After spending two long and entertaining days at the Iowa High School Co-Ed State Track & Field Meet in Des Moines, I was ready to get back to the dirt track and Sunday's intriguing tripleheader at the Adams County Illinois Speedway in Quincy had my attention. When Matt Curl purchased the MARS Late Model Series he decided to add the Modifieds to the fun as well, and that is fortunate since the American Modified Series that had been contested for the past several years had closed shop. So not only would the MARS Late Models and Modifieds be making the trip to the "Bullring on Broadway" on Sunday, so too would Dewain Hulett's HART Limited Modified Series that is now in its second year of competition with rules allowing drivers from UMP, IMCA and USRA to all race together.
My thought would be that I would see several drivers that I usually only read about all racing at a track that is still relatively close to me and that assumption rang true with 24 Late Models, 29 Modifieds and 32 Limited Modifieds filling the pits that surround the quarter-mile oval. A nice crowd was on hand as well with near perfect weather for racing other than a bit stronger than predicted breeze from the south that allowed me to take some of the speedway dirt home with me.
With the event streaming live on FloRacing, the Late Models would be up first come feature time with series point leaders Jason Feger and Ryan Unzicker drawing the front row for the forty lap, $5,000-to-win event. They were also the two winners thus far on the weekend with Feger taking Friday's show at Kankakee while Unzicker had topped the field on Saturday in Charleston. Even with those two starting up front, many of the fans had their eyes set on Tyler Erb who decided to get another night in prior to the Show-Me 100 weekend and he would start from the sixth position as Unzicker raced out to the early lead.
Feger would stay close to the leader while Erb worked his way up to third and by lap twelve the leaders would start having to deal with the back of the field. Two laps later Doug Tye would spin in turn three and while Unizcker and Feger were able to avoid, Erb would make contact and come to a halt as the caution waved. By rule this would send the Texan to the rear of the pack where he would only get back up to sixteenth at the finish.
Jonathan Huston would slip off the top of turns three and four on lap seventeen to produce the second and final caution of the race and once back to green Feger would continue his pursuit of the leader. Jason would take a peek to the inside a couple of times, and was ready to pounce should Ryan make a mistake in traffic, but that would never come as Unzicker cruised to his second win in a row and add a bit to his MARS series point lead. Feger was right behind him in second with Tommy Sheppard Jr. joining them on the podium. Veteran driver Rodney Melvin was the Hard Charger of the race coming from twelfth to fourth while Indiana driver Rich Dawson nipped Jake Little at the line by inches for fifth.
The MARS Modified headliner would be up next for thirty laps with front row starters Kyle Steffens and Josh Harris setting a quick early pace. The only caution of the race would wave on lap ten when Jacob Rexing went for a spin in turn two and once back to green it would be Kentucky drivers Harris and Tyler Nicely giving chase to the leader.
Steffens was smooth through traffic and when Harris was able to pull nearly even with him with just four laps remaining, he kept his composure and fought off that challenge. Nicely would then steal the second spot and he too would make one last charge at the leader on the final lap, but there would be no getting by Steffens who also padded his series point lead with a victory here at Quincy. Nicely and Harris would go two and three with Michael Long finishing where he had started in fourth. Trevor Neville would fill out the top five.
Twenty laps was the scheduled distance for the HART Limited Modifieds with pole-sitter Damian Kiefer leading the first of those. However, after a back marker spun in turn one on lap two something apparently broke on the leader's car as he too had stopped in turn four and it would be Dakota Girard who would be scored as the leader on the first lap after the restart. The 2022 UMP Modified track champion here at Quincy and last year's All Iowa Points Modified Champion Austen Becerra was behind the wheel of Logan Cumby's #8c Sport Mod for tonight and he would power past Girard to take the lead on lap three.
The caution would wave again on lap seven when Kyler Girard slowed and on the restart four cars starting near the back of the field would be scattered about the front stretch requiring another caution. With the writing on the wall I decided to start my trip home at 9:50 figuring that Becerra would be in control and that assumption was proven correct when I checked the results after getting home. Reed Wolfmeyer, who was second at the time of my departure, finished in that position after starting sixth. St. Louis area driver Matthew Edler came from eighth to third, Chris Spalding started eleventh and finished fourth while Tanner Klingele battled his way back up to fifth. Klingele and Blaise Lewis had tangled on the first try at a start with both having to go to the rear of the field.
A big thank you to Jim and Tammy Lieurance for their hospitality and, knowing that grandstand parking needs to be efficient whenever a big crowd is expected at Quincy, Jim was one of those out directing traffic as I arrived an hour before hot laps proving that he is one of those promoters who does it all. It was also a pleasure to meet and speak with MARS series announcer Mike Norris, one of the best there is who also handled the Limited Mods on this night with Quincy's regular voice Doug Mealy still recovering from a serious health scare. I heard though that Doug is expected to be back on the mic next week and that is definitely great news!
Next up on my schedule is a trip to the Moberly Motorsports Park tomorrow night as they kickoff their unique "Trophy Tuesdays" series as you just don't see much for mid-week racing in the Show Me State. Then on Sunday night we look forward to kicking off the 2023 season for the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway west of Burlington. Hope to see you there!
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| Young Charlie Mefford who made a name for himself with a classic interview after rolling his car at the Dome was at Quincy and won the Modified B-Main before finishing thirteenth in the A. |
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| John Stanton towed this sharp looking car up from the St. Louis area to compete in the HART Limited Modified portion of the tripleheader, |
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