While a large part of the racing community spent last weekend at Knoxville watching sprint cars, Darryl, Fred and I stayed closer to home and took in some IMCA action. Saturday afternoon we loaded up and headed for 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. It had been too long since I had visited one of my favorite tracks, and it was good to be back in familiar surroundings. We were fortunate to run into Dick Wood in the parking lot, and the Donnellson business man was gracious enough to offer us some free grandstand tickets. Dick is a diehard race fan, and the father of former late model and modified ace Jody Wood. Thanks, Dick!
Even though Jeff and Amy Laue were offering reduced grandstand admission, local racing was a tough sell up against the Knoxville finals, state fairs in all directions, and the very popular West Point, Iowa sweet corn festival. Still the bleachers filled up nicely, with most arriving a bit late probably due to the high heat. The pits were also a bit sparse, with I believe a total of 96 cars in the six competing classes, but the on track action made up for the smaller than normal fields.
After a dominating heat race win, Quad City area modified ace Jeff Morris took off from the front row in the 20 lap feature, and looked strong before going pitside quickly during a lap two caution. That incident saw Brandon Rothzen caught up in an accident in which he was facing backwards in turn two. Brandon was forced to restart at the back of the 19 car field, and it looked as though his night would not turn out well. However he had his black # 33 hooked up, and on the restart he began picking off cars in bunches. By lap 11 he was up to third, when a caution period allowed him to line up behind the leader with the Delaware restart. Moving to the runnerup spot on the restart, he swapped the lead with Dusty Kraklio before taking the top spot for good on lap 15. Kraklio then held off point leader Scott Hogan for second behind a very happy Rothzen.
The 17 car IMCA stock car feature ran second, and thet ran a high pressure non stop event. Brett Timmerman held the top spot until lap 16, when Jim Redman eased ahead. On the white flag lap, Timmerman was able to get under Redman and reclaim the lead for his first ever stock car win. Point leader Jeff Mueller dropped out on lap nine with a flat tire after advancing to the sixth position.
The KIDZ MODZ ran next, with a sparse six car field. Again the race went non stop,with Logan Moody claiming the win. There was a seven year old competitor in this beginner class!
As with the modifieds, only two caution periods marred the hobby stock 18 car finale. Matt Gavin took a convincing win in his # 45.
12 IMCA late models took the green flag, and while front row starters Matt Bailey and Tom Bowling,Jr. swapped the top spot back and forth, eighth starting Rob Toland moved forfard quickly. As the season has gone on, I was beginning to think I was a bad luck omen for " Rocket " Rob, as he has had no luck at all when I have seen him race, save for the opening weekend of Summer Series events. The hex was off on Saturday, however, as he powered his red # 39 to a win going away from the pack in another flag to flag feature. Bowling held on for second, while Keith Pratt made a second half charge to grab third. Bailey edged Tom Goble for third. Point lead Joey Gower, of Quincy finished two spots behind Gary Russell, who is now just one marker behind. With no late models this coming week at 34, the title will come down to championship night. Best of luck to these two fine drivers!
With the four cylinder feature heading to the track, we headed to the car, and the dash clock read 9:40 when I fired up the Impala. Thanks to the staff at 34 for an entertaing and efficent show that got us all back home before the midnight hour!
Sunday night offered up weekly racing at Quincy Raceways, with the UMP Pro Crate late models added to the four division card. Again, the car count was a bit less than one might like, it is obvious the " dog days " are upon us.
Abe Huls began the night with a slim lead in the IMCA stock cars, but overheating issues sent him pitside late in the 20 lapper. Meanwhile, his closest rival, Terry Houston, took advantage, claiming his second checkered flag of 2010, and moving within one point of the top spot.
The 18 car UMP modified field weathered several early cautions, before finding their rhythm. Steven Delonjay used a front row starting spot, courtesy of a win in the dash to lead all 25 laps for his second win of the year at QR. Michael Long came into the night undefeated in eight feature starts this season, and although he quickly moved to the second slot, he could not find a way past the second generation driver. Point leader Jared Schlipman turned in a third place run, even though his crew chief father Terry was away at the Sprint Cup race in Michigan.
Track semi regular IMCA late model pilot Dustin Griffin brought his crate late model to the track on Sunday and took top honors in the visiting class. Another second generation driver, Gordy Gundaker took the runner up spot in a class that boasted two 11 year old drivers.
Only ten IMCA late models signed in on Sunday, but the action was fast and furious. Keith Pratt, who made a late charge through the pack Saturday at 34 Raceway made his move earlier on Sunday, and overtook Dustin Neese for the top spot on lap six. While Keith checked out for his first win of 2010, the top two point contenders both found themselves spinning at some point in the 30 lapper. While Joey Gower took the runnerup slot, point leader Denny Woodworth recovered to nab third, and number two point man Jason Perry claimed fourth. The late model lawyer holds an eith point lead with two nights of points racing remaining.
Quincy Raceways will host the rescheduled Titan Wheel Shootout for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series paying $3,000 to win on Friday, September 3, with Lee County Speedway in Donnellson hosting the series the following night with a possible $5,000 top prize if the winning driver has been a Lee County regular in 2010.
Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo. reopened this past Saturday night under the direction of new promoter Rick Girard. Talking to some racers who were there, it sounds like Rick had a successful opening night, with 75 cars in five classes and a nice crowd in the grandstand. Memphis will be racing again this weekend, off on August 28, then back in action on Saturdays in September.
This weekend, we are leaning towards the UMP Monster Midwest Series race at Highland, Il. Speedway, a track I have not visited before. Sunday night should find us back at Quincy Raceways. Be sure and take in some racing this weekend. The season is winding down fast!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
More Vacation Racin'
With careful planning and a run of good weather, I was able to put together a string of six nights of racing in 11 days, while enjoying some much needed vacation. The final three nights filled this past weekend, and started with the seventh appearance of the IMCA late models at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Promoter Terry Hoenig used one of his draw, redraw nights in conjunction with no racing in Davenport, Iowa due to the county fair. 22 cars signed in, and although my buddies and I had thought there may be a few more travelers, it would have been impossible to be disappointed with the group of drivers that showed up. My thought was that every car there was Deery Series quality. 106 total cars took part in the six class program, and every race was competitive as we awaited the late model finale, which ran last on the card. Michael Long again put on a show in the IMCA modified feature, starting from the 11th spot and taking the lead on lap seven without benefit of a caution flag. Brandon Rothzen gave chase, but settled for the runnerup spot. Longs IMCA car owner, Jim Gillenwater nabbed the sportmod feature after a good battle with Phillip Cossell. Dan Wenig won a spirited match over Jim Lynch in the hobby stocks, and Matt Greiner used a late pass to edge Jim Redman in the stock car main. Mike Hornung Jr. picked up a big Wild Thing win.
The late model redraw found first heat winner Ray Guss Jr. on the pole for the 25 lapper, and as strong as the " River City Hustler " was in the preliminary it would be a tough row to hoe for the rest of the field. However it looked like the # 58 team set up to run the lower groove, and as of late the top side has been the fast side at Donnellson. It was only Guss second trip to LCS this season, so he was at a bit of a disadvantage in that area. Meanwhile, second row starter Jeff Aikey has been highly successful running the cushion in 2010, and he used that groove to overtake Guss. Although Ray stayed close, he was unable to reclaim the top spot, and he soon had his hands full with ninth starting Mark Burgtorf. Mark was trying to coax one more night out of a very tired IMCA spec engine, and in fact did not hot lap to try and save as much as he could. The powerplant did hold up, and Mark maintained his rather comfortable points lead over Denny Woodworth with a third place run. Lonnie Bailey, who has struggled mightily in 2010 went back to the drawing board with his set ups, found something that worked, and rolled to a fourth place run ahead of Woodworth. It was the third feature win for Aikey as he is the only repeat winner. The final checkers flew about 10:30, concluding a very good night of racing.
