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Past the Pit Gate....... Sunday night was a regular night of racing at Quincy Raceways, but the action was anything but ordinary. A total car count of 71 was led by the UMP Modifieds showing 20 entrants. The mods also produced the closest finish in memory at the speedway, as it took a reading of the in car transponders to determine that points leader Justin Reed had edged Steven Delonjay for his first feature win of the season, although he is leading the points in two classes. Jared Schlipman looked like he might be on the way to his first ever win, leading 21 plus laps through the usual spate of caution flags. When the field finally settled down, Delonjay eventually ran down Jared, taking over on lap 22 and holding the top spot until the rim riding Reed powered by on the outside at the checkers. Moline, Il. regular Donovan Lodge followed Schlipman across the line for fourth, and Dave Wietholder came back from an early trip to the back of the pack to finish fifth. Vance Wilson had been lurking in sixth when he went pit side on a lap 18 caution. Reeds teammate and car owner Tony Dunker rolled home in sixth, and he and Justin currently sandwich Delonjay in the top three point spots. First time visitor Eric Teson of Montgomery City, Mo. found himself upside down before completing a lap in his heat race. Eric ran off turn one, flipping his # 34. Hard work by his crew got him back out for the main event. Wyatt Lantz was back after the hard roll he took two weeks previous. Wyatt was coming off a Friday night win at Donnellson, Iowa, but settled for seventh behind Dunker on Sunday. The IMCA late model field swelled to 17 on Sunday, as all of the "locals" signed in. Mark Burgtorf continued his all or nothing season by capturing the first heat. Amazingly, Mark is still not quite happy with his car, and although the crew changed the rack on Sunday, he still thinks he has some suspension issues. He said he will only be racing one night - Sunday - this week, so he will have time to go through the machine. And after saying this, he went out and captured the 30 lap finale. The win did not come easy, as Jason Frankel chased the # 7B to the front and even took the lead at one point while running the bottom of the track. Once Burgtorf regained the top spot, he protected the fast lower groove, and collected the win. Frankel, who was the victor at Donnellson, held off a hard charging Denny Woodworth both nights, as the late model lawyer enjoyed a successful return to QR by taking third. Joey Gower claimed fourth ahead of 12th starting Lonnie Bailey. Lonnie gained three points on leader Justin Reed, who continues to pace the class without benefit of a feature win. Matt Bailey followed up his win the week prior with a main event win Saturday in West Burlington, but ran off the pace Sunday. The caution flag flew on lap 18 when Jason Perry clipped one of the tractor tires, and during the stoppage, sure enough, a few stray raindrops fell! On the restart, Jerry Weisenberger slowed on the backstretch, and as everyone took evasive action, Ron Elbe ran out of real estate and slammed hard into the 21JW, nearly rolling Weisenberger. Both cars suffered heavy damage. After a long night last week, Clint Kirkham found a frozen brake caliper on his car. Clint looked good in his heat, but struggled in the feature. He has been spending more "free" time on the tractor of late than in the garage, with planting time at a premium. Dustin Neese was the first car out of the 30 lapper with a broken front end. As is custom, the IMCA stock cars ran the first feature of the night, and although all 16 cars took the green flag, the field dwindled quickly. Heat race winner Sarah Woodhurst, back after a week off, spun on lap two and headed to the pits along with Levi Long. On the restart, point leader Kevin Tomlinson ducked to the infield with mechanical problems, and this cost him his points lead. Top contender visiting John Oliver Jr. also retired early. Through all this, "Iron Man" Chris Wibbell set his sights on his first feature win of '09, and took not only the 20 lap top prize, but also grabbed the points lead. Aaron Brocksieck finally got his ride working good and rolled the # 04A to the runner up spot. Heat winner Jerry Jansen finished a season best third ahead of Michael Larsen and Andrew Griffin. A last lap mix-up scrambled the running order. Bobby Anders had a tough night, but he can be forgiven, as he was racing on his "honeymoon" having tied the knot on Friday. Congratulations to Ashley and Bobby! The late arriving Steve Watkins Sr. and Jr. made for a season high 18 hobby stock contestants. Due to their late arrival, only two heats were run, with Justin Bartz and Travis Booher, a couple of hard luck drivers, getting wins. Watkins Jr. was DQ'd from heat one for an illegal part, so he jumped in Sr.'s # 77 for the feature. Nathan Anders was the hard luck driver of the night, as the youngster who nearly picked off a feature win a couple weeks back never ran a lap with a blown clutch and a hole in the oil pan of his # 22. So 16 cars started the 20 lap finale. An early mix-up at the front of the pack damaged some cars, and on the restart, 14 year old Tanner Klingele found himself leading the first feature laps of his budding career. Meanwhile, points contender Wes Mayfield was the first car out of the race with damage to the # 21. Larry Powell, who has been near the front all season, claimed the top spot and the feature win, his first of the year. Matt Burgtorf turned in a solid performance in second, ahead of James Leffew, Booher, and Steve Carlin. Klingele finished a very impressive sixth. Jim Powell, who has been as hot as any driver at the track told me early in the evening that he thought it he was going to have a "long night," and sure enough, he struggled to a ninth place finish. Still, with Mayfield’s misfortune, Jimbo emerged with the point lead, with Carlin moving in to second. The hobby stocks will get this Sunday night off, as the Power I midgets visit the speedway for a national event. The Late Models, Modifieds and Stock Cars will also be on the card. The track is really entering the busy season, with the Monster Truck shows coming at the end of next week. Late model fans continue to count down the weeks until the $10,000 to win UMP Summernationals spectacular on July 3. as of now, the hottest late model driver in the nation, Muscatine, Iowa's Brian Birkhofer is planning to be in Quincy for the show! Bring all your open wheel friends along this Sunday and we will see you at the races!
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