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Past the Pit Gate.......
by Danny Rosencrans

QUINCY, IL. (May 11, 2010) -  With a bit of luck as the heavy rains missed the Quincy area and a lot of hard work, Quincy Raceways owners were able to get back to racing on Sunday, May 9. While many area tracks suffered through a third straight week of rainouts, the dust was flying in Quincy. As expected, the car count increased quite a bit from the last show. A total of 74 teams signed in, with a solid total of 21 IMCA late models headlining the show. Making their season debut, was Dustin Neese and Dustin Griffin, while modified standout Tony Dunker joined the ranks of two class racers as he began his late model career in his black # 4. Tony had some first night gremlins to work out, but his learning curve figures to be a small one. Jason Frankel was also in a " new " car after heavily damaging his ride at a Summer Series race last month. His car owner, Genenbacher Racing dusted off a used GRT chassis they had in the shop, tacked on a new black body, and sent Jason out to see if the machine had any racing left in it. After a lackluster heat race, Jason lined up 18th on the feature grid and charged up to a seventh place finish, proving once again that the guy can drive! Still, the night belonged to 14 time track champion Mark Burgtorf. Lining up in a draw format for the heat races, Mark found himself on the front row of the first heat. Setting the tone for the night, the top groove was the fast way around, and Joey Gower used his outside starting spot to collect the race win, with Burgtorf second. It would be the only event he was in that Mark did not win. After Robbie Warner and Jason Perry picked up heat wins, Burgtorf grabbed the trophy dash, then drew the outside front row for the 30 lap finale. What looked like a runaway in the making took a new direction when Perry slid up the track on the start to nab the lead and send the # 7B back to fourth. still it was only a temporary set back for Burgtorf, who drove past Nick Ingalls for third, then used a restart to overtake Matt Bailey for second. As the leaders approached traffic on lap 18, Mark dove under Perry and rolled into the top spot. For the remainder of the race, the battle was for second, and it was a classic, with Perry coming back to take the spot on the final lap from the younger Bailey following a green, white checkers restart. Warner drove a solid race to come home fourth, and Griffin debuted in fifth. The restart was also unkind to Ingalls, who fell from sixth to ninth at the flag. Rookie Jason Jennings was having a solid mid pack run in just his second night out before jumping the cushion in turn one. Jason will spend the season racing Friday nights on the 1/2 mile asphalt in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Sunday nights on the .29 mile QR dirt.

 The UMP modifieds presented a 25 car field for the nights activities. Unfortunately, several of them had a hard time getting their cars to stick on the hard,slick track, resulting in a large number of caution periods in the time shortened feature event. Several drivers made their season debut , but several heat race incidents reslted in three car scratching early, and no consolation race was needed. Infact, Travis Griffith qualified his # 1x for the feature, but suffered mechanical issues at the end of the heat, and was unable to make the call. The most dramatic event involved point leader Michael Long pounding the front stretch wall coming to the checkered flag in his heat. Michael was running third and looking to advance to the top two in order to qualify for the dash, which sets the first three rows of the feature. The feature winner in each of the first two nights, Michaels # 18L suffered extensive damage which left him unable to make repairs. James Leffew also had his night cut short by a heat race mishap, and he was headed home before dark. This left 22 cars to start the 25 lapper, and Jared Schlipman jumped to the early lead. The second generation driver gave up the lead on lap two, but the first of many cautions gave him the spot back, and Jared moved to the top of the track and stayed there until the finals checkers on lap 21. It was the first career feature win for the young pilot. Veterans Steve Grotz and Dave Weitholder chased Schlipman throughout, until bad luck befell Grotz, who lost a drive shaft, bringing out the race ending yellow. The breakdown took him from second to 12th at the finish. Weitholder, Shawn Deering, Wyatt Lantz, and Troy Grotz, Steves son, rounded out the top five. Without a lot of fanfare, 11 year old Jake Griffin made his modified debut at QR. Jake competed here once in 2009 with his crate late model, a car that is not compatible with IMCA late model rules. As with that night, Jake stayed smooth and straight as he works to get up to speed. It will be fun to watch his progress over the next few seasons.

 The IMCA stock car field was again abit short with 12 cars, although Danville, Iowa veteran John Oliver Jr. and Kahoka, Mo. driver Derek Sammons made their season debut. All but Jason Leaply started what turn in to an unusual crash filled feature race. Infact, only seven cars were around to take the checkered flag, as the point champion from the seaon one, Jeff Mueller was off the track at the end. Unfortunately, the chaos did not stop there, as apparent winner Andrew Griffin and fourth place Steve Steinkuhler were disqualified in post race inspection. And still it was not settled as a call was made to IMCA headquarters and the folks there determined there had been an error in the rule book. So the win went back to Griffin, with Terry Houston going from second to first and back to second. Defending point champ Abe Huls wound up third, Stenkuhler was back in fourth, and Jerry Jansen completed the first five spots.

 The 16 car hobby stock feature was somewhat less eventful, with 15 year old Tanner Klingele leading the entire 20 laps - didn't the feature used to be 15 laps? - It was a big win for Tanner, another second generation driver,whose only other main event win came as a result of a disqualification of another car late in the 2009 season. His only serious challenge came from Travis Booher, as the two pulled away from the pack. In the tech area, Booher was found to be outside the rules, the third DQ of the evening, but the only one that has apparently held up. This moved Jimbo Powell into the runner up spot. Ironically the top two were victims of the tech man earlier this season. Mike Wiley, defending champion Steve Carlin, and Jake Powers trailed the leaders. The point leader and winner of the first two features of the year, Bobby Anders dropped out early while running deep in the pack. There were two new entries on the night, including Hannibal veteran Jim Brown, and Josh Tripp, who pulled his # 89 down from West Burlington, Iowa.

 Racing continues this Sunday with an advertised starting time of hot laps at 5:00 and racing at 5:30. See you then!