The first feature of the night was the 25 lap UMP Modifieds, with Michael Long and Jake Griffin drawing the front row for the event. Long jumped out front on the drop of the green flag, but was slowed for the first caution of the race before the lap was completed. Dave Wietholder, who started 8th, spun his machine in turn one and collected Danny Lake and Robert Thompson to bring out the caution. On the restart Long again grabbed the lead on the drop of the green over Troy Grotz and Griffin. Just as Long started to pull away from the field the second yellow appeared on the speedway on lap 12. This time Derrick Bangert would spin in turn 1 and collected Tony Dunker. Once again Long moved out into the lead on the restart, with a three way battle for second going on behind him. Disaster would strike Troy Grotz, who was running second, on the restart. Donovan Lodge, who was on the bottom, Steven DeLonjay, who was in the middle after coming from 12th, and Grotz, up top, went into turn 1 three wide. Some contact between the three resulted in Grotz spinning in front of the field. He would also collect the cars of Griffin, who was running 6th, Shawn Deering, Steve Grotz and Bangert. The five car spin rule would be in effect, with all the cars involved getting there spots back if able to continue. But Troy Grotz had a left rear flat and Steve Grotz had front end damaged to end both there nights. Long would grab the lead on the restart, with DeLonjay following close behind. The two car battle would be slowed for the final time on lap 13 for debris in turn 3. Once again Long jumped out into the lead on the restart, with DeLonjay close behind. DeLonjay would make his move into the lead on lap 21, as Long drifted off the bottom of 4 enough to allow DeLonjay to slip by for the top spot. DeLonjay held off the challenges of Long over the final 4 laps to pick up the win. Robbie Reed would finish 3rd, Lodge was 4th, with James Leffew coming from 9th to finish in 5th.
Michael Long (18L) and Steven DeLonjay (35) battled side-by-side in the heat and feature on opening night of 2012 at Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL. At the end of the night DeLonjay would pull off the win in the 25 lap UMP Modified feature over Long.
Jeremy Pundt and Jerry Jansen drew the front row for the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Pundt grabbing the lead on lap 1. Coming out of turn 4 for the second lap the battle for the lead went 4 wide, with Jansen edging out, Terry Houston, Abe Huls and Pundt to lead lap 2. On the completion of lap 2 Andrew Griffin would spin in turn 1 to bring out the only caution of the race. On the restart Jansen jumped back out front, but now had Huls on his back bumper. Huls used the same move as DeLonjay used in the Modified feature to get to the front, as he slipped under Jansen on lap 6 to take over the top spot. Huls would then lead the final 9 laps to claim the win. Houston settled for 2nd, Jansen held on for 3rd, Jeff Mueller came from 10th to finish in 4th, with Ty Hill coming from 8th to round out the top 5.
Abe Huls drove his beautiful pink and green IMCA Stock Car to the season opening win at the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL.
The much anticipated 30 lap UMP Late Model feature was up next, with Brandon Sheppard and Michael Long making up the front row for the event. Sheppard would take advantage of his front row starting spot to edge Long out to lead lap 1. Sheppard looked in control of the race until he entered lapped traffic on lap 9, which allowed Justin Reed to close in on him. Sheppard choose to come off the bottom to go to the top to get by Jake Griffin and Ron Elbe, who were racing side-by-side to stay on the lead lap. Which gave Reed the chance to go to the bottom to grab the lead away from Sheppard on lap 14. But Sheppard would come back on the top side to take the lead back on lap 15. Reed wouldn't give up, as he come off turn 4 to take the top spot back on lap 16. The great battle up front was slowed for the one and only time on lap 18, when the yellow light appeared on the speedway. Disaster would strike Jason Perry, who was running 6th, as he tried to put a lap on Joey Gower and made contact in turn 1 which caused both cars to spin. Perry was sent to the back for the restart. Reed moved back out front on the restart, with Mark Burgtorf moving into second by using the middle grove. By lap 25 the middle grove would go away, which allowed Sheppard to gain the second spot back. But Reed had build up to big of a lead for Sheppard to move into challenge him for the lead. The defending IMCA Late Model track champion would start off 2012 with his first UMP Late Model feature win and the $1,000 weekly top prize to go with it. Sheppard settled for second, Burgtorf was 3rd, Matt Bailey came from 11th to finish in 4th, with Long holding on for 5th.
