with the UMP Pro Crate Late Models up first, eleven cars for twenty five laps. Braden Bilger and Jamie Wilson filled out row one, with Wilson shooting to the lead. Last weeks' winner Jason Perry powered to second on lap two with Denny Woodworth following in third one lap later. As Perry attempted to run down the leader he appeared to make contact with the front stretch concrete, damaging his spoiler while dropping to fifth. By the mid point of the race, Wilson had opened a big lead while Woodworth ran by himself in second and rookie Jackson Frankel did the same in third. The first battle on the speedway was an entertaining one between Bilger and Tommy Elston for fourth. All twenty five laps clicked off non stop with Wilson collecting his second win of the season. Woodworth, Frankel, Bilger, and Elston followed in that order. Spencer Havermale topped the second five while Perry wrestled his damaged car in seventh. Next came Jason Oenning, Darin Weisinger Jr., Jeffrey Delonjay, and Eric Rutherford.
Ten IMCA Sport Mods lined up for eighteen laps. Lucas Schieferdecker came from row two to pace the field ahead of a yellow flag with two laps scored. Back to racing A.J. Tournear charged to the lead with Logan Cumby coming from row four to second two laps later. Heading into turn three there was a four wide scramble for fourth, with Reed Wolfmeyer finally claiming the spot seven laps in. Tournear and Cumby were taking the low line around the oval while seventh starting Wolfmeyer was ripping around the top. As the laps wound down to six to go it was now a three car battle for the lead. As Wolfmeyer moved past Cumby one lap later, Tanner Klingele joined the party in fourth. Two more trips around and Wolfmeyer shot to the lead, again running the high line. At the same time, Klingele cleared Cumby for third. As Wolfmeyer crossed the stripe for the win, Klingele nosed out Tournear for second. Cumby and Josh Holtman completed the top five.
All fourteen UMP Mods came to the track for twenty laps. Rexing and Austen Becerra paced the field with Austen grabbing the lap one lead. While Rick Conoyer and visiting Steve Picou battled for third, eighth starting Weitholder entered the top five. With five laps down we had the first of multiple caution periods. Back under green, Weitholder jumped to third and began to challenge Rexing for second. Five more laps clicked off before the next yellow flag, and on the restart Becerra stumbled, falling back several positions. However the caution came for a double spin, putting Becerra back to the front for the restart. Three more caution periods marred the on track action. During green flag runs, Rexing and Weitholder had a great battle for second, and with Dave finally securing the position he was then able to close on the leader. For the final seven circuits it was a nip and tuck two car duel, Weitholder racing around the low line and Becerra running in the middle groove. Becerra held on for the win with Weitholder settling for second. Conoyer out ran Rexing for third. Frankie Wellman recovered from a mid race trip to the tail to come home in fifth.
There were a dozen Dirtcar 4 Cylinders on hand, and they were scheduled for fifteen laps. Two of the three Delonjay team drivers, Jaden and Jordan sat on row one. Jaden took the lead with brother Jeffrey grabbing second. On lap four Matthew Mackey moved to the runner up spot, with Dyllan Bonk also moving in to challenge Jeffrey for third. Meanwhile Jaden opened a sizable lead ahead of a yellow flag with seven laps scored. As racing resumed, Mackey was able to pull alongside the leader and we were treated to an old fashioned slam bang battle. As the front pair rubbed and raced, Jeffrey and Bonk closed in to make it a four car scrum, and when they entered turn one in a pile Bonk was squeezed below the tire barrier, driving through the infield. Suddenly the yellow light came on, and now things got ugly. I will not offer up details of which I am uncertain, but soon the red flag was turned on, security was on the move, and the lights and sirens of Adams Countys' finest were racing to the track. After a long delay the remaining cars were sent to the pits with a decision on the resumption of the race to come later. Four Cylinder drama at its finest!
Finally the Street Stocks were sent to the speedway, ten strong for eighteen laps. Double duty Rexing sat on the pole with Monmouth, Oregon traveler James Whitehouse alongside. With Rexing claiming the early lead, Rickey Frankel III and Robert Cottum battled for second. The leaders lined up around the bottom line ahead of a yellow flag with seven laps remaining. Back to racing Cottum went to the high side looking for some extra grip to finally slip around Rexing for the lead. One more caution period came when Frankel and Jake Powers got together while fighting for fourth, ending the run for Frankel. The final restart was single file, and Cottum remained in charge to grab the checkers. Rexing was runner up, with Brandon Boden strong in third. Rudy Zaragoza was scored fourth while Powers made a great recovery to fifth.
One new Crown Vic made it seven checked in, and they would go for fifteen laps. Jacob Jones would shoot to the lead from his pole start and go mostly unchallenged for a flag to flag win. Jake Etter, Steve Meyer, Dakota Damron and Alex Hatfield collected top five finishes.
As mentioned earlier, the track will come back to life Wednesday for the Chad McCoy Memorial featuring Modifieds racing for a $4,545 payday. All other regular classes will be in action racing for increased purses as well. And it was announced that next Sunday races will be $5.00 admission courtesy of Dennis Woodworth, Attorney at Law.
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