" King Kong " Korte On Top

 With a vacation day in hand and the local high school letting out early, Keagan, Darryl, Fred, and I  headed for Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Il for Fan Appreciation night weekly racing. A total of 120 cars in six classes - 115 in five deducting the five Kidz Modz - signed in for the action. The street stock count swelled to 26 as several extra cars were on hand as a tune up for the $3,000 to win special on Sunday. 16 heat races, one B-main and two dashes set the starting grid for the six feature events. The UMP modified dash saw Kody Weisner in one of the three University of Northern Ohio cars on hand jump the tall turn one cushion and flip his # 20 machine hard. He was running in third at the time. Following the restart, track point leader Michael Long was bidding to move up on the high side of the 3/8 mile and was sucked into the turn four wall by the tall cushion, damaging the front end suspension on his ride. Michael made temporary repairs in order to start the feature, completing one lap before heading for the trailer.  Intermission was follow by a protracted nickel dash for the kids, then it was finally time for feature racing.During this time, the cushion was knocked down a bit by track workers.
 The Kidz Modz eight lapper ran first, with Cade Juenger taking the win.
 Next came the street stocks for 15 laps. 23 cars made the call, with the # 63G truck of Richie Gabriel setting the pace early. Modified hot shoe Tim Hancock was wheeling the # 8S car in preparation for the Sunday show, and he powered around Gabriel for the lead. When the caution waved for the first time on lap eight, Hancock had suffered a broken ball joint on his ride. He opted to stay on the track, soon losing the lead to Dave Armstrong on lap ten. Two laps later, Hancock lost the handle, colliding with Wade Glover, ending the night for both cars. All the while, track and national points leader Jason Worley was trying to overcome a heat race problem that  relegated him to a row 11 starting spot, and he was now up to eighth. The race stayed green to completion with Armstrong taking the win. Gabriel faded early but came back to run second, while Worley came across in sixth.
 The UMP mod 20 lap finale was up next with 22 of the 33 cars on hand taking the green. Rick Conoyer took off from the pole with number two point man Dave Weitholder giving chase. Dave took over on lap four, but a yellow flag negated the pass. On the restart, Weitholder spun in turn two and was hit by another UNOH car driven by Dwight Niehoff, with both tagging the tail on the restart. Yellow fever took over at this point, but when things got going, Brent Mullins began to apply pressure. On lap nine Mullins took the point, bringing Hancock with him. The front two then checked out, and with two circuits to go, Hancock took the lead. At the checkers it was Hancock first - Josh Russell barely nosed Mullins for second, and Tommie Seets Jr edged a charging Weitholder for fourth.
 The UMP Pro Crate late models ran next. All 20 cars took the green, with Kevin Cole jumping out from his row one starting spot. Kevin was not entered in the super late model class on Friday. Aaron Heck had finished second to Cole in the first heat, and he quickly locked onto Coles rear bumper as the two pulled away from the pack. About lap 13 - Tri City does not have a working scoreboard - Heck eased by for the lead. He held on for the win in the caution free event ahead of Cole, Kolby Vandenbergh, and heat two winner Tom Krankel.
  As the midnight hour drew nearer, the program was then stopped to stage the kids bicycle races that had been scheduled in conjunction with the giveaway of  50 bicycles.
  Finally it was UMP super late model time, with 20 cars lining up for 25 laps of action. Randy " King Kong " Korte jumped to the early lead from row two with outside polesitter Michael Kloos in tow. On lap two, Jimmy Miller spun in turn one, collecting Andy Van Jackson, who landed partially on top of Millers # 18. During the clean up, point leader Scott Weber retired to the trailer. On the restart, Korte worked the high side of the still racy oval, while Kloos stayed close running the bottom groove. The race stayed green until the checkers. Billy Laycock started outside row seven and worked his way all the way to the runnerup position before getting caught behind a lapped car, falling to third at the line. Jason McBride started and finished fourth, with Brian Dively advancing two spots to come home fifth. The second five consisted of seventeenth starting Jim Shereck, Paul Bailey, John Beck, Kenny Rumble, and Chris Fetter.
 The sport compact feature was pulling to the track as we made our way to the car right at the bewitching hour. Tri City had an excellent racing surface on Friday after less than ideal conditions - i.e.- high heat, plenty of cars, and the $6.00 admission made it easier to ignore the late hour. Thanks to the Gundakers for an entertaining night at the races. Keagan and I will be leaving in a couple hours for Quincy Raceways, where the card will feature MOWA 410 sprints, UMP late models, UMP modifieds, and IMCA sport compacts. The start time has been moved back one hour due to the heat, with hot laps starting at 5:45. One correction from last weeks blog, IMCA stock car driver was a two time feature winner last weekend, as the Carthage hot shoe " only " ran second at Lee County Speedway. Good luck to all the QR " home fries " headed to the IMCA supernationals this week!