Remembering a Good Friend and...Part 2

There are probably more " can't miss " events on my yearly racing schedule than my wife would like to see, but there has never been any discussion about the second weekend in April. The combined IMCA Deery Brothers shows at 34 Raceway in West Burlington and my " home " track in Quincy top the long list of races I would leave a hospital bed to attend if need be. Added to that is the fact that thanks to the hard work of Brad Stevens and his considerable posse and with the cooperation of Amy and Jeff Laue, the Saturday show has become an amazing tribute to the young man so many of us called "friend," the late Brent Slocum. Brent was not only the best man at my sons wedding, and the life of the party as well, but someone I was fortunate to watch grow and mature both in and out of the race car. I am proud to call his parents friends, especially his father Steve, as we often shook our heads in wonder at our sons' exploits. I can tell you that the Slocum 50 means a lot to Brents family. Thanks, Brad and Amy. With that as a backdrop, it seemed only fitting that two drivers who were close to Brent crossed the finish line less than a car length apart after 50 grueling laps of racing on a tacky albeit rough April track. Second generation driver Matt Ryan from Davenport took over the top spot after another close Slocum friend Denny Woodworth was forced to relinquish a big lead when he broke a shock mount on his # 45DW with ten laps remaining in the $3,000 to win race. Matt then built a healthy lead before Boone found a fast line, closing quickly on Ryan, falling just a few feet short at the line. Matt was proud to show off the somewhat tattered Slocum race shirt he was wearing under his fire suit! Last years winner Mark Burgtorf recovered from a fuel line issue in his heat to come from 12th to fourth in his B-main, falling just short of a transfer spot, but earning the hard charger provisional. From that 22 nd starting slot, Mark moved up to finish third ahead of Terry Neal. The team cars of Tom Darbyshire and Matt Strassheim, two more drivers who were close to Slocum advanced to run fifth and sixth. Darbyshire started 23rd after using a points provisional, and Strassheim earned the last B-main transfer after a DQ of third place Joey Gower. The crew had to scramble, as Matt came off the track after that second consy on the hook with rearend troubles. Only ten cars finished the 50 laps. 47 cars checked in for the three class program, which included 17 305 sprint cars and 29 4 cylinders. Grandson Keagan enjoyed his first real pit experience, as he got to witness the behind the scenes drama often not evident from the bleachers.
Part 2 - the boys are Back in Town!
Despite a downright miserable weather forecast which no doubt held the crowd down somewhat, 33 of the late models headed south from 34 Raceway to Quincy Raceways for Sunday nights third installment of the series. Two QR regulars joined the group, giving us a solid 35 car field. After a successful first week on the newly configured .29 mile oval, workers, fans, and drivers alike were anxious to see what the extra laps would bring. The results were more than positive, with three groove racing early in the night. Come feature time, the bottom groove was the place to be, and the outcome was as surprising as Saturday nights had been. When 14 time track champion Mark Burgtorf pulled the number one spoon to give him the pole position, most in attendance figured the race would be for second. Still, hard charging Andy Eckrich was on his outside, and although Andy seems to prefer the longer tracks, he is always a force to be reckoned with. And lurking in row two was up and coming star Tyler Bruening, who had passed defending series champ Ray Guss Jr. to win the second heat. And starting right behind Tyler was Guss himself. So who guessed the star of the show woudl be fourth starting Matt Bailey. After all, the 23 year old second generation driver missed most of 2010 at his home track due to work, and only managed an eighth place finish on opening night. But after the only caution of the night on the 11th circuit, Matt nudged his # 52 inside of Burgtorf and won the drag race out of turn two. Until the leaders encountered lapped traffic, Mark was able to challenge Matt in the corners, but could not win the race down the chutes. I had a feeling the lapped cars might hold the key, but Bailey the younger made a dandy move to clear two side by side cars, and picked up the biggest win of his career, Once again, Terry Neal crossed the stripe behind Burgtorf, as he eased by QR regular Justin Reed in the closing laps. Bruening held off Guss Jr. for fifth.
Among those MIA on Sunday was the winners of the first two series races, Brian Harris, who had not committed to run the full schedule, and Ryan. Two drivers who had never missed a QR series race were noticeably absent. Rob Toland apparently hurt his engine on Saturday, and there was no word on Jeff Aikeys absence. Among the locals, Bill Genenbacher sat out the show as had engine issues, as well. Track officials took a gamble by placing the late model 40 lapper third on the feature card, and everyone was getting nervous as what could have been an outstanding UMP modified feature came up against the time limit. With the hobby stocks in staging and the radar looking rough, it was decided to dispense with prerace festivities and go quickly to green flag racing. As it turned out, all five features were completed with no rain, and the show ended about 9:30.
More and more tracks around the area are opening their doors for 2011, and hopefully the forecast improves for the coming weekend as Keagan and I are trying to make some plans for Saturday night racing. Maybe we will see you while we are racin' down the road!