Quincy, IL (Sunday, July 7, 2019) - The UMP Summer Nationals, also known as "The Hell Tour", along with the Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals made their stop at the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois on Sunday, July 7th. And finally mother nature would co-operate with no rain in the forecast.
As I arrived to the track and took a walk thru the pit area to see who was signed in for competition, one driver stood out as a surprise to me. That would be the driver of the 157 out of Winfield, Tennessee, Mike Marlar. Yeah, Mike has ran a few of the tour races, but I didn't expect him to make the trip over to Quincy on a Sunday night. His trip would pay off at the end of the night, as he stood in victory lane and collected a check worth $5,000. More about how Mike claimed the win coming up shortly.
First up was the 25 lap UMP Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals feature, with Tyler Nicely and Nick Hoffman leading the field to green. But it was third place starter Dave Wietholder who grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Nicely and Hoffman. While most of the field chose to work the bottom of the speedway, Hoffman went to the top to try and get the top spot. The move would pay off for Hoffman on lap 7, as he used the momentum off the top of turn 4 to grab the lead. As Hoffman stayed committed the the high side of the track, his chasers would stay glued to the bottom. Which allowed Hoffman to pull out to a full straight-away lead thru lapped traffic. Just as it looked like Hoffman would cruise to an easy win, the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 21. A cone was clipped in turn 4 and dragged down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hoffman jumped back out front, with Nicely and Wietholder glued to his back bumper. Despite Nicely trying to get under Hoffman over the final laps, Hoffman would hold him off to claim his sixth Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals win of the season. Nicely settled for 2nd, Wietholder was 3rd, Michael Long was 4th, with Kenny Wallace completing the top 5.
Rusty Schlenk and Bobby Pierce led the field to the drop of the green in the 40 lap UMP Summer Nationals Late Model feature. Schlenk would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Brian Shirley and Kyle Bronson. The action up front was slowed for the first time of the event on lap 3, as debris down the backstretch brought out the yellow. On the restart Shirley got under Schlenk to take over the top spot, with Mike Marlar, who started 5th, battling Schlenk for the runner up spot. The pace that Shirley was setting brought lapped traffic to him on lap 11. While Schlenk and Marlar battled for second, Shirley had pulled out to over a three second lead. That lead was wiped away on lap 21, as David Jaeger spun in turn 2 to bring out the second and final caution of the race. Shirley jumped back out front on the restart, with Marlar and Schlenk close behind. While Shirley worked the bottom of the track, Marlar worked the middle groove to try and take the top spot away. Coming off turn 4 to complete lap 26 Marlar would edge out Shirley to take the lead. Marlar would use the lapped traffic to his advantage to pull away over the final laps to pick up the win and the $5,000 check to go with it. Shirley was 2nd, Schlenk was 3rd, Frank Heckenast Jr. started 7th and finished 4th, with Pierce finishing in 5th.
The 30 lap IMCA SportMod feature was the final event of the night, with Reed Wolfmeyer and Tanner Klingele making up the front row. Klingele used his starting spot to his advantage to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Wolfmeyer and Tyler Burton. The action was slowed on lap 2, as Michael Goodwin spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Klingele moved back out front, with Terry Wilson and Wolfmeyer following. Just as Klingele started to put some distance on the runner up spot, the second caution of the race appeared on lap 5 to bring the field back to him. Nathan Bringer would slow down the backstretch to bring out the yellow. Once again Klingele grabbed the lead on the restart, with Daniel Fellows and Adam Birck, who started 10th, now glued to his back bumper. Fellows and Birck would follow in Klingele's tire tracks, waiting for him to make a mistake. When the third caution of the race slowed the pace on lap 11. This time Gary Stephenson would spin in turn 1 to bring out the yellow.
On the restart Klingele jumped back out front, with Birck over taking Fellows for the runner up spot. While the top runners worked the bottom of the track, Austen Becerra, who started 17th after having a flat tire in the heat race, went to the top of the track to work himself to the front. On lap 17 Becerra would take the runner up spot from Birck, and then 1 lap later, lap 18, he got passed Klingele to take over the top spot. One lap after that, lap 19, Brandyn Ryan spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Becerra jumped back out front on the restart, with Klingele and Birck close behind. The only thing to slow Becerra down was another caution, as Michael Benjamin stopped down the front stretch on lap 26 with a left rear flat to bring out the yellow. Once again Becerra moved back out front on the restart, with Birck over taking Klingele for second. Just when it looked like Becerra would pull away for the win, the caution light came on on lap 29 to set up a one lap shootout. Derek Goble would spin in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Becerra got a great restart to hold on over the final lap to claim the $1,000 win. Birck was 2nd, Wolfmeyer was 3rd, Klingele was 4th, with Fellows coming home in 5th.
Notes from Quincy: Will Krup started the Modified feature in 9th and would finish 6th....Shawn Deering came from 13th to finish in 7th....Bill Roberts Jr. finished 11th after starting in 14th....Josh Newman started 18th and finished 12th....Dugan Thye came from 20th to finish 13th to earn the hard charger award....Ronnie Yelton had troubles in his heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature......Rickey Frankel won the hard charger award in the Late Model feature, after starting in 16th and finishing in 8th....Jamie Wilson came from 12th to finish in 9th....Rusty Griffaw made 1 lap and pulled off....Denny Woodworth, Melvin Linder and Jason Feger to the green and then pulled off on the backstretch to end their nights early......Michael Goodwin recovered from his spin on lap 2 of the SportMod feature to come back up to finish 7th....AJ Tournear came from 14th to finish in 8th....Austin Poage finished 11th after starting in 19th....Dalton McKenney had troubles after his heat that forced him to scratch from the feature.
I would like to thank Jason Goble and his staff for the great hospitality. Every time I make the trip down to Quincy Raceways Jason and his staff are always very welcoming.
Wednesday, July 10th will kick off my first of three county fair races for this week, as the Knox County Fair race in Knoxville, Illinois will be up first. Late Models and Modifieds will race for $1,000 to win. While the SportMods race for $500 to win and the Stock Cars race for $400 to win. Also added is the Sport Compacts. Then on Thursday, July 11th it's off to the Lee County Fair in Donnellson, Iowa. The Sprint Invaders will be the headliner, with the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Sport Compacts also in action. Friday, July 12th will end my fair week at the Scotland County Fair in Memphis, Missouri. In action will be the Modifieds, Stock Cars, SportMods, Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts. I hope to see you at least one, if not all of those fair events!
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