Wednesday night, the UMP Summernationals "Hell Tour" for late models made an early stop at the Adams County, Illinois Speedway just east of Quincy, Illinois. The tour last visited the track in 2019, with Mike Marlar taking the win. This week two stop in Quincy was the eighth of thirty two races in forty days. Each individual week of the series pays a points championship bonus in addition to the nightly purses, and a generous total fund awaits the top point earners of the full tour. On Wednesday, the winner of the forty lap feature collected $5,000 with locally raised lap leader money also paid out. This would be our second tour event after witnessing Chris Simpson taking top honors last Thursday at the Davenport, Iowa Speedway.
In addition to the late models, the Summit Dirtcar Modified Nationals was on the card featuring a $1,500 payday and Dirtcar 4 cylinders racing for $1,000 to win.
Late model car counts thus far on the tour had ranged from a respectable thirty one at Peoria to a high of fifty last Saturday at Fairbury. So a turnout of thirty seven last night probably exceeded my expectations by a few. In addition, twenty two modifieds and twenty eight 4 cylinders made a solid week night showing. Unfortunately it also turned into a bit of a marathon, with the clock moving past the 11:00 hour before the final checkers would wave. It is no secret, but with this being my fourth time trial show in a row, it is really obvious how qualifying both eats up a lot of time and wears heavily on the track surface, all before side by side racing starts. Although I may be in the minority, this is one of the reasons I am a passing points fan. But enough of that, on to the show.
Max Blair was in the first qualifying group for late models, and the Centerville, Pa. driver set fast time, tripping the clock at 13.356 seconds. In fact, five drivers eclipsed the 14.00 mark, with all five coming in the first group. Kyle Steffens was quickest for the mods, with a lap of 14.196.
Mod heats went to Nick Hoffman, Tyler Nicely, and Kenny Wallace. Late model qualifier winners were Blair, Shannon Babb, McKay Wenger, and Blaze Burwell. Of those seven heats, only Babb did not start in row one.
All modifieds and 4 cylinders would transfer to their features, but the late models uses a C main, B main concept, where the top four from the C tag the tail of the B , with only the top two from the B making the main event. Then a host of provisional starters from various groups, in this case four drivers, are added to make up a twenty two car starting grid. Fourteen time track champion Mark Burgtorf just this week finished putting together his shiny new Longhorn by Wells late model, and he ran off and hid in the C main. But the two transfers from the B were Robeline, Louisiana pilot Cade Dillard, and Logan Martin, West Plains, Missouri. One of those provisional starting spots is a local promoters option, and with no one from the weekly track points sheet in competition, Burgtorf was awarded the spot. Heading to the pits mid race, he was credited with twenty first finishing position.
The evening included numerous track watering sessions, and before the features, the track was "farmed," with Tri City Speedway track owner Kevin Gundaker apparently offering up his expertise, as well.
Modifieds would run the first feature, twenty five laps, with Wallace and Nicely redrawing the front row. Three caution periods in the first five laps kept the field tight, with Nicely leading the way followed by Wallace, while Hoffman and Kelly Kovski swapped third and fourth. When green flag laps began to add up, Hoffman, who is yet to lose a feature on the tour, jumped to second on lap nine, then used a low side move to grab the lead five laps later. The front duo moved into heavy slower traffic after two more laps , but Hoffman threaded the needle like an old time seamstress, opening a commanding lead. With about four laps remaining ( all guesses are approximate as the PA system was not operational at the west end of the track, and the scoreboard was also not working, both due to first of the night equipment failure) a caution bunched the field. Following the single file restart, third running Wallace spun, apparently with help, in turn three, and as a result both he and Chase Allen were sent to the back of the lead lap cars. Hoffman once again pulled away for the win, followed by a late charge from Steffens, Nicely, and local drivers Austen Becerra and Dave Weitholder.
Forty laps would be the distance for the late models. Blair took the early lead from the outside pole, and Babb came from fourth to second on lap two. Bobby Pierce developed a strong local following as he raced at Quincy many times growing up, first in the Kids Modz as a preteen, and he entered the top three on lap six. Ryan Unzicker also moved up to join the leaders, who caught the back of the pack about lap ten. Using the whole track, Pierce moved to second one lap later, then to the front on lap thirteen. The front pack was now running the inside groove, but Pierce was forced to move up the track as slower cars were blocking his path. The first caution came at the halfway mark, as Doug Tye was spun in traffic. Babb used the Delaware restart to clear Blair for second just ahead of a Burwell spin. Back to green flag action, Babb was pounding the cushion, Blair was tucked on the bottom, and Unzicker was charging through the middle, all in pursuit of the leader. Pierce had pulled to a comfortable margin with about three to go when Garrett Smith slowed high on the backstretch, but rather than exit the track, rolled around the top side slowly until the yellow flag waved, then drove to the pits. But the single file restart did not faze Pierce, who powered ahead to the checkers. Babb held off Blair and Unzicker, while Brian Shirley followed his win the night before in Springfield, Missouri with a fifth place run. Jason Feger came home sixth ahead of Kyle Beard, provisional starter Frank Heckenast Jr., who advanced twelve spots, Martin, and Wenger. Seventeen cars were still on the track at the finish.
There was now a mad rush to the exits as all but one of the four cylinders lined up for twenty laps. Jimmy Dutlinger, from Peoria, took the lead from outside row one. With a pair of lap two cautions, seventh starting Michael Grossman charged to the runner up spot and it was now a two car battle between the track regular competitors. After a great side by side tussle, Grossman nosed ahead and began to stretch his lead. Meanwhile, Kimberly Abbott, Nick Proehl, and Jeffery Delonjay ran neck and neck for third. Grossman, the Keokuk, Iowa hot shoe drove away with the $1,000 win over Dutlinger. Abbott won the battle for third beating Delonjay, while veteran late model pilot Joe Zrostlik slipped around Proehl for fifth.
It was a beautiful night with a huge crowd that included an all star group of former racers to witness plenty of good racing action, and despite the late hour, most folks stayed around at least until after the late model feature. Thanks to Jimmy, Tammy, Blake and the gang for their hospitality and for bringing the Bullring back to a vibrant life!
No comments:
Post a Comment