Quincy, IL (Sunday, May 5, 2019) - On Sunday, May 5th the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois welcomed the Lucas Oil MLRA Series for the first time ever. After a stop in Stuart, Iowa on Thursday night and a trip to West Liberty, Iowa on Saturday night attrition played a tole on the car count. Out of the eighteen driver's signed in, only 6 remained with perfect attendance on the MLRA Series.
The 20 lap IMCA SportMod feature was up first, with Adam Birck and Justin Ebbing leading the field to green. Birck took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Ebbing and Austen Becerra. Just after lap 1 was scored the first of many cautions appeared, as Brandon Niekamp spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Birck jumped back out front, with Ebbing and Becerra close behind. Randy Dickman would spin in turn 4 on the completion of lap 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Becerra lost the handle of his race car and spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Birck move back out front, with Daniel Fellows, who started 6th, and Terry Wilson, who started 7th, both getting by Ebbing to take over second and third. One lap later, lap 6, Austin Poage spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Birck grabbed the lead on the restart, with Fellows and Ebbing now following him. Then just after the lap was scored complete another caution appeared, as Matthew Edler went over the track in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the yellow.
On the restart Birck moved back out front, with Fellows and Ebbing close behind. Once again just after the lap was completed, another caution came out. Poage spun in turn 4 to bring out his second caution of the race to end his night. Birck once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Ebbing and Wilson getting by Fellows for second and third. Disaster would strike Fellows on lap 10, as Tanner Klingele got into his right rear coming off turn 4. The contact would turn Fellows head on to the front stretch wall and then collected Adam Niekamp to bring out the yellow. Fellows would climb from his heavily damaged car okay. On the restart Birck jumped back out front, with Ebbing and Wilson following. The final caution of the race appeared on lap 13, as Nathan Bringer, who was running 4th, spun off the top of the track in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Birck once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Ebbing and Wilson close behind. Birck would go on to lead the final laps to pick up the win. Ebbing was 2nd, Wilson was 3rd, Klingele was 4th, Bringer was 5th, Matthew Edler was 6th, with Kelly Bartz finishing 7th, the final car left on the track out of the sixteen starters.
Up next was the 40 lap MLRA Late Model feature, with Kyle Bronson and Bobby Pierce making up the front row for the event. Pierce would use his starting spot to his advantage to grab the lead on lap 1 over Bronson and Brian Shirley. The fast pace that Pierce was setting early on would put him in lapped traffic on lap 7. While Pierce struggled to maneuver thru the lapped traffic, Bronson and Shirley would close to his back bumper on lap 15. Two laps later Bronson slipped high in turn 1, which allowed Shirley to get by for the runner up spot. By the midway of the race the track locked down around the top of the track, which would show the patience of Pierce to get by lapped traffic over the next 16 laps. On several laps Pierce would slow going into the corners to maintain the high side of the track, even as lapped traffic ran his line. This would allow Shirley to look under Pierce coming off the corners. But with the track be top dominate, Shirley couldn't make the pass. Pierce would get the clear track his was looking for on lap 36, when Joseph Gorby spun in turn 4 to bring out the only caution of the race. On the restart Pierce jumped back put front, with Shirley and Dennis Erb Jr. following. Pierce then went on to lead the final laps to make a clean sweep of the weekend with the MLRA Series. Shirley was 2nd, Erb Jr. was 3rd, Bronson was 4th, with Logan Martin being the highest MLRA regular finisher in 5th.
The final feature to take to the track was the scheduled 18 lap IMCA Stock Car/Street Stock feature. But after lap 11 and 9 cautions the event was time limited out. Craig Bangert and Scott Jordan would lead the field to the green flag, but just as the green was waved the yellow light came on. Bangert was called for jumping the start and was sent to the rear of the field. This would move Beau Taylor to the pole for the next restart. On the restart Kyler Girard and Bangert got stuck together in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. The next restart saw Taylor take advantage of being moved to the pole, by jumping out front on lap 1 over Jordan and Jesse Wegs. The action was slowed on lap 4, when Micheal Larsen went over the track in turns 3 and 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Pete Stodgel and Larsen spun in turn 3 to bring the yellow light back on. Taylor would grab the lead on the next restart, with Jordan and Wegs following. One lap later, lap 6, Jacob Bowen spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. Taylor once again jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Jordan and Shane Richardson, who started 8 and was the only driver working the bottom of the track, following.
Bangert had worked his way back up to 7th on lap 8, after being sent to the rear on the start for jumping, but he would go over the track in turns 1 and 2 and fell back to 10th. One lap later, lap 9, he then spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Taylor moved back out front, with Jordan and Wegs close behind. Then just after the lap was scored complete another caution appeared, as Bowen spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Taylor once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Jordan and Wegs still following. Just after the lap was scored complete Stodgel and Bangert spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. This would brig the event to an end, as the time limit was up. Taylor was given the win. Jordan was 2nd, Wegs was 3rd, Richardson was 4th, with Dakota Girard coming home in 5th.
I would like to thank Jason Goble and his staff at the Quincy Raceways for allowing me to come down and cover the action. The next open Late Model event scheduled in Quincy is on July 7th, when the UMP Summernationals Tour makes a late stop at the track.
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