Saturday night found us at the Davenport Speedway for the final night of the Hoker Trucking Quad Cities 150 three day World of Outlaw late model extravaganza. Thursday nights 40 lapper was won by Devin Moran, while the Friday portion went to Brandon Sheppard. Moran is a second generation pilot, while Sheppard is the third in his lineage to wheel a late model. Seventy laps would be the distance tonight, bringing the total to one hundred and fifty laps of feature racing, with the finale paying a cool $30,000 to win. The racing this week at the historic fairgrounds facility had reportedly been a bit less than the side by side style we have grown accustomed to, and with this final night lined up by cumulative points from the first two shows, passing would no doubt be at a premium. Modifieds and sport mods would also be in action once again.
Just over one hundred cars checked in led by thirty three returning late models. Mike Fryer took over driving duties of the David Webster #44W, the only newcomer in that division.
There had been quite a bit of criticism concerning track conditions following the first two nights, with the World of Outlaws officials apparently refusing to allow any track prep before the features. Perhaps because of this, a heavy dose of water was applied to the racing surface and it took awhile for track packers with help from modified drivers to get the 1/4 mile ready for racing. As a result, hot laps began about fifteen minutes past the 6:30 advertised time, a rarity for Davenport.
There would be no time trials for the late models on Saturday, with the heats lined up by points accumulated on the two preliminary nights. Exceptions to this came as three drivers for various reasons missed the mandatory autograph session held before racing started. Both Ricky Weiss and Jeremiah Hurst forfeited second row starting spots and would line up at the rear of their heats. Weiss was able to advance to a top four transfer spot in heat one, but Hurst would have to run one of two last chance qualifiers and failed to make the A main.
All four ten lap heats were won from the pole position , winners were Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, and Chris Madden. Following all heat race action, the track workers took some time to work the surface. The change in procedure resulted in an excellent track that held up well through the seventy lap finale.
The top two drivers from each late model heat came to the infield for the televised redraw for the feature. Heat winners drew for spots one through four and second place finishers, Dennis Erb Jr., Frank Heckenast Jr., Ryan Gustin, and Chris Simpson for positions five through eight.
A pair of Last Chance B mains transferred the final eight starters to the feature. After twice going over the top of turn one from the outside pole in heat one, getting a complete restart once, then going to the tail the next time, Cade Dillard was victorious from the pole in the first B, while Nick Hoffman wheeled the Bloomquist ride from outside row one to the checkers in B main number two.
Following another break, twenty four late models lined up for seventy laps. The winners from the previous two nights, Moran and Sheppard sat on row one. With Moran out front those two quickly found separation from the pack. Moran was using the inside line while B Shepp ran the middle. With some minor contact in turn one, Sheppard took the lead briefly on lap five. Moran quickly retook the spot, catching the back of the pack at lap ten. At that time, the red flag waved as Garrett Alberson got too high in turn one, resulting in a wild flip. He was not injured, but his #59 car went to the pits with a wrecker on each end. As racing resumed, cars were running all over the wide 1/4 mile, using three distinct lines. Moran opened a bit of a lead, and now fifteenth starting Brian Shirley was on the move, quickly advancing five positions to eighth then working to run down the pack of seven that had distanced the field. Slower traffic again came into play at lap twenty two, and although Devin was doing a good job moving through the lappers, Sheppard was cutting into his lead. Meanwhile Pierce, Boom Briggs, Jimmy Mars, Gustin, and Madden were in a tight battle for position behind the front runners. Shirley joined the hunt as the yellow waved with thirty seven laps in the books. Sheppard took the inside on the Delaware restart, and Pierce used the high line to power into second. He briefly challenged Moran before the leader again began to pull away. At lap forty nine, the fifth running Mars went off the top of turn three and headed to the pits. With Moran on cruise control, Briggs slipped past Sheppard for third at lap fifty five. Madden followed into fourth a couple laps later as the caution flew for seventh running Gustin, who slowed with a flat tire. Back to green, Moran, Pierce, and Madden were locked in a tight three car battle for the lead. Pierce tried a slide job in turn three on lap sixty, but Moran was able to cross over and hold the point. One more lap and Madden cleared Pierce for second. With five circuits remaining, Pierce got under Madden in turn three and appeared to stay on the throttle, with Madden going for a spin. After pleading his case, Madden went to the sixth position of the fourteen cars still running, the "blend in" rule, while Pierce lined up in second, with Shirley now in third. This final restart was single file, Moran maintained his lead, and with two laps to go, Shirley cleared Pierce for second. Bobby tried a last ditch move coming to the checkers, but drove off the track in turn four losing a couple positions. As the checkers waved, it was Moran out front with Shirley gaining thirteen spots to take runner up honors. Briggs was scored third, followed by Sheppard and Pierce. Madden crossed in sixth, Weiss ran seventh while sixteenth starting Brent Larsen advance eight positions. Heckenast Jr. and Erb Jr. completed the top ten. After the races it was learned that Sheppard lost his brakes with fifty laps to go, no doubt slowing his run.
As the always lengthy made for T.V. post race festivities started, the clocked ticked near my self imposed 10:30 P.M. curfew, so we reluctantly headed for the parking lot ahead of the feature events for the sport mods and modifieds. Looking at the results, it appears the track stayed racy for those events. Tyler Soppe captured the sport mod $1,500 payday over Tyler Suckow, tenth starting Ben Chapman, B main winner Dylan VanWyk, and eleventh starting Brayton Carter. The 2,000 winners check in the mods went to veteran Jeff Aikey ahead of Mitch Morris, ninth starting Ethan Braaksma, Cayden Carter, and Shane DeVolder.
Thanks as always to Brenda and Ricky Kay for their hospitality and for taking a chance with a big money extravaganza, as well as to the World Racing Group for making Davenport Speedway a destination. Judging from the huge crowd on Saturday, I would expect we will see the Outlaws again in 2022.
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