With the early postponement of the Lucas Oil late model event at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, it was time to check forecasts, radar, and track websites in hopes of finding another Saturday night destination. The alternative that stuck out was the Bi State Battle for UMP late models featured this night at the Highland, Illinois Speedway. Over the last few seasons, late model counts had been going down at the St. Louis area tracks, especially the Saturday night venues in Highland and across the river at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri. So for 2021 the promoters of the two tracks put their heads together and came up with a plan to alternate the class between their facilities featuring a combined points fund. It seemed like in the past when either track had a cancellation, the late models would just stay home rather than cross the river to race at the other track. So I was a bit skeptical with regard to the potential success of this plan. Just goes to show what I know! Car counts in the first few weeks of 2021 have ranged from the mid to upper twenties to as high as thirty three for these weekly shows. So for the first time since the 2012 season, we were off to the Madison County fairgrounds facility that sits on a hillside in a residential area of the picturesque town of Highland. If you have never been to Highland, note that he location of the track on the grounds is quite a distance from the regular parking area.
In addition to the late models,UMP modifieds, UMP Pro mods and street stocks would be in action. Twenty seven of the high powered late models headed up a seventy five car field in front of a large if late arriving crowd.
Following hot lap action, the program kicked off a bit after 7:00, a few minutes past the advertised time of 6:45. Four late model heats kicked things off, with a draw for position setting the lineups, then passing points determining the feature starting spots. Still all four of the ten lap victors came from the front row on this tight semi banked quarter mile track. Rusty Griffaw, point leader Mark Voigt, Daryn Klein, and Chad Zobrist picked up preliminary wins although Griffaw had to come from third after the front row was penalized for a bad start. Fourteen cars qualified through the passing points format, with the remaining thirteen moving to a ten lap B main. Paul Kuper was unable to make the call, leaving a dozen entrants vying for four spots. As the field jockeyed for position, a backup in turn four saw Doug Tye contact the utility tire and do a soft rollover, ending up on his top. Again the winner came from row one, as Brian Wolfmeier took the checkers first. The final two spots in the twenty five lap finale would be awarded to the top two in Bi State points not already qualified. Tye would be eligible for one of those spots, and he would borrow the #16W of Tony Wolf to start the feature.
What started as a ten minute intermission with some watering and rolling in of the track turned in to a much longer break, as despite numerous pleas from the tower for the late models to come to staging, only a couple responded, even helping with packing in the added moisture. Finally the twenty two starters were lined up for twenty five laps, with Griffaw and Michael Kloos pacing the field. Chad Zobrist jumped to the front after lining up third when Griffaw slid high out of turn two and Kloos had to check up to stay out of the wall. With a pair of laps in the books, there was a rash of yellow flags. First Tye went for a spin, then on the restart Mark Oller looped his #67, collecting Tye. A five car pileup stopped the action on the next attempt, then one more lap was scored before Tye brought out another caution in the borrowed machine. Zobrist again took off as racing resumed, with Jordon Bauer and Kloos trying to keep pace. Kloos was able to grab second on lap eleven, and the leader caught slower traffic two laps later. Kloos was able to move to the back bumper of the #78 before disaster struck on lap fourteen. As the front pair worked traffic, both came in contact with a slower car and Kloos ended up in the backstretch wall, his strong run over. Voigt now powered to second following the Delaware restart, but he was unable to get close enough to challenge the leader. Chad Zobrist picked up the win, with Voigt in second. Bauer, Klein, and Griffaw scored top five finishes. Trevor Gundaker started eleventh and finished sixth in front of his row six mate Jason Suhre. Todd Rehg gained eight spots to run eighth. Jeff Herzog in his #11 crossed the line in ninth but was originally scored behind the #11 of Shannon Kuhn. However Herzog later stated that he was changed to ninth.
With a rather large number of yellow flags, only one wrecker on hand, and issues with realignments we headed for the car at 10:00 PM with three features still to be run. We were definitely appreciative of the late models being first in the feature lineup, as we had a three plus hour trip home. I am not sure if the area has had as much rain as we have locally, but the track was in good condition, and there was plenty of action, making for an entertaining evening.
The Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and there is no shortage of quality shows to choose from, warm weather may finally be with us, so no excuses, let's go racing!
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