Unfinished Business

After traveling six hours round trip on St Patricks Day and having nothing more to show for it than a partial list of who was in the pits at the Highland Speedway and some spectacular lightning, we were not in the mood for another rainout. So it was pretty much decided early in the week that the questionable forecast for this past Saturday precluded another attempt to see some green flag racin'. Then Saturday morning while my wife and I enjoyed a Hy Vee buffet breakfast with my racing buddy Darryl, My wife mentioned that I was otherwise commited on Saturday the 31st. So we took another look at the radar and decided to take the chance. As grandson Keagan and buddy Fred had other plans, Darryl and I headed south and east for another shot at the rescheduled $ 1500 to win " Lucky 40." Soon after arriving at the quaint facility on the Madison, Il fairgrounds, the clouds started to build and there was talk of rain up the road in Granite City. On this night, however, the wet stuff held off, and our 2012 season officially got under way. 22 UMP late models signed in, and we counted at least five that did not make the return trip from the week before. A scheduled UMP modified special at Belleville, Il for this night was cancelled due to wet grounds, and as a result, 36 mods jammed the pit area to race for the $750 top prize. 22 factory stocks and 25 sport compacts swelled the field to 105 cars in the four classes running on this night. Even though pit road was still jammed as the drivers meeting began, the show started close to the advertised time, and as Highland only hot laps late models and mods, we were racing shortly after 6:30. The show was originally part of back to back nights at Belleville and Highland, each paying $1500 to win, plus a $1000 bonus for a sweep. If each night had a different winner, the bonus would be split between the top three combined finishers. " The Flatland Flash, " Kevin Weaver was victorious at Belleville, and he put himself in a good position for the sweep by capturing the third heat ahead of young Brandon Sheppard. Springfield,Il driver John Beck outlasted Michael kloos in heat one, while local favorite Brent Helmkamp held off UMP national champion Ryan Unzicker in heat two, much to the delight of the large crowd. Following ten support class heat races, those six moved on the the dash to set the first three rows of the 40 lap finale on the tight 1/4 mile. Weaver again outlasted Sheppard, and the field was set. A mod dash and two consys at up some valuable time, and then the lowlight of the night occured, a 20 plus minute " non itermission " starting at about 9:40. As the track sets in a residential area, this did not seem like a good plan to me, but I may have been thinking more about the three hour drive home. Still we were plenty excited when the feature hit the track, with 20 cars set to do battle. Missing from the line up was Kerry Gaultney, who was jammed into the front stretch concrete wall at the start of heat one, and Dan Jacober, who was never able to take the green flag with possible engine problems. Most of the heat race action had been contested in the inside and middle grooves, and despite an inch of rain on Friday, there was only one rough spot on the track, that being in turns one and two, where 4 cylinder driver David Berry had taken a hard spill earlier. As the main event began, Weaver took off in the middle groove and looked to be on his way to a sweep. Young Sheppard had other ideas, however, and began running the cushion, making another groove for himself. about five laps in, Brandon put his # B5 out front and began to stretch out his lead. Weaver stayed in the hunt, and eventually regained the top spot, only to have Sheppards overtake him again. Only two caution periods slowed the event, and when the first came after 22 laps, all 20 starters were still running, although three dropped out at that time, including defending track champion Chad Zobrist, who was running sixth and moving forward. Caution number two came for third running Unzicker, who came to a stop on the backstretch. On the restart, Weaver bobbled slightly, and that was all Sheppard needed to collect the win. Wever recovered to grab the runnerup spot, with Kloos third. Kevin Cole wheeled a Riggs Motorsports entry to a fourth place run, with Mark Voigt fifth. The next five spots went to local hotshoe Frankie Martin, veteran Bobby Martinoni who has moved up from the crates, Nike Manville, Mike Schulte and Mike Hammerle. Only the top six remained on the lead lap. While Sheppard took the win, Weaver collected $ 500 of the bonus money, Kloos $300, and Sheppard $200. Although the mod main event was shaped up to be agood one, the clock showed 10:30, and we decided to head for the car.
As we drove through town, it began to rain, and we wondered if the show would be completed. The mod feature, at least did run, as former late model driver Aaron Kleine backed up his Belleville win by outlasting Brian Bielong and Rusty Griffaw to the flag. Griffaw elected to leave his new late model at home and bring a sharp looking mod to Highland.
All in all, it was a great way to start the new season.
This coming Sunday, Quincy Raceways will begin the new season, and they kicked things off on Sunday with the first of three practice nights.
As I sat down at the computer, I received word that B47 promotions, headed by racer Brandon Savage will not be promoting the special events he had mapped out for the season at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo. Brandon has been working very hard since his sucessful
" Fall Nationals " last October, but apparently has run into contract issues and has suspended his plans for the time being.
There is plenty of racing this weekend, so if you have not been to the track yet, now is the time. See you down the road!