The lure of two different Late Model divisions on the same night pulled me down to the Quincy Raceway as the PCRA Crate Late Models joined the full regular roster of classes at the quarter-mile on Sunday night. The Crates only pulled in a ten car field and that had to be disappointing for the folks at QR, but for me it was ten more Late Models that I had not yet seen during the 2011 season.
Those ten cars and drivers put on an entertaining 25-lap non-stop feature race with pole starter Bobby Dauderman taking the lead at the drop of the green. Mark Oller kept the pressure on while Nick Lyons worked his way forward from the middle of the pack. Lyons was definitely the man on the move as he drove past Oller into second and then applied the pressure on the leader. On lap twelve Lyons had his nose under Dauderman coming out of turn four and contact put the leader almost completely sideways. Dauderman recovered nicely, drove hard into turn one and drifted up the track to pinch off Lyons who was trying take the lead off the cushion. As the challenger checked up to avoid more contact, Oller seized the opportunity and moved back into second. For the next ten laps Lyons and Oller raced side-by-side for second with Dauderman only three car lengths ahead of them and when Lyons finally cleared Oller for second he ran out of laps to make another run at Dauderman who took the $1,000 victory. Lyons and Oller were next in line followed by Tim Ratajczyk and Dustin Griffin.
The 30-lap IMCA Late Model main saw Darin Weisinger do his best to market his #11 that was sporting a For Sale on the right rear quarter panel tonight. Weisinger was in control until a caution waved on lap ten for a track tire that had been kicked out onto the speedway. On the restart Justin Reed made his move and took the lead while Denny Woodworth soon moved to second. Those two then went at it wheel-to-wheel for several laps similar to what was just witnessed in the race for second in the Crate main and it was Reed's higher line that proved to be superior tonight as he extended his track point lead with the victory. The racing attorney Woodworth settled for second with Matt Bailey in third while Joey Gower nipped Weisinger at the line for fourth.
The UMP Modifieds had an interesting feature to start the night with Brandon Savage leading the first six laps before a caution re-aligned the field in a complete double file formation. Three attempts at restarts all saw Savage lose the lead, but they also all saw another caution before the seventh lap could be completed. The next attempt would be in single file style and Savage retained the lead into turn one only to have his left rear wheel pop off. With the field right behind him the scramble was on with Jared Schlipman making contact and losing his driveshaft while Steven DeLonjay suffered a flat tire as well. DeLonjay's crew changed the tire quickly and Steven restarted ninth on the field as Vance Wilson inherited the lead. Wilson had his own issue as his left rear tire was nearly flat, but he fought it out for the lead with Robbie Reed for the next several laps with Reed leading laps seven and eight, and Wilson nine through eleven before Reed took the lead again on lap twelve. By now DeLonjay was back in the mix and on lap 18 he drove past Reed and then cruised the rest of the way to his sixth win in a row at Quincy. Reed was second with the young speedster Jake Griffin in third. Wilson rode his three-legged horse in for fourth while Ryan Meyer wound up fifth.
Kelly Bartz was the first lap leader, Andrew Griffin paced lap two and Abe Huls tookover on lap three of the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car main event. The nine car field raced those first few laps in tight formation sometimes going four wide before they settled down with Huls going the rest of the way for the victory. Terry Houston was the runner-up with Griffin, Beau Tayor and Jerry Janssen completing the top five.
When the IMCA Late Model feature took the checkers at 9:10 p.m. I headed for home and was back in MP well before 11 making it another enjoyable evening at the Quincy Raceways.
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