Racing Far and Near

After challenging the weather the week prior and losing out, we decided to go with a safe bet this Saturday. So when the forecast for the World of Outlaw late model special at Pevely,Mo was upgraded to 60-85% chance of rain, Darryl, Fred, and I set out for Farley, Iowa, and the headline night of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic. I am ashamed to admit that after attending possibly every Yankee run at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, I had never been to one at Farley. It seems there was also a closer alternative, and even with mostly four lane roads and higher speed limits, it is still a cool 3 1/2 hours from my front door. But the time had come!
As we like to do, we arrived early to walk the grounds, check out the full pit area, and visit with some old friends. Once things got started, it was neat to see 150 or more cars all on the track at one time, but, hey, how about some racin? The four pole dashes for hobbys, stocks, sport mods and sport compacts riolled out on the 3/8 mile beginning at 6:20, then it was time for heat races for the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour modifieds followed by the Deery Brothers IMCA Summer Series late models. With the mods running first, it was obvious that the announced intention of having the 75 lap late model feature on the track at 10:00 or soon after was not going to happen, but, hey, we were racin'!
 The modified field was 42 or 43 cars strong, and the fourth heat was the pick of the five, with Ron Barker using a dandy move on the white flag lap to grab the win after starting sixth. Only the top two in the heats transferred to the $2,000 to win feature, necessitating three B-mains later on.
 The 50 car late model field then contested five ten lap heats, on the 1/2 mile track, as were the mods. In heat one, Jason Rauen, driving a Joel Callahan # 40 spun in turn two of the first lap, giving the pole to Ray Guss Jr on the restart. Ray then outdistanced track regular Luke Goedert, and Jay Johnson to the checkers, as the top three transferred, with the top two in the redraw. Tyler Breuning charged fromrow three to take heat two over Mark Burgtorf and fifth starting Denny Eckrich. Friday night winner Nick Marolf captured the third heat ahead of Darrell Defrance and ninth starting Justin Kay. In heat four, Jeff Mitrisin had a big lead, but smacked the turn two wall on lap seven. Sixth starting Joe Zrostlik then grabbed the checkers over Colby Springsteen and Curt Martin. In the final heat, Matt Strassheim jumped the cushion on lap one, falling back from his third row start, but powered his way back to second behind Dan Shelliam and just ahead of Brian Beaudry, driving a Justin Kay machine.
  It was announced that there would be three transfers out of the 12 lap B-mains, but the format changed after the drivers meeting. A third B-main was added, with only the top two advancing. Jeff Aikey topped Andy Eckrich in the first one, with Mike Murphy then besting Kurt Kile. Ryan Griffith held off Randy Foote in the final preliminary, with provisionals going to Callahan, Mitrisin, and Dean Wagner.
  At this point, we still had the 25 lap non qualifiers race to run ahead of the 75 lap feature, and all other main events were pushed off except the 20 lapper for the hobby stocks, which would run after the non qualifier race. In that 25 lapper, the top two finishers had the option of taking the $500 check and loading up, or forfeiting the money to tag the tail of the main event, which also paid $500 to start. Both winner Larry Harris, in a car purchased from the Roberts Racing/ Ray Guss team, and runnerup Mike Garland said they wanted to keep racing!
   Following the hobby finale, the 26 car starting field took the green at 11:06 for 75 laps, as Keagan texted me results from Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Polesitter Zrostlik led lap one, with Goedert pacing lap two. On lap three, Breuning moved to second, and ninth starting Burgtorf advanced to sixth. As Mark picked up another position on lap six, Goedert and Breuning ran side by side., and on lap seven , Tyler took the top spot. By lap ten, Springsteen was challenging for second, and he took the spot one lap later. On lap 13, Burgtorf moved to fourth. The first caution came one lap later, with Goedert leaving on the hook. The Delaware restart format was used, and it would have a dramatic affect as the night went on. Burtorf shot to second on the restart, with Shelliam moving to third. Lap 16 saw twelfth starting Denny Eckrich climb to fourth, and seven laps later, to third. By the one third point of the race, Burgtorf was closing fast on Breuning, but following a lap 33 restart, Eckrich took the runnerup spot away. Andy Eckrich also moved to seventh at this point after starting in row ten. Ten circuits later, Guss, who had been lurking in the top six, stopped on the track with a flat tire. Following the restart, it was now Marolf on the move, and he took over fourth on lap 45. A caution on lap 47 saw Burgtorf and Marolf emerge in a duel, while 17 th starting Murphy jumped to fifth. Murphy then used a lap 52 restart to grab third, Burgtorf fell to fifth, and Strassheim, who started fifth and dropped to 14th was now back to seventh. The next stoppage on lap 57 saw Kay move to fourth. By lap 67, Guss was back to tenth, and with three to go, Eckrich caught Breuning in traffic. One good pass separated the leaders, and Breuning became a repeat winner of the Yankee. D Eckrich, Murphy, Kay, and Burgtorf followed, with the rest of the top ten being Strassheim, Marolf, Aikey, A Eckrich, and Guss. 
