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Past the Pit Gate
January 22, 2012 -- Saturday night January 21 Quincy Raceways held
their annual racing banquet at the K of C Hall in Quincy. There was a
large crowd in attendance as six 2011 champions were crowned. Seith
Woodruff captured his first Wild Things track title, and Joe Bliven
took the top spot in the short season IMCA Northern Sport Mod
division.Steve Carlin collected a class record fifth hobby stock
title, and Aaron Brocksieck rode first half dominance into a
championship in the IMCA stock cars. Steven Delonjay added his name to
the list of UMP modified champs, while Justin Reed became the final
IMCA late model title holder in his ninth year of racing.
As has been previously documented, 2012 will be a season of much change at
the .29 mile bullring, with that change starting at the top. The new
ownership group consists of previous co owner Paul Holtschlag, and longtime
track employee Bob Rhineburger. Introduced at the gathering as the new chief
steward/race night director was Bushnell, Il area resident Jake Croxton.
Jake has been a fixture at Tri State area race tracks for several years,
serving as an announcer, flagman and in other capacities.Jake briefly served
in a similar position at QR previously, and will be a solid addition to the
management team.
Of course the most visible changes to the fans will occur on the speedway,
and a couple of those will have major consequences. For the first time ever
over a full season, QR will feature six classes nightly, with the sport mods
competing for a full season. As a result, track champion Bliven has
relinquished his position on the tech inspection crew at the track to
compete full time in the division with his Uppinghouse family owned # 20JB.
And 2012 will see the introduction of the UMP late models as the premier
class for the first time in the history of the 37 year old facility.
Throughout the seasons, the " open " style late models have made more than a
handful of visits, but always in a touring series, or as a one time show.
The changes in rules and procedures will be nothing short of dramatic, but
after conversations with several IMCA track regulars from last season, it
looks as though we should have a solid returning base of drivers making the
switch. In addition, there are lierally dozens of UMP late model racers
within a 150 mile radius of Quincy, several of whom have indicated a desire
to add the Sunday night track to their race week. With UMP, national points
can be earned at any sanctioned track and combined to a drivers total
towards a championship run. The top prize for the late models has been
raised to $1,000 to win and feature race lineups will be handled on a
passing points basis. While the system requires a bit of math, the basic
premise means that no matter where you start your heat race, you can improve
your feature starting spot depending on the number of cars you pass. Both of
these changes have been well recieved by the competitors as one might
expect. Another change that should be a positive is the requirement of
raceivers for 2012. Basically this is a headset the drivers will untilize to
recieve messages from the tower. This can include things such as warning of
an accident ahead, as well as where the driver belongs in a restart lineup.
It is a one way communications device.
The next event for the speedway will be the Quincy Mall car show the
weekend of March 10 and 11, with opening night just three weeks later on
April 1. In between, there will be several practice nights, weather
permitting. The first special race will be a visit by the UMP Northern
All Stars touring series on April 15. The event will pay $2,000 to win, and
central Illinois driver Ryan Unzicker is the defending champion, barely
outpointing third generation driver 18 year old Brandon Sheppard, from New
Berlin,Il.
There were lots of positive comments at the banquet, and I came away
very excited about the upcoming season. Only ten weeks until opening night.
Get those cars ready boys - and girls - and lets go racing!
Past the Pit Gate
There were a pair of errors in my Sunday report that need to be corrected.
Defending IMCA Sport Mod champion Joe Bliven will be campaigning his own
ride for 2012, having purchased a car a couple of months ago, and rumor has
it that the Uppinghouse family car will have a new driver for this season.
Also, Springfield,Il hot shoe Brandon Sheppard, son of Steve Jr. and
grandson of Steve Sr. was the Northern All Stars point champion in 