Charles VanZandt and Bradley Holtmeyer, both rookie competitors in the class, drew the front row for the 20 lap IMCA SportMod feature. Holtmeyer would spin in front of the field in turn 1 on the drop of the green and collected Chris Larson and Jim Gillenwater to bring the caution out. For the restart VanZandt and Dean Kratzer would lead the field to the green only to be slowed again, as Brandon Dale spun in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. Kratzer would move out front on the next restart, with Bobby Anders, another rookie in the class, following behind in second. On the completion of lap 1 the caution would appear on the speedway, this time Michael Joe Bliven and Larson would collided in turn 1. On the restart the backstretch lights would go out to bring the field to red. After a 30 minute delay to get the lights back on, the action would pick back up. Tony Dunker, who started 10th, jumped to the top of the track on the restart to grab the top spot away from Kratzer on lap 2. The yellow lights would appear on the track on lap 7, when VanZandt spun in turn 1. On the restart Larson would spin his machine in turn 1 to bring the caution back out. Dunker once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Kratzer working to hold back Anders for the battle for second. Just as Dunker had built up a full straight-away lead the final caution of the event came out on lap 18, as VanZandt spun in turn 2 to set up a gren-white-checkered battle for the win. On the restart Dunker was able to move back out front to lead the final 2 laps and pick up the win. Tanner Klingele, another rookie driver in the class, came from 7th to slip under Kratzer on the final lap to finish 2nd, Kratzer settled for 3rd, Anders was 4th, with Bliven coming back from the rear to take home a fifth place finish.
Jim Powell and Brian Hoener led the field to green in the 20 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Powell grabbing the lead on lap 1. After the completion of lap 1 Nathan Anders would come to a stop on the front stretch to bring out the first caution. On the restart contact up front caused Hoener, who was running 2nd, to spin in front of the field to bring the caution back out. Powell moved back out front on the restart but was slowed on the completion of lap 2, as Travis Booher spun in turn 1 to bring the yellow out. On the restart Tanner Klingele would jump to the bottom of the speedway to take the top spot away from Powell on lap 3. But disaster would strike Klingele going into turn 1 on the completion of lap 3. Contact from Powell caused Klingele to spin in turn 1 and collected Powell, Jaime Bevill, and Jeff DeLonjay to bring out the caution. All drivers involved were sent to the back for the restart. The yellow would appear for the final time on the restart, as DeLonjay spun in turn 2. Jake Powers, who started 6th, jumped out front on the next restart, with Jeremy Buss, who started 7th, following close behind in second. Powers would hold back Buss over the final 17 laps to claim the win. Booher recovered from his lap 2 spin to come back up to finish 3rd, Nathan Hayes came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Jaime Bevill recovering from the lap 3 crash to take home 5th.
The final feature of the night was the 12 lap Sport Compacts, with Mike Hornung Jr. and Craig Bangert drawing the front row. Hornung Jr. would come to a stop on the top side of turn 2 on the drop of the green to bring out the only caution of the event. On the restart Wesley Rensch, came from 5th, to grab the lead on lap 1 by inches over Bangert. Rensch looked to be heading for the win, when he pulled off on lap 5 with mechanical troubles. Chuck Fullenkamp, who started 9th, inherited the lead and then went on to lead the final 7 laps to claim the win. Seith Woodruff came from 8th to finish in 2nd, Andrew Davis came from 10th to finish in 3rd, Brandon Lambert was 4th, with Kimberly Abbott rounding out the top 5.
Notes from QR: 21 UMP Late Models, 19 UMP Modifieds, 14 SportMods, 13 Hobby Stocks, 12 Stock Cars and Sport Compacts made up the 91 cars signed in for opening night......Shawn Deering started the UMP Modified feature in 15th and passed 8 cars to take home a 7th place finish....Todd Reed came from 18th to finish 8th....Steve Grotz, who was suppose to start 7th, elected to go to the back. Not sure if the move worked out for him, as he was collected up in the lap 12 crash to end his night......After several years of the Late Models going under the IMCA sanctioning and using the spec motor, the 2012 season welcomed in the UMP open motor sanctioning with 21 cars. Justin Reed, the defending IMCA track champion, didn't look as if the change would slow him down, as he made history by claiming the first UMP win....Matt Baily used his IMCA spec legal motor to come from 11th to finish 4th in the feature....Long was driving the 56J car driven by Justin Jennings in 2011. But when Jennings went off to school in North Carolina, the Jennings family put Long behind the wheel for 2012. Long would come home 5th in the final run down....Rickey Frankel came from 13th to finish 9th....Jake Meier made the long pull down from Tipton, IA to get the car ready for the season opening Corn Belt Clash event coming up in a few weeks. He would take home an 11th place finish....Denny Woodworth, who was tabbed as the odds on favorite to win the 2012 track title, struggled on opening night. He would started the feature from 17th and passed 5 cars to finish in 12th....Clint Kirkham had troubles in hot laps which caused him to scratch for the night......Rick Barlow Jr. started the IMCA SportMod feature from 14th and passed 8 cars to take home a 6th place finish....Brandon Ruffcorn came from 13th to finish in 7th....Brandon Dale recovered from his lap 1 spin to finish in 7th.
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