Crowning Champions

For those of us who reside in IMCA country, the last weekend in august means championship weekend, and with cooperation from the weatherrman, that is what we had. Friday night the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was able to finish their points season after a couple weeks of late day rain outs. Something close to 100 cars in six classes checked in for the nights racing, which saw no heat races run in five of the six classes. Only the late models ran heats, as they are the only group that offers points for the preliminary events. The IMCA Sport Mods also ran a ten lap King of the Crate race for cars that ran at least half of the point shows and used a crate engine rather than a 9 to 1 power plant. What seemed like it should have been a quick program ran longer than usual, with driver introductions and multiple on track interviews in all classes. I cannot say if it is a good thing or not, but my personal preference is to " just race. " 18 late models started off the evening with three heat races, then it was feature time. The 18 car IMCA modified finale was an edge of your seat race, with 15th starting Michael Long picking off cars in bunches before he landed in fourth spot on a lap ten restart. The Quincy pilot then wrestled his way past Jeff Waterman and Wyatt Lantz, setting up a battle with leader Brandon Rothzen. Michael used a big time slide job to take the point on lap 15, then outpowered Brandon down the front chute to take the lead, and five laps later, the win. Davenport driver Rich Smith exited the track in the early laps, but had enough cushion to win the season title.
Multi class racer Jason Cook held only a one point lead over Phillip Cossel as the two took off from the front row in the Sport Mod 15 lapper. While Cossel got shuffled back, Jason shot to the front and stayed there the entire time, winning both the nights feature and the class championship.
Jason came back in the next event, the IMCA stock car finale, but he had some heavy hitters in front of him. Number two point man Jeff Mueller grabbed the lead as the green flag flew, claiming a lead he would not relinquish. While Jeff took the checkers in the caution free race, it will be Matt Greiner on the podium come banquet time.
The Sport Mod special event, with a purse of $1,000 courtesy of Shottenkirk, saw six cars qualified for the ten lap dash. Veteran Jim Gillenwater, who finished second to Cook in the title race, ran off with the win, collecting a first place check of $400. Ironically, this was $150 more than the feature win was worth!
The 4 cylinder Wild Thing feature was next, and the action was wid and wooly. When the checkers waved, it was longtime driver Wayne Noble in victory lane. However Waynes # 95x failed post race inspection, giving the hardware to Michael Grossman. Bill Michel captured the points title.
As 10:00 approached, the late models lined up, with Mark Burgtorf on the pole and three time winner Jeff Aikey on the outside. WQhile Jeff has made a living on the high side in recent weeks, the lower groove was the place to be on Friday, and Mark wasted no time in grabbing the lead and hugging the low groove. Just last weekend Burgtorf had picked up his freshened IMCA spec engine, and the change in power was pronounced. The 25 lap main event ran caution free, and Mark lapped up to the 12th place car to take the win and the track title. Denny Woodworth wheeled a car borrowed from the Warner race team out of Quincy, opting to save his IMCA car for championship night at Quincy on Sunday. Though racing the car for the first time, Denny powered around Aikey to take the runner up spot. Giving up on the high groove, Aikey settled for third, while Justin Reed came from seventh to fourth ahead of Gary Russell. The Woodworth car was one campaigned earlier this season by Tony Dunker.
After a long day at work, I headed for the car as the hobby stocks rolled out for introductions, however I want to also congratulate feature winner Matt Tucker, and track champ Tanner Thoman.
LCS notes: The only late model not starting the feature was Tom Goble, who was the feature winner Saturday night at 34 Raceway in west Burlington. Russell captured the point title at 34, overtaking Joey Gower on the final night. This Saturday night will be the yearly visit of the Derry Brothers Summer Series, with 15 drivers eligible for the $3,000 winners bonus. To qualify, a driver may have missed only one late model show at LCS all season. Last year, only about six drivers were eligible, but Burgtorf came fro deep in the field to grab the top prize. Check out the LCS website for the list of eligible drivers. Five classes will be in action, with only the IMCA mods getting the night off.
