Pretty much everyone, including yours truly had been closely monitoring the weather apps this week, hoping sometimes against daunting odds that the three night MLRA Late Model swing along the Mighty Mississippi would be a "go." Previously scheduled events on Friday at Davenport and Saturday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington were combined with a rescheduled Sunday night date at Quincy Raceways, dubbed the "Triple Threat" weekend. Ernie Leftwich, owner/promoter of the southwest Missouri based Midwest Late Model Racing Association conceded that the rather ominous forecasts gave that title a double meaning. Unfortunately those weather models held true, and it was early Friday morning when the plug was pulled on the Davenport weekend opener.
The forecast for Saturday looked much better as all eyes turned south towards 34 Raceway in West Burlington. Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt had put together a tight lineup with the high powered Super Late Models backed up by IMCA Late Models, IMCA Hobby Stocks, and Mini Hauler Trucks. The MLRA headliner would pay a cool $5,000 to the feature winner, $800 just to start. Lebanon, Missouri veteran Tony Jackson Jr. in his car #56 rolled into town the current series points leader.
Even as we approached the Burlington area, passing clouds gave us pause, especially with the now high humidity. But as things turned out, it was a beautiful evening for racing with just enough cloud cover but still an awesome sunset. While the car count for the headline division suffered a bit due to the weather related issues, there was still plenty of high powered machines in the pits, the track was in absolutely pristine condition and the on track action was intense!
Following hot laps, the Super Late Models lined up for time trials. Dylan Thornton was the first of the twenty two cars out, and he turned the high banked three eighths mile oval in 15.030 seconds. It looked for a while that fast time would hold up until the final five cars hit the track. Whether the track gained speed or the best simply came last, three of those final five to time eclipsed the fifteen second mark, with Richmond, Missouri driver Aaron Marrant tripping the clock at 14.798 seconds followed by Caden McWhorter, and Jeff Herzog.
Seventeen IMCA Late Models would contest a pair of heat races won by Tommy Elston and Darin Weisinger Jr. Hobby Stock heats went to Randy LaMar and Jorden Patz while Nick Wilkerson topped the lone Mini Hauler heat.
MLRA ten lap qualifiers lined up straight up from time trials, and the first two were captured from the front row by pole sitter Marrant and outside starter Jackson Jr. Heat three was a barn burner, with Herzog leading most of the way from the pole despite heavy pressure from third starting Chad Simpson. On the final lap Chad was able to ease past for the lead and exiting turn four brother Chris Simpson also slipped around Herzog for second. But come feature time it was announced that Chad had apparently failed the "droop rule" in post race tech, which resulted in a four position penalty, dropping him from a row two feature start all the way back to row eight.
Intermission was brief as all but two, Mitch Boles and Ed Hollenbeck, IMCA Late Models lined up for twenty five laps. Pole sitter Denny Woodworth shot to the front ahead of third starting Mark Burgtorf. Fifth starting Dustin Smith, who was racing different #53 machines in both classes, was the man on the move, jumping to third on lap two, second on lap three, then running down the leader and grabbing the top spot the fifth time around the oval. Meanwhile Elston charged from row four to second on lap six and the lead duo quickly separated from the pack. Both cars were running the inside line, and as the race clicked past the halfway point Elston moved up a lane to try and gain extra momentum. With sixteen circuits scored, the only caution of the race came when Jesse Bodin was crossed up between turns three and four. As the field was lining back up, Smith suddenly stopped on the front stretch with mechanical woes which ended his run. Elston now assumed the top spot on the Delaware Style restart, and he drove well off into the Des Moines County night. Blaise Lewis had been running near the front after starting sixth and he now powered to second as Austen Becerra worked from row five to third. Woodworth and Burgtorf would complete the top five, chased by Weisinger Jr., Glover, Sam Halstead, Jay Johnson, and Jake Griffin. Griffin had required brief medical attention during his heat race, but came back to complete all twenty five laps in the feature.
Mason Rash made a first time haul from Shelbina, Missouri as one of the thirteen Hobby Stcks signed in, finished second in his heat but was unable to make the feature call. Luke Phillips jumped out front early with his row one mate Tucker Richardson close behind. Running nose to tail, they pulled a bit away as LaMar and Patz battled behind. As lap nine was scored, Richardson was ahead by a nose. Phillips refused to go away and now Patz was closing fast. The leaders took the white flag scoring lap fourteen, and were heading down the back stretch when the yellow light came on for a car sitting cross ways between turns three and four. With the field reset it would be a one lap dash to the checkers. Richardson held on for the win followed by Phillips, Patz, twelfth starting Kale Hemsley, and Garrett Porter. All twelve starters completed all fifteen laps and all were on the lead lap.
Mini Haulers would contest a dozen lap feature with Hayden Delzell and Austin Roose leading the pack to green. The pack ran four wide down the back chute with row two starters Dawson Tipps and Wilkerson pacing lap one. The yellow flag would fly on lap two for Jason Delzell and following the restart seventh starting Caleb Ealey powered to the runner up spot. He quickly moved in to challenge for the lead, taking over on lap five. It would be a three truck battle including Tipps and Wilkerson before Ealey began to pull away. A final caution came with eight laps scored and Wilkerson was out with a flat tire. As racing resumed Ealey again opened a commanding lead, driving to victory over Tipps, Roose, and the Delzells, Hayden and Jason.
Saving the best for last, all twenty two MLRA competitors lined up for thirty laps. Again the straight up start found Marrant and Jackson Jr. bringing the field to green. Jackson Jr. would jump out front and eventually lead all thirty non stop circuits! Marrant, Chris Simpson, and Thornton would follow in the early laps. The leader would catch the tail of the pack about lap nine, but the veteran ace would move smoothly through the slower traffic. Thornton would find another gear as the race passed the mid point, climbing to second. But his charge would stop there, as Jackson Jr. kept lapped cars between himself and second place, cruising to his third series win of the season to increase his points lead. With no yellow flags slowing the action he would by my count lap all the way to eighth position. Following the top two it was Chris Simpson, Marrant, and Herzog. Derrick Stewart came home sixth while Chad Simpson was the hard charger, gaining eight spots to run seventh. Daniel Hilsabeck, Caden McWhorter, and number two points man going into the night, Brennon Willard completed the top ten.
The final checkers waved just before 9:30, putting a cap on a tight, well run event. Thanks as always to Brad, Jessi, and their crew for a fun night!
Tonight, Sunday, the MLRA series is set to move ninety miles south to Quincy Raceways for another $5,000 to win headliner. IMCA Late Models will again be on the card along with Dirtcar Modifieds, IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Dirtcar 4 Cylinders, and Crown Vics. Hot laps kick off around 5:30. Hope to see you there!
Edit: Quincy Raceways canceled due to rain.
