Racing season continued at Belle Clair Speedway, the cars and fans continue to attend the races
by: Jack Pugh

BELLEVILLE, Ill (April 21, 2006) - As the racing season continued at Belle Clair Speedway, the cars and fans continue to attend the races. There were plenty of fans in the stands and good car counts in the pits. And the action on the track was high-quality.

In the UMP Late Model division, there were 20 cars on hand. In the first heat race, Mark Voigt took the win over Ed Dixon, Don Grimm, Mike Hammerle, Vince Grondzki, Jim Gibson, and Dan Jacborer. In the second heat, Don Klein took another win followed by Rick Salter, Kenny Rumble, Brent Kreke, Kevin Cole, Dan Dondero and Mike Schulte. The third heat saw Brian Wolfmeier with the victory over Rick Standridge, John Paule, Aaron Kleine, Bob Geaschel, and Bob Brown. The dash went to Voigt followed by Dixon, Salter, Klein, Standridge and Wolfmeier.

The 25 lap feature started with the front of Dixon and Standridge. After two unsuccessful tries to start the race, the third time was the charm. Standridge took the early lead from the outside and ran the top of the track. Dixon, Klein and Voigt would be in chase.

The first caution came on lap two as Paule spun in turn four. The running order was Standridge, Dixon, Klein, Voigt and Grimm in the top five.

When the green flag reappeared, Standridge held off Dixon, but Dixon was hounding Standridge for the front spot. Dixon would get the lead on lap four and not look back. The front battle took place on the top of the track as the cushion was there for the drivers to use. As the race was running, Voigt got by Klein for second. There was movement all over the track as two grooves were being used by various drivers, but many were on the top.

The next caution came on lap six as Grondzki began spinning on the front straight and was tagged by Kleine. Grondzki was out for the night. The running order was now Dixon, Standridge, Voigt, Klein and Grimm in the top five.

Once the green came out this time it was racing to the checkered flag. Dixon continued his run up front with Standridge on his rear bumper. Voigt held his own with the rest of the order changing lap after lap. For the second week in a row Rumble made the bottom work for him. Eighth starting Rumble used the bottom of the track to move forward.

Another car on the move was 2005 UMP Rookie of the Year, Cole. Cole started 14 and moved though the field on the bottom and continued to move past car after car.

With Dixon leading comfortably and Standridge in second place, the racing in the pack was were to watch. With Rumble and Cole making the forward movements, those cars were fun to watch.

At the checkered flag, it was Dixon for his second win of the year and 573rd of his career. Standridge finished in second with Voigt, Rumble and Klein rounding out the top five.

In the UMP Modified class, there were 17 cars available to race. In the first heat, Tom Ratajczyk took the checkered flag followed by Marty Smith Jr., Bobby Bittle, Wayne Downing, Brett Korves, Todd McGraw, Steve Ellison, Jason Pritz, and Paul Reinneck. In the second heat race, Chris Gray got the win over Jesse Carson, David Seger, Marty Smith Sr., Dave Sandage, Mark Clary and Chris Smith. The dash saw Ratajczyk with his second win of the night with Bittle, Gray, Carson, Seger and Smith Jr. in tow.

The 20 lap feature started with Gray and Seger on the front row. Gray jumped to the lead at the dropping of the green flag. Carson, Bittle and Seger gave chase.

The first caution came out on lap 10 when McGraw spun in turn two. The running order was Gray, Carson, Bittle, Seger and Downing in the top five.

When the green flag back out, Gray continued to lead, but Bittle was on the move and over took Carson for second. Bittle started to press Gray for the lead and would jump to the front on lap four.

The next slow down came on lap 7 when Seger spun in turn four. The running order was now Bittle, Gray, Carson, Downing and Ratajczyk in the top five. But this restart would take several attempts to get going again as there were numerous problems with the restarts.

Finally the race resumed with Bittle running on the cushion and pulling away. The car on the move was 16th starting Bielong, who missed his heat race due to electrical issues.

The final caution came out on lap 11 when McGraw spun in turn two and was done for the night after the two spin rule. The running order was Bittle, Gray, Carson, Downing and Ratajczyk.

With green back out, Bittle continued his lead with the placing behind him getting shaking up. The big mover was Bielong as he moved into the top five and continued to shuttle cars back. First he moved Ratajczyk back to sixth. Then he overcame Downing for fourth. With the laps winding down, he move to third.

With the checkered flag out, Bittle would go on to take his second feature of the short season. Gray held on for second with Bielong, Carson and Downing rounding out the top five.

In the UMP Sportsmen class, there were 16 cars ready to race. The first heat went to Denny Tribout Jr. followed by Jim Clark, Tommy Smallwood, Mike Harris, Jason Davinroy, Mike Jones, Mike Seymour and David Grzywacz. The second was won by Paul Bauman over Dustin Homan. Joe Volluz, Dave Eaves, Shawn Seymour, Matt Tettaton, Brian Shubirg and Bob Link. The dash went to Tribout Jr. with Bauman, Homan, Volluz, Smallwood and Clark trailing.

The 15 lap feature started with Homan and Volluz on the front row. With the dropping of the green flag it was Volluz to the lead that no one would take away. There were several cautions that would slow down the action, but Volluz would get his first checkered flag of the year. Bauman finished second and gave Volluz a run for the win. The rest of the top five were Tribout Jr., Harris and Homan.