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QUINCY, IL. (April 18, 2010) - Sunday April 18 was the first week of regular racing at Quincy Raceways for 2010. Per IMCA rules, however, points for the premier division will not start until this weekend. This coupled with the fact that there were three Summer Series races over the weekend resulted in a bit of a smaller than normal car count in the late model class. At least five of our regulars headed out for the weekend, and only Justin Reed came home for Sunday night’s action. Justin had recorded two top ten runs, but bettered those on Sunday night. Mark Burgtorf did pick up his third series win over the weekend, but should be back at QR this week. 14 late models checked in on Sunday, and as always seems to happen when the car count is down, a major crash in the first heat race sent three cars to the trailer early. Veteran Terry Gallaher in his first night out in 2010 was running up front when he clipped the front stretch wall coming to the white flag. He was collected by Nick Ingalls and Lonnie Bailey. Ingalls appeared to suffer the most damage, but Gallaher and Bailey were knocked out, as well, with Terry suffering a broken A- frame, and Lonnie receiving front end damage. Bailey is now zero for two in feature starts at his home track, where he is the defending champion. But with points racing not yet started, he still has plenty of time to get back to the front of the pack. Son Matt Bailey was another of the four drivers making their first appearance of the year. Veteran racer Darin Weisinger debuted his new late model, sporting a # 11. Darin has raced several different numbers over the years at QR, while racing in various classes. He says he has two more seasons behind the wheel before his son takes over. I would think it would be tough for him to hang up his helmet. The fourth new car belonged to a youngster from the Missouri side of the river. While still just a "kid" Justin Jennings is an experienced pilot. He moved from go karts to asphalt late models, collecting rookie honors last season while finishing sixth in points at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Justin and crew had planned to start at the back of his events and just get some laps, but he qualified his # 56 ride for the feature redraw, and ran a steady main event to come home tenth in his first attempt, and got better as the race progressed. Come feature time, however, no one had anything for Denny Woodworth. The late model lawyer parlayed a heat race win to a front row start in the 30 lapper, quickly topping pole sitter Bill Genenbacher, and cruising through the non stop event in wish all starters took the checkers. Behind Denny the action was tight, and the next four positions were decided with last lap passes. Justin Reed overtook Keith Pratt for second on the final lap for second, and Matt Bailey slipped past Genenbacher for fourth. Vance Wilson made the feature call after scratching from his heat race and scrambling to make repairs. More surprising than the low late model count was a total of only 16 UMP modifieds checked in. This was not the first show I have been to this season where this was the case, and I am wondering if the economy may be having a negative effect on the mods. Or maybe the number of early season specials is the cause. From a fan perspective, a smaller count was certainly not a bad thing. For one thing, all 16 cars made the feature call. And with a field that was high in quality and a few short in numbers, the 25 lap main event suffered only three caution periods, our second successful modified headliner in two weeks. As with the late models, all the starters took the checkers, and the finish was a relatively easy win up front with great action for the next spots. Michael Long capped an amazing weekend with his third win in three nights, at three different tracks in two different cars. Friday nights win was a UMP affair at Tri City Speedway near Granite City, while Saturday night was an IMCA victory in the Jim Gillenwater owned machine. With his second straight win at QR, Michael may be changing his stance on being a part time competitor here this season. Should Michael choose to be a regular, he is going to be very hard to beat, especially with the restructured dash format. Mimicking other UMP tracks, QR now puts the top six cars from the heats - top two from three heats in the dash, and uses the finish to determine the first three rows of the feature lineup. The result will normally put six fast cars up front. One positive from this change we are seeing is fewer caution flags, as the front running cars do not have to come from back in the pack. With fast cars already stacked up front, the race comes down to who is the fastest and smoothest, and so far Michael is the runaway winner. Of course, it is a long season. Dave Wietholder ran a strong race to grab second, while Robbie Reed and Justin Reed - no relation - duked it out for third, with Robbie grabbing the spot late. This had to be satisfying for Robbie, who had to do a lot of front end work after contact during the dash. Steven DeLonjay worked his way into the top five. The IMCA stock car count was a bit disappointing, with 11 competitors signing in. As we begin our third season with this exciting class, we are seeing more local cars, but the travelers have not turned out in large numbers yet. It is good to have Jeff Mueller back as he aims for a national championship in the class. Jeff pulls nearly two hours to race at QR on a Sunday night. The top runners from last year had early season problems, as defending champ Abe Huls dropped a drive shaft in hot laps and missed his heat, while 2009 runner up Kevin Tomlinson had flames shoot from the engine in his # 49 while running third on lap 11 of the feature, ending his night. Former late model pilot Dave Warth, who made the trip from Danville, Iowa, broke his # 3w, and was on the road before feature time. The night belonged to Steve Steinkuhler, as he set a torrid pace to capture the 20 lap finale, leading all but one lap. Teammate Aaron Brocksieck shadowed Steve for most of the race, with Mueller nabbing the runner up spot late. Aaron held on for third, while week one winner Terry Houston coming from the back to fourth ahead of Andrew Griffin, while Huls recovered to run sixth. Rookie Jason Leapley, from Hannibal made his debut with his # 14. All 14 hobby stocks took the green flag in the final race of the night, but the finishing order was determined in post race inspection. For the second straight week, Bobby Anders ran off with the feature win in his very good looking # 20 machine. Bobby made the decision to purchase the professionally constructed chassis in the off season, and it is paying big dividends, as the car seems to stick to the track wherever Bobby puts it. Defending track champion Steve Carlin climbed to the runner up spot, with second year driver Adam Scott rebounding from a bad first week to take third. After that, however, is where the changes came. Travis Booher in his red and white # 38 was credited with fourth, and Jake Powers, who also had a bad first night out, was awarded fifth. Second year driver Tanner Klingele and 2009 point runner up Jim Powell both suffered disqualifications for modifications to their exhaust systems. Creative mechanics has always been a part of racing, and sometimes a step over the line happens. Often times, it is easier to detect in the lower divisions, where the engineering is more “home grown." Kudos to the QR tech staff for checking and enforcing the rules, however difficult it may be. A quick tour of the internet racing sights will reveal too many tracks where serious tech is just a threat and most drivers tell me they prefer racing where the tech is done, and done correctly. Tonight will open the late model points season with a draw, redraw lineup format. Here's hoping for good car counts, good racing, and another final checkered flag at 8:20 would be OK, as well! Enjoy the races.
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