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QUINCY, IL. (April 14, 2010) - Welcome to the 2010 racing season! After what seemed like one of the longest winters in recent memory, we had to wait one extra week for that first green flag at QR. Based on the size of the crowd last Sunday, a lot of folks were just as ready for some racing as I was. It was equally obvious that a whole bunch of IMCA late model drivers were in the mood as well. A Quincy Raceways record 50 IMCA late models checked in to do battle for the $2,000.00 top prize for winning the 50 lap Deery Brothers Summer Series feature. Once again, our local hotshoes proved that taming the QR oval is no easy task, as four of the top five finishers were regulars at the track. During the off season, 14 time track champion Mark Burgtorf served notice that he was going to chase a fourth Summer Series title in 2010 after following the series only part time in recent seasons. After one weekend, there is little doubt that Mark will be hard to beat. Burgtorf followed up a Saturday night season opening win in the series at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa in the Slocum 50 with a second checkered flag Sunday at the Broadway Bullring. For his efforts, Mark is $ 5,000.00 richer, and holds a ten point series lead in the 16 race series. Although Burgtorf had an easy go of winning his hear race from his pole position start, the main event win proved much more difficult. While series Iron Man Darrell DeFrance paced the field early on, local favorite Jason Frankel slipped by Burgtorf and worked his way to the front. Mark soon rolled in to the second spot, and the two locals battled for several laps. At some point, the rear spoiler came apart on Frankel's # 0F, either through mechanical failure or contact with the wall. The loss of down force was enough to slow him just a tick, and the small opening sealed the deal for the # 7B. Frankel held off a furious charge by midwest legend Ray Guss Jr., who settled for third, followed by locals Keith Pratt and Denny Woodworth. Even the sixth spot went to a driver who is no stranger to QR fans, Iowa pilot Tom Darbyshire. DeFrance settled for seventh, and another Iowa hot dog who was a part timer at QR several years back, Jeremiah Hurst, was running eighth when his # 29 gave up coming to the white flag. Iowa youngster Tyler Breuning captured the spot, former track Summer Series winner Rob Toland was ninth, and second generation standout Jay Johnson rounded out the top ten. Although the Saturday night show had a few more entrants, the track prep award went to our .29 mile oval. Even though he was a winner on Saturday, Burgtorf said he and his crew worked most of the day Sunday making repairs to his Pierce race car. Still, they worked all evening to replace a starter and make the car better for feature time. It is no secret that it is a combination of driving talent and hard work by all involved that keeps the # 7B at the front of the field. A little bit of luck especially when it comes to the draw for starting position never hurts, more so on a small track like QR, than some of the bigger tracks. Defending track champion Lonnie Bailey had no such luck on Sunday, and was forced to watch the finale from the trailer. Similar fates befell the defending series champion Jeff Aikey, and top contender Terry Neal. A switch to IMCA sanction by the former NASCAR tracks in east central Iowa brought some new faces to the series, including the youngest of the well known Eckrich family, Andy. He had his # 56 dialed in early, but went pitside after a spin. QR veterans will remember the Eckrich name as the owner of the "Flyin' 50", frequent visitor in years past with Roger Dolan, Dale Fischlein, and Guss Jr. behind the wheel. Track and national points for the late models will begin on Sunday, April 25. The UMP Modifieds started their points chase on Sunday, with a solid field of 22 cars on hand. With the memory of frequent yellow flags still strong, the mods were slotted last in the running order. The folks who left early made a mistake, however, as the boys negotiated the slicked off track perfectly, running the 25 lap feature with only one stoppage! Not everything was different, however, as the checkers went to # 18, with Michael long picking up where he left off. The new feature lineup format in place for the mods this year has the top six cars from the heats - on Sunday it was the top two in each of three heats - battling for the first three rows of the feature. Although Michael did not secure a front row spot, he quickly moved past the front row starters of Justin Reed and Steve Grotz. The win was not a walk off, however, as defending point champion Reed stayed within striking distance of the lead. Moline, Il driver Donovan Lodge, who made the three hour trip to QR all of last season was back to capture third, while heat winners Dave Wietholder and Tony Dunker finished off the top five. Wietholder looks to be in midseason form, no surprise as he jump started his season by racing his # 05 in Florida and Kentucky. The elder Grotz began his full time return to the modified ranks in strong fashion with a runner up finish in his heat and the dash. Damage to his rear spoiler slowed his feature run, although he still posted a top ten run. Son Troy also looked strong as the father son duo debuted their Pierce race cars. One new local driver was on hand, Ryan Morrison in the # 2S. Steven DeLonjay came through the pack for a seventh place run behind Robbie Reed, although it was a bit harder to pick Steven out of the pack with his new blue look, a departure from 30 seasons of DeLonjay red and white! The IMCA stock car class was short of cars on opening night, a trend that will hopefully reverse. Still the racing was good, as this class was seemingly made for a track such as ours. Mt Sterling driver Terry Houston ended 2009 on a roll, and looked fast on the practice night I attended. Sunday night, it all paid off, as the Ford pilot paced a super fast 20 lap main event, capturing a well deserved win. Former late model ace Kevin Tomlinson was back and followed Houston to the flag, and they were shadowed by the track champions of the past two seasons, Jeff Mueller, and Carthage hot shoe Abe Huls. "Cheaterville" Ford fanatic Jerry Jansen climbed the front stretch wall taking the checkers in his heat race, knocking down part of the fence, and rolling his # 06. Never a quitter, Jerry made repairs and turned in a top five run in the feature ahead of hobby stock move up Wes Mayfield, and Andrew Griffin. It was a tough night for the Brocksieck, Steinkuhler team, as neither was around for the final checkers although Iowa visitor Dave Warth was scored in the final spot. 14 cars made up the opening night group of hobby stockers, lead by defending champion Steve Carlin. The "Tea Man" finally after five seasons hung a new body on his trusty machine with a sharp looking red, white, and blue color scheme. At nights end, though, it was Bobby Anders with his # 20 Dominator race car in victory lane. The young man who became a husband and father in the last year was in command throughout the 15 lap main event. The top two in points from 2009, Carlin and Jim Powell followed Bobby to the flag. Travis Booher and Mike Wiley, also with new looks rounded out the first five ahead of Larry Powell and Nathan Anders. Justin Bartz not only changed colors, he changed numbers as well, adopting the number 42 over his old # 15. Justin likes the number, which is one number off the # 43 used by dad Kelly on his modified. Tanner Klingele and Jake Powers also have impressive new schemes, but both youngsters suffered bad luck on opening night. Nathan Hayes was the only missing man from the feature lineup. While just about everyone has an off night or two during the season, bad luck always seems worse on opening point’s night! Hopefully the weather is straightened out, and we can have a long run of Sunday night action. Enjoy the races!
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