The UMP Summernationals Hell Tour began the second week of their four week marathon beginning Monday night in Wilmot, Wisconsin before heading south on Tuesday to the quarter mile Davenport, Iowa Speedway. With the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday looking a bit iffy, we still set out for three straight nights of action at three of our favorite venues. A couple of the tracks in the opening week of the series struggled getting the shows complete in a timely fashion - particularly for week night events, but we had no such concerns at "The Port." Quick programs are a given, a tradition carried on by year two promoter Jeff Struck. This marquee race would also be billed as the Iowa Governers' Cup, an event that began in 1986 at the since shuttered Hawkeye Racway, making this year 40 for the prestigious event.
IMCA Sport Mods, Midwest Jalopies and Nostalgia Stock Cars would fill out the card, with Street Stocks a late addition to the program.
Car Counts for the traveling Late Models has been strong thus far, with counts ranging from thirty five to a high of fifty eight Saturday night at Fairbury, Il.
If the previously mentioned tracks suffered criticism for lengthy programs, such would not be the case at Davenport! Anyone and everyone with radar on their phone could see what was tracking across central Iowa, and it did not look good. But there were thirty three Late Models in the pits and a gathering of optimistic fans in the stands and promoter Struck and UMP officials were determined to give each and everyone what they came for!
After spending time in the pits, I made the long walk to the grandstands, checked the race lineups on My Race Pass, and noticed the change right away. The four "support" classes would be running only hot laps and features. Of course the fact that counts in these classes were a bit light made this decision a bit easier.
So hot laps for the Late Models kicked off pretty close to the 6:30 advertised time followed by a couple set of warm ups for a couple other groups, then it was time trial time for the big boys. Jake Timm was the very first car out, and his 13.612 second lap would top the leader board throughout. Not far behind, Ryan Gustin would lead group "B" with a time of 13.691. It should be noted here that the track crew had to walk a fine line in getting enough moisture in the track to make it racy and dust free and yet leave some wiggle room to withstand a passing shower, and somehow they were able to successfully thread that needle.
Quickly the Street Stocks rolled out for their money race, nine cars for fifteen laps. Blake Woodruff drew the pole position, and he shot to the lap one lead as a jumble of cars sliced and diced behind him. Chevy Andretta emerged from that group to move to second one lap later, but by now Woodruff had already moved well out front. As the race moved past the mid point, ninth starting Donnie Louck had moved up to challenge Andretta for the runner up spot. Suddenly the red flag waved as Cody Staley flipped his #55 hard off the tall cushion between turns three and four. The driver appeared uninjured and the track crew was quick to remove his car to the pit area. The stoppage erased a straightaway lead, but Woodruff again took off as racing resumed. Louck used the Delaware Style restart to claim second, chasing Woodruff all the way to the checkers. Andretta finished third ahead of Jake Lund, Jesse Owen and Bob Barker.
The Late Models were now lined up for four eight lap qualifying heat races. In typical, "time 'em and start the fast guys up front" style, all four heats were won from the pole. Timm topped his row one mate Tyler Erb, Christian Hanger did the same ahead of Jason Feger, Gustin outran third starting Kyle Bronson and Ashton Winger bested fellow front row starter Joseph Joiner.
Despite an amazingly quick turnaround to the B Main, all seventeen eligible cars came to the track for ten laps, including Oregon racer Thomas Hunziker, the only driver to miss his heat race. This "Last Chance" qualifier would move only the top two to the feature, and as it turned out it was perhaps the most entertaining race of the evening. Florida driver Mark Whitener made the unlikely charge from row four to take firm command of the race, while the real battle was for second. National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Billy Moyer used a high line around the oval to come from row three and overtake young Jackson Hise for second ahead of the first caution with seven laps scored. Moyer chose the inside row on the Delaware restart and struggled to hold on as the final caution came one lap later. So this time he picked the outside line, only to get shuffled back as the green flag waved. Now it was Sun River, Montana driver Michael Leach powering to the runner up spot. Moyer had fallen to fifth, recovering to cross the line one spot from a transfer position behind Whiener and Leach. Fortunately for the veteran, he found himself in line for one of four (ugh!) provisional starting spots in the feature.
Another check of the radar gave us a bit more hope as most of the rain seemed to be moving north, but there was still green headed our way as ten IMCA Sport Mods lined up for fifteen laps. Dakota Cole powered from outside row one to lead pole sitter Tyler Maschmann as lap one went in the books. As Cole hugged the low line, fourth starting Cole Stichter moved up to challenge for second on lap five, securing the position on the next circuit. Along with Payce Herrera, the top four ran in a tight formation. Just after the halfway mark, Stichter inched ahead of Cole at the line while Herrera made his move to third. Once in front, Stichter pulled away to a convincing win in the non stop event. Cole came home second ahead of Herrera and Maschmann while Kevin Goben claimed fifth in a close battle with Josh Starr.
With zero pomp and circumstance, twenty two cars roared onto the track for thirty laps of Late Model action. In the heat winners' redraw, Gustin and Winger had pulled the front row, but it was third starting Timm out front as the opening lap was scored. Gustin then moved ahead the next time around, and those two then gained some separation on the field. The first yellow flag came five laps in as Christian Hanger slowed, his night over. Winger charged to second following the Delaware restart, but Gustin began to methodically increase his advantage. As the top three runners operated low on the track, fourth place Tyler Erb tried a high line on turns one and two, then followed the leaders at the other end with little success. Staying green, the now single file front runners closed in on the back of the pack on lap twenty. But just as Gustin began to negotiate the heavy traffic, eighth running Jason Feger had a tire explode on his ride, bringing a second and final caution twenty one laps in. With weekly points on the tour always a concern, Feger quickly added new rubber and rejoined the field, eventually gaining a couple spots to finish eighteenth. Timm was able to move past Winger on the restart, but with clear track ahead there would be no catching the leader. Gustin cruised to his first Summernat's win while Winger fell short in a challenge to Timm for second. Tyler Erb held fourth while Dennis Erb Jr. made the drive of the race, coming from twelfth to fifth. Bronson started and finished in sixth, Dillon McCowan wheeled the Daniel Adam #75 home seventh and Joiner finished where he lined up in eighth. Leach was the Hard Charger, gaining nine spots to claim ninth and Sam Mars completed the top ten. The win was worth $5,000 to Gustin and the Cooney Racing Team.
Still high and dry, we decided not to press our luck and headed to the car with the two " old time" classes still to go, encountering raindrops as we rolled down Locust Street. A check of results shows those two divisions were able to complete the show, with Matt Fulton Sr. besting the eleven Jalopies while Matt Hirst topped the ten Nostalgia competitors.
With the promoter totally on his game and amazing cooperation from the Late Model drivers, the feature checkers for the headline division waved at 8:37! Nuff said!
Thanks to SR Promotions, UMP, and the drivers for a quick, efficient and entertaining show! And to the half dozen or more drivers ( and the fans) who stayed home, oops, you blew this one!
While we were dodging the rain in the Quad Cities there was no such luck here closer to home, and combined with heavy showers overnight, Quincy Raceways officials were forced to cancel tonights' visit by the Summernats teams. Jeff Delonjay and his crew are working with series officials to hopefully reschedule the event. So now we hope for some drying time - not here yet- and the first ever tour stop tomorrow night at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. That should be a good one, with Stock Cars and Sport Mods running "Memphis" rules along with the open Late Models and Summit Modified Tour. Hope to see you there!
No comments:
Post a Comment