  Although passing seemed challenging on the tacky surface, it was amazing to watch so many guys make a run at different times. Burgtorf later told me that tire wear played a part in his losing three spots from his high of second, and I am sure this was true for others as well. As Breuning crossed the scales, the midnight hour was near and we three old timers regretfully passed on the four features still to be run to begin the long trek home, happy we the racing we saw.
  After what seemed more like a nap than a nights sleep, it was off to Quincy Raceways for Sunday night action, two grandsons in tow. As Keagan whizzed past the I-336 overpass, we saw the bright green hauler of Brian shirley, headed for the track, and now I was awake! Shirley holds a slim lead in the UMP national late model points battle over Kevin Weaver, and as we entered the pits, sure enough, Weaver was already there. At that point, former great Bob Pierce cruised by on his 4 wheeler, so we knew young Bobby was also in the house! In total, 18 late models and 18 UMP modifieds checked in as part of a six class 81 car field on season championship night.
  Shane Richardson and Alex Buffington made their first appearances of 2012 at QR in the IMCA stock car class, but it was point champion Terry Houston who took home the honors on Sunday. Darin Weisinger  pushed Houston hard on the tacky, fast .29 mile oval, but settled for runnerup honors. The eventual point champion also came out on top in the IMCA sport mods, as Tony Dunker collected feature win number twelve over point runnerup Bobby Anders, and Jake Powers claimed his first title with a main event win over Brandon Symmonds following a season long tussle between the two. Seith Woodruff took the first ever IMCA sport compact point title over Kimberly Abbott, who lost any chance at the top spot with engine woes in the finale. Austen Beccerra claimed the 12 lap feature ahead of Woodruff.
  The UMP modified championship had already been clinched by Steven Delonjay, his second in a row, with fast qualifier Jared Schlipman second. Come feature time however, Delonjay was forced to pit on lap ten, and Dave Weitholder took over from there, looking like the man to beat. In the closing laps, however, 13 year old Jake Griffin, fresh off a win last Sunday in the late models, laid his # 08 on the cushion, and charged to the front on lap 21. Jake took top honors, with Weithloder and Schlipman trailing.
  Shirley had set fast time earlier in the evening, scorching the oval with a lap of 13.727, and after rolling a " one ' for the invert, lead outside row one starter Michael Long, in the Frankel # 33F to the fast heat/dash win. The 30 lap finale got off to a rocky start, with a false start causing a traffic jam, and sending Jason Frankel and his # 0F to the pits with front end damage. It was later determined that Jason, whose season started just a week ago,  likely suffered a broken wrist in the mixup. When things got going on the tacky, fast,  but somewhat rough track, Shirley opened a half straightaway lead. But on lap eleven, bad luck came his way, as he popped a drive shaft on the back chute, ending his run. Dustin Griffin had taken the second spot from Long briefly, but a this point, Michael was back in the runnerup slot, and after inheriting the lead, he had no intention of giving it up. Griffin kept the # 33F in his crosshairs, but could not make a pass. Burgtorf settled into third, before Weaver challenged late for the spot after starting ninth. But as the laps would down, the engine let go in the # B12, putting both national top guns on the trailer. Pierce, who started eleventh, gave Burgtorf and his 3 7B a look, but settled for fourth ahead of Jim Moon. Denny Woodworth parked his # 45DW and climbed in a Griffin back up ride, coming home sixth, ahead of track point champion Jason Perry. D Griffin, Burgtorf, Justin Reed, and Moon rounded out the top five in points. Reed started the night second, but engine woes ended his night in his heat race, dropping him to fourth. Moon also captured the points at Montgomery,Mo. Motorsports Park, where hard luck Keith Pratt rolled his # 33 on Saturday.
  While the track points season is over at Quincy, there will be two more weeks of regular racing, with state and national UMP points up for grabs. The track cannot give IMCA national points, as they did not apply for an extension soon enough.
  During intermission on Sunday, we also added nine people as the second Quincy Raceways Hall of Fame class, including drivers Terry Gallaher, Eddie Dieker, and Francis " Wild Man " Kelly.
  Heres' hoping for another five  - ten races, weather permitting!