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Past the Pit Gate.......
by Danny Rosencrans
September 1, 2009
Yogi Berra should have been in attendance on season championship night at
Quincy Raceways. It would have been a perfect time for him to once again
utter "It ain't over till it's over." There were several good storylines
brewing, but two disqualifications wound up dominating the evening. The most
notable turned out to be a DQ of points leader Kevin Tomlinson after he
turned in a third place run in the IMCA stock car feature, a performance
that would have earned him the track title. However a protest was lodged by
fellow racer Doug Huls indicating that Tomlinson did not have a muffler on
his car. Upon inspection, this proved to be true, and officials disqualified
Kevin for the feature race. Tomlinson then filed a protest with IMCA, and on
Monday the sanctioning body upheld the DQ, awarding last place points for
the night to the # 49T. The change gave Abe Huls his first QR track
championship, matching his title earned the night before at 34 Raceway in
West Burlington, Iowa. After a limited amount of research, it appears there
is some confusion with the muffler rule, however Quincy Raceways had earlier
in the season posted a sign stating that mufflers were required. It is too
bad that this situation did not come to light until the final night, but as
someone other than Yogi has said, "it is what it is." Almost overlooked is
the fact that Abe Huls also came away with the feature win on the night
after starting in the front row with Tomlinson. Track officials had the
stock car, hobby stock and late model point leaders flip a coin for a
straight up start with points leaders up front, or a typical point invert.
IMCA gives track leeway to do this on championship night, while the UMP
sanctioned Modifieds must stay with the draw - redraw format they use each
week. Aaron Brocksieck turned in a strong run to take second, and the DQ
moved last seasons track champion Jeff Mueller to third. Jeff has not been
with us of late, but was looking for a shorter track to work on his set up
for the upcoming IMCA Supernationals at the Boone, Iowa third mile track,
where Brocksieck will also be in attendance. Terry Houston capped off a
solid second half of the season in fourth. Chris Wibbell had another rough
night, as his transmission blew to pieces as hot laps began. The problem was
likely an after effect of last weeks heat race crash after which the # 52
team had to rebuild the rear end of the car. Abe Huls was headed off for a
Canadian vacation after the races ended, as stock cars will not be on the
card this coming Sunday at the speedway.
The hobby stock point leader, Steve Carlin, flipped for an inverted start in
their championship feature, putting himself and challenger Jim Powell five
rows deep in the starting grid. Carlin began the race with a three point
margin, and at one point Powell had advance to the point that a tie would
have occurred had the race ended at lap five. Just at that time, with Powell
in third, his # 48J suddenly lost power, ending his night and his shot at a
first ever track title. The result was a third championship for Carlin, who
lost out last year by a single point. Meanwhile up front, two drivers
looking for their first win, Steve Watkins, Jr. and rookie Adam Scott paced
the field. Two laps from the finish, third running Jake Powers suffered a
flat tire, and fourth place Travis Booher exited the speedway after losing
power. Watkins went on to grab the checkered flag, but Yogi was at work
again. After trophy presentations were done, Steve was found to have illegal
control arms on his # 17. This disqualification gave the rookie Scott, who
promised he would get his first win in 2010 the victory. Interestingly, Adam
is the second hobby stock driver this season to get his first win due to a
DQ. The other was young Tanner Klingele. The finishing order then had Mike
Wiley in the runnerup slot, Brian Hoener finishing a season best third, and
Carlin in fourth. Scott has his # 93 machine for sale, as he is looking to
build a new ride for next season.
There was not much drama for the UMP modified points chase, as Justin Reed
had things pretty much in hand in only his first full season in a mod.
Still, the 25 car field put on a good show, with Michael Long again in
victory lane. It took Michael to lap ten to move to the top spot from his
row five start, then a couple of caution flags gave the lead back to Donovan
Lodge. As has been the case all season, however, Long proved to be the class
of the field, and he persevered for the win. Lodge, who really got a grasp
of the track in the second half of the season, held on for second ahead of
Vance Wilson, out with a new # 22C. Dave Wietholder charged home in fourth,
and Trent Grotz collected fifth. Veteran Gary Wilson, Vance’s father took
the wheel of the # 4G Vance drove the week prior, but brought out the
features first caution when his engine let go on lap four. Montgomery City,
Mo. driver Craig Roden began making the long haul to QR when his home town
track closed at midseason, and his steady improvement netted him a sixth on
Sunday as he sandwiched himself between the Grotz brothers machines. The
track title for Reed gave Team 4 a first and third in the chase, as car
owner Tony Dunker followed Steven Delonjay in the final rundown.
When the night began, Justin Reed still had a shot at two track titles in
the same season. When late model points leader Lonnie Bailey set the lineup
for a straight up start, the task became even more unlikely. Only a serious
problem would prevent the elder Bailey from his second QR late model title.
Reed did all he could by taking off in the lead and holding it for all 30
laps for his first QR late model feature win of the year. Lonnie, meanwhile,
did what he had to do, running a solid race, giving up the runner up spot
late to hard charging Mark Burgtorf. The third place finish gave Bailey his
second track title of the weekend, as he matched Huls with a championship at
34 Raceway, as well. The amazing thing about Bailey’s two titles is that he
did not win a feature event at either track! Can you say "consistency?"
Burgtorf knows what might have been but for early season engine woes, but he
can reflect back on a track championship this season at Donnellson, Iowa.
Joey Gower and Jason Perry completed the top five on Sunday. The IMCA
national points chase also ended on Sunday, with Quad City area driver Kevin
Blum winning the crown. Quincy drivers scored well in the final rundown,
with Burgtorf fifth, Bailey sixth, last years champion Jason Frankel ninth,
and Reed twelfth. Anyone looking to move to the late model division should
contact Clint Kirkham, who has his # 28 for sale. Clint picked up his first
career late model feature win earlier this year in the car.
Two more race nights are on the QR card, and this Sunday will be the biggest
of the '09 season. The IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series will come to town
as night number two of a three day weekend swing. The race will pay $
2,000.00 to the winner. Burgtorf came out on top when the series visited in
April. Frankel currently sits second in points behind veteran Jeff Aikey.
The 410 All Star winged sprint cars will also be competing for a $ 2,000.00
top prize. Supporting classes will be the UMP Modifieds, hobby stocks, and
mod late/ dwarf cars.
The final night, September 13, will feature the IMCA Late Models, the 360
Sprint Invaders, UMP Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars. More on that next week.
Congratulations not only to our champions, but to all those drivers who
helped make this a great points season at Quincy Raceways. See everyone
Sunday!
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