Saturday night found me away from the race track, but Sunday night it was back to Quincy Raceways for more championship action. The car count was down a bit, but the drama and action was intense. At QR, all classes ran heats, and following each divisions qualifiers, the respective point leader came to the front stretch and flipped a coin to determine if the feature would line up in the regular invert, or straight up with point leaders up front. The exception was the UMP modified class which had to follow UMP line up procedures.
The first feature out was for the IMCA stock cars, where point leader Terry Houston had flipped an invert. Kevin Tomlinson had come to the track having borrowed the # 14 of Jason Leaply, and Kevin took off like a rocket. During a mid race caution, Tomlinson suddenly went pitside, ending his night. Houston drove a patient race, taking over the top spot to claim both the race and the title, with Steve Steinkuhler and Jerry Jansen filling out the top three for the night.
Although Jared Schlipman had a bit of breathing room in the UMP modified division, the always dangerous Michael Long still had a shot. Steven Delonjay, who had to rebuild much of his # 35 after last weeks flip, took off along with Dave Weitholder. As the two duled up front, Long slipped past Schlipman for third. Just as quickly Long headed to the pits with something wrong with the rear end of his mount. Schlipman the decided to throw caution to the wind, inserting inself in the duel for the win. Delonjay held on for the feature victory, with Schlipman and Ryan Meyer picking up trophies as well. The track title for Jared came just days before father Terry celebrated a milestone birthday.
13 IMCA late models were on hand, and point leader Denny Woodworth wanted to take no chances. So " retired " driver Jerry Weisenberger dug out his suit and helmet and qualified the same # 79 Warner Racing ride that Denny raced on Friday, making sure the racing attorney would have a back up car for the feature if needed. Woodworth had flipped a straight up start, and he sat on the pole alongside number two man Jason Perry. As the green flag flew, Perry took off, and Woodworth settled into second. With a nine point lead, Woodworth played it cool, staying on the high side of the oval, counting cars and laps, as his first late model title at QR came ever closer. At the checkers, Perry had his third feature win of 2010, and Woodworth had the track title, as well as second in the 30 lapper. Number three point man Justin Reed chased Denny to the checkers, while Keith Pratt edged Joey Gower in an entertaining battle between the fourth and with place points cars. Woodworth has one other QR championship to his credit, in the " A " modified division way back in 1993.
While the other three classes were crowning first time champs, wily veteran Steve Carlin was looking for championship number four. He took a nine point lead over Bobby Anders into the action, and flipped an inverted start. Things got off to a rough start, with a collision sending Mike Wiley into a hard flip on the backstretch. Mike emerged unhurt after several minutes, but his # 26 suffered heavy damage. As the laps clicked off, Carlin came to the front with Anders trailing behind. the feature finish mirrored the points finish, with Carlin first and Anders second. Hard luck Jake Powers picked up a third for the night.
QR notes: The Deery Brother Summer Series late models visit QR for a rae Friday night show this week. The date is a rescheduled of the rained out Titan Classic from June. The feature event pays an inflated $3,000 to win, and $300 to start. Added to the Donnellson show on Saturday, one driver could pocket $8,000 for the two nights. QR will also be racing on Sunday, with a King of the Hill format in all four classes, featuring time trials, and a bracketed run off to determine feature qualifying. Late models will run for $1,000 to win, with a chance for the pole sitter to start in the back for an extra $500 to win. The there will be extra money and a challenge in all classes, plus the late model trophy dash finale paying something around $500 to win, and a modified River City Rumble for the top points cars.
QR has an aggressive fall schedule going into October, including Sprint Invaders on September 11. Check the website for more details.
Plans for this weekend include Quincy of Friday, Donnellson on Saturday, back to Quincy on Sunday, then???. Hope to see you down the road.