Another steamy day in our current heat wave sent the drivers and crews to the Adams County Speedway just East of Quincy Illinois for another round of the "Hell Tour", UMP Summer Nationals on Wednesday night, June 19th. Along with the Late Models, the Summit Modified Nationals would be back in action after having taken the previous night off while the program would be rounded out with the IMCA Sport Mods and a new class for the track this year, the Crown Vics also in action.
The Hell Tour has been pulling in nice numbers for their shows so far this year and in this prime UMP territory with lots of Late Models available, it was no surprise that thirty two would sign in to race which resulted in the four heat, B Feature format. Twenty two Modifieds also signed in including drivers that towed all the way from Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, seamingly for just fifteen hundred dollars to win. The other two classes had smaller numbers but on a week night, in all honesty, their presence could have been excluded except other than to provide them the chance to participate in such a special event.
Fifteen of the top twenty in current Hell Tour points were on hand with just a few of the Outlaw regulars, now transitioning back into their regular race schedule, not a part of the program on this night. The Modifieds, on the other hand, can throw out more of their shows and for that reason, the top two in current points were not on hand for the Adams County race with third place point runner Trevor Neville the top point driver on hand.
He may be in his sixties and perhaps his best days are past, but Billy Moyer can still wheel a race car as he set the quick time of the evening with a lap of 13.264 seconds while Tyler Erb, as the thirty first driver to hit the track for qualifying, somehow still managed to set quick time for the second group, even though his lap was two tenth of a second slower than Moyer's had been.
Both drivers would see their evening go downhill after the strong start they made in heat race action. Moyer would get swallowed up by a wild first heat where drivers were really pushing the issue and he ended up third in his heat. Erb was the victim of an ill conceived slider by Tyler Clem as they battled for the lead in heat race number three. Erb spun and had to go to the back of the pack and while he was able to recover and finish fourth, he then was buried in the feature and on the tight quarter mile here, going from fourteenth to get a win was not likely in the cards, particularly when the main would go non stop.
On this warm night, the track prep crew was really working hard, doing their best to keep moisture in the racing surface and keep the dust from blowing into the grandstand because, unfortunately, we had a South wind blowing and that was right into the main grandstand. There would be no complaints about the racing surface and while it seemed to take rubber later in the Late Model feature, it did so in an entertaining way as drivers were still able to use different grooves and not all just file up on the inside of the track.
The Modified main was first to the track and tv personality Kenny Wallace, who started on the outside pole, got the jump on Neville to take the early lead. Local driver Michael Long, who started fourth, was quickly on the move as he drove up to second and began to close on Wallace. The inside line seemed to be working best at this point and while Wallace started to slide up the track, Long was able to keep his car nailed to the inside line and on lap six, he drove into the lead.
Once in front, he immediately was able to put distance on the pack as Wallace fought to retain the second spot. When the yellow flew, back to back with eleven laps completed for minor spins and stalled cars, Tyler Nicely had worked his way into second with Neville also getting past Wallace for the third spot.
The final fourteen laps ran off without a stoppage and Long was the class of the field, pulling away and not really being challenged the rest of the way as he drove on for the win. A good battle for second saw Nicely hold off Neville for that position with Hunt Gossum coming home fourth ahead of Wallace. Twenty drivers took the green and all but one were still on the track at the finish with only two a lap behind.
Late Models were then called to the track and twenty two of them took the green for their thirty lap main, paying five grand to the winner. Daryn Klein had redrawn the pole position and for the second straight night would start the main right up front. Battling back from last night at Davenport when he went right off the end of the track on the opening lap, this night at Adams County he grabbed the lead and was up front for the opening four rounds. Mas McLaughlin started fourth and was in a rush to the front, really pushing hard in the corners. He and Klein then jockeyed back and forth for the lead, each taking turns at holding down the front spot for about a four lap stretch until McLaughlin finally gained he edge on the outside lane and established his lead.
Klein and Jason Feger then battled for quite a stretch for second until Feger would finally claim the spot and then try to track down the leader. Garrett Smith was running in the top five when he suddenly slowed and pulled off the track which then elevated Clay Stuckey and Will Roland.
McLaughlin was running a risky high side line on the track and a couple times he almost jumped the cushion which allowed Feger to close in on him and as the track appeared to start to take some rubber, the high side line made it even more of a challenge for McLaughlin to fight off Feger.
The laps continued to wind down though, as the race remained under the green and McLaughlin adjusted his line some, moving to the middle of the track and keeping his momentum up and Feger could not get under him to challenge, although he did come close several times. The last few laps saw Stuckey finally get past Klein for third and he appeared to be the fastest car on the track at that point as he started to close on both the leaders.
Feger continued to hug the inside and try to close the gap but McLaughlin had figured out where to run and as he kept his momentum up, he again started to pull away slightly and he then drove on for the win, with not a yellow flag to slow the action. Feger, Stuckey, Klein and Roland completed the top five with only six drivers not finishing off the event.
The local Sport Mods had enough drivers entered for a pair of heats and their main event. They also did a good job of running off their main with just a single yellow flag to slow the action. Nicholas Profeta drew the pole position and he then managed to stay out front for the first part of the race. In fact, at the halfway point of the race, he was still leading but his advantage was starting to be narrowed by Reed Wolfmeyer who had started on the outside of row two and was working the high side of the track. Gradually, after getting past Logan Cumby for second, Wolfmeyer started to close on the leader as he stuck with that high side and on lap twelve, he was able to drive past into the lead.
Just two laps later, the lone yellow flew for a slowing car but on the green, Wolfmeyer would again pull away and then drive on for the win. Profeta managed to hold off Cumby for second with Dakota Girard and Tanner Klingele rounding out the top five.
Wednesday night would mark my first chance to see the Crown Vics live and in person. This class I believe started in the Southeast and as tracks struggle with developing new drivers and finding economical ways for drivers to break into the sport, this class has picked up steam with more and more tracks adding the division.
I believe that Adams County just added the class after they started the season and have only raced here a couple of times. There were six of them on hand on Wednesday with the winner making his first appearance of the season.
It would not be surprising that a Delonjay would be racing in this class as that family has raced in just about every class running in this area and on Wednesday, Jeffrey made his first run and would blow away the field, winning by a full straightaway over the pack. It was not a spell binding race but I will remain objective and not make a decision until I see the class in action more than once. The one good thing about this class is that the cars are rear wheel drive and would certainly teach a young driver more about dirt track racing than the front wheel drive Hornets, Sport Compacts, Tuners or whatever else name you want to give that class.
I want to thank promoter Jimmy Lieurance for a very friendly welcome and also to the rest of his staff for their help. They had a very nice crowd on hand for their Summer National event and did a good job of getting everyone in and out of the track in a prompt and orderly manner. They. along with the Summer Nationals officials ran off a nice quick show, something appreciated on a week night. Despite the tough conditions, they did a good job of keeping the track racy and after they blew off the initial crumbs, there was little dirt in the stands too. And after all, this is still a dirt track, right?
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