Burgtorf Still The Master at Quincy; Tomlinson Tops Stocks

Late Model drivers have known for the past several years that when you come to the Quincy Raceway the man to beat is Mark Burgtorf. So it was no surprise on this Thursday night that it was Burgtorf who parked in victory lane after the fifty lap main event for stop number three of the 2009 Deery Brothers Summer Series.

Ray Guss Jr. took the early lead and held off a challenge from Terry Schlipman who is filling in for an injured Tom Goble. Burgtorf slipped past Schlipman on the highside on lap seven and then went to work on Guss for the lead. On the eleventh circuit of the beautifully prepared quarter-mile Burgtorf had a nice run off the cushion of turn four only to have Guss shut the door at the flagstand. Two laps later the scene was repeated, but this time Burgtorf was able to squeeze between the leader and the wall donw the frontstretch and he completed the pass off turn two. With no cautions the remainder of the distance Burgtorf worked traffic like a pro and opened up a full straightaway advantage.

The battle for second was a good one to watch as Jeff Aikey and Jason Frankel joined Guss in traffic. Guss made a nifty move on a lapped car late to put some space on his challengers and he wound up a distant second to Burgtorf. Frankel, who started fifteenth, picked up the third spot with Aikey finishing fourth. Local favorite Jerry "the hippie" Weisenberger completed the top five.

Ron Elbe (3) and Dustin Griffin (20) battle in qualifying action - BWJ Photo

Tom Darbyshire (42) and Joey Gower (31) were two of the nine cars that finished on the lead lap placing 7th and 9th respectively - BWJ Photo

It was just a couple of years ago when I watched Kevin Tomlinson dominate Burgtorf and the rest of the field to win the opening night Late Model feature here at Quincy and that was following a season where he chased the Deery series in quest of the rookie-of-the-year honors. This year Tomlinson has decided that an IMCA Stock Car better fits his racing budget and in his first two outings he has served notice that there is a new contender in the division. After finishing third on opening night Tomlinson picked up his first career Stock Car victory on this night as he passed Abe Huls with only two laps remaining. Huls held on for runner-up honors followed by another Stock Car rookie Terry Houston. Chris Wibbell and Jason Cook completed the top five while Jeff Mueller, who won on opening night here April 12th, finished sixth. Mueller suffered a flat tire in his heat race and started the feature race from the seventh row.

Jim Powell completed an entertaining night of racing by taking the Hobby Stock checkered flag that flew at 9:50 p.m.

Andrew Griffin (25) works the low groove under Steve Steinkuhler (04s) in IMCA Stock Car action at Quincy Raceway - BWJ Photo

"Q" Notes…..The event was originally scheduled for Sunday April 19th, but was washed out by rain. The track dodged a bullet with the weather on Thursday when an upper air disturbance tracked from Kansas City to Chicago with a cluster of storms that passed about fifteen miles north of the speedway…..Forty Late Models were on hand tonight giving the series an average car count of 55.7 after three events……Quincy drivers (Burgtorf and Frankel) have won all three Deery events so far in 2009. We’ll see if that streak continues on Wednesday May 20th at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison…..Burgtorf started eighth in the first heat and passed Justin Kay on the final lap for the third and final transfer spot.….Frankel came from tenth to fifth in heat two and then ran second to Lonnie Bailey in the first B-Main. In the feature he made a big move early coming from row seven up to eighth in the first seven laps.….Schlipman started sixth and passed Darrell DeFrance late to win the fourth heat race. Jeff Aikey came from row five to qualify third in that same race..…Keith Pratt put his Late Model on its roof after jumping the cushion in turn one early in the second B-Main....Billy Genenbacher was running strong in a transfer spot in that second B before mechanical issues put him on the sidelines. Denny Woodworth capitalized on Genenbacher’s misfortune and passed Dustin Griffin coming to the white flag for the final transfer spot.

Thanks to the Quincy Raceway staff for their great hospitality and a very well run show on a very racy surface!

Check the ad our homepage at http://www.positivelyracing.com/ for the season opener at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Friday night. Perhaps we’ll see you there?