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Track Schedules

Past the Pit Gate
by Danny Rosencrans
May 5

 Quincy Raceways was finally able to get back to back Sunday night racing in this past weekend on a night that started out warm and ended with jacket weather. 70 total cars signed in for four divisions of racing, with the UMP modifieds leading the way with a solid 24 car field. The IMCA late model class was a bit short, with only 14 cars on hand. Terry Schlipman was a surprise entrant in the Tom Goble owned # 69, as Tom, Terry, and chief mechanic Merle Coffey made the trip from Burlington for a " test and tune " sesion. Unfortunately, the engine expired during hot laps, ending their night. After a hectic week in which Mark Burgtorf sent off both of his power plants to his engine builder in Arkansas, where they combined the two into one spec engine, Rich Lane made the journey to get it back so the #7B team would be ready to go. But Mark's bad luck continued, as he made just two laps in his heat race before engine woes struck again. Two weeks of failing to make the feature has put Burgtorf in a serious hole in the points race. Further shorting the field, Matt Bailey was " slaving " away at school, while Nick Ingalls took the night off after a busy work week. Denny Woodworth is dealing with engine problems, and was a spectator on Sunday. The 12 car feature field nearly became 11 when Dustin Neese rolled his # 8 ride off turn one, the third late model to end up upside down in that corner in the last three race nights. Although it looked serious, the car did not suffer much more than cosmetic damage, and Dustin was able to make some feature laps. Come race time, defending champion Jason Frankel turned a front row redraw in to a flag to flag feature win. Jason recieved heavy challenges from Justin Reed, who got close, but could not overtake the # 0F. This was the last week of draw, redraw for the late models, who will go to a point invert this Sunday. Robbie Warner turned in his best finish of '09 in third, followed by Bill Genenbacher and veteran Ron Elbe.

 Track officials used a consolation event to pare down the 24 car field to a 22 car feature, and after the obligatory early caution flags, the race became a real nail biter. The consy proved a novelty in itself when defending track champion Michael Long had to use it to race his way into the feature after pulling out of his heat. Michael took the consy win, but lasted only eight laps in the feature, falling out with apparent rear end issues, and posting a 21st place finish. Former track champ Robbie Reed took command of the top spot, and staged an edge of the seat duel with hard charging Vance Wilson. Vance used every trick in his arsenal, but could not unseat Robbie, who was all smiles in victory lane. Justin Reed completed another outstanding two class performance with a third place run, followed by his car owner Tony Dunker in fourth, and Dave Weitholder in fifth. Four drivers made their first appearance of the season at Qr, as the UMP format seems to be working. Dean Vickers is the new pilot of the familiar # 22C, and Mexico, Mo. hotshoe Mike Vanderief,Jr. brought his sharp looking #17 for a visit. Former track regular, popular driver Ryan Meyer of Liberty was out in his # 82M, and Joe Kindhart was out for the first time with his # 33.Of the four, only Vickers managed to crack the top ten, as he advanced from the B- main. Robbie Reed took the points lead with the win.

 The largest regular season field on IMCA stock cars yet checked in, with 17 cars on hand. First time visitors were Joe Gerdes from Burlington in his #76, and former modified hot shoe Chris Larson # 67 of Keokuk. It was a tough night for many of the stockers. Both of the # 04 cars, Steve Steinkuhler and Aaron Brocksieck were done before the heat races. Larson hit the front stretch wall in his heat, and ironman Chris Wibbell pulled out a the same time, with only three cars finishing the race. Sarah Woodhurst was leading her heat when she hit the wall hard on lap eight, causing serious right front damage. Her crew went right to work and had our favoritr lady driver back out by feature time. Maybe the hard luck award should go to Levi Long, though. Levi spent the week in Florida on a class trip, and was due back Sunday. He also had no intention of missing a race night, so his father, former late model pilot Tom brought the # 16 to the track and hot lapped it. Tom then scratched the car from the heat, and awaited Levi's arrival. With the stock car feature first on the lineup, Levi's 7:35 arrival was in the nick of time. As it turned out, he was just in time to get caught up in a first lap wreck, ending his night seconds after taking the green flag. A trip to the work area nearly ended the streak of Chris Wibbell, but quick work from his crew got him back out ahead of the green, and although he exited his heat early, his consecutive feature laps streak rose to 460! Terry Houston also had a tough night, pulling out while running third, and defending champion Jeff Mueller fought a smoking car all night, dropping out with a ninth place finish. All in all, only Frankel among the defending champions finished his feature. Abe Huls doubled up following a Saturday night win in West Burlington with a close victory over cousin Doug Huls. Wibbell claimed third ahead of two time winner Kevin Tomlinson and Andrew Griffin.

 15 hobby stocks came to race on Sunday, and when the dust settled, veteran Jim Powell rolled his # 48J purple machine in to victory lane for the third consecutive time. If this keeps up, we may need a bounty on ol' Jimbo! Before claiming the win, he had a spirited family battle with Larry W. Powell # 87. Watching these two slug it out, complete with a bit of bump drafting was a lot of fun, and recalled some days of years gone by. Travis Booher held his # 38 together to finish third ahead of James Leffew and Steve Carlin. Rookie Adam Scott had a heat race win, as he continues to impress. The youngster, who had never raced competitively before this season, comes from the Levi Long team. His car is the one Levi raced last year in the stock car class. Adam also has some racing genes, as his uncle Bob Scott ( no, not the former track owner! ) was a QR driver years ago. It is encouraging to have so many new participants in the hobby class.

 This Sunday night will be a regular program sponsored by Mark Twain Casino, and mark May 24 on your calendar, when the 410 sprint cars come to town. See you at the races!