Perry and Long Take Home the Hardware From MMP

It had been 13 days since I had done any racing, so Saturday night it was time! Last Saturday we loaded up the daughter and two grandsons and headed to Gateway Raceway in Madison,Il, where Keagan did the NASCAR ride along that he purcased last winter from the Richard Petty Driving Experience . Three laps in a two seater Sprint Cup machine around the 1.5 mile oval at 165 MPH had him grinning from ear to ear, and was definitely worth the trip! Next season, grandpa may give that a try.As we spent the rest of the day shopping, eating, and go karting our way around St Louis, I received the call that Quincy Raceways had already cancelled for Sunday due to the extreme heat, effectively wiping out any chance at racing for the weekend.
  On Friday night, my wife and I took in the Chris Cagle concert at the Adams County,Il county fair, while Keagan passed up the show he had wanted to see for a chance to ride along to Lee County Speedway in Donnellson with IMCA stock car driver Beau Taylor. It was his first shot at " crewing," an opportunity he could not pass up.  He would be out of the picture on Saturday but old buddy Gary Lupardus was up for some racing action. The radar did not look too good to the north, so it seemed like the perfect time for my first trip of 2012 to the newly reopened and renamed Montgomery Motorsports Park, just south of I-70 on highway 19 near Montgomery City, Mo.
 Arriving early, as I always try to do, I was impressed with the changes the new ownership had made to the grounds as well as the racing surface. With the movement of the pit fence, folks in the grandstand are able to get right next to the pit sign area, and even take in the drivers meeting. This gave us a chance to visit with several drivers and crewmen.
  The pit area was populated with over 90 cars in the five classes, including 19 UMP late models and a whopping 29 UMP modifieds.
  Hot laps got under way at 7:00, with the first heat rolling out about 7:35. 13 heat races and a mod consy took about 90 minutes at the 1/4 mile facility, then came the only real downfall of the night, a 30 minute intermission last until about 9:30. On the plus side, this gave me a chance to catch up with long time race reporter Jerry West from Jefferson City. I had not seen Jerry in quite a while, and was surprised to learn he just celebrated birthday # 70. He also introduced me to his seat mates, long time late model river Bob Test and his wife. Bob was a spectator after having rolled his # 1 machine the week before in Wheatland,Mo. Former QR racer Victor Wright also stpped by to say " Hi, " so the break was a fun one for me.
  The " limited sportsman" class ran the first feature, with 13 cars taking the green. After one early caution, the race stayed green and featured a side by side duek between Dan Kaminski and Jon Ripperda. As the two found lapped traffic, Ripperda picked the right lane and pulled away for the win in his first visit to the track. Bert Jacoby eased by Kaminski on the closing laps to take second.
  The Pro 4 class had only eight cars for the finale, with Jordon Martin picking up his second win of the season.
  Up third was the UMP late model 25 lapper, with Jefferson City driver Reid Millard and Camp Point,Il ace Dustin Griffin on the front row by virtue of heat race wins. After tow jack rabbit starts, track officials sent them back one row, moving heat three winner Jason Perry, from Payson,Il, and Rich Lawson, from House Springs,Mo to the front. I mentioned to Gary at the time that that might be the move of the race, and that proved to be correct. As this was happening, Jim Moon suffered a flat after being rear ended on one of the starts, and he ducked to the pits, moving him from inside row three to 19th on the restart. Perry shot to the lead, with a yellow waving after one lap for Michael Weir. Back to green, and Perry and Griffin began to check out on the field before a lap 12 caution flew for Andy Scoles and Alan Westling. Five laps later, the caution waved for David Miller, and the track was getting black except around the very top. As the green waved again, Griffin got a run and was around Perry when Perrys teammate, Bill Genenbacher slammed the backstretch concrete, bringing out the final caution.  Billy had been running fifth at the time, while Moon had moved all the wat to seventh.
  After the wrecker carried the # 72 pitside, Perry again pulled away, and he led the final nine laps for his third checkers of the season at MMP, and second in a row. Griffin took the runner up slot, follwed by Vance Wilson in dad Garys # 155.
Moon used some aggressive driving to move to fourth on the final lap, giving Quincy regulars the top four spots. Lawson, veteran Mike Hammerle, Millard, Casey Montague, Derek Fetter and Craig Bessinger all scored top ten finishes.
  Next up was 20 laps of UMP modified racing. The field had been pared to 22 starters, With Troy Grotz from Quincy and Gary Blackburn Jr. from Fulton,Mo.setting the pace, the mods also had a tough time getting started, with a three car pileup at the green sending Bill Baker pitside. A couple more false starts allowed Baker to tag the tail without missing a lap. The younger Grotz led lap one, but fourth starting Michael Long charged to the lead on lap two. Michael was looking for that moisture up high and stretching his lead when he pounded the turn three concrete on lap eight, doing heavy damage to his rear spoiler. Two laps later the caution came out, and we wondered if the damage would come in to play with ten laps still to go. Michael shot out ahead of Grotz on the restart, still using the high groove. with two laps to go, Long encountered Baker out of turn two, and tried to drive below him in turn three as Baker seemed to change his line. As contact was made, the yellow waved for a spinning Tony Patterson, and possible disaster for Long was averted. With a clear track ahead on the restart, Michael flew to the checkers, With Grotz holding off Steven Delonjay for a well deserved second place finish. Dad Steve Grotz used the high line to take fourth, while Blackburn hung around to finish fifth.
  As the clock clicked up to 11:00, we made out way to the car as the B-mods prepared to close out the night. According to reports, Mike Floyd took the checkers in that action.
  We came away impressed with the racing we saw, and it was well worth the 200 mile round trip. Thanks to announcer Doug Mealy for getting me up to speed on some unfamiliar cars and drivers.
  although we have had some light rain, things look like a go tonight for Quincy Raceways, so check back Monday for a recap of that action. Maybe I will see you there!