West Burlington, IA (Saturday, July 12, 2014) - For the second year in a row the UMP Summernationals "The Hell Tour" made a mid July visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa on Saturday, July 12th. The winner of tonight's UMP Late Model feature would take home a top prize of $10,000. The weather forecast for the night was bleak, but when hot laps took to the track at 6:20 pm the sun was shining and it was very warm and humid. Thanks to the entire staff and the drivers the show was completed in 2 hours and 20 minutes!
The first feature to take to the track was the 10 lap Midget Lites, with Johnny Murdock and Mitchell Davis leading the field to the green flag. Murdock took advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Davis and Brayden Gaylord. Those top three cars raced side-by-side for the lead over the next 3 laps. When Davis slipped under Murdock on lap 5 to grab the top spot away. Davis then pulled away over the final 5 laps to claim the win in a caution free race. Gaylord won the battle for 2nd, Murdock held on for 3rd, Aaron Schuck was 4th, with Jeff Mallonee coming home in 5th.
Up next was the 40 lap UMP Late Model "The Hell Tour" feature, with Billy Moyer and Chris Simpson drawing the front row for the event. Simpson would take advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Shannon Babb, Brian Shirley, Moyer and Bobby Pierce. Simpson then started to pull away from the field and even started to lap cars by lap 8. But the first caution of the race appeared on lap 11 to bring the field back to Simpson's back bumper. Jay Johnson, who was running 9th, slowed to a stop in turn 1 with a right rear flat to bring out the yellow. On the restart Simpson jumped back out front, with Babb, Moyer, Pierce, and Brian Birkhofer, who started 7th, close behind. The action up front was slowed for the second and final time on lap 11, when a tire was clipped in turn 2 and pushed out into the racing surface to bring out the yellow. Simpson once again moved back out front on the restart, with Babb, Moyer, Birkhofer, and Pierce following behind. Simpson again started to pull away from the field, when he started to enter lapped traffic on lap 22. This would allow Moyer and Birkhofer to close in on him. Despite several attempts by Moyer to get under Simpson over the next 5 laps, Simpson was able to hold him off. But when Simpson jumped the cushion in turn 3 and almost got into the wall, this allowed Moyer and Birkhofer to shoot under him to move into first and second. Moyer then had to work to hold off Birkhofer over the final 22 laps. Despite lapped traffic racing two wide in front of him at times, Moyer was able to hold off Birkhofer to claim the win and the $10,000 top prize. Birkhofer settled for 2nd, Simpson was 3rd, Brandon Sheppard came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Tanner English rounding out the top 5.
The final feature to take to the track was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Creston Williams and Tom Lathrop making up the front row. But it was third place starter Bradley Holtmeyer who grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Williams and Kyle Hill. Williams used the top of the track to take the top spot away from Holtmeyer on lap 2 and then worked to hold him off over the next 7 laps. When the first caution of the race came out on lap 9. Scott Williams would spin down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. On the restart Creston Williams moved back out front, with Holtmeyer and Sean Wyett, who started 8th, close behind. The action up front was slowed for the second and final time on lap 11, as Dakota Simmons spun down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. Creston Williams once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Wyett over taking Holtmeyer for the second spot. With Wyett, who was running the top, and Holtmeyer, who was on the bottom, battling side-by-side for second, this allowed Creston Williams to hold on over the final 4 laps to claim his second career SportMod feature win in as many weeks at the track. Wyett won the battle for 2nd, Holtmeyer was 3rd, Joey Gower was 4th, with Hill coming home in 5th.
Notes from 34: Shannon Babb set fast time in Group 1 Qualifying with a time of 15.356. He was followed by Chris Simpson, Brian Birkhofer, Ryan Unzicker and Dustin Griffin....Billy Moyer set fast time in Group 2 Qualifying with a time of 15.286. He was followed by Justin Reed, Jay Johnson, Tanner English and Jason Riggs....Bobby Pierce set fast time in Group 3 Qualifying with a time of 15.430. He was followed by Brian Shirley, Spencer Diercks, Brandon Sheppard and Jason Feger....Up next was three 10 lap heat races, with the top 5 out of those moving on into the 40 lap A Main. The rest would go to the C Main....Heat race one saw Chris Simpson use his outside front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Babb and Birkhofer. Simpson would hold on to pick up the win. Followed by Babb, Birkhofer, Unzicker, Todd Frank, Jason Rauen, who started 9th, Griffin, Jason Utter, and Robby Warner....Justin Reed also used his outside front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Moyer, English and Johnson. But when Reed jumped the cushion in turn 2 on lap 6, this allowed Moyer to slip under him for the lead. One lap later, lap 7, Reed pulled into the pits with a right rear flat to end his run up front. Moyer would go on to pick up the win. Followed by English, Johnson, Riggs, Brian Harris, Skip Frey, who started 9th, Gary Christian, Reed, and Steve Lance Jr....Just like the two previous heats, Brian Shirley used his outside front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 of heat three. He then held off Bobby Pierce to pick up the win. They were followed by Sheppard, Feger, Diercks, Denny Woodworth, Mark Burgtorf, and Ray Guss Jr.....The 10 lap C Main was up next, with the top 3 out of that race earning a spot in the 40 lap A Main. Rauen jumped out front on lap 1 over Frey, Woodworth and Griffin. While Rauen pulled away from the field the battle was heating up behind him, as Frey, Griffin and Woodworth battled for the final transfer spot. Griffin and Woodworth used lap traffic late in the race to move past Frey to claim 2nd and 3rd, behind winner Rauen....Ryan Unzicker started the A Main in 10th and finished 6th, the only car left on the lead lap....Rauen passed 9 cars from his 16th place starting spot to come home in 7th....Jason Riggs came from 11th to finish in 8th....Griffin passed 8 cars from his 17th place starting spot to finish in 9th....Denny Woodworth also passed 8 cars from his 18th place starting spot to come home in 10th....Steve Lance Jr. got an UMP provisional to start the feature in 19th. He passed 8 cars to finish in 11th....Bobby Pierce, who was running 3rd, pulled off on lap 13 with a broke power steering pump to end his night in 14th....Shannon Babb pulled off on lap 12 with troubles, while running 2nd, to end his run in 15th....Brian Shirley was running 3rd, when he pulled in on lap 7 with troubles to end his night in 18th....Jason Feger's night ended on lap 3, when he pulled off with troubles while running 9th to come home in 21st......Rodney Bliesner returned behind the wheel of a race car tonight, after many years of leaving the sport. He would race one of Johnny Murdock's Midgets, but mechanical troubles early in the feature ended his night in 11th......Bobby Anders started 9th in the SportMod feature and came home in 6th....David Cloke made his debut in the SportMods and started 12th. He would come home with a 9th place finish....Brian Woodruff also made his debut in the SportMods and finished 11th after starting in 14th....The son of past racer Doak Allen Jr., Ethan Allen also made his debut in a SportMod. He would start in 13th and finished in 13th.
A big shout out to the entire staff at 34 Raceway's and the drivers for moving the show along as fast as they did, with weather moving in from the northwest. About 20 minutes after the final checkered fell at 8:40 pm, the skies would open up and poured on the facilities.
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