After a quick trip to the pits, we hustled home, and after a short nights sleep, I headed out along with my wife, daughter and two oldest grandsons for a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. After an afternoon of shopping, grandson Keagan and I left the others around the hotel pool, and we headed
15 miles north to Kevin and Tammy Gundakers Lake Ozark Speedway. It was our first ever visit to the 3/8 mile facility, and my 14th different track of 2010. The featured class was the MARS late models running topless for $3000 to win, and the 30 car field exactly matched my prediction. The track does not run late models weekly, as 360 sprint cars are the weekly attraction. It was obvious by the large and enthusiastic crowd that the super late models are popular none the less. We were a bit concerned with six classes of cars scheduled, including $1,000 to win for the 4 cylinder class, but with several other tracks running within 100 miles, the car counts were in the teens and the show started in good time even though there were several late arrivals. The 9:00 intermission was also a concern, but the crate late model feature clicked off quickly, with track champion Brandon Imhoff holding off visitor Bobby Pierce for the win. The B-mod feature was up next, and as is so often the case, turned into a caution fest. Mercifully, the time limit was finally met, with Lonnie Wyman Jr. collecting the win. The running order was then switched, with the 22 car Mars feature coming to the track. First heat winner Terry Phillips was the pole sitter, and the very popular Springfield, Mo. driver was going to be the man to beat. His front row mate was heat four winner Dave Eckrich, with the first 15 spots set by passing points. Row two was Iowa City driver Matt Furman, and Quincy,Il ace Mark Burgtorf. Mark had headed home from Donnellson and replaced his IMCA engine with his aluminum powerplant before his head hit the pillow. He then brought both of his spec engines with him, while his Arkansas engine builder, Kuntz, met him to take them back to the shop. It was third row starter and Phillips teammate Jeremy Payne who charged to the second spot and began to run down the # 75. Soon however it was Burgtorf who hooked up his #7, and he took up the chase. He stayed on Phillips bumper through two mid race cautions, as the two ran through lapped traffic. Mark may well have had a faster car, but Terry was not giving up the preferred low groove, leading all 35 laps for the win. Brandon McCormick made a late race charge to capture third, with veteran Al Purkey holding off Payne for fourth. Dave Eckrich finished sixth, young Brandon Sheppard was seventh, while Frank Heckenast Jr. wheeled the Randy Korte # 00 to an eighth place run. Mark Voigt and Eric Turner completed the top ten. Denny Eckrich started 15th and finished 12th, with Quincian Rickey Frankel making the show and being credited with 17th. Series points leader 16 year old Gary Christian fell out of the main event early, while former IMCA national champion Justin Wells dropped out of his heat race and could not start the B-main. with the clock easing past 10:30, we headed for the car with three features remaining. The facility which sits along highway 54 is a top notch venue, and I am looking forward to another visit soon.
The weekend concluded with a Sunday night visit to Quincy Raceways for weekly racing. Heat, breakage and dwindling funds hurt the car counts somewhat, with only 11 IMCA late models signed in along with 20 UMP mods, 10 IMCA stock cars, and 13 hobby stocks. The KIDZ Mods also made a special appearance. The 30 lap late model feature was an entertaining one, with only two caution periods slowing the event. First heat winner Darin Weisinger led the first eight laps before Dustin Griffin took over. Point leader Denny Woodworth worked his way from the tenth starting slot, and took over at the halfway mark. From there he stayed in control for his fourth checkers of the season. Number two point man and last weeks winner Jason Perry moved to the second spot, and held off Keith Pratt for the spot. Griffin wound up fourth ahead of " Wild Willy " Genenbacher. Woodworth now leads Perry by six points with three points nights remaining. For 18 laps it looked as though Michael Longs victory streak would end, as he ran a somewhat distant third behind Steven Delonjay and visiting Rusty Griffaw from Festus, Mo. in the modified finale. When the caution flew with seven laps to go, everything changed. With the top two running the bottom groove, Long went up top and charged by both cars. Lapped cars came in to play on the final lap, and Long and Delonjay came to the stripe side by side. The electronic scoring device shows Michael with an edge of less than one second. It made the driver of the #18 eight for eight in feature starts at QR in 2010. Eleven year old Jake Griffin hit the front stretch wall hard in his heat race, badly damaging his UMP modifieds, minutes after being forced to scratch his KIDZ Mod due to mechanical issues. Steve Steinkuhler grabbed the stock car main, with point leader Steve Carlin holding off Bobby Anders in an edge of the seat hobby feature. Logan Moody of Catlin, Ilcaptured the Kidz Mod finale.
Life returned to normal today as I went back to work, and started thinking about the options for next weekend. See you at the track!
The late model redraw found first heat winner Ray Guss Jr. on the pole for the 25 lapper, and as strong as the " River City Hustler " was in the preliminary it would be a tough row to hoe for the rest of the field. However it looked like the # 58 team set up to run the lower groove, and as of late the top side has been the fast side at Donnellson. It was only Guss second trip to LCS this season, so he was at a bit of a disadvantage in that area. Meanwhile, second row starter Jeff Aikey has been highly successful running the cushion in 2010, and he used that groove to overtake Guss. Although Ray stayed close, he was unable to reclaim the top spot, and he soon had his hands full with ninth starting Mark Burgtorf. Mark was trying to coax one more night out of a very tired IMCA spec engine, and in fact did not hot lap to try and save as much as he could. The powerplant did hold up, and Mark maintained his rather comfortable points lead over Denny Woodworth with a third place run. Lonnie Bailey, who has struggled mightily in 2010 went back to the drawing board with his set ups, found something that worked, and rolled to a fourth place run ahead of Woodworth. It was the third feature win for Aikey as he is the only repeat winner. The final checkers flew about 10:30, concluding a very good night of racing.
After a quick trip to the pits, we hustled home, and after a short nights sleep, I headed out along with my wife, daughter and two oldest grandsons for a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. After an afternoon of shopping, grandson Keagan and I left the others around the hotel pool, and we headed
15 miles north to Kevin and Tammy Gundakers Lake Ozark Speedway. It was our first ever visit to the 3/8 mile facility, and my 14th different track of 2010. The featured class was the MARS late models running topless for $3000 to win, and the 30 car field exactly matched my prediction. The track does not run late models weekly, as 360 sprint cars are the weekly attraction. It was obvious by the large and enthusiastic crowd that the super late models are popular none the less. We were a bit concerned with six classes of cars scheduled, including $1,000 to win for the 4 cylinder class, but with several other tracks running within 100 miles, the car counts were in the teens and the show started in good time even though there were several late arrivals. The 9:00 intermission was also a concern, but the crate late model feature clicked off quickly, with track champion Brandon Imhoff holding off visitor Bobby Pierce for the win. The B-mod feature was up next, and as is so often the case, turned into a caution fest. Mercifully, the time limit was finally met, with Lonnie Wyman Jr. collecting the win. The running order was then switched, with the 22 car Mars feature coming to the track. First heat winner Terry Phillips was the pole sitter, and the very popular Springfield, Mo. driver was going to be the man to beat. His front row mate was heat four winner Dave Eckrich, with the first 15 spots set by passing points. Row two was Iowa City driver Matt Furman, and Quincy,Il ace Mark Burgtorf. Mark had headed home from Donnellson and replaced his IMCA engine with his aluminum powerplant before his head hit the pillow. He then brought both of his spec engines with him, while his Arkansas engine builder, Kuntz, met him to take them back to the shop. It was third row starter and Phillips teammate Jeremy Payne who charged to the second spot and began to run down the # 75. Soon however it was Burgtorf who hooked up his #7, and he took up the chase. He stayed on Phillips bumper through two mid race cautions, as the two ran through lapped traffic. Mark may well have had a faster car, but Terry was not giving up the preferred low groove, leading all 35 laps for the win. Brandon McCormick made a late race charge to capture third, with veteran Al Purkey holding off Payne for fourth. Dave Eckrich finished sixth, young Brandon Sheppard was seventh, while Frank Heckenast Jr. wheeled the Randy Korte # 00 to an eighth place run. Mark Voigt and Eric Turner completed the top ten. Denny Eckrich started 15th and finished 12th, with Quincian Rickey Frankel making the show and being credited with 17th. Series points leader 16 year old Gary Christian fell out of the main event early, while former IMCA national champion Justin Wells dropped out of his heat race and could not start the B-main. with the clock easing past 10:30, we headed for the car with three features remaining. The facility which sits along highway 54 is a top notch venue, and I am looking forward to another visit soon.
The weekend concluded with a Sunday night visit to Quincy Raceways for weekly racing. Heat, breakage and dwindling funds hurt the car counts somewhat, with only 11 IMCA late models signed in along with 20 UMP mods, 10 IMCA stock cars, and 13 hobby stocks. The KIDZ Mods also made a special appearance. The 30 lap late model feature was an entertaining one, with only two caution periods slowing the event. First heat winner Darin Weisinger led the first eight laps before Dustin Griffin took over. Point leader Denny Woodworth worked his way from the tenth starting slot, and took over at the halfway mark. From there he stayed in control for his fourth checkers of the season. Number two point man and last weeks winner Jason Perry moved to the second spot, and held off Keith Pratt for the spot. Griffin wound up fourth ahead of " Wild Willy " Genenbacher. Woodworth now leads Perry by six points with three points nights remaining. For 18 laps it looked as though Michael Longs victory streak would end, as he ran a somewhat distant third behind Steven Delonjay and visiting Rusty Griffaw from Festus, Mo. in the modified finale. When the caution flew with seven laps to go, everything changed. With the top two running the bottom groove, Long went up top and charged by both cars. Lapped cars came in to play on the final lap, and Long and Delonjay came to the stripe side by side. The electronic scoring device shows Michael with an edge of less than one second. It made the driver of the #18 eight for eight in feature starts at QR in 2010. Eleven year old Jake Griffin hit the front stretch wall hard in his heat race, badly damaging his UMP modifieds, minutes after being forced to scratch his KIDZ Mod due to mechanical issues. Steve Steinkuhler grabbed the stock car main, with point leader Steve Carlin holding off Bobby Anders in an edge of the seat hobby feature. Logan Moody of Catlin, Ilcaptured the Kidz Mod finale.
Life returned to normal today as I went back to work, and started thinking about the options for next weekend. See you at the track!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Dodging the Raindrops
As vacation continues, the weatherman has so far been cooperating as what for me is an aggressive racing schedule has so far fallen into place. Weekend rain left the pit area at Quincy Raceways a bit tough to negotiate for the weekly Sunday night show, but with two weeks of rainouts, everyone was willing to overlook some mud. 14 IMCA late models signed in, along with 24 UMP modifieds, a sparse field of 9 IMCA stock cars, and 14 hobby stocks. Nebo, Il driver Dustin Neese rolled past rookie Justin Jennings on lap two of the late model main event and held the top spot through a non stop run until lap 19 when Jason Perry made a daring turn four move to blow past both second running Keith Pratt and Neese. Perry then stretched his lead until a lap 27 caution, the only one of the race, for a spinning Neese. On the restart, Jason took off, leading the final three laps, with Pratt grabbing second ahead of Joey Gower and Denny Woodworth. Bill Genenbacher edged Jennings at the checkers for fifth. The win was the second of the year at QR for Perry, who started eighth in the 14 car field. Woodworth and Justin Reed began the night ties for the point lead, but Reed appeared to miss the set up and was not a factor, pulling out early. His tenth place finish left him nine markers behind Woodworth in the championship chase, and in fact Perry moved into second, only four behind.
The UMP modified 25 lapper was another clinic put on by Michael Long. The Quincy resident races about half time at QR, and has taken the feature green flag seven times this season, winning all seven times. Only an early season DNS due to an accident has put a blemish on his amazing perfect record. On Sunday, Micheal came from a row six start to take the checkers ahead of point leader and second generation driver Jared Schlipman. Veteran Dave Weitholder held the top spot going into the night, but had engine woes all night long. Defending track champ Abe Huls took advantage of a mid race bobble by Kevin Tomlinson to grab the lead in the stock car main, then held off the Hannibal, Mo. driver for the win. Bobby Anders came through the pack for the hobby stock victory for his sixth win of 2009 over point leader Steve Carlin and veteran Jim Powell. Carlin and Powell were lucky to even be racing after flash flooding on Bear Creek in their hometown of Hannibal nearly destroyed their racing operations. In fact, Powell found his # 48j with flood water above the doors, and his tow vehicle under water. He and nephew Michael Larsen were taken from the race shop by boat when they could not get the race cars out. Jimbo showed me the moisture still visible in the gauges on his dash, even though it had been over a week since the flooding!
After one day back at work, we took off Tuesday for an overnight stay in the Quad Cities. From our home base there, grandson Keagan and I headed north and west to the Farley Speedway to take in the first appearance in seven years of the IMCA Derry Brothers Summer Series. The car count for the mid week show was a bit less than we had hoped, but the racing action made up for it. As has been reported, flat tires - and drivers stopping on the speedway because of them - were a problem in the early stages of the event, but the frequent bunching of the field and the Delaware restarts kept everyone in the middle of the action. All time series wins leader Jeff Aikey and hard charging Kevin Blum in the # 67 normally driven by Tony Von Dresky sat on the front row, but I had my eye on Andy Eckrich, who is a force on the Farley oval. For his part, Keagan zeroed in on series point leader Ray Guss, Jr. And as I have come to realize in the last few seasons, we kept our eyes on " Hammer Down " Jason Rauen. Jason was the first driver pitside for new rubber, restarting three laps into the event in 24th spot. Through at least six more cautions periods Rauen used the top side of the speedway to move forward, and on lap 18 he moved to the runner up spot after a great battle with Terry Neal. Soon after, however, Rauen retired for good with problems in the backend of his # 98. Meanwhile Eckrich had moved past Aikey on lap nine, a lead he would not relinquish. For his part, Guss carefully picked his way through the pack, eventually taking the runnerup spot from Neal, and gaining ground on Andy. Guss then faded in the closing laps, crossing the stripe in third. As he moved to his pit area. the reason for his slowing became apparent, as he was down to four pounds of air pressure in his right rear tire! Aikey came home in fourth, while Mark Preston edged Charley McKenna for fifth. " Chargin' " Charley was another driver in a " loaner " car, as veteran Gary Crawford supplied the hard luck Mc Kenna with a vehicle from his shop. TJ Criss also continued his perfect atteandance streak courtesy of a loaner # 30 ride from Todd Cooney. Rob Toland suffered engine problems in his heat, doing a start and park in both the B-main and 50 lap feature. Cory Goldbeck was a no show come feature time in his # 21G. We saw a black # 69 late model also enter the pit area. but it was never listed in the race program, thus the discrepancy in car count in some reports. The only major delay came in the final heat race when Luke Goedert and Josh Most became entangled on the backstretch. Both were able to finish the evening, with Most turning in a top ten run. Keagan and I wondered why the yellow flag was displayed on several occasions when slowing cars moved to turns three and four of the 1/2 mile track, clearly out of harms way.
We enjoyed seeing a couple of modifeds that compete regularly at Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway, as Davenport ace Rich Smith and more surprisingly, western Il. hotshoe Brandon Rothzen made the tow to challenge for the $500 to win purse. Brandon had new plain skin on the
sides of his # 33, and we did not recognize the car until alerted by the track announcer! Although Rothzen was strong early, moving through the pack to third, the tire monster sent him pitside late in the 20 lapper. On this night, no one had anything for Waterloo, Ia pilot Vern Jackson, who dominated the 18 car field. Brannon Bechen was equally tough in taking the 4 cylinder Farley Flyer win over eight other competitors.
After a quick trip to the pits we were on the road by 10:35, more than reasonable for a weeknight show. Only a couple of questions remained unanswered, as the posted itinerary advertised hot laps at 6:30, while the radio ad we heard enroute listed 7:00. So thee races were either 20 minutes late or 10 minutes early! Also, the press packer Jeff Broeg shared with me stated that with the 25 car field, five cars would qualify out of three heats, with four to redraw. However, apparently only four were taken, as Todd Malmstrom, who ran fifth in heat one started on the pole and won the B-main. The other two fifth place cars, Criss and McKenna never came to the track for the B-main, and come feature time, McKenna attempted to line up in the seventh row. After a visit from the line up official, Charlie then went to the back of the field.I will try to check this procedure out when the series visits Quincy Raceways on Friday, September 3. While many folks are heading to Knoxville for the 360 sprint car nationals, my weekend plans include Friday night racing at Lee County for installment number seven of the IMCA late models, a first ever visit Saturday to Lake Ozark Speedway outside Eldon, Mo. for the MARS late models, and a Sunday night regular show at Quincy Raceways. Wherever you go, enjoy the races!
The UMP modified 25 lapper was another clinic put on by Michael Long. The Quincy resident races about half time at QR, and has taken the feature green flag seven times this season, winning all seven times. Only an early season DNS due to an accident has put a blemish on his amazing perfect record. On Sunday, Micheal came from a row six start to take the checkers ahead of point leader and second generation driver Jared Schlipman. Veteran Dave Weitholder held the top spot going into the night, but had engine woes all night long. Defending track champ Abe Huls took advantage of a mid race bobble by Kevin Tomlinson to grab the lead in the stock car main, then held off the Hannibal, Mo. driver for the win. Bobby Anders came through the pack for the hobby stock victory for his sixth win of 2009 over point leader Steve Carlin and veteran Jim Powell. Carlin and Powell were lucky to even be racing after flash flooding on Bear Creek in their hometown of Hannibal nearly destroyed their racing operations. In fact, Powell found his # 48j with flood water above the doors, and his tow vehicle under water. He and nephew Michael Larsen were taken from the race shop by boat when they could not get the race cars out. Jimbo showed me the moisture still visible in the gauges on his dash, even though it had been over a week since the flooding!
After one day back at work, we took off Tuesday for an overnight stay in the Quad Cities. From our home base there, grandson Keagan and I headed north and west to the Farley Speedway to take in the first appearance in seven years of the IMCA Derry Brothers Summer Series. The car count for the mid week show was a bit less than we had hoped, but the racing action made up for it. As has been reported, flat tires - and drivers stopping on the speedway because of them - were a problem in the early stages of the event, but the frequent bunching of the field and the Delaware restarts kept everyone in the middle of the action. All time series wins leader Jeff Aikey and hard charging Kevin Blum in the # 67 normally driven by Tony Von Dresky sat on the front row, but I had my eye on Andy Eckrich, who is a force on the Farley oval. For his part, Keagan zeroed in on series point leader Ray Guss, Jr. And as I have come to realize in the last few seasons, we kept our eyes on " Hammer Down " Jason Rauen. Jason was the first driver pitside for new rubber, restarting three laps into the event in 24th spot. Through at least six more cautions periods Rauen used the top side of the speedway to move forward, and on lap 18 he moved to the runner up spot after a great battle with Terry Neal. Soon after, however, Rauen retired for good with problems in the backend of his # 98. Meanwhile Eckrich had moved past Aikey on lap nine, a lead he would not relinquish. For his part, Guss carefully picked his way through the pack, eventually taking the runnerup spot from Neal, and gaining ground on Andy. Guss then faded in the closing laps, crossing the stripe in third. As he moved to his pit area. the reason for his slowing became apparent, as he was down to four pounds of air pressure in his right rear tire! Aikey came home in fourth, while Mark Preston edged Charley McKenna for fifth. " Chargin' " Charley was another driver in a " loaner " car, as veteran Gary Crawford supplied the hard luck Mc Kenna with a vehicle from his shop. TJ Criss also continued his perfect atteandance streak courtesy of a loaner # 30 ride from Todd Cooney. Rob Toland suffered engine problems in his heat, doing a start and park in both the B-main and 50 lap feature. Cory Goldbeck was a no show come feature time in his # 21G. We saw a black # 69 late model also enter the pit area. but it was never listed in the race program, thus the discrepancy in car count in some reports. The only major delay came in the final heat race when Luke Goedert and Josh Most became entangled on the backstretch. Both were able to finish the evening, with Most turning in a top ten run. Keagan and I wondered why the yellow flag was displayed on several occasions when slowing cars moved to turns three and four of the 1/2 mile track, clearly out of harms way.
We enjoyed seeing a couple of modifeds that compete regularly at Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway, as Davenport ace Rich Smith and more surprisingly, western Il. hotshoe Brandon Rothzen made the tow to challenge for the $500 to win purse. Brandon had new plain skin on the
sides of his # 33, and we did not recognize the car until alerted by the track announcer! Although Rothzen was strong early, moving through the pack to third, the tire monster sent him pitside late in the 20 lapper. On this night, no one had anything for Waterloo, Ia pilot Vern Jackson, who dominated the 18 car field. Brannon Bechen was equally tough in taking the 4 cylinder Farley Flyer win over eight other competitors.
After a quick trip to the pits we were on the road by 10:35, more than reasonable for a weeknight show. Only a couple of questions remained unanswered, as the posted itinerary advertised hot laps at 6:30, while the radio ad we heard enroute listed 7:00. So thee races were either 20 minutes late or 10 minutes early! Also, the press packer Jeff Broeg shared with me stated that with the 25 car field, five cars would qualify out of three heats, with four to redraw. However, apparently only four were taken, as Todd Malmstrom, who ran fifth in heat one started on the pole and won the B-main. The other two fifth place cars, Criss and McKenna never came to the track for the B-main, and come feature time, McKenna attempted to line up in the seventh row. After a visit from the line up official, Charlie then went to the back of the field.I will try to check this procedure out when the series visits Quincy Raceways on Friday, September 3. While many folks are heading to Knoxville for the 360 sprint car nationals, my weekend plans include Friday night racing at Lee County for installment number seven of the IMCA late models, a first ever visit Saturday to Lake Ozark Speedway outside Eldon, Mo. for the MARS late models, and a Sunday night regular show at Quincy Raceways. Wherever you go, enjoy the races!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Back to Weeknight Racing!
Last season, I was able to attend my first Corn Belt clash series race at the Independence, Iowa Speedway, and found it to be right up my alley, harkening back to the short lived Hawkeye late model tour back in the 80's. So when promoter Cam Granger released the 2010 schedule, I salted away some vacation time from work to catch the series at the CJ Speedway on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, Iowa, where the count fair would be going on. As race day approached, circumstances dictated that I would be traveling solo, but the 100 mile trip from home is a cake walk when compared the the days when Highway 218 was a challenging two lane highway. The trip north was 20 miles longer, but I was able to leave work in Quincy, Il early, and I arrived in time to take in some of the county fair atmosphere as well as stake out a spot on pit road to see who might show up to race. It was there that I ran into former late model racer Brian Hetzler, who my son nicknamed the " Fruitland Flash " in his days as a columnist. Brian and his parents, Curt and Pat were throwbacks to the days of racing out of the family garage, and although they were usually out spent, they competed with smiles on their faces, didn't complain, and always had time to chat about this and that. Brian is helping the Wood and Tipps families at the 4/10 mile oval, but said his folks have not been to a race since disbanding the # 47 team. I often find that former drivers, as Curt was, cannot sit and watch a race if they are not actively involved.
With this being by far the southernmost stop on the tour, the 18 car turnout was on par with what I expected. In addition, the points chase allows drivers to " throw out " two races, counting the best 13 finishes in the 15 race schedule. The neat thing about the series is the rules variations allowed to even the playing field between the spec motor IMCA late models and the " open " cars. Because of this, there is usually a surprise spec engine driver ot two in the field, and on Thursday it was Brian Harris in a black # 21H. The Davenport ace has been wheeling the famous # 75 out of Peoria, Il this summer, mostly at UMP and open competition events in Illinois, although back in May Keagan and I were in attendance at Davenport Speedway when he showed up and captured the IMCA late model feature. Brian, as well as spec engine pilots Justin Kay and Kevin Sather were utilizing the extra aerodynamic offerings designed to add downforce to the under horsepowered machines, while hometown driver Mick Wiele and Wapello pilot Jay Chenoweth kept their cars as is. It was my first time to see Sather, a regular on the tour in a late model. Indeed, spec cars picked up two of the three heat race wins, with Wiele and Kay taking checkers after series point leader Chad Simpson used a final corner pass to edge out veteran Ron Boyse in the first ten lapper. With hot laps and racing starting on time, and the ten heat races going off in good fashion, it looked like those less fortunate than myself - folks who had to show up for work on Friday - might be on the road early. And the promoters did the right thing by going straight to feature racing in the four divisions without an intermission. Unfortunately, things went somewhat downhill from there, with the usually well behaved IMCA stock cars running a marathon 15 lap main event. Between drivers spinning and stopping on the track, and more than a little grudge racing, the best thing to be said about the race is that it eventually ended. Through all the delays, Nathan Wood and Jim Redmon waged a good battle up front, with Wood getting by Redmon early, then holding on for a close win. The 4 cylinders drivers were much better behaved, the lead changed hands three times, and at the end, it was the veteran Wayne Noble standing in victory lane. Known to race fans as the driver who wheels his cars with his left hand while gripping the overhead roll bar with his right, Wayne mentioned that his career is now in its 51st year. It is not often I get to see a driver older than me get a checkered flag. Good job, Wayne! Paul Hallett was fast all night in his black # 26 mod lite, and when Troy Philpott spun in turn three and was collected by Illinois driver Justin Bucholtz who rolled his #69, there was no looking back for the driver who picked up his third straight checkers at CJ.
The thirty lap late model feature then rolled to the track, and with Chad Simpson redrawing the outside front row, it looked like the race would be for second. As it turned out, that was a mostly accurate guess, although early on it looked like there may have been a upset in the making. Harris started ninth on the grid, and was totally hooked up on the bottom of the track, especially in turns three and four. Brian moved quickly into the runner up slot, and began to reel in Simpson, who had built a big lead. Just as suddenly as he had closed the gap, his # 21h slowed in turn two on lap 15, and his night was over. With polesitter Justin Mitchell already pitside, Jason Rauen tried to stay with Simpson, but he could not mount a challenge, and after being involved in an accident that sidelined Wiele, Justin retired his # 98 with a flat tire. Attrition was high, with 11 of the 18 starters taking the checkered flag, all on the lead lap. Justin Kay drove a steady race, bringing his spec engine # 15K home in the second spot, ahead of hometown driver Jason Utter. Chris Simpson, Chads brother nabbed fourth ahead of Dave Eckrich, the top performer of the three Eckrich brothers in attendance. The Kile brothers filled the next two spots, with Kurt edging Kile. Sather ran eighth, Denny Eckrich ninth, with Chenoweth and Jake Meier in a # 5M car campaigned for several season by various drivers for Bill Moyer of Des Moines rounding out the finishers. Even with the delays, I was on my way back to Missouri by 11:00, happy I had made the trip to my 12th different venue of the season. It was good to be able to swap a few stories with Bob Litton and his wife, as well as Jeff Broeg.
With some more vacation time next week, I hope to make it to the Farley Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series event on Tuesday. In the meantime, we will try to get in a weekly show Sunday at Quincy Raceways after two weeks off rain outs. If you see me out and about, say " Hi. "
With this being by far the southernmost stop on the tour, the 18 car turnout was on par with what I expected. In addition, the points chase allows drivers to " throw out " two races, counting the best 13 finishes in the 15 race schedule. The neat thing about the series is the rules variations allowed to even the playing field between the spec motor IMCA late models and the " open " cars. Because of this, there is usually a surprise spec engine driver ot two in the field, and on Thursday it was Brian Harris in a black # 21H. The Davenport ace has been wheeling the famous # 75 out of Peoria, Il this summer, mostly at UMP and open competition events in Illinois, although back in May Keagan and I were in attendance at Davenport Speedway when he showed up and captured the IMCA late model feature. Brian, as well as spec engine pilots Justin Kay and Kevin Sather were utilizing the extra aerodynamic offerings designed to add downforce to the under horsepowered machines, while hometown driver Mick Wiele and Wapello pilot Jay Chenoweth kept their cars as is. It was my first time to see Sather, a regular on the tour in a late model. Indeed, spec cars picked up two of the three heat race wins, with Wiele and Kay taking checkers after series point leader Chad Simpson used a final corner pass to edge out veteran Ron Boyse in the first ten lapper. With hot laps and racing starting on time, and the ten heat races going off in good fashion, it looked like those less fortunate than myself - folks who had to show up for work on Friday - might be on the road early. And the promoters did the right thing by going straight to feature racing in the four divisions without an intermission. Unfortunately, things went somewhat downhill from there, with the usually well behaved IMCA stock cars running a marathon 15 lap main event. Between drivers spinning and stopping on the track, and more than a little grudge racing, the best thing to be said about the race is that it eventually ended. Through all the delays, Nathan Wood and Jim Redmon waged a good battle up front, with Wood getting by Redmon early, then holding on for a close win. The 4 cylinders drivers were much better behaved, the lead changed hands three times, and at the end, it was the veteran Wayne Noble standing in victory lane. Known to race fans as the driver who wheels his cars with his left hand while gripping the overhead roll bar with his right, Wayne mentioned that his career is now in its 51st year. It is not often I get to see a driver older than me get a checkered flag. Good job, Wayne! Paul Hallett was fast all night in his black # 26 mod lite, and when Troy Philpott spun in turn three and was collected by Illinois driver Justin Bucholtz who rolled his #69, there was no looking back for the driver who picked up his third straight checkers at CJ.
The thirty lap late model feature then rolled to the track, and with Chad Simpson redrawing the outside front row, it looked like the race would be for second. As it turned out, that was a mostly accurate guess, although early on it looked like there may have been a upset in the making. Harris started ninth on the grid, and was totally hooked up on the bottom of the track, especially in turns three and four. Brian moved quickly into the runner up slot, and began to reel in Simpson, who had built a big lead. Just as suddenly as he had closed the gap, his # 21h slowed in turn two on lap 15, and his night was over. With polesitter Justin Mitchell already pitside, Jason Rauen tried to stay with Simpson, but he could not mount a challenge, and after being involved in an accident that sidelined Wiele, Justin retired his # 98 with a flat tire. Attrition was high, with 11 of the 18 starters taking the checkered flag, all on the lead lap. Justin Kay drove a steady race, bringing his spec engine # 15K home in the second spot, ahead of hometown driver Jason Utter. Chris Simpson, Chads brother nabbed fourth ahead of Dave Eckrich, the top performer of the three Eckrich brothers in attendance. The Kile brothers filled the next two spots, with Kurt edging Kile. Sather ran eighth, Denny Eckrich ninth, with Chenoweth and Jake Meier in a # 5M car campaigned for several season by various drivers for Bill Moyer of Des Moines rounding out the finishers. Even with the delays, I was on my way back to Missouri by 11:00, happy I had made the trip to my 12th different venue of the season. It was good to be able to swap a few stories with Bob Litton and his wife, as well as Jeff Broeg.
With some more vacation time next week, I hope to make it to the Farley Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series event on Tuesday. In the meantime, we will try to get in a weekly show Sunday at Quincy Raceways after two weeks off rain outs. If you see me out and about, say " Hi. "
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday Night Thunder- Followed By Rain
The weekend started off on a good note as Darryl, Fred and I made our way to the Lee County Speedway for Friday Night Thunder in the Heartland. With most of the tracks north of Donnellson rained out, we thought the pit area might be extra full, but the threatening weather may have kept some of the travelers at home. Still, 98 cars in six classes was more than enough to offer up a quality show in front of a nice crowd. We arrived at the track about 7:10, and the third division of cars was just getting ready to hot lap. In fact, by my watch it was 7:23, seven minutes early, when the first heat race came to the speedway. Terry Hoenig seems to be the one promoter who has figured out how to run a fast paced, on time program. In fact, 14 heat races were needed to set the feature fields, and it was 8:29 when those 14 heats were completed! With lightning flashing in the northern sky, no intermission was taken, and the 18 car sportmod feature came to the track. After a couple of lead changes, young Mitch Higdon put his black # 45 out front for the win. 14 of the 15 hobby stocks made the feature call, with veteran Dean Kratzer leading the distance for the victory. As is usually the case at Donnellson, the IMCA late models ran third in the order, with 21 entrants vying for the $ 1,000 top prize. Only 20 of those cars took the green, as Tommy Elston was loaded up and gone from the speedway before the heat races were run. Tommy Had been scheduled to be one of three # 45 cars in the seven car first heat along with the nights sponsor, Denny Woodworth, and visitor Curt Martin. Another regular sporting # 45, Tony Fraise, was absent on Friday. Polesitter Jay Chenoweth took the early lead, with fourth starting TJ Criss soon grabbing the top spot. The caution flag was displayed several times during the 25 lapper, twice for cars hitting a developing hole in turn one and shooting into the guard rail. Justin Reed was the first of those casualties, and his # 1st needed the wrecker to get him to the pit area. When fourth running Rob Toland met a similar fate, Hoenig st0pped the action long enough to bring out the tractor and make a few passes to smooth things out. In this season of rain, Lee County has had for the most part a superior racing surface excepting the troublesome turn one soft spot. Hoenig has stated he will probably need to tear up the track in the off season to correct the problem. Meanwhile, seventh starting Jeff Aikey took the lead on lap 11, as he made a bid to become the first repeat winner in the six nights of late model action. The veteran from Cedar Falls had stretched out to a comfortable lead until a caution with eight laps to go bunched the field and put point leader Mark Burgtorf on his back bumper. As Aikey stated in the post race interview, he knew Mark would go to the top side of the 3/8 mile, so on the restart, Jeff went to the cushion. Burgtorf matched him lap for lap, and took a couple of shots at the low side, but could not overtake the
# 77. Woodworth made a charge to third after the caution, holding the spot ahead of Boone McLaughlin. Former feature winner Jeff Guengerich slipped past Tom Goble coming to the checkers to nab fifth. Matt Bailey, Superman Sam Halstead, Andy Eckrich, and eighteenth starting Keith Pratt rounded out the top ten. Eckrich had actually pulled off the track, but was able to return to the track after the long caution without losing a lap. 13 of the 20 starters took the checkered flag. Dirt track rookie Justin Jennings, the 2009 rookie of the year on the asphalt at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids was rained out Friday, so he had his dirt car hauled to Donnellson where he turned his first laps at the fairgrounds track. The teenager is a regular this season at Quincy Raceways in his black # 56. The 13 car IMCA stock car feature followed, with Cory Strothman picking up his second win of 2010. the Michael Long destroyed the field in the 14 car IMCA modified main event. One of Michaels chief competitors, point leader Josh Foster is sidelined, apparently for several weeks, with a broken foot. Jerry Ostby took home honors in the 17 car Wild Thing finale although we headed for the car at 10:11 with the 4 cylinder machines were heading to the track, ending another entertaining evening in Donnellson.
Saturday was spent in oppressive heat at Six Flags in St Louis with wife, daughter and two grandsons, and we were about 60 miles from home when we began to notice the black clouds to the north. 20 miles from home, the rain was coming in sheets, and it was then that I began to suspect my racing might be done for the weekend. Sure enough, somewhere between two and four inches of rain fell between home and Quincy Raceways, and although promoter Tony Rhinberger took a shot at getting the grounds race ready today, it was a losing proposition from the start. By my very unofficial count, QR has hosted nine nights of racing in 2010 and endured eight cancellations. And don't look now, but August is nearly here!
If I can work it out, the Iowa River behaves, and the rain takes a break, I hope to take in the Corn Belt Clash Thursday at the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction. If you see me there, say " Hi. "
# 77. Woodworth made a charge to third after the caution, holding the spot ahead of Boone McLaughlin. Former feature winner Jeff Guengerich slipped past Tom Goble coming to the checkers to nab fifth. Matt Bailey, Superman Sam Halstead, Andy Eckrich, and eighteenth starting Keith Pratt rounded out the top ten. Eckrich had actually pulled off the track, but was able to return to the track after the long caution without losing a lap. 13 of the 20 starters took the checkered flag. Dirt track rookie Justin Jennings, the 2009 rookie of the year on the asphalt at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids was rained out Friday, so he had his dirt car hauled to Donnellson where he turned his first laps at the fairgrounds track. The teenager is a regular this season at Quincy Raceways in his black # 56. The 13 car IMCA stock car feature followed, with Cory Strothman picking up his second win of 2010. the Michael Long destroyed the field in the 14 car IMCA modified main event. One of Michaels chief competitors, point leader Josh Foster is sidelined, apparently for several weeks, with a broken foot. Jerry Ostby took home honors in the 17 car Wild Thing finale although we headed for the car at 10:11 with the 4 cylinder machines were heading to the track, ending another entertaining evening in Donnellson.
Saturday was spent in oppressive heat at Six Flags in St Louis with wife, daughter and two grandsons, and we were about 60 miles from home when we began to notice the black clouds to the north. 20 miles from home, the rain was coming in sheets, and it was then that I began to suspect my racing might be done for the weekend. Sure enough, somewhere between two and four inches of rain fell between home and Quincy Raceways, and although promoter Tony Rhinberger took a shot at getting the grounds race ready today, it was a losing proposition from the start. By my very unofficial count, QR has hosted nine nights of racing in 2010 and endured eight cancellations. And don't look now, but August is nearly here!
If I can work it out, the Iowa River behaves, and the rain takes a break, I hope to take in the Corn Belt Clash Thursday at the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction. If you see me there, say " Hi. "
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
On the Road Again
Earlier than any non working person should be up on a Saturday, Keagan and I loaded up the car and made the short jaunt to the truck stop 10 miles south of town to meet up with buddy Fred, his wife Judy, Darryl and " Big " Al. From there we loaded Fred's van and headed south with the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. as our destination. As Keagan, Judy, and Al had never visited this midwest mecca of dirt track racing, we wanted to arrive early enough to be able to take them on a tour of the incredible pit area before they closed the gate to sell passes. As the Lucas Oil late models had been in action the previous night at Pontoon Beach, Il - see Jeffs blog for a recap - there were already a dozen or so cars in the pits when we arrived shortly after noon. After giving the unofficial tour and doing a bit of visiting, we headed out to find our motel and escape the already oppressive heat. We made the trip back to the 3/8 mile oval about 4:30 to ensure prime seats, then set about occupying ourselves for the three hour wait for hot laps. Fortunately, Wheatland is one of those venues where it is easy to fill the time, and the driver autograph session was one of the highlights of the evening. At 7:30 sharp, as advertised, 43 Lucas Oil and MLRA late models and 40 open modifieds began their warm up sessions. Time trials for the late models followed, and second timing Scott Bloomquist tripped the clock at 15.905 seconds. The time held until the fourth and final group, when Jimmy Owens, driving a Bloomquist chassis of his own, turned the oval at 15.812 for quick time on the night. They were the only drivers to breal the 16 second barrier. Four 10 lap heat races set the first two rows for the 50 lap $ 10,000 to win Diamond Nationals feature, with " Bloomer ", Owens, Don Oneal, and Eric Wells filling the top spots. The first heat race would have made a great mini feature, with Brian Birkhofer, Billy Moyer, and Jimmy Mars finishing behind Bloomquist, and Dale McDowell, John Anderson, Ray Cook, Jeremy Payne among those relegated to a B-main.
Cook and Terry Phillips captured the 12 lap B's which each transferred three cars, and Bub McCool made a thrilling charge after falling to ninth to come back and grab third without benefit of a caution in the final qualifier. Two provisionals from each series were added, and 14 year old Tyler Reddick used a Lucas Oil " emergency " start, setting up a 27 car starting field. Although outside polesitter Owens led every trip past the flag stand, he was challenged early and often. With Bloomquist uncharacteristically falling back, Oneal stayed glued to the # 20 early, then it was Earl Pearson Jr. taking up the charge. EPJ actually took the top spot in turn two on lap 15, but Owens regained the lead quickly. Oneal gave up his third spot and went to the trailer during a lap 16 caution. Owens had built a big lead when the caution flew for Dan Schleiper on lap 42. and one lap later Steve Casebolt lost a wheel in turn two and Al Purkey spun at the same time in turn four. After a debris caution with no laps in, the field went green. Now it seemed that Owens may have used up his tires, and Pearson went to the bottom of the track as he looked for a fourth straight Lucas win. With Jimmy trying to run the top in turns one and two and protecting the bottom in three and four, the " Intimigator, " Alligator farmer Chris Wall found something to his liking, and slipped past Pearson with four laps to go. He then closed on Owens, but could not make the pass. He trailed Owens to the flag, as EPJ held third ahead of Moyer. Brady Smith past Bloomquist late for sixth. Show Me 100 winner Ray Cook came from 17th to seventh, Mc Dowell started 19th and finished eighth. Birkhofer and Brad Neat completed the top ten.
With our hotel only a ten minute drive away, we stayed around for the modified finale, even after a multi car pileup on the start took several minutes to clean up. After the early delay, the mods clicked off the laps quickly, with area hot shoe Jesse Stovall celebrating his 30th birthday with a dominating win. Of particular interest to Keagan was the performance of Justin Boney, and Dan Charles, two of the featured drivers from the Heartland Thunder television show on Discovery Channel. With a full nigh of racing, we headed back to the room around midnight, tired but still buzzing about the best racing we have seen in our trips to the track. Wheatland, much like Knoxville and Eldora is one of those places that die hard dirt late model fans should find a way to visit at least once. From the concrete pits with the two bay car wash, a hot pit area with lights, air and water, two levels of suites, a full service bar, an air conditioned room for eating and relaxing, a reasonably priced and tasty varied menu, a jumbotron complete with 20 position scoreboard - which is always up to date - and probably some other amenities I have forgotten - of yes, if all this bores you, you can rent a go kart at the track off turn one - well, hopefully you get a picture of sorts. Now that the Show Me 100 has been moved to the track, there are a couple of good opportunities to make the trip, which from my perch near Quincy, Il is about a five hour ride with a meal break.
We were up early on Sunday, headed home as Al had to work Sunday evening, and the rest of us were hoping for a nap before heading to Quincy Raceways. We were barely on the road when the call came that a downpour had hit the Quincy area Sunday morning, and when we called the track for the noon update, we learned that once again there would be no racing. While some tracks have had pretty good seasons, QR has been bit a record number of times by Mother Nature. Oh well, the extra long nap felt pretty good!
This week plans are to stay close to home, with Friday night IMCA late model action at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, and we will try again Sunday at Quincy Raceways. See you at the races.
Cook and Terry Phillips captured the 12 lap B's which each transferred three cars, and Bub McCool made a thrilling charge after falling to ninth to come back and grab third without benefit of a caution in the final qualifier. Two provisionals from each series were added, and 14 year old Tyler Reddick used a Lucas Oil " emergency " start, setting up a 27 car starting field. Although outside polesitter Owens led every trip past the flag stand, he was challenged early and often. With Bloomquist uncharacteristically falling back, Oneal stayed glued to the # 20 early, then it was Earl Pearson Jr. taking up the charge. EPJ actually took the top spot in turn two on lap 15, but Owens regained the lead quickly. Oneal gave up his third spot and went to the trailer during a lap 16 caution. Owens had built a big lead when the caution flew for Dan Schleiper on lap 42. and one lap later Steve Casebolt lost a wheel in turn two and Al Purkey spun at the same time in turn four. After a debris caution with no laps in, the field went green. Now it seemed that Owens may have used up his tires, and Pearson went to the bottom of the track as he looked for a fourth straight Lucas win. With Jimmy trying to run the top in turns one and two and protecting the bottom in three and four, the " Intimigator, " Alligator farmer Chris Wall found something to his liking, and slipped past Pearson with four laps to go. He then closed on Owens, but could not make the pass. He trailed Owens to the flag, as EPJ held third ahead of Moyer. Brady Smith past Bloomquist late for sixth. Show Me 100 winner Ray Cook came from 17th to seventh, Mc Dowell started 19th and finished eighth. Birkhofer and Brad Neat completed the top ten.
With our hotel only a ten minute drive away, we stayed around for the modified finale, even after a multi car pileup on the start took several minutes to clean up. After the early delay, the mods clicked off the laps quickly, with area hot shoe Jesse Stovall celebrating his 30th birthday with a dominating win. Of particular interest to Keagan was the performance of Justin Boney, and Dan Charles, two of the featured drivers from the Heartland Thunder television show on Discovery Channel. With a full nigh of racing, we headed back to the room around midnight, tired but still buzzing about the best racing we have seen in our trips to the track. Wheatland, much like Knoxville and Eldora is one of those places that die hard dirt late model fans should find a way to visit at least once. From the concrete pits with the two bay car wash, a hot pit area with lights, air and water, two levels of suites, a full service bar, an air conditioned room for eating and relaxing, a reasonably priced and tasty varied menu, a jumbotron complete with 20 position scoreboard - which is always up to date - and probably some other amenities I have forgotten - of yes, if all this bores you, you can rent a go kart at the track off turn one - well, hopefully you get a picture of sorts. Now that the Show Me 100 has been moved to the track, there are a couple of good opportunities to make the trip, which from my perch near Quincy, Il is about a five hour ride with a meal break.
We were up early on Sunday, headed home as Al had to work Sunday evening, and the rest of us were hoping for a nap before heading to Quincy Raceways. We were barely on the road when the call came that a downpour had hit the Quincy area Sunday morning, and when we called the track for the noon update, we learned that once again there would be no racing. While some tracks have had pretty good seasons, QR has been bit a record number of times by Mother Nature. Oh well, the extra long nap felt pretty good!
This week plans are to stay close to home, with Friday night IMCA late model action at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, and we will try again Sunday at Quincy Raceways. See you at the races.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Lets Try This Again
For anyone who takes the time to read my musings, I want to assure you that I have not yet lost my mind. I am not quite sure what happened last night, but a full 3/4 of my ramblings disappeared in to cyberspace. Of course, it could have been something I did. My computer is a lot like my wife. I don't understand either, but I sure would be lost without them! As the race program i was reporting on is now 48 hours past and was well covered by
Jeff, I will just offer some highlights and random thoughts.
With Jeep Van Wormer arriving after hot laps, he once again proved that these warm up sessions are over rated. The Michigan pilot had not been on the Quincy Raceways oval in more than a year, the track had again been somewhat reworked since, yet he set the third fastest lap behind Jason Feger, for whom the track should be perfect, and Mark Burgtorf, who has run more laps around the oval than the water truck! Despite a stellar group of drivers, including surprise visitor Doug Drown from Ohio, who brought along Australian ace Craig Vosbergen, the field of actual UMP cars was a bit short. However, ten of the IMCA late models drivers decided to pull double duty with the same car, and Justin Reed entered his # 1st IMCA car in that division, and Tony Dunkers # 4 IMCA ride in the UMP class. Denny Woodworth unloaded both his IMCA and his " outlaw " car, while Burgtorf has parked the chassis he was using for the " big motor " shows, and is now switching power plants in what was his IMCA ride. As a result, Mark ran only the UMP portion of the show. Those three QR drivers and Dustin Griffin were the only locals to make the $5,000 to win finale, while Quincian Rickey Frankel, and Russ Schoonover, originally from the Macomb area, but now residing in England were the only " travelers " to not make the field. " Schoony " comes back every summer or two, and always plans a trip to QR for an open show, his smoking # 59 in tow! Although a lot of folks dod not like the straight up starts the tour uses, i have mixed feelings about that. My main gripe is the 21 car starting field, which features three provisional spots. As with QR, the usual result, is a B-main that advances only two cars, a daunting task in a 16 car starting field. I have noticed that a few of the bigger tracks added three more cars, but of course that is an extra payout of nearly $1,500, minus what those three would have been paid for their B-main start.
Van Wormer was a rocket around the top of the QR .29 mile oval, and after avoiding an early race crash with a slowing Brian Shirley, who was leading at the time, he was not going to be denied. Shirley was once again piloting a team 48 car out of the Tim Lance trailer. Tim himself picked up a top ten run. Feger came in as the points leader, and his runner up finish kept him on top, as he tries to unseat defending champion Dennis Erb Jr. who finished seventh. Shannon Babb, who started 12th may have had something for the top two, but a collision with a lapped car as he was chasing third place Ryan Unzicker sent him to the back, and he could only come back to sixth, behind Drown and Burgtorf. Jack Sullivan, who has run the entire tour to date in the GRT house car, was smoking badly, but made a quick trip to the hot pit area under caution, came back and finished eighth ahead of Woodworth and T. Lance.
The IMCA late model feature looked like Dustin Neese might get his first win of the season, but row five starters Woodworth and Reed moved quickly through the field. Woodworh was then involved in a mishap and was sent to the back, clearing the way for Reed to take the win. Joey Gower also cleared Neese for second, while Woodworth charged back to fourth ahead of " Superman " Sam Halstead. The finish left Woodworth and Reed tied atop the points sheet.
While the late models loaded up, Reed was not done, as he was also racing in the UMP modified class. Three classes on a hot Sunday night, isn't youth a wonderful thing!?! Justin had one his modified heat, but a puff of smoke at the checkers signaled the end of the night for his Tony dunker owned # 4st. So a call went out, and soon the # 16j normally driven by Jason Daggs came down pit road. Reed had to start at the tail of the 17 car field, and he quickly retired. Points leader Dave Weitholder put his # 05 out front and looked to be cruising. However, second generation driver Steven delonjay patiently worked his way to second, and tried Weitholder every lap. As the two exited turn four on the final lap of a long night, Weitholder left the top groove open, and Delonjay made his move. the electronic scoring had Delonjay in front at the line by .01 of a second!
Veteran Hannibal, Mo. driver Jim Brown came out of retirement this season, and struggled for a few weeks, but put his # 83 in victory lane in the hobby stock class. The IMCA stock cars had the night off.
This weekends plans involve a visit to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. for the Lucas Oil/MLRA Diamond Nationals - weather permitting, of course, and a quick trip home for more Sunday night racing at Quincy Raceways. See you at the track.
Jeff, I will just offer some highlights and random thoughts.
With Jeep Van Wormer arriving after hot laps, he once again proved that these warm up sessions are over rated. The Michigan pilot had not been on the Quincy Raceways oval in more than a year, the track had again been somewhat reworked since, yet he set the third fastest lap behind Jason Feger, for whom the track should be perfect, and Mark Burgtorf, who has run more laps around the oval than the water truck! Despite a stellar group of drivers, including surprise visitor Doug Drown from Ohio, who brought along Australian ace Craig Vosbergen, the field of actual UMP cars was a bit short. However, ten of the IMCA late models drivers decided to pull double duty with the same car, and Justin Reed entered his # 1st IMCA car in that division, and Tony Dunkers # 4 IMCA ride in the UMP class. Denny Woodworth unloaded both his IMCA and his " outlaw " car, while Burgtorf has parked the chassis he was using for the " big motor " shows, and is now switching power plants in what was his IMCA ride. As a result, Mark ran only the UMP portion of the show. Those three QR drivers and Dustin Griffin were the only locals to make the $5,000 to win finale, while Quincian Rickey Frankel, and Russ Schoonover, originally from the Macomb area, but now residing in England were the only " travelers " to not make the field. " Schoony " comes back every summer or two, and always plans a trip to QR for an open show, his smoking # 59 in tow! Although a lot of folks dod not like the straight up starts the tour uses, i have mixed feelings about that. My main gripe is the 21 car starting field, which features three provisional spots. As with QR, the usual result, is a B-main that advances only two cars, a daunting task in a 16 car starting field. I have noticed that a few of the bigger tracks added three more cars, but of course that is an extra payout of nearly $1,500, minus what those three would have been paid for their B-main start.
Van Wormer was a rocket around the top of the QR .29 mile oval, and after avoiding an early race crash with a slowing Brian Shirley, who was leading at the time, he was not going to be denied. Shirley was once again piloting a team 48 car out of the Tim Lance trailer. Tim himself picked up a top ten run. Feger came in as the points leader, and his runner up finish kept him on top, as he tries to unseat defending champion Dennis Erb Jr. who finished seventh. Shannon Babb, who started 12th may have had something for the top two, but a collision with a lapped car as he was chasing third place Ryan Unzicker sent him to the back, and he could only come back to sixth, behind Drown and Burgtorf. Jack Sullivan, who has run the entire tour to date in the GRT house car, was smoking badly, but made a quick trip to the hot pit area under caution, came back and finished eighth ahead of Woodworth and T. Lance.
The IMCA late model feature looked like Dustin Neese might get his first win of the season, but row five starters Woodworth and Reed moved quickly through the field. Woodworh was then involved in a mishap and was sent to the back, clearing the way for Reed to take the win. Joey Gower also cleared Neese for second, while Woodworth charged back to fourth ahead of " Superman " Sam Halstead. The finish left Woodworth and Reed tied atop the points sheet.
While the late models loaded up, Reed was not done, as he was also racing in the UMP modified class. Three classes on a hot Sunday night, isn't youth a wonderful thing!?! Justin had one his modified heat, but a puff of smoke at the checkers signaled the end of the night for his Tony dunker owned # 4st. So a call went out, and soon the # 16j normally driven by Jason Daggs came down pit road. Reed had to start at the tail of the 17 car field, and he quickly retired. Points leader Dave Weitholder put his # 05 out front and looked to be cruising. However, second generation driver Steven delonjay patiently worked his way to second, and tried Weitholder every lap. As the two exited turn four on the final lap of a long night, Weitholder left the top groove open, and Delonjay made his move. the electronic scoring had Delonjay in front at the line by .01 of a second!
Veteran Hannibal, Mo. driver Jim Brown came out of retirement this season, and struggled for a few weeks, but put his # 83 in victory lane in the hobby stock class. The IMCA stock cars had the night off.
This weekends plans involve a visit to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. for the Lucas Oil/MLRA Diamond Nationals - weather permitting, of course, and a quick trip home for more Sunday night racing at Quincy Raceways. See you at the track.
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