Eighty two race teams converged at Adams County, Il. Speedway east of Quincy on Sunday night for six classes of racing plus the UMP Modified King of the Hill finale. As I understand it as loosely explained, Modified drivers at the track competing in the special King of the Hill events during the season "bought in" for the opportunity to compete in the ten lap finale on this night. Nine cars took the green flag, with young Drake Stevenson leading flag to flag to claim the title for the second year in a row. This special event took place at the end of heat race action leading into intermission.
The order of feature racing was shook up a bit this week, with the Crown Vic fifteen lapper running first rather than at the end of the program. Dakota Damron, grandson of track Hall of Famer Dick Crane put his #77 out front at the drop of the green, survived one yellow flag five laps in and collected the win by a half car length over hard charging Alex Hatfield. The win for Damron came as the track celebrated grandpa Dicks' 77th birthday! Brian Kaylor, Justin Meyer and Jake Etter crossed the line next in the season high thirteen car field.
Following a rather lengthy delay for a medical issue in the pits, all fourteen IMCA Sport Mods lined up for eighteen trips around the .29 mile oval. Quinton Shelton would lead the opening pair of laps, with sixth starting Logan Cumby grabbing second from Keith Pratt on lap two. Cumby then moved to the front on lap three. Meanwhile visiting Quad Cities area hot shoe Logan Veloz was also on the move, coming from row five to third on lap five. The first of four caution periods came with seven laps scored, and Veloz took advantage of the Delaware Style restart to charge to second. As the race reached the half way mark, Veloz completed his run to the front. Seventh starting Tanner Klingele was also working towards the front, advancing to third ahead of another yellow flag with ten laps in the books. Back under green, Klingele drove to the runner up position and began to put pressure on the leader. Two late cautions were followed by single file restarts, and although Klingele stayed close, Veloz picked up the win in what was only his second visit to the track in 2024. Cumby settled for third, topping Reed Wolfmeyer, and another visitor, Jarrett Franzen from Maquoketa, Iowa.
UMP Dirtcar Pro Late Models were next on the card, with all fifteen checked in ready for a twenty five lap feature. Jackson Frankel and Jason Perry sat on row one and it was Perry jumping to the lead. As he slowly pulled away from Frankel, seventh starting Tommy Elston, sporting his Scott Bloomquist tribute wrap for the final time powered to third on lap four. The veteran Elston and the rookie Frankel then battled side by side for several trips around, Elston working down low and Frankel running the high line. With a lapped car setting a pick, Frankel secured the position even as Perry raced well out front. Seven laps remained on the scoreboard as Perry found himself in heavy traffic behind two cars running side by side for position, and Frankel was able to cut into his dwindling lead. The only caution of the race came with four circuits remaining as Eric Rutherford slowed, setting up a single file restart. Elston was now able to move to second, but by that point Perry was well ahead, and he cruised on to the flag to flag win. Elston, Frankel, Jamie Wilson and Jason Oenning recorded top fives, with Spencer Havermale, Vance Wilson, Jeffrey Delonjay, Denny Woodworth and Braden Bilger completing the top ten.
After Matt Diaz needed the wrecker before the green flag waved for the Modifieds, Trevor Neville got the jump on his row one mate Michael Long as the remaining sixteen car star studded field took the green flag for twenty laps. As Neville raced out front, he appeared to misjudge the treacherous tall cushion in turns one and two, and as he completed lap five he drove his #777 to the infield, finished for the night with unknown damage. Long, a multi time track champion at Quincy would inherit the lead and proceed to make a shambles of the action. By the mid point he had a full straightaway lead, and although zero stoppages forced him to negotiate heavy lapped traffic, he was able to maintain his big lead all the way to the checkers. The result was a clean sweep of his events, as he set fast time at 14.029 seconds and added a first heat win to go along with the feature victory in front of the "hometown" crowd. Dave Weitholder came home second chased by sixth starting Austen Becerra, and St. Louis area standouts Kenny Wallace and Rick Conoyer.
Fifteen laps would be the distance for fourteen Dirtcar 4 Cylinder entrants. As the pack entered turns three and four on the opening lap, Travis Demint got sideways, collecting several cars and bringing out the red flag for clean up. This would mean an early exit for Demint and Dyllan Bonk. Back to racing, Spencer Coats powered to the front chased by Landon Neisen and Matthew Mackey. Mackey would take second one lap later. Also on the move was sixth starting Jaden Delonjay, but after charging to third on lap four, he would lose a wheel in turn one, ending his run. As racing resumed, Coats and Mackey would battle side by side for several laps, each taking a turn at being ahead by a bumper. When the final caution came with six circuits left, Mackey was out front for the restart, but Coats would battle back to briefly retake the top spot. But Mackey proved to be too strong as he picked up a hard fought win. Following Coats, Jeremy Hancock eased around Neisen for third on the final lap after starting in fourteenth. And it was twelfth starting Devin Harrell clearing Kyle Weisenberger for fifth also on the final trip around the oval.
The Street Stock class was a bit short on cars, with late arriving Robert Cottom bringing the total to nine. However they would stage probably the best race of the night! All would line up for eighteen laps to round out the action. Outside row one starter Jacob Rexing and fourth starting Cottom would shoot to the front, and then begin an epic battle that found them racing side by side, lap after lap, racing hard but never touching. Cottom was ahead by a bumper at the half way point, with Rexing then retaking the spot by a car length. As they came upon a slower car, Cottom was again able to pull alongside Rexing. With just three laps to go, Levi Long looped his ride setting up a single final dash to the checkers. Again we were treated to a side by side duel and while Cottom nosed ahead briefly it was Rexing fighting back to regain the lead. Going all out on the final lap, Cottom got too high on the turn two cushion, losing two spots. The win went to Rexing followed by Rickey Frankel III, Jake Powers, Cottom and Rudy Zaragoza.
The final checkers came just after 9:30. Although there are still four nights of racing on the schedule, next Sunday night will be the season championship events.
Thanks as always to JT Promotions and everyone at the track for their hospitality and thank you for reading!
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