Burgtorf First on a Long Night in Quincy

The furnace was up all the way Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, and it was reflected a bit in both car count and attendance. 71 race teams checked in to compete in the six classes. even with the 5:45 start time for hot laps, the track begins to dry out during hot laps. The track crew put some extra water on before the first heat, and unfortunately, the oval got a bit slimy. The tractor was bthen brought out, but broke down, so after some discussion, the late models came out to pack in the moisture. The result was a late start, but a pretty good racing surface.
The IMCA stock car count was down, but Abe Huls was back from vacation, and he wasted no time charging to the front and collected his eighth feature win of the season. Point leader Terry Houston ran second, and late model driver Kevin Tomlinson, who has his # 49 parked for the time being, ran third in the # 48 stock car of Michael Larsen. Larsen is currently in England for his employer, General Mills.
  The UMP late models ran the second feature, with heat winners Matt Bailey and Mark Burgtorf filling the front row. With the " open ' engine back in the Richard Realty # 15R, Mark won the drag race to turn one and was never headed in the 30 lapper. Burgtorf was cruising when the caution flew on lap 13, when fifth running Justin Reed slowed on the backstretch. On the restart, Jason Perry blasted by Dustin Griffin for second, and was running down Mark when the yellow waved for the final time on lap 21 for Rickey Frankel. When the green waved again, Burgtorf pulled away, collecting his second feature win in 2012 at QR, and his first in the Richard # 15R. Perry, Griffin, Bailey, and Jim Moon filled the top five spots. Ed Dixon was a first time visitor for 2012 in his trademark # 50. The Hall of Famer was fast in his heat, but made contact with the backstretch fence in the dash, ripping apart his rear spoiler, and he was not a factor in the main before pulling out early. Michael long was scheduled to start the dash in the Jennings Racing
# 56J, but detected a noisy lifter when he fired the engine, and quickly shut it down for the night.
  The IMCA sport mods had their smallest turnout of the season, and Tony Dunker had no problem recording his eighth win of the year ahead of Bobby Anders and fast improving second generation pilot Brad Holtmeyer.
  The UMP mods had the biggest turnout with 18 entries, and when the green light was on the racing was awesome. Unfortunately the yellow flag waved ten times in the 25 laps, slowing the momentum of the race to a crawl. Jared Schlipman led the early laps before Steven Delonjay took the point. Several drivers took a shot at the youngster, including Vance Wilson, driving Ronnie Woods # 53 for the night. Michael long had the best chance, running down the leader more than once, but his high side moves were not enough. A final charge found him losing second to Schlipman, with Shawn Deering and Dave Weitholder completing the top five. Adam Birck had a nice run his first time at QR this year in the Mike Begley # B4  subbing for Jim Roach, away at son Tylers wedding, before his run ended on lap 19. Ryan Porter did not get to race on Sunday, as his engine let go in hot laps, and Jake Griffin had a similar issue in his heat race.
 Tanner Klingele managed only one lap in the sport mod main event, but came back to capture the hobby stock finale over Jeff Delonjay and Jamie Bevil. Both the top two in points, Brandon Symmonds - DNF - and Jake Poewers, sixth - finished outside the  top five.
  Brandon Lambert looked to be on his way to the IMCA sport compact win before breaking coming to the white flag. Austen Beceera was right there to pick up his fourth win in a row over Kimberly Abbott and Seith Woodruff.
  Vance Wilson, who sold his late model earlier this season and purchased a sport mod, has sold it and bought a Harley. Vance is set to race dad Garys # 155 late model beginning next week. Keith Pratt is due back in another couple weeks with a fresh engine in his # 33. Ron Elbe reportedly has a new car, and should also be ready in a week or two. Former driver Justin Jennings, currently enrolled in NASCAR tech school, had a ride in the # 65  NASCAR Camping World truck on Saturday at Iowa Speedway. In his first time out, Justin ran the entire race, recording a 23rd place finish after qualifying 31st. Dad Greg and Uncle Neil were pitside with him, and still made it back to QR Sunday with the # 56J late model. Congratulations to the # 65 team!
  This weekend, grandson Keagan is set to do his Richard Petty Driving Experience ride along, so stay tuned for those highlights. Last Friday, he drug me to my first demolition derby in how many years? And it was a good time. Keepin' me young and makin' me old, all at the same time! See ya, down the road.