The UMP Late Model Summer Nationals were the headliner, but
a NASCAR veteran and the kid from Quincy driving their UMP Modifieds stole the
show at the Spoon River Speedway near Canton, Illinois, Wednesday night.
With some extra effort by the track crew the high-banked
3/8-mile oval was wide and racy throughout the qualifying events and right on
in to the Modified feature as a field of twenty-two, pared down from the
original count of forty-five, prepared to take the green flag for twenty-five
laps. Just a few moments earlier the huge crowd had watched as teenager Jake
Griffin used the extreme high line on both ends to come from tenth to second in
the B-Main to qualify for this event showing that there was plenty of race
track to choose from. Defending Summit UMP Modified Nationals Series champion
Kenny Wallace was starting on the pole position and he would race out to the
early lead with Michael Long and Jeff Curl in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, back in
the pack, Griffin went right back to work on the high side and picked off
several cars in the opening laps advancing from his tenth row starting spot.
Griffin was just about to crack the top ten when Richie
Biswell spun in turn four to bring out the first caution of the event on lap
eleven. If ever the saying “cautions breed cautions” was to used, it would be
over the next several laps as the yellow waved three more times including a
tangle between frontrunners Donovan Lodge and Erick Bruce that eventually saw
both drivers head back to the pit area well before the checkers waved. When the
race was on Griffin continued to make his move to the front driving around his
elders on the high side and I must say that I was bit surprised that nobody
else joined him up there, especially after he blew past. When the caution waved
for Bobby Allen who decided to park on the top side of turn four with four laps
remaining, Wallace was still out front with Griffin drawing all of the crowd’s
cheers in fifth.
With each lap Jake gained a spot and as the white flag waved
he was up to second and appeared ready to pounce on Wallace for a last lap
surprise from the cushion. But as Griffin made his run off of turn two the
caution waved again as David Wietholder had stuffed his Modified into the wall
on the front stretch. If the green would have stayed out would Griffin have
been able to get around Wallace? Possibly, but now the crowd buzzed as this
would give the kid two laps to make that one last pass that now seemed to be
inevitable. On the restart Jake made a bit of contact with Kenny as they came
off of turn four and he lost some ground as he aimed his car for the topside of
turn one. He must have missed his mark buy just a bit though as the crowd
groaned when Griffin went too high in turn two and drove over the banking
ending his chances to take the win.
The youngster kept his foot in the gas though and popped
back onto the speedway in fifth as Michael Long now decided to try a higher
line on the final lap to see if he could steal away the victory. Wallace was up
to the challenge though as he drove a smooth race from start to finish to
capture the $1,000 top prize. Long and Curl were second and third while Griffin
got back around Allen Weisser on the final lap to finish fourth. In victory
lane Wallace quipped, “I was in the worst spot I could be, I had no idea what
the hell was going on behind me.” Wallace then dedicated the race to his good
friend Jason Leffler who lost his life in a Sprint Car accident one week ago in
New Jersey. The entire Modified field, along with the large crowd, paid tribute
to Gary Cook Jr. during the four-wide parade lap as Wallace left the pole
position open in the Missing Man Formation and we then all pumped our left fist
in celebration just as the former Modified National Champion had done so many
times in his stellar short-track career before losing his battle with cancer
last week.
With Griffin proving that the high side was still fast I
thought that we just might see some drivers up there in the Late Model feature
as well and during the opening laps of the 40-lap finale there were several drivers
who were working that high line. One by one they moved to the bottom though and
when Ryan Unzicker was the last to give up on the top side on lap fourteen the
Spoon River Express was back in business. I have seen so many good races here
over the years, including UMP Summernationals events, but for some reason the
last two years have produced high speed rubbered-up main events and I am not
sure what can be done about it. The track crew definitely put the extra efforts
in tonight working the track twice during the evening and, unlike last year
when it was hot and windy, tonight’s weather conditions could not have been
more perfect.
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| It was a beautiful night for racing in central Illinois |
Brandon Sheppard would go the distance to take the win ahead
of Billy Drake. Jason McBride would finish in the third position, Tyler Reddick
was fourth and Bobby Pierce would take the fifth spot with the top five all
starting in the first three rows. Tim Lance, Randy Korte, Kevin Weaver, Scott
Bull and Shannon Babb would round out the top ten and I do have to mention that
Babb started on the inside of row eight.
With the extra track work there was a break between
qualifying and the heat races, the intermission following the heats was nearly
a half an hour and then the downtime between the Late Model B-Main and the
Modified A-Main that the announcer said would be no more than twelve minutes
ended up being twenty. The result was a final checkered flag that waved on the
two division program around 11:15.
Tonight I stay much closer to home as the Lee County
Speedway in Donnellson celebrates Budweiser Night at the races featuring the
Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for
IMCA Modifieds. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!
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