36 days...Thirty six days... Due mostly to the consistently lousy weekend weather and in the case of this weekend family obligations, it had been just over five weeks since my bout of racing withdrawal began. So I was more than happy to rush home Sunday, grab my supplies and head to the fifty first home opener for Quincy Raceways. And with the forecast showing no wet stuff until overnight, things were looking up! The good news is that with some adjustments the entire seven class program was completed. The not so good news is that the final three features were run in a light rain. But, hey, it was racing!
The track crew and the three man management team have been hard at work, putting in many extra hours to prepare for the season, and the result was a good racing surface with just a bit of dust early as the southeast breeze attacked the impressive crowd.
The downside was a somewhat disappointing overall car count, although the newly minted IMCA Late Model division was solid with fifteen entries.
With all the opening night pomp and circumstance complete, racing began about 6:30, with heat race action clicking off in good time ahead of intermission.
The visiting vintage class kicked off feature racing. They would run a non stop ten laps, with Bonne Terre, Missouri driver Marshall Skaggs picking up the win over his fellow Bonne Terre competitor Tom Mesey in the PB (peanut butter) car.
Street Stocks would go next, running twelve caution free laps. Only winner Jacob Rexing and runner up Jake Powers were still around when the checkers waved.
Action increased dramatically as all fifteen Late Models lined up for twenty five circuits. Popular local driver Jake Griffin was behind the wheel of the #79 normally driven by Robby Warner, and Jake had issues in hot laps and failed to make his heat race. In fact he was given an extra quick hot lap session to see if his problems were fixed, and it appeared so as he lined up deep in the field for the feature. Spencer Havermale and Jason Oenning filled out row one of the inverted field, with Spencer leading lap one ahead of a caution for debris. Following the Delaware Style restart, Austen Becerra charged to second as he and Havermale put some distance on the pack. But soon Denny Woodworth would join the leaders even as Jamie Wilson, Oenning and tenth starting Tommy Elston waged an entertaining battle for fourth. The yellow flag came out twice with six laps scored, ending the night for Ryan Aden Jr., and back to racing it was Woodworth moving to the lead. Twelfth starting visitor Curtis Glover was now looking strong as he vaulted inside the top five. Becerra would again clear Havermale for second on lap ten, and on the next trip around Jackson Frankel smacked the turn one wall ending his run. Back under green Becerra was mounting a challenge for the lead, clearing Woodworth about lap seventeen ahead of a final caution for Darin Weisinger Jr. As racing resumed, Havermale slipped around Woodworth for second and fifteenth starting Griffin found himself in the top five. Becerra would lengthen his lead and cruise to the win followed by Havermale, Woodworth and Griffin. Jeffery Delonjay made a late charge to round out the top five. Wilson, Elston, Glover, Weisinger Jr. and Oenning would complete the top ten.
The Dirtcar Modified field was shockingly short, and with scratches by Dean Vickers and 2025 champ Justin Reed, only four cars took the green flag for a dozen laps. Dave Weitholder ran to a caution free win, although he was challenged late by Shawn Deering. Vance Wilson and Kirkland Cunningham would round out the field.
With the sprinkles setting in, Crown Vics lined up for twelve circuits. Brian Kaylor took the early lead from outside row one with pole sitter and 2025 Champion Jake Etter in hot pursuit. Things got even tighter as the front runners hit slower traffic with three laps to go, and as the pair exited turn four to take the white flag, Etter powered to the lead. He would hold off Kaylor for the W. Alex Hatfield in an unlettered "mystery " car would finish third in front of Braxton Dieker and Isaac Little.
The raindrops became a bit more persistent as all twelve IMCA Northern Sport Mods came to the oval for their main event, shortened to fifteen laps. Tanner Klingele put his #73X out front from the pole to lead lap one before his row one mate A. J. Tournear nosed ahead as lap two was scored. Meanwhile Reed Wolfmeyer and Kyler Girard came from rows three and four to join the party up front. Klingele edged back to the front just ahead of a caution four laps in. As racing resumed Wolfmeyer charged to the runner up spot and began to hound the leader. The caution would wave two more times, the last caused by contact which sent Tournear for a spin, knocking him out of the top five. Klingele would hold off Wolfmeyer for the victory, with Girard claiming third. Cole Gillenwater made a late charge to fourth after starting in row four, while Alec Cain picked up five spots to finish fifth. Tournear would charge back through the field to sixth as the checkers. An interesting aside, Cole Gillenwater is a third generation QR driver and on this night his father Jim turned over the wheel of his #10 to young Chevy Barnes, a Sport Compact driver making his first start in a Sport Mod. Chevy is the fourth generation of a well known racing family, as his great grandfather was Don White, from my and Chevys' hometown of Keokuk. Racing historians will note that Don was a many time Stock Car champion in the touring days of IMCA and USAC. Chevys father Josh continues to compete in the Sport Compact division also.
The rain drops were now creating havoc with pen and paper, and I will admit to heading towards the parking lot as the Dirtcar 4 Cylinders prepared to put a cap on the action. Peeking at the scoreboard as I climbed in my vehicle, I saw the Devin Harrell led the race at about the mid point, and thanks to My Race Pass, I see he picked up the win over Ethan Zumwalt.
Thanks as always to the Delonjays and their team for their hospitality and for keeping racing alive in Quincy.
Even though some big events have been lost, there is still a long season ahead, and just maybe Mother Nature will start playing nice!
