Taylor Wins, Then Rain at Quincy

  Sunday night Quincy Raceways hosted a regular night of racing, with five classes on the card. Cloudy skies dominated the day, although the chance of rain was low. However when I arrived at the track, a few sprinkles were falling. With school underway, track officials had moved start times up, with hot laps set to roll at 5:15. The sprinkles moved out, the pits opened up, and hot laps began as everyone kept an eye on the sky.
  UMP modifieds are the only class to time trial qualify at QR, and Kevin Blackburn paced a star studded field that included points leader Dave Weitholder, former champion Michael Long, and the hottest driver in the UMP mod ranks this season, Peoria ace Allen Weisser.
  The IMCA sport compacts had a make up feature from an early rain out several weeks ago, but only six of the eligible cars signed in. Isaiah Penton took off from row one, leading each of the twelve laps, as the race went non stop. David Prim, Dylan Schantz, Kimberly Abbott, Ryan Mangold, and Quinton Shelton followed in that order.
  The heat races clicked off in quick fashion, and with no intermission, the five outlaw stock cars lined up for fifteen laps. Shane Myers charged to the early lead in his #15 " grocery getter " station wagon. Points leader Beau Taylor and Steve Dieckmann remained hot on his heels and on lap four Myers bobbled out of turn two, turning the lead over to Taylor. Dieckmann drove around Myers two laps later, and at the end of that circuit, Brian Gaines slammed hard into the front stretch concrete wall. At the same time, Brandon Boden stopped between turns three and four, with smoke pouring from his #69X. When the green flag waved again, only three cars remained on the track. Despite a serious challenge from Myers, Taylor hit his marks on the top side of the track, leading the rest of the way to take the win. Myers again bobbled on the final lap, with Dieckmann again moving to the runner up spot at the checkers. Gaines was credited with fourth and Boden fifth.
  Quickly the dozen IMCA sport modifieds came to the track for eighteen scheduled laps. A brief shower had been falling in the closing laps of the stock car feature, but the sport mods kept the surface run in as the rain subsided. The green flag waved, and Tyler Burton powered from the outside pole to lead the opening lap, followed by third starting Austen Becerra, and fifth starting Adam Birck, the series points leader. Burton jumped the backstretch cushion on lap two, with both Becerra and Birck getting around him. The yellow flag waved for a Kelly Bartz spin on lap three. On the Delaware restart, tenth starting Bobby Six joined the party in third. However, one lap later, the rain came again, increasing in intensity until the track was " lost, " and officials were forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the program. Remaining on the card in addition to the sport mod main, UMP Pro Crate late models, UMP modifieds, and IMCA sport compacts features may be made up at some point. Interestingly, the only other time the program was rained out this season came with the sport mod feature just short of the halfway mark.
  Next Sunday at QR, the MLRA late models make their second visit of 2019 to the track for the Scottie 45 paying $5,000 to the winner. Bobby Pierce took the win when the series made their first ever stop at QR in May. IMCA sport mods and IMCA sport compacts will also be on the card. Then on Sunday, September 8, the rescheduled 360 cubic inch winged Sprint Invaders will take over the .29 mile oval. In addition, sport compacts will be racing that night for a $1,000 top prize! This race will feature a good payout behind the winner, with second place paying at least $500, $300 for third, and $200 for fourth, as more sponsor money continues to come in. UMP modifieds will round out the card.