Our three race weekend concluded with trip number ten to Adams County, Il. Speedway east of Quincy. Topping the card this week would be the second 2023 stop for the MARS Modified series. $2,000 would be on the line for the "open" engine cars, with heavy participation by our weekly UMP Modified teams. The other four regular classes, Crate Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods, Street Stocks, and 4 Cylinder Compacts would fill out the line up.
A somewhat smaller than expected Modified turnout of twenty one still topped the field of seventy five competitors. Kyle Steffens had been the victor when the series came through town in May, but he was a no show on this night. "The Kentuckian" Josh Harris was the last of those to qualify and he turned the .29 mile oval in a top lap of 13.587 seconds. The top two finishers from the three eight lap heat races redrew for feature starting spots, and it was middle heat winner and series points leader Tyler Nicely on the pole with Harris alongside. Josh had finished runner up to track regular Austen Becerra in heat one. Becerra lined up in row two beside Jacob Rexing with third heat winner Michael Long and and Steve Meyer in row three.
Thirty laps would be the distance on a track that was smooth and slick, and seemingly bottom groove dominate. Nicely grabbed the early lead ahead of Rexing before Harris moved to second about lap six. With slower traffic already in play, the first caution came with nine in the books. Back under green, Long moved to third and Becerra followed in fourth. Another yellow flag came two laps later, and now Long moved to the high side, charging to second on lap thirteen, then to the front one lap later. Nicely then moved up to shadow Long, but Harris drove to second on the bottom line. Soon Becerra made it a three car scrum for second, but I missed whatever happened between turns three and four that resulted in both Harris and Becerra stopped on the track. Per the MARS "no judgement" rule, both of the stopped cars were sent to the tail of the lead lap cars. Two more cautions came, the last with eight laps remaining. Those yellow flags presented the only challenge to Long, as the hometown driver checked out, cruising to the win. He had debuted a brand new car the night previous at Pevely, Mo., where he ran second to Harris, so he now has a first and a second with the sharp looking #18L. Nicely held the top spot in the points chase with a runner up finish, while Kenny Wallace advanced four positions to round out the podium. Trevor Neville took the Hard Charger bonus by quietly climbing nine spots to fourth, while Harris rebounded to fifth. Dave Weitholder, Mike Chasteen Jr., Rexing, Mike Vanderiet Jr., and Rick Conoyer completed the top ten.
Before the Modified headliner, fourteen Crate Late Models battled for twenty laps. Denny Woodworth and Jamie Wilson would fill out row one and lead the pack before Jason Perry slipped around Woodworth for second on lap three. The surprise entrant for the night was former hot shoe Keith Pratt subbing for Derek Hollenstine in the #21 car. Although the "Kool Kat" had raced but one time in the last six seasons, he showed no rust, ripping the high side from his row four starting spot and advancing as high as fourth, even as those in front of him stayed lower on the track. As Wilson caught the back of the pack, the lone caution came with seven to go for first time visitor Scott Bergen. On the restart, Woodworth climbed the ladder, taking back second from Perry. In the closing laps he pulled nearly even with the catfishing Wilson, and looked ready for a last lap move. However he found a slower car in his preferred line and that gave Wilson all he needed to pick up his first win after coming back from semi retirement. Perry was also able to take advantage of the lapped car to sneak into the runner up spot at the checkers. Braden Bilger and Tommy Elston completed the top five. Rookie Christian Miles started eleventh and drove to sixth, followed by Pratt, fourteenth starting Cody Maguire, Darin Weisinger Jr., and Jason Oenning.
Richie Wagy was unable to make the feature call with his new sharp looking #7, so ten Street Stocks lined up for fifteen laps. Front row starters Jake Powers and Robert Cottom led lap one ahead of the only caution. Sage Martin grabbed second on the Delaware restart, but on lap four Cottom drove by on the high side. Seemingly in control, Powers suddenly headed for the trailer with brake issues ending his run. Inheriting the lead, Cottom drove off from the pack for the victory. Martin was impressive in second, chased by Rudy Zaragoza, Kale Foster, and Brandon Boden.
Sport Mods were next, all except Kruze Miles of the sixteen on hand, racing for eighteen circuits. Dakota Girard paced the field early, chased first by Lucas Schieferdecker, then seventh starting Reed Wolfmeier. Two laps in the yellow flag waved, and back to racing rows four and five starters Tanner Klingele, Logan Cumby, and Adam Birck were quickly picking off cars, moving to third, fourth, and fifth positions. With just four laps to go, Klingele charged to second ahead of a second caution. At this point, announcer Doug Mealy pointed out that the Wolfmeier car had front suspension damage, but he stayed on the track and muscled his #2W to the checkers. On the restart, Birck spun in turn one, but the caution had already waved for Jim Powell, who had issues in turn four. On this final restart, Klingele moved to the top of the track, each lap cutting the lead held by Girard. At the checkers it was another Adams County Speedway photo finish, with Klingele ahead by .059 seconds at the line. After leading from the drop of the green, Girard was forced to settle for second. Cumby, Birck, and Wolfmeier filled out the top five.
Compacts would close out the show, thirteen cars for fifteen laps. A false start, a first lap yellow, then we were off and racing. Jaden Delonjay led a three wide group under the flag stand as lap one was scored, with Kyle Weisenberger and brother Jeffery Delonjay alongside. Jeffery took over second on lap three, then grabbed the lead three laps later. A final yellow came seven laps in, and Weisenberger moved to second on the restart. Delonjay drove off into the night for the win. Weisenberger scored an impressive runner up finish ahead of Jaden, Travis Demint, and ninth starting Dyllan Bonk.
The final checkers waved about 9:30. Thanks to Jim, Tammy, and the staff for a full night of hard racing at the Broadway Bullring.
Up next? Not sure at this point, but check back often and be sure and give my Positively Racing colleagues a read, as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment