When Quincy Raceways made the decision during the off season to switch to UMP late models, one topic of discussion was the difference in how points are awarded compared with IMCA. With IMCA , track points are crucial, and track championships play a key roll in national championships. It is a formula established to help build track loyalty. UMP takes more of a " every man for himself " approach, and points earned at any sanctioned track can be added to a drivers total. I apologize that I do not know exactly how many starts are counted towards a drivers total, but I think there is a maximum amount, at which time you can begin to toss out poor finishes and count better ones, a practice IMCA also uses. But track loyalty is more of an afterthought in UMP, and when you are the only Sunday night late model track in Illinois, you wait... until now. Sunday nifght, as Keagan and I walked down pit road, it was impossible to miss the bright green hauler already in the pits. Yes, it was national points leader Brian Shirley. Before making our first pass, we checked in at the pit shack, and learned that the third place driver in points, Kevin Weaver, was also on hand for the first time this season. This is exactly what we had anticipated as we talked on a cold January Saturday night! The two big guns, along with sometimes visitor Brian Dively gave us a solid car count of 18, even as several of our track regulars were missing.
After two IMCA stock car heats, the late models ripped off three ten lappers, with Dustin Griffin, Mark Burgtorf, and Weaver collecting wins., Burgtorf taking the checkers with a flat rear tire.Two IMCA sport mod heats ran before track officials decided to bring out the maintainer to try and improve the rough conditions in turns one and two. A lengthy delay followed, but when racing resumed, the surface was much improved. Heat races were completed in the remaining three classes, and it was time for the six car, six lap late model dash. Burgtorf and Weaver shared the front row, as the six spots are determined by heat race passing points. Although Burgtorf had the pole, Weaver blasted to the lead, and put on a clinic around the .29 mile oval to gain the pole for the 30 lap finale.
Intermission was skipped, and the IMCA stock cars hit the speedway for 15 laps. Nine time winner Abe Huls took only four laps to advance from row four to the lead, then held off a persistent point leader, Terry Houston, to chalk up win number ten. Only a missed week has kept Abe from making a shambles of the points chase. Michael Larsen followed up his ninth heat win of the season with a third in the feature.
Sixteen late models then took the green flag, as Dively was already on the road home after heat race issues, and Bill Genebacher kept his smoking ride pitside. This time, Weaver blasted off from the pole, with Burgtorf in tow. The race stayed green for 19 laps, as the " Flatland Flash " diced his way through lapped cars. The caution bunched the field, but also gave Weaver a clear track. By now, ninth starting Shirley had muscled his way into the top five. The only other stoppage came two laps later, and Jason Perry now took up the chase from second. Shirly powered his way to third, but this night belonged to Weaver, who lapped up to the seventh place car. Perry held off Shirley for second, while Griffin eased by the # 7B of Burgtorf for fourth. As we enter the final weeks of points racing, it is likely these two and possibly other top points chasers will make the Sunday pull to QR.
Bobby Anders slowed the juggernaut that is Tony Dunker by winning his second IMCA sport mod feature of the season. When the checkers waved, Dunker was 1/2 a car length from his tenth win of the year. At last report, Tony was third in IMCA sport mod national points, and the second place run may have helped his standing. Joe Bliven came home third.
The UMP modifieds were up next, and again had a bit of trouble with caution flags and heavy attrition. Dave Weitholder took the initial lead, but went to the infield on lap two with drive train problems. Steven Delonjay shadowed Jared Schlipman until midway through the 25 lapper, when he grabbed the lead. On lap 14, Schlipman and third running 13 year old Jake Griffin made contact. Jake held on to take second, with Jared slipping to fourth, behind Shawn Deering, who had restarted at the back on lap eight. Delonjay then ran the low groove, while young Griffin slammed the cushion. Griffin was faster out of turn four, but Delonjay held the edge in one and two. On the final lap, Jake aired it out up top, but Steven held on for a .058 second margin of victory. Schlipman, Deering and Craig Spegal completed the top five. Aura Griffith saw his night end early as he took a nasty roll on the front stretch in heat one, a mishap that also sent Kevin Blackburn to the trailer with damage.
Tanner Klingele and Jake Powers ran side by side for most of the 15 lap hobby stock main event, with Tanner taking the top prize.
After having his four race win streak snapped last Sunday, Austin Becerra was back in victory lane in the IMCA sport compact finale, topping Brandon Lambert and Kim Abbott.
Congratulations to former track regular Justin Jennings. Justin drove his first NASCAR Nationwide race on Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, coming home 26th in the Jimmy Means # 52. More importantly, JJ ran the entire race, and brought his mount home in one piece! Way to go, Justin!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Springsteen Runs the Table at CJ
The stars lined up well on Friday night, as I was able to get out of work on time, so I picked up Keagan and Fred, and we hot footed it up the road to CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction, arriving just as the late models wound up the hot lap sessions. It was my second trip this season to the 1/10 mile Louisa County Fairgrounds facility, and for Keagan it was another " new " track, his 25th.
It was also the last of four visits by the IMCA rules late models. When Darryl and I visited in May, Colby Springsteen led every lap of the late model feature. On Friday, the young man duplicated the feat. This time around, the # 38 came home third in the lone heat race, but redrew the outside pole for the finale. Muscatine driver Chad Holladay, who only recently made his return to late model racing, took off from the pole, but Colby took the lead down the backstretch, and was never headed. One of the race co sponsors, Tommy Elston, challenged early from his row two starting slot, but could not make a pass. The only caution came on lap 12 for a slowing Jonathon Brauns. At the same time, Tom Bowling Jr. retired to the pits, while Brauns rejoined the field as the green waved again. On the restart, local ace Jason Utter, who had been running fourth, did a slingshot move around Holladay. Five laps later, Utter, who had won the heat, powered around Elston in turn four for second. He closed the gap a bit on the # 38, but with no further cautions, Springsteen cruised the win. Utter, Elston,Holladay, Matt Strassheim, Sam Halstead, and Ron Boyse came across in that order, with Brauns pulling out in the closing laps.
The features had kicked off with the stock cars running what was the best race of the night. All twelve cars took the green for the 15 laps, with Travis Finke taking the early lead. Kirk Kinsley climbed the bank on the backstretch, but recovered, and moved to the runnerup spot. Nathan Wood had advanced to third when he suddenly veered off the track in turn four. Restarting on the tail, Wood was back to seventh when he again left the racing surface in turn two on lap seven with apparent steering issues ending his night. A four car battle insued up front with Finke and Kinsley hotly pursued by Brandon Jay and Sky Griffith. As the laps would down, Griffith used the inside groove to make his move, and he powered by Finke at the flagstand as the white flag waved.. He then held on for his second win in a row. He was very complimentary towards Finke in his post race interview. Kinsley held on for third ahead of Jay.
Eight of the nine modifieds on hand started the twelve lap finale, with Dustin Fenton a scratch in both the heat and feature. I don't know if he broke before we arrived, as we never caught a glimpse of the # 3D. Rod Statts led lap one, but Steve Stewart cam from row two to take over on lap two, and began to open a comfortable lead. Wade Leee took over second on lap four, but could not run down the # 17. The yellow waved on lap nine when Clayton Jensen slowed, but on the restart, Stewart again opened a big lead. Lee held on to second , followed by Dave Imming and Mitch Morris.
The mod lites had nine cars take the green, with Paul Hallet a no show. The first yellow came on lap two, with Rob Conklin out front. On the restart, heat two winner Evan Epperson took the point, with heat one winner Troy Philpott quickly moving to second. On lap six, Philpott put his # 11 out front. the yellow waved for a second and final time on lap eight, but " Stinky " was not to be denied. He led Epperson to the checkers, with Jonathon Huston and Rob Guss in tow.
Seven of the eight registered 4 cylinders ran a caution free main event, with Tyler Whalen taking the win over Bill Whalen Jr., Corey Sheetz, and Kody Bass.
The final checkers waved about 9:45, making for a quick, well run program.
Although I had experinced the same thing on my first visit, I was still amazed at the low turn out of late models for the $1,000 top prize. The payout down was not bad, and with Davenport not running on Friday, it just seems more cars should have come to CJ for a draw, redraw show. Most racers like to say they prefer purse over points, but their actions do not show it. The track on Friday was smooth and fast, with 2 grooves in turns one and two, and three in three and four, and the folks at the speedway are as nice as you will find. I hope they find a way to run the late models again in 2012 and that a few more drivers will support the program.
It was fun to visit with former racers Brian Hetzler, now the flagman at CJ, and John Richardson, who was a fan in the stands. Also a thank you to the track announcer, whose name I do not know, for the plug for this blog, and Thanks to Dianna Winkel for tipping him off!
Tonight it is back to Quincy Raceways for UMP late models. Check back tomorrow for more on that.
It was also the last of four visits by the IMCA rules late models. When Darryl and I visited in May, Colby Springsteen led every lap of the late model feature. On Friday, the young man duplicated the feat. This time around, the # 38 came home third in the lone heat race, but redrew the outside pole for the finale. Muscatine driver Chad Holladay, who only recently made his return to late model racing, took off from the pole, but Colby took the lead down the backstretch, and was never headed. One of the race co sponsors, Tommy Elston, challenged early from his row two starting slot, but could not make a pass. The only caution came on lap 12 for a slowing Jonathon Brauns. At the same time, Tom Bowling Jr. retired to the pits, while Brauns rejoined the field as the green waved again. On the restart, local ace Jason Utter, who had been running fourth, did a slingshot move around Holladay. Five laps later, Utter, who had won the heat, powered around Elston in turn four for second. He closed the gap a bit on the # 38, but with no further cautions, Springsteen cruised the win. Utter, Elston,Holladay, Matt Strassheim, Sam Halstead, and Ron Boyse came across in that order, with Brauns pulling out in the closing laps.
The features had kicked off with the stock cars running what was the best race of the night. All twelve cars took the green for the 15 laps, with Travis Finke taking the early lead. Kirk Kinsley climbed the bank on the backstretch, but recovered, and moved to the runnerup spot. Nathan Wood had advanced to third when he suddenly veered off the track in turn four. Restarting on the tail, Wood was back to seventh when he again left the racing surface in turn two on lap seven with apparent steering issues ending his night. A four car battle insued up front with Finke and Kinsley hotly pursued by Brandon Jay and Sky Griffith. As the laps would down, Griffith used the inside groove to make his move, and he powered by Finke at the flagstand as the white flag waved.. He then held on for his second win in a row. He was very complimentary towards Finke in his post race interview. Kinsley held on for third ahead of Jay.
Eight of the nine modifieds on hand started the twelve lap finale, with Dustin Fenton a scratch in both the heat and feature. I don't know if he broke before we arrived, as we never caught a glimpse of the # 3D. Rod Statts led lap one, but Steve Stewart cam from row two to take over on lap two, and began to open a comfortable lead. Wade Leee took over second on lap four, but could not run down the # 17. The yellow waved on lap nine when Clayton Jensen slowed, but on the restart, Stewart again opened a big lead. Lee held on to second , followed by Dave Imming and Mitch Morris.
The mod lites had nine cars take the green, with Paul Hallet a no show. The first yellow came on lap two, with Rob Conklin out front. On the restart, heat two winner Evan Epperson took the point, with heat one winner Troy Philpott quickly moving to second. On lap six, Philpott put his # 11 out front. the yellow waved for a second and final time on lap eight, but " Stinky " was not to be denied. He led Epperson to the checkers, with Jonathon Huston and Rob Guss in tow.
Seven of the eight registered 4 cylinders ran a caution free main event, with Tyler Whalen taking the win over Bill Whalen Jr., Corey Sheetz, and Kody Bass.
The final checkers waved about 9:45, making for a quick, well run program.
Although I had experinced the same thing on my first visit, I was still amazed at the low turn out of late models for the $1,000 top prize. The payout down was not bad, and with Davenport not running on Friday, it just seems more cars should have come to CJ for a draw, redraw show. Most racers like to say they prefer purse over points, but their actions do not show it. The track on Friday was smooth and fast, with 2 grooves in turns one and two, and three in three and four, and the folks at the speedway are as nice as you will find. I hope they find a way to run the late models again in 2012 and that a few more drivers will support the program.
It was fun to visit with former racers Brian Hetzler, now the flagman at CJ, and John Richardson, who was a fan in the stands. Also a thank you to the track announcer, whose name I do not know, for the plug for this blog, and Thanks to Dianna Winkel for tipping him off!
Tonight it is back to Quincy Raceways for UMP late models. Check back tomorrow for more on that.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Streaks and Stuff at Quincy Raceways
It was a night of numbers at Quincy Raceways. Streaks started, extended, and ended. And along the way, a pair of brothers took turns in victory lane with last lap passes. Tony Dunker, with eight wins already in the IMCA sport mod class looked like his streak would end, as Brad Holtmeyer led lap one, only to give up the top spot to Joe Bliven on lap two. On lap four, Bobby Anders took the point. the first caution on lap eight saw Bliven retake the lead, with Dunker moving up to third. On lap twelve, Dunker grabbed the second spot, just ahead of a lap14 yellow. At that point, Anders went pitside, but Bliven remained in control for the next five laps. But coming to the checkers out of turn four, Joe slowed just a bit, and Dunker charged by on the inside for win number nine of the season. Track officials performed a pump and whistle on the # 3 in post race tech, and everything proved legal. Rick Barlow Jr. grabbed third in his first visit to the track in a couple months.
After cheering on his brother for the first half of 2012, Pat Dunker came out of "retirement," building a sharp looking IMCA sport compact. And on Sunday, Pat broke the four race win streak of Austen Becerra, picking up his first checkers of the year. Dunker took the top spot on lap three, but gave it up to Robert Thompson on lap nine of the twelve lap finale. But much like the sport mod ending, Thompson lost power on the final lap, with Dunker there to take advantage. Becerra settled for second at the checkers ahead of Kimberly Abbott.
Abe Huls extended his winning streak to two after missing a week for vacation in the IMCA stock car class. Abe also tied the feature win record in the class, tying Jeff Mueller with his ninth checkers of the season. Heat winner Michael Larsen led early and held on to the runnerup spot ahead of point leader Terry Houston.
A couple of feature races could only be described as just plain ugly. Twelve hobby stocks took the green flag for 20 laps, with Jeff Delonjay grabbing the early lead, and swapping the top spot with Jake Powers. After retaking the point, Delonjay broke, handing the lead back to Jake. With attrition already taking a toll, a four car pileup on lap ten eliminated each of them, and during the caution, Brandon Symmonds headed to the trailer and Jim Brown limped to the infield, leaving only three cars for the restart. At that point, it was decided to cut the race to 15 laps, and the top three ran the final five circuits caution free. Point leader Powers took the win over Jaime Bevill and Justin Bartz.
All but two of the 18 entrants took the green in the UMP modified feature, and to be honest, I quit counting after eight caution periods. Mercifully, the time limit was eventually invoked, and actually drew applause from the nice sized fan appreciation night crowd. Sixth starting Michael Long moved to second on lap three, and took the lead for good on lap six.. Early leader Jared Schlipman spun while running second, but was able to work his way back to third with the help of the numerous yellows. Steven Delonjay extended his points lead with a runnerup finish. Long scored a very impressive streak of his own, taking feature wins Friday at Tri City Speedway, Saturday at Montgomery County Motorsports Park ,and Sunday night at Quincy Raceways.
Perhaps the most interesting streak is that of late model driver Mark Burgtorf. After two nights chasing the Corn Belt series in the Richard Realty # 15R, Mark brought his # 7B machine to QR and bested the 15 car field. The win was Marks second in a row, but his prior victory was in the # 15R. The veteran missed a sweep of the nights events, running second to Dustin Griffin in the first heat before capturing the dash and the 30 lap finale after dueling early with Griffin. Back from the UMP Summernationals and the Corn Belt tour, Jerry Lierly started seventh on the grid and charged to the runnerup spot. Lierly looked like he might have something for Burgtorf after moving to second, but could take his Bloomquist chassis no further. Bill Genenbacher came back from a hard crash the night before at Montgomery to record a season best third, while Justin Reed took over the points lead by recording a fourth, while top contenders Griffin and Jason Perry watched from the trailer. after checking out early. Robbie Warner came home fifth, while Ron Elbe and crew worked hard all night on their new Rocket car , recording a sixth place run. Ron said they really should have waited one more week, but the racing bug won out. For the second straight night, Michael Long took a big hit in the points race, this time pulling out after a mixup on the initial start.
All the news is not bad for the # 56J team, however. Former driver Justin Jennings, who just a few weeks back landed a ride in the Camping World truck series race at Iowa Speedway, will be back in action this Saturday in the NASCAR Nationwide race at the Newton track. The teenager will be behind the wheel of Jimmy Means # 52 machine. Good luck, JJ!
There are lots of events going on this time of year competing for attention, but there is plenty of good racing opportunites as well. so maybe I will see you at a track this weekend!
After cheering on his brother for the first half of 2012, Pat Dunker came out of "retirement," building a sharp looking IMCA sport compact. And on Sunday, Pat broke the four race win streak of Austen Becerra, picking up his first checkers of the year. Dunker took the top spot on lap three, but gave it up to Robert Thompson on lap nine of the twelve lap finale. But much like the sport mod ending, Thompson lost power on the final lap, with Dunker there to take advantage. Becerra settled for second at the checkers ahead of Kimberly Abbott.
Abe Huls extended his winning streak to two after missing a week for vacation in the IMCA stock car class. Abe also tied the feature win record in the class, tying Jeff Mueller with his ninth checkers of the season. Heat winner Michael Larsen led early and held on to the runnerup spot ahead of point leader Terry Houston.
A couple of feature races could only be described as just plain ugly. Twelve hobby stocks took the green flag for 20 laps, with Jeff Delonjay grabbing the early lead, and swapping the top spot with Jake Powers. After retaking the point, Delonjay broke, handing the lead back to Jake. With attrition already taking a toll, a four car pileup on lap ten eliminated each of them, and during the caution, Brandon Symmonds headed to the trailer and Jim Brown limped to the infield, leaving only three cars for the restart. At that point, it was decided to cut the race to 15 laps, and the top three ran the final five circuits caution free. Point leader Powers took the win over Jaime Bevill and Justin Bartz.
All but two of the 18 entrants took the green in the UMP modified feature, and to be honest, I quit counting after eight caution periods. Mercifully, the time limit was eventually invoked, and actually drew applause from the nice sized fan appreciation night crowd. Sixth starting Michael Long moved to second on lap three, and took the lead for good on lap six.. Early leader Jared Schlipman spun while running second, but was able to work his way back to third with the help of the numerous yellows. Steven Delonjay extended his points lead with a runnerup finish. Long scored a very impressive streak of his own, taking feature wins Friday at Tri City Speedway, Saturday at Montgomery County Motorsports Park ,and Sunday night at Quincy Raceways.
Perhaps the most interesting streak is that of late model driver Mark Burgtorf. After two nights chasing the Corn Belt series in the Richard Realty # 15R, Mark brought his # 7B machine to QR and bested the 15 car field. The win was Marks second in a row, but his prior victory was in the # 15R. The veteran missed a sweep of the nights events, running second to Dustin Griffin in the first heat before capturing the dash and the 30 lap finale after dueling early with Griffin. Back from the UMP Summernationals and the Corn Belt tour, Jerry Lierly started seventh on the grid and charged to the runnerup spot. Lierly looked like he might have something for Burgtorf after moving to second, but could take his Bloomquist chassis no further. Bill Genenbacher came back from a hard crash the night before at Montgomery to record a season best third, while Justin Reed took over the points lead by recording a fourth, while top contenders Griffin and Jason Perry watched from the trailer. after checking out early. Robbie Warner came home fifth, while Ron Elbe and crew worked hard all night on their new Rocket car , recording a sixth place run. Ron said they really should have waited one more week, but the racing bug won out. For the second straight night, Michael Long took a big hit in the points race, this time pulling out after a mixup on the initial start.
All the news is not bad for the # 56J team, however. Former driver Justin Jennings, who just a few weeks back landed a ride in the Camping World truck series race at Iowa Speedway, will be back in action this Saturday in the NASCAR Nationwide race at the Newton track. The teenager will be behind the wheel of Jimmy Means # 52 machine. Good luck, JJ!
There are lots of events going on this time of year competing for attention, but there is plenty of good racing opportunites as well. so maybe I will see you at a track this weekend!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Perry and Long Take Home the Hardware From MMP
It had been 13 days since I had done any racing, so Saturday night it was time! Last Saturday we loaded up the daughter and two grandsons and headed to Gateway Raceway in Madison,Il, where Keagan did the NASCAR ride along that he purcased last winter from the Richard Petty Driving Experience . Three laps in a two seater Sprint Cup machine around the 1.5 mile oval at 165 MPH had him grinning from ear to ear, and was definitely worth the trip! Next season, grandpa may give that a try.As we spent the rest of the day shopping, eating, and go karting our way around St Louis, I received the call that Quincy Raceways had already cancelled for Sunday due to the extreme heat, effectively wiping out any chance at racing for the weekend.
On Friday night, my wife and I took in the Chris Cagle concert at the Adams County,Il county fair, while Keagan passed up the show he had wanted to see for a chance to ride along to Lee County Speedway in Donnellson with IMCA stock car driver Beau Taylor. It was his first shot at " crewing," an opportunity he could not pass up. He would be out of the picture on Saturday but old buddy Gary Lupardus was up for some racing action. The radar did not look too good to the north, so it seemed like the perfect time for my first trip of 2012 to the newly reopened and renamed Montgomery Motorsports Park, just south of I-70 on highway 19 near Montgomery City, Mo.
Arriving early, as I always try to do, I was impressed with the changes the new ownership had made to the grounds as well as the racing surface. With the movement of the pit fence, folks in the grandstand are able to get right next to the pit sign area, and even take in the drivers meeting. This gave us a chance to visit with several drivers and crewmen.
The pit area was populated with over 90 cars in the five classes, including 19 UMP late models and a whopping 29 UMP modifieds.
Hot laps got under way at 7:00, with the first heat rolling out about 7:35. 13 heat races and a mod consy took about 90 minutes at the 1/4 mile facility, then came the only real downfall of the night, a 30 minute intermission last until about 9:30. On the plus side, this gave me a chance to catch up with long time race reporter Jerry West from Jefferson City. I had not seen Jerry in quite a while, and was surprised to learn he just celebrated birthday # 70. He also introduced me to his seat mates, long time late model river Bob Test and his wife. Bob was a spectator after having rolled his # 1 machine the week before in Wheatland,Mo. Former QR racer Victor Wright also stpped by to say " Hi, " so the break was a fun one for me.
The " limited sportsman" class ran the first feature, with 13 cars taking the green. After one early caution, the race stayed green and featured a side by side duek between Dan Kaminski and Jon Ripperda. As the two found lapped traffic, Ripperda picked the right lane and pulled away for the win in his first visit to the track. Bert Jacoby eased by Kaminski on the closing laps to take second.
The Pro 4 class had only eight cars for the finale, with Jordon Martin picking up his second win of the season.
Up third was the UMP late model 25 lapper, with Jefferson City driver Reid Millard and Camp Point,Il ace Dustin Griffin on the front row by virtue of heat race wins. After tow jack rabbit starts, track officials sent them back one row, moving heat three winner Jason Perry, from Payson,Il, and Rich Lawson, from House Springs,Mo to the front. I mentioned to Gary at the time that that might be the move of the race, and that proved to be correct. As this was happening, Jim Moon suffered a flat after being rear ended on one of the starts, and he ducked to the pits, moving him from inside row three to 19th on the restart. Perry shot to the lead, with a yellow waving after one lap for Michael Weir. Back to green, and Perry and Griffin began to check out on the field before a lap 12 caution flew for Andy Scoles and Alan Westling. Five laps later, the caution waved for David Miller, and the track was getting black except around the very top. As the green waved again, Griffin got a run and was around Perry when Perrys teammate, Bill Genenbacher slammed the backstretch concrete, bringing out the final caution. Billy had been running fifth at the time, while Moon had moved all the wat to seventh.
After the wrecker carried the # 72 pitside, Perry again pulled away, and he led the final nine laps for his third checkers of the season at MMP, and second in a row. Griffin took the runner up slot, follwed by Vance Wilson in dad Garys # 155.
Moon used some aggressive driving to move to fourth on the final lap, giving Quincy regulars the top four spots. Lawson, veteran Mike Hammerle, Millard, Casey Montague, Derek Fetter and Craig Bessinger all scored top ten finishes.
Next up was 20 laps of UMP modified racing. The field had been pared to 22 starters, With Troy Grotz from Quincy and Gary Blackburn Jr. from Fulton,Mo.setting the pace, the mods also had a tough time getting started, with a three car pileup at the green sending Bill Baker pitside. A couple more false starts allowed Baker to tag the tail without missing a lap. The younger Grotz led lap one, but fourth starting Michael Long charged to the lead on lap two. Michael was looking for that moisture up high and stretching his lead when he pounded the turn three concrete on lap eight, doing heavy damage to his rear spoiler. Two laps later the caution came out, and we wondered if the damage would come in to play with ten laps still to go. Michael shot out ahead of Grotz on the restart, still using the high groove. with two laps to go, Long encountered Baker out of turn two, and tried to drive below him in turn three as Baker seemed to change his line. As contact was made, the yellow waved for a spinning Tony Patterson, and possible disaster for Long was averted. With a clear track ahead on the restart, Michael flew to the checkers, With Grotz holding off Steven Delonjay for a well deserved second place finish. Dad Steve Grotz used the high line to take fourth, while Blackburn hung around to finish fifth.
As the clock clicked up to 11:00, we made out way to the car as the B-mods prepared to close out the night. According to reports, Mike Floyd took the checkers in that action.
We came away impressed with the racing we saw, and it was well worth the 200 mile round trip. Thanks to announcer Doug Mealy for getting me up to speed on some unfamiliar cars and drivers.
although we have had some light rain, things look like a go tonight for Quincy Raceways, so check back Monday for a recap of that action. Maybe I will see you there!
On Friday night, my wife and I took in the Chris Cagle concert at the Adams County,Il county fair, while Keagan passed up the show he had wanted to see for a chance to ride along to Lee County Speedway in Donnellson with IMCA stock car driver Beau Taylor. It was his first shot at " crewing," an opportunity he could not pass up. He would be out of the picture on Saturday but old buddy Gary Lupardus was up for some racing action. The radar did not look too good to the north, so it seemed like the perfect time for my first trip of 2012 to the newly reopened and renamed Montgomery Motorsports Park, just south of I-70 on highway 19 near Montgomery City, Mo.
Arriving early, as I always try to do, I was impressed with the changes the new ownership had made to the grounds as well as the racing surface. With the movement of the pit fence, folks in the grandstand are able to get right next to the pit sign area, and even take in the drivers meeting. This gave us a chance to visit with several drivers and crewmen.
The pit area was populated with over 90 cars in the five classes, including 19 UMP late models and a whopping 29 UMP modifieds.
Hot laps got under way at 7:00, with the first heat rolling out about 7:35. 13 heat races and a mod consy took about 90 minutes at the 1/4 mile facility, then came the only real downfall of the night, a 30 minute intermission last until about 9:30. On the plus side, this gave me a chance to catch up with long time race reporter Jerry West from Jefferson City. I had not seen Jerry in quite a while, and was surprised to learn he just celebrated birthday # 70. He also introduced me to his seat mates, long time late model river Bob Test and his wife. Bob was a spectator after having rolled his # 1 machine the week before in Wheatland,Mo. Former QR racer Victor Wright also stpped by to say " Hi, " so the break was a fun one for me.
The " limited sportsman" class ran the first feature, with 13 cars taking the green. After one early caution, the race stayed green and featured a side by side duek between Dan Kaminski and Jon Ripperda. As the two found lapped traffic, Ripperda picked the right lane and pulled away for the win in his first visit to the track. Bert Jacoby eased by Kaminski on the closing laps to take second.
The Pro 4 class had only eight cars for the finale, with Jordon Martin picking up his second win of the season.
Up third was the UMP late model 25 lapper, with Jefferson City driver Reid Millard and Camp Point,Il ace Dustin Griffin on the front row by virtue of heat race wins. After tow jack rabbit starts, track officials sent them back one row, moving heat three winner Jason Perry, from Payson,Il, and Rich Lawson, from House Springs,Mo to the front. I mentioned to Gary at the time that that might be the move of the race, and that proved to be correct. As this was happening, Jim Moon suffered a flat after being rear ended on one of the starts, and he ducked to the pits, moving him from inside row three to 19th on the restart. Perry shot to the lead, with a yellow waving after one lap for Michael Weir. Back to green, and Perry and Griffin began to check out on the field before a lap 12 caution flew for Andy Scoles and Alan Westling. Five laps later, the caution waved for David Miller, and the track was getting black except around the very top. As the green waved again, Griffin got a run and was around Perry when Perrys teammate, Bill Genenbacher slammed the backstretch concrete, bringing out the final caution. Billy had been running fifth at the time, while Moon had moved all the wat to seventh.
After the wrecker carried the # 72 pitside, Perry again pulled away, and he led the final nine laps for his third checkers of the season at MMP, and second in a row. Griffin took the runner up slot, follwed by Vance Wilson in dad Garys # 155.
Moon used some aggressive driving to move to fourth on the final lap, giving Quincy regulars the top four spots. Lawson, veteran Mike Hammerle, Millard, Casey Montague, Derek Fetter and Craig Bessinger all scored top ten finishes.
Next up was 20 laps of UMP modified racing. The field had been pared to 22 starters, With Troy Grotz from Quincy and Gary Blackburn Jr. from Fulton,Mo.setting the pace, the mods also had a tough time getting started, with a three car pileup at the green sending Bill Baker pitside. A couple more false starts allowed Baker to tag the tail without missing a lap. The younger Grotz led lap one, but fourth starting Michael Long charged to the lead on lap two. Michael was looking for that moisture up high and stretching his lead when he pounded the turn three concrete on lap eight, doing heavy damage to his rear spoiler. Two laps later the caution came out, and we wondered if the damage would come in to play with ten laps still to go. Michael shot out ahead of Grotz on the restart, still using the high groove. with two laps to go, Long encountered Baker out of turn two, and tried to drive below him in turn three as Baker seemed to change his line. As contact was made, the yellow waved for a spinning Tony Patterson, and possible disaster for Long was averted. With a clear track ahead on the restart, Michael flew to the checkers, With Grotz holding off Steven Delonjay for a well deserved second place finish. Dad Steve Grotz used the high line to take fourth, while Blackburn hung around to finish fifth.
As the clock clicked up to 11:00, we made out way to the car as the B-mods prepared to close out the night. According to reports, Mike Floyd took the checkers in that action.
We came away impressed with the racing we saw, and it was well worth the 200 mile round trip. Thanks to announcer Doug Mealy for getting me up to speed on some unfamiliar cars and drivers.
although we have had some light rain, things look like a go tonight for Quincy Raceways, so check back Monday for a recap of that action. Maybe I will see you there!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Burgtorf First on a Long Night in Quincy
The furnace was up all the way Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, and it was reflected a bit in both car count and attendance. 71 race teams checked in to compete in the six classes. even with the 5:45 start time for hot laps, the track begins to dry out during hot laps. The track crew put some extra water on before the first heat, and unfortunately, the oval got a bit slimy. The tractor was bthen brought out, but broke down, so after some discussion, the late models came out to pack in the moisture. The result was a late start, but a pretty good racing surface.
The IMCA stock car count was down, but Abe Huls was back from vacation, and he wasted no time charging to the front and collected his eighth feature win of the season. Point leader Terry Houston ran second, and late model driver Kevin Tomlinson, who has his # 49 parked for the time being, ran third in the # 48 stock car of Michael Larsen. Larsen is currently in England for his employer, General Mills.
The UMP late models ran the second feature, with heat winners Matt Bailey and Mark Burgtorf filling the front row. With the " open ' engine back in the Richard Realty # 15R, Mark won the drag race to turn one and was never headed in the 30 lapper. Burgtorf was cruising when the caution flew on lap 13, when fifth running Justin Reed slowed on the backstretch. On the restart, Jason Perry blasted by Dustin Griffin for second, and was running down Mark when the yellow waved for the final time on lap 21 for Rickey Frankel. When the green waved again, Burgtorf pulled away, collecting his second feature win in 2012 at QR, and his first in the Richard # 15R. Perry, Griffin, Bailey, and Jim Moon filled the top five spots. Ed Dixon was a first time visitor for 2012 in his trademark # 50. The Hall of Famer was fast in his heat, but made contact with the backstretch fence in the dash, ripping apart his rear spoiler, and he was not a factor in the main before pulling out early. Michael long was scheduled to start the dash in the Jennings Racing
# 56J, but detected a noisy lifter when he fired the engine, and quickly shut it down for the night.
The IMCA sport mods had their smallest turnout of the season, and Tony Dunker had no problem recording his eighth win of the year ahead of Bobby Anders and fast improving second generation pilot Brad Holtmeyer.
The UMP mods had the biggest turnout with 18 entries, and when the green light was on the racing was awesome. Unfortunately the yellow flag waved ten times in the 25 laps, slowing the momentum of the race to a crawl. Jared Schlipman led the early laps before Steven Delonjay took the point. Several drivers took a shot at the youngster, including Vance Wilson, driving Ronnie Woods # 53 for the night. Michael long had the best chance, running down the leader more than once, but his high side moves were not enough. A final charge found him losing second to Schlipman, with Shawn Deering and Dave Weitholder completing the top five. Adam Birck had a nice run his first time at QR this year in the Mike Begley # B4 subbing for Jim Roach, away at son Tylers wedding, before his run ended on lap 19. Ryan Porter did not get to race on Sunday, as his engine let go in hot laps, and Jake Griffin had a similar issue in his heat race.
Tanner Klingele managed only one lap in the sport mod main event, but came back to capture the hobby stock finale over Jeff Delonjay and Jamie Bevil. Both the top two in points, Brandon Symmonds - DNF - and Jake Poewers, sixth - finished outside the top five.
Brandon Lambert looked to be on his way to the IMCA sport compact win before breaking coming to the white flag. Austen Beceera was right there to pick up his fourth win in a row over Kimberly Abbott and Seith Woodruff.
Vance Wilson, who sold his late model earlier this season and purchased a sport mod, has sold it and bought a Harley. Vance is set to race dad Garys # 155 late model beginning next week. Keith Pratt is due back in another couple weeks with a fresh engine in his # 33. Ron Elbe reportedly has a new car, and should also be ready in a week or two. Former driver Justin Jennings, currently enrolled in NASCAR tech school, had a ride in the # 65 NASCAR Camping World truck on Saturday at Iowa Speedway. In his first time out, Justin ran the entire race, recording a 23rd place finish after qualifying 31st. Dad Greg and Uncle Neil were pitside with him, and still made it back to QR Sunday with the # 56J late model. Congratulations to the # 65 team!
This weekend, grandson Keagan is set to do his Richard Petty Driving Experience ride along, so stay tuned for those highlights. Last Friday, he drug me to my first demolition derby in how many years? And it was a good time. Keepin' me young and makin' me old, all at the same time! See ya, down the road.
The IMCA stock car count was down, but Abe Huls was back from vacation, and he wasted no time charging to the front and collected his eighth feature win of the season. Point leader Terry Houston ran second, and late model driver Kevin Tomlinson, who has his # 49 parked for the time being, ran third in the # 48 stock car of Michael Larsen. Larsen is currently in England for his employer, General Mills.
The UMP late models ran the second feature, with heat winners Matt Bailey and Mark Burgtorf filling the front row. With the " open ' engine back in the Richard Realty # 15R, Mark won the drag race to turn one and was never headed in the 30 lapper. Burgtorf was cruising when the caution flew on lap 13, when fifth running Justin Reed slowed on the backstretch. On the restart, Jason Perry blasted by Dustin Griffin for second, and was running down Mark when the yellow waved for the final time on lap 21 for Rickey Frankel. When the green waved again, Burgtorf pulled away, collecting his second feature win in 2012 at QR, and his first in the Richard # 15R. Perry, Griffin, Bailey, and Jim Moon filled the top five spots. Ed Dixon was a first time visitor for 2012 in his trademark # 50. The Hall of Famer was fast in his heat, but made contact with the backstretch fence in the dash, ripping apart his rear spoiler, and he was not a factor in the main before pulling out early. Michael long was scheduled to start the dash in the Jennings Racing
# 56J, but detected a noisy lifter when he fired the engine, and quickly shut it down for the night.
The IMCA sport mods had their smallest turnout of the season, and Tony Dunker had no problem recording his eighth win of the year ahead of Bobby Anders and fast improving second generation pilot Brad Holtmeyer.
The UMP mods had the biggest turnout with 18 entries, and when the green light was on the racing was awesome. Unfortunately the yellow flag waved ten times in the 25 laps, slowing the momentum of the race to a crawl. Jared Schlipman led the early laps before Steven Delonjay took the point. Several drivers took a shot at the youngster, including Vance Wilson, driving Ronnie Woods # 53 for the night. Michael long had the best chance, running down the leader more than once, but his high side moves were not enough. A final charge found him losing second to Schlipman, with Shawn Deering and Dave Weitholder completing the top five. Adam Birck had a nice run his first time at QR this year in the Mike Begley # B4 subbing for Jim Roach, away at son Tylers wedding, before his run ended on lap 19. Ryan Porter did not get to race on Sunday, as his engine let go in hot laps, and Jake Griffin had a similar issue in his heat race.
Tanner Klingele managed only one lap in the sport mod main event, but came back to capture the hobby stock finale over Jeff Delonjay and Jamie Bevil. Both the top two in points, Brandon Symmonds - DNF - and Jake Poewers, sixth - finished outside the top five.
Brandon Lambert looked to be on his way to the IMCA sport compact win before breaking coming to the white flag. Austen Beceera was right there to pick up his fourth win in a row over Kimberly Abbott and Seith Woodruff.
Vance Wilson, who sold his late model earlier this season and purchased a sport mod, has sold it and bought a Harley. Vance is set to race dad Garys # 155 late model beginning next week. Keith Pratt is due back in another couple weeks with a fresh engine in his # 33. Ron Elbe reportedly has a new car, and should also be ready in a week or two. Former driver Justin Jennings, currently enrolled in NASCAR tech school, had a ride in the # 65 NASCAR Camping World truck on Saturday at Iowa Speedway. In his first time out, Justin ran the entire race, recording a 23rd place finish after qualifying 31st. Dad Greg and Uncle Neil were pitside with him, and still made it back to QR Sunday with the # 56J late model. Congratulations to the # 65 team!
This weekend, grandson Keagan is set to do his Richard Petty Driving Experience ride along, so stay tuned for those highlights. Last Friday, he drug me to my first demolition derby in how many years? And it was a good time. Keepin' me young and makin' me old, all at the same time! See ya, down the road.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Doin' Some Week Night Racin'
My particular job does not allow for a lot of week night racing without vacation time, but some opportunities are just too enticing to pass up. Last July when the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series scheduled a return to the West Liberty Raceway after many years, I decided it might be a show to see. Indeed it was, so when the 2012 schedule came out, the two visits to the historic half mile by the series went on my " can't miss " list. And once again on Tuesday, I was not disappointed. Old friend Gary Lupardus joined me for night number 27 on my 2012 schedule, as I took off work early for the two hour plus drive. Arriving plenty early, we were able to watch the cars roll in, and when the last hauler was signed in, 36 late models and 19 open modifieds were ready to contest the two class program. Call me old, but two classes of racing, those were the days!
Racing began a little after 7:00, with four late model heat races on tap. Each had a special storyline, beginning with Colby Springsteen and Justin Kay getting together at the beginning of heat one. On the restart,outside front row starter Tom Goble tried to outdrive polesitter Jonathon Brauns through turns one and two. Youngster Brauns held his ground, and the veteran Goble wound up spinning his # 69, earning a trip to the back. It was basically the end of the night for Goble, who started deep in his B-main and could not advance to the top four qualifying spot. Brauns led six laps before eventually falling out of the top three transfer positions, with Nick Marolf, out for the first time in a new Victory Circle chassis by Billy Moyer coming from row three for the win. Kurt Kile shot to the lead in heat two from a front row start, but bobbled slightly on lap seven, tightening the field. Jay Johnson had a chance to take the lead, but had to hit the brakes, giving Kile time to recover and take the win. Heat three saw Gary Webb start at the tail with engine issues, and also saw the 2012 debut of Brian Harris in a # 5J machine, different from the # 5J wheeled by Jeff Mitrisan. Trying to catch the pack on a restart, Harris smacked the # 32c of Chad Holliday, a former West Liberty regular making a comeback to late model racing. Rumor in the grandstands is that Chad purchased some equipment from Jim Brokus. Harris was carted off the speedway by two wreckers, but made a return for his B-main, qualified third, then retired to the pits after advancing from 18th to tenth in the feature. Tommy Elston led heat three until lap four, when Darrell Defrance took over in what seemed to be a bit treacherous turn two. As A side note, Defrance kept his streak alive, entering his 394th series race, never having missed one! Darrell took the win ahead of series points leader Mike Murphy, and Tyler Breuning edged Elston for the final spot at the checkers.
Heat foue began with Kevin Kile making a nifty low side move in turn two to advance from eighth to fourth, eventually moving up to second behind race leader Mike Garland. Joel Callahan started seventh and followed Kile through the pack. Coming out of turn four for the final time, Jay Chenoweth and Kyle Hinrichs were side by side dueling for the front row of the B-main start when contact sent them both towards the berm and tractor tire in turn one. Kyle ended up on his roof, with Jay shoved up against him. After several minutes, the # 15 had to be rolled over before Hinrichs could get out of his ride. He was done for the night, while Chenoweth made a couple laps in the B-main.
The mods were split into three heats, a mistake in my mind with 19 cars on a big half mile, and sure enough, two scratches in heat one gave us a four car, ten lap heat where all four made the redraw. Still the mod field was stacked with outstanding drivers, and particularly heat two was a dandy. Visiting Zack Vanderbeek ran off with the win, but behind him Bruce Hanford, Ryan Dolan, Justin Speers and Todd Hansen staged a great battle. Scott Dickey took advantage of a bobble by Johnny Spaw in heat three, and the feature field was set.
Two late model B-mains were contested, with outside row one starter Denny Eckrich taking a flag to flag win in the first twelve lapper. Elston took off from row one in the second consy, only to give up the lead to veteran Ron Boyse. Elston again took the top spot, but Boyse made a move to the front on the final lap for a popular win.
A lengthy intermission included a Little Racers Car Club event followed by the card draw and exchange among the top twelve late model qualifiers used this season by the series to set the first six rows. The open mod drivers also made a pass through the stands to collect funds for the family of mod driver Tim Sands who lost his life in a racing accident early last month at nearby Columbus Junction. The 48 year old Sands had also raced for many years at West Liberty. When all was said and done, over $2100 was collected.
The mod feature finally kicked off about 9;10, with 17 cars taking the green. Double duty Kurt Kile shot out to a big lead, before slowing to bring out the first caution with six laps in the books. Going pitside, he made it back out to tag the tail of the field, as Dickey outraced Vanderbeek to turn one on the side by side restart.
another outstanding battled dveloped behind the top two between Hanford, Noah Coppes, Dolan, and Brad Dubil. Vanderbeek made it a side by side duel on lap 19, and had a nose out front at the 20th pass. Dickey led lap 21, but on lap 22 he was back in second, tried an inside move and looped his # 40. Anther side by side restart had Vanderbeek and Todd Hansen up front, but Hansen dropped back quickly, with Hanford powering to second. Meanwhile, Kile had moved up to restart sixth, and moved to fourth on the restart. Vanderbeek held of Hanford for the win, while Kile came all the way back to third ahead of Coppes and Dubil.
Ray Guss Jr. had captured the spring series event at Liberty, and his pole position start made him the favorite in the 35 lapper. After the exciting preliminaries, the feature had little dramatics. Guss was the class of the field, and had lapped eight cars by the time the only caution waved 26 laps in for a smoking Webb, who made the race on a points provisional. Marolf provided the most excitement, moving from a row three start to third by lap seven, then passing Andy Eckrich for second on lap eleven. At that point nick looked like the fastest car on the track, but he could not get close to the masrerful Guss. He had his chance with the lap 27 restart, but Guss quickly distanced himself from the pack. Jeff Aikey made a dandy move to come from eighth to fourth after taking the green in ninth, while Denny Eckrich advanced to sixth from his seventh row starting spot. Guss took the win ahead of Marolf, A. Eckrich, and Jay Johnson, who found his way around Aikey. D. Eckrich led the second five followed by Defrance,Kurt Kile, Murphy, and Jason Utter. The final checkers fell moments after 10:00.
I am very rarely disappointed in a trip to West Liberty, and indeed, Tuesday was another good night of racing!
Racing began a little after 7:00, with four late model heat races on tap. Each had a special storyline, beginning with Colby Springsteen and Justin Kay getting together at the beginning of heat one. On the restart,outside front row starter Tom Goble tried to outdrive polesitter Jonathon Brauns through turns one and two. Youngster Brauns held his ground, and the veteran Goble wound up spinning his # 69, earning a trip to the back. It was basically the end of the night for Goble, who started deep in his B-main and could not advance to the top four qualifying spot. Brauns led six laps before eventually falling out of the top three transfer positions, with Nick Marolf, out for the first time in a new Victory Circle chassis by Billy Moyer coming from row three for the win. Kurt Kile shot to the lead in heat two from a front row start, but bobbled slightly on lap seven, tightening the field. Jay Johnson had a chance to take the lead, but had to hit the brakes, giving Kile time to recover and take the win. Heat three saw Gary Webb start at the tail with engine issues, and also saw the 2012 debut of Brian Harris in a # 5J machine, different from the # 5J wheeled by Jeff Mitrisan. Trying to catch the pack on a restart, Harris smacked the # 32c of Chad Holliday, a former West Liberty regular making a comeback to late model racing. Rumor in the grandstands is that Chad purchased some equipment from Jim Brokus. Harris was carted off the speedway by two wreckers, but made a return for his B-main, qualified third, then retired to the pits after advancing from 18th to tenth in the feature. Tommy Elston led heat three until lap four, when Darrell Defrance took over in what seemed to be a bit treacherous turn two. As A side note, Defrance kept his streak alive, entering his 394th series race, never having missed one! Darrell took the win ahead of series points leader Mike Murphy, and Tyler Breuning edged Elston for the final spot at the checkers.
Heat foue began with Kevin Kile making a nifty low side move in turn two to advance from eighth to fourth, eventually moving up to second behind race leader Mike Garland. Joel Callahan started seventh and followed Kile through the pack. Coming out of turn four for the final time, Jay Chenoweth and Kyle Hinrichs were side by side dueling for the front row of the B-main start when contact sent them both towards the berm and tractor tire in turn one. Kyle ended up on his roof, with Jay shoved up against him. After several minutes, the # 15 had to be rolled over before Hinrichs could get out of his ride. He was done for the night, while Chenoweth made a couple laps in the B-main.
The mods were split into three heats, a mistake in my mind with 19 cars on a big half mile, and sure enough, two scratches in heat one gave us a four car, ten lap heat where all four made the redraw. Still the mod field was stacked with outstanding drivers, and particularly heat two was a dandy. Visiting Zack Vanderbeek ran off with the win, but behind him Bruce Hanford, Ryan Dolan, Justin Speers and Todd Hansen staged a great battle. Scott Dickey took advantage of a bobble by Johnny Spaw in heat three, and the feature field was set.
Two late model B-mains were contested, with outside row one starter Denny Eckrich taking a flag to flag win in the first twelve lapper. Elston took off from row one in the second consy, only to give up the lead to veteran Ron Boyse. Elston again took the top spot, but Boyse made a move to the front on the final lap for a popular win.
A lengthy intermission included a Little Racers Car Club event followed by the card draw and exchange among the top twelve late model qualifiers used this season by the series to set the first six rows. The open mod drivers also made a pass through the stands to collect funds for the family of mod driver Tim Sands who lost his life in a racing accident early last month at nearby Columbus Junction. The 48 year old Sands had also raced for many years at West Liberty. When all was said and done, over $2100 was collected.
The mod feature finally kicked off about 9;10, with 17 cars taking the green. Double duty Kurt Kile shot out to a big lead, before slowing to bring out the first caution with six laps in the books. Going pitside, he made it back out to tag the tail of the field, as Dickey outraced Vanderbeek to turn one on the side by side restart.
another outstanding battled dveloped behind the top two between Hanford, Noah Coppes, Dolan, and Brad Dubil. Vanderbeek made it a side by side duel on lap 19, and had a nose out front at the 20th pass. Dickey led lap 21, but on lap 22 he was back in second, tried an inside move and looped his # 40. Anther side by side restart had Vanderbeek and Todd Hansen up front, but Hansen dropped back quickly, with Hanford powering to second. Meanwhile, Kile had moved up to restart sixth, and moved to fourth on the restart. Vanderbeek held of Hanford for the win, while Kile came all the way back to third ahead of Coppes and Dubil.
Ray Guss Jr. had captured the spring series event at Liberty, and his pole position start made him the favorite in the 35 lapper. After the exciting preliminaries, the feature had little dramatics. Guss was the class of the field, and had lapped eight cars by the time the only caution waved 26 laps in for a smoking Webb, who made the race on a points provisional. Marolf provided the most excitement, moving from a row three start to third by lap seven, then passing Andy Eckrich for second on lap eleven. At that point nick looked like the fastest car on the track, but he could not get close to the masrerful Guss. He had his chance with the lap 27 restart, but Guss quickly distanced himself from the pack. Jeff Aikey made a dandy move to come from eighth to fourth after taking the green in ninth, while Denny Eckrich advanced to sixth from his seventh row starting spot. Guss took the win ahead of Marolf, A. Eckrich, and Jay Johnson, who found his way around Aikey. D. Eckrich led the second five followed by Defrance,Kurt Kile, Murphy, and Jason Utter. The final checkers fell moments after 10:00.
I am very rarely disappointed in a trip to West Liberty, and indeed, Tuesday was another good night of racing!
Monday, July 9, 2012
A Long Night of Racing At Quincy
Following a successful Friday night of UMP Summernationals racing at Quincy Raceways, we were right back at it on Sunday. My first thought was that attendance may be down, but the cooler(?) temps brought out a nice gathering of both cars and fans. Unfortunately, a stiff southerly breeze resulted in a dried out race track, and following heat races for the modifieds, sport mods and late models, the track prep crew came out and spent 45 minutes or so reworking the track. The result was less dust, but the cushion never really came up, and most of theracing was around the bottom of the .29 mile track. The UMP mods and UMP late models tied for the lead with 17 cars in each class to lead the 81 car field. In addition, the KIDZ MODZ made an appearance, but only two showed up to race.
The mod feature was up first, and all 17 took the green flag. Steven Delonjay won the drag race into turn one over Michael Long, and whoever says you don't win a race on the first lap was wrong tonight. Steven survived five caution periods in the 25 lapper to pick up the victory. Long and Dave Weitholder swapped the runnerup spot early, but Michael settled into second, unable to overtake Delonjay. Weitholder ran third, with Shawn Deering fourth. The night started off poorly for Jared Schlipman when his # 42 would not fire in the staging lane prior to his heat race. As a result of needing a push, Jared was on the tail of the heat, and started deep in the feature field. He battled his way forward, crossing the line in fifth.
With last weeks winner Vance Wilson a fan in the stands on sunday, Tony dunker marched to yet another IMCA sport mod win, taking the lead after a lap eleven restart in the 15 lap finale. Second generation drivers Tanner Klingele and Brad Holtmeyer, as well as Bobby Anders all spent time at the front, but trailed Dunker in that order at the checkers.
The UMP late models ran third, and again, Justin Reed out raced Dewayne Kiefer to turn one at the green, and from there on the race was for third on back. Kiefer, who made his third visit to QR all the way from St Genevieve, Mo. inched closer to Reed as the two worked lapped traffic in the non stop event, but JR was up to the task. Dustin Griffin battled his way to third, with Michael long and Brian Dively rounding out the first five. Jason Perry entered the night leading the points, and competed in teammate Bill Genebachers # 72 after hurting the engine on his
# 27 on friday. He led the second five ahead of Jim Moon, Mark Burgtorf, first time visitor John Beck from Springfield, and Clint Kirkham. Jason frankel made his season debut in brother Rickeys # 33F , but started near the tail and ran just outside the top ten.
The IMCA stock car class count was up a bit at eleven. The word had been out that point leader Abe Huls would miss the night of racing while on vacation, so when we passed the # 30c hauler enroute to the track, I thought I had bad information. A quick look found no Abe in the hauler, and at the track we learned that Tony Dunker would be behind the wheel. For a time it looked like " Bones " would take the car to victory lane, but it was not to be. Aaron Brocksieck started shotgun on the filed, and patiently worked his way past Dunker on lap twelve. Tony then looped his ride while running second, and after a two week layoff, Aaron rolled his for sale # 40A into victory lane for his first win since April 8. Gabe Harrison, Michael Larsen, and Terry Houston were next in line.
Austen Becerra topped the 15 car IMCA sport compact filed for the third week in a row, besting Seth Woodruff, Brandon Lambert, and Kimberly Abbott.
A correction to my last blog, as Brandon Symmonds of Keokuk entered the night as the points leader. Brandon hung around the front all night in the 20 lap finale, but Brian Hoener had the hot set up and picked up the win. Tanner Klingele and Jeff Delonjay completed the top four.
We were excited to learn last night that former late model competitor Justin Jennings, a recent high school graduate from right here in LaGrange, who last fall entered the NASCAR driving school, has earned a ride in this weekends Camping World truck series race at Iowa Speedway. Justin will be in either the # 63 or # 65 truck, so if you get a chance, watch the race and root this nice young man on!
Next up Racin' Down the Road is headed to West Liberty for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series race tomorrow night. If you see me, say " Hi! "
The mod feature was up first, and all 17 took the green flag. Steven Delonjay won the drag race into turn one over Michael Long, and whoever says you don't win a race on the first lap was wrong tonight. Steven survived five caution periods in the 25 lapper to pick up the victory. Long and Dave Weitholder swapped the runnerup spot early, but Michael settled into second, unable to overtake Delonjay. Weitholder ran third, with Shawn Deering fourth. The night started off poorly for Jared Schlipman when his # 42 would not fire in the staging lane prior to his heat race. As a result of needing a push, Jared was on the tail of the heat, and started deep in the feature field. He battled his way forward, crossing the line in fifth.
With last weeks winner Vance Wilson a fan in the stands on sunday, Tony dunker marched to yet another IMCA sport mod win, taking the lead after a lap eleven restart in the 15 lap finale. Second generation drivers Tanner Klingele and Brad Holtmeyer, as well as Bobby Anders all spent time at the front, but trailed Dunker in that order at the checkers.
The UMP late models ran third, and again, Justin Reed out raced Dewayne Kiefer to turn one at the green, and from there on the race was for third on back. Kiefer, who made his third visit to QR all the way from St Genevieve, Mo. inched closer to Reed as the two worked lapped traffic in the non stop event, but JR was up to the task. Dustin Griffin battled his way to third, with Michael long and Brian Dively rounding out the first five. Jason Perry entered the night leading the points, and competed in teammate Bill Genebachers # 72 after hurting the engine on his
# 27 on friday. He led the second five ahead of Jim Moon, Mark Burgtorf, first time visitor John Beck from Springfield, and Clint Kirkham. Jason frankel made his season debut in brother Rickeys # 33F , but started near the tail and ran just outside the top ten.
The IMCA stock car class count was up a bit at eleven. The word had been out that point leader Abe Huls would miss the night of racing while on vacation, so when we passed the # 30c hauler enroute to the track, I thought I had bad information. A quick look found no Abe in the hauler, and at the track we learned that Tony Dunker would be behind the wheel. For a time it looked like " Bones " would take the car to victory lane, but it was not to be. Aaron Brocksieck started shotgun on the filed, and patiently worked his way past Dunker on lap twelve. Tony then looped his ride while running second, and after a two week layoff, Aaron rolled his for sale # 40A into victory lane for his first win since April 8. Gabe Harrison, Michael Larsen, and Terry Houston were next in line.
Austen Becerra topped the 15 car IMCA sport compact filed for the third week in a row, besting Seth Woodruff, Brandon Lambert, and Kimberly Abbott.
A correction to my last blog, as Brandon Symmonds of Keokuk entered the night as the points leader. Brandon hung around the front all night in the 20 lap finale, but Brian Hoener had the hot set up and picked up the win. Tanner Klingele and Jeff Delonjay completed the top four.
We were excited to learn last night that former late model competitor Justin Jennings, a recent high school graduate from right here in LaGrange, who last fall entered the NASCAR driving school, has earned a ride in this weekends Camping World truck series race at Iowa Speedway. Justin will be in either the # 63 or # 65 truck, so if you get a chance, watch the race and root this nice young man on!
Next up Racin' Down the Road is headed to West Liberty for the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series race tomorrow night. If you see me, say " Hi! "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
