Back in the Saddle

The good news is, the rains finally have eased up. The bad news is, between racing working, and other obligations, this blog has taken a bit of a back seat the last 10 days or so. since my last installment, I have been able to attend five races in a span of eight days. As some of those results are a bit old by now, i won't go into detail, but, but i will say i have seen some excellent racing. The run started with the second and final visit of the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series to Quincy Raceways on Sunday, July 3. A stout if somewhat short field of 27 cars signed in, and the 42 minute 40 lap main event was part marathon, and part odyssey. Several early cautions - six in the first six laps - scrambled the field, and saw 14 time track champion Mark Burgtorf suffer front end damage that rendered him a non factor, and sent defending series champ Ray Guss Jr. pitside for a tire change. Mike Murphy Jr. paced the field until he broke a ball joint on one of the restarts. Things finally settled down, with Terry Neal pacing the field. Denny Woodworth was flying to the front before making contact with a lapped car. As the laps clicked off, Guss made a charge through the field. While Neal ran multiple lanes around the two groove track, Guss worked the bottom to perfection. At the checkers, he was on the heels of the 28c, but it was Neal picking up second QR series win, with the first coming in 2005. Series points leader Andy Eckrich rolled home third.
The following night Darryl and I bit the bullet and headed for the UMP Summernationals show at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, full well knowing that the alarm would go off early on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, track owners Amy and Jeff Laue seemed to be aware of this very dilemma, and had the enthusiastic crowd on the road well before 10:00. Some folks seemed surprised at the car count for the $5,000 to win show, but history tells us that the Summernationals drivers seem to have an aversion to crossing the Mississippi river, with Pevely, Mo. the lone exception. Still the 26 car field was more than enough to fill a 23 car starting grid, and there were plenty of big names on hand. Much to the delight of the crowd, " homegrown " favorite Brian Birkhofer brought his " A " game, sweeping time trials - 15.502 - his heat race, and the 40 lap feature. Arkansas driver Jack Sullivan, in the GRT house car made a couple of runs at Brian, but could not nmake a serious challenge. Dennis Erb Jr. had been in a bit of a slump, but came home third ahead of Michigans Jeep Van Wormer, and the " Highside Hustler, " Jason Feger, who started 13th. Central Illnois hotshoe Ryan Unzicker was scheduled to start fifth, but could not get his 24 ready in time. after the green flag flew, Ryan rolled out of the pits in Sullivans back up car, made a couple of laps, and pulled back in, I assume to secure his points and start money. In contrast to the previous night, the finale went caution free, taking just over 13 minutes to complete!
By now the time had come to pay some bills, so it was back to work on Tuesday. I had already promised to take my wife, daughter and two oldest grandsons to the St Louis Zoo on Friday, and had scheduled a vacation day to do so. When Simmons Promotions and IMCA made the decision to move the Deery Brothers Summer Series race at West Liberty, Iowa to Thursday, away from The World of Outlaw date at Independence, Iowa, I was able to beg out of the office a couple hours early. I had been waiting 21 years for another Summer Series race at " Lib, " and was thrilled I did not have to choose which race to attend. Grandson Keagan had been planning to join me in west Liberty, but the Justin Moore country music concert at the Lee County Fair in Donnellson, Iowa was too much of a lure. So Grandma stepped up and went to the concert, and I headed north by myself for some 1/2 mile racin'. Before I had driven 10 miles from home, the rain was coming down in buckets, so i made a call to buddy Bob Litton in Iowa City who assured me things looked good up his way. Sure enough, the closer I got, the more the skies cleared, and while Mary and Keagan waited out intermittent showers in Donnellson, I was high and dry in West Liberty.
A solid field of 38 cars signed in, and after four heats and two B-mains, we waited as the top 12 drew for their starting spots on the front stretch. When series points leader Andy Eckrich drew the outside pole position everyone knew he would be difficult to beat on his home track. Still, long time Liberty hotshoe Ray Guss Jr. drew the number three, so... From the start, Andy looked unstoppable. Just as the leaders encountered lapped traffic, a caution flag gave Eckrich an open track. Meanwhile, Guss was dealing with a challenge from Brian Harris. Brian was racing for the first time in a ride from the Diercks Motorsports stable, a black machine with a # 27H on the side. Although Guss regained the second spot on a lap 24 caution, Harris soon took the spot, but still Eckrich was in charge. In the closing laps, Harris cut in to Andys lead, and on the final lap, made a low side move in turn two, easing ahead and breaking the momentum of the # 56 just a bit. Still Eckrich led entering the final turns, but he took the high groove. Brian took the low side, and with the crowd on their feet, he took the win by half a car length stunning those in attendance. Guss took third, with Tyler Bruening fourth. Kevin Kile entered his first series race, at least in the spec motor era, and came from 17th to fifth. Mike Klinkhammer recovered from a lap 24 spin while running sixth to finish tenth.
The 19 car modified win went to Gus Hughes, who had quite a night. Hughes showed up well after the draw, started tenth in the second heat, and came through the field in both his heat and the feature. The win was not an easy one, as he and Bruce Hanford had a great duel for the top spot.
Six hours sleep, and off to a day at the zoo, where a nice breeze made the 90 degree temps mostly bearable, although the bears sure looked hot!
Saturday started with a stop back at the Donnellson fair, then Keagan and I convinced Grandma to visit the race track for the first time in 2011, with the Jake McVey concert at 34 Raceway in west Burlington the attraction.
The car count was down in the late models, with only eleven on hand, and with only four classes in competition again the races ended well before 10:00. The sport mods were an addition to the card, and Keokuk, Iowa Jim Gillenwater demolished the 16 car field. Jim Mueller was again the class of the IMCA stock cars. the race of the night was in the IMCA modifields with Dusty Kraklio, slipping past Darin Thye on the final lap for the win. Darin had led 19 laps in the # m50 machine.
" Superman " Sam Halstead has been enduring a challenging season, but finally put it all together Saturday, leading all 25 laps for his first feature win of the season. Tom Goble threatened early, but settled for second, while Joey Gower, Matt Bailey, and Jeff Guenferich in the Lynn Richard
# 15 rounded out the first five.
Thanks to the Laues for coming up with something to entice my wife to the track!
Another short night, and the weekend wrapped up with a weekly show at Quincy, Il. Raceways. Oppressive heat was a challenge for drivers and spectators alike, and track officials waited as long as they could before starting hot laps, then rolling them off quickly, with heats beginning about 10 minutes after the advertised start time. With a $2,000 to win UMP modified special 80 miles away in Moberly, Mo., the car count was down a bit, but track officials did a splendid job of offering up a two groove track, and the racing was quite good come feature time. The UMP mod feature turned in to a three car scrum, with Steven Delonjay picking up his fifth win of the nine race season. It was especially rewarding for the second generation driver, as his # 35 sustained heavy damage the night before at Macomb, Il. Another second generation ace, Jared Schlipman took second, with Dave Weitholder third. The IMCA stock cars staged the best race of the night, another three car battle. Kevin Tomlinson, Terry Houston, and Andrew Griffin raced three wide before Griffin spun on the final lap. Tomlinson took the win over Houston and Aaron Brocksieck. The 11 car IMCA feature ran next, with Denny Woodworth overtaking early leader Dustin Neese on lap seven, becoming the first repeat winner in nine nights at QR in 2011. Joey Gower, Justin Reed, point leader Lonnie Bailey, and Keith Pratt trailed Denny to the flag. Another second generation racer, Tanner Klingele took the hobby stock win over Brandon Symmonds, and Todd Nelson made it two in a row in the 4 cylinder Wild Things.
Late model driver Justin Jennings has secured sponsorship and will enter the ARCA race at Iowa Speedway next Saturday. The 2011 high school graduate is in his second season of racing both a dirt and asphalt late model, and just last week picked up a second place finish on the dirt at Memphis, Mo. on Thursday, and a second to Tony Jackson, Jr. on the Lebanon, Mo asphalt on Saturday. He finished off the week with an eighth place run on the dirt at QR. He will be in the LG Seeds # 23 in the ARCA event.
As I finish these ramblings, I have one eye on the 10:00 weather, as tomorrow is another vacation day, and Keagan and buddy Fred are set to join me as we head to the World of Outlaw late model/IMCA modified extravaganza at Independence, Iowa Speedway. There has been a lot of chatter on the message boards about this race, especially about the $30 ticket price. I can't help but think about how many seasons I perused the racing papers looking at results for series like Hav-A-Tampa, and later WoO and Lucas Oil, wishing these series would come close enough to the area that I could take in a show and sleep in my own bed. Well, people like the Laues at 34 Raceway have taken the leap to bring us the Lucas series, and now Cam Granger and Rick Hartzell are taking the gamble to bring in the outlaws. Will I pay the $30? You bet, I will, happily so. Weekly racing is very important to our area, but when the big dogs come around, we need to show up then, as well. If you see me at Indy, say " Hi! " Lets go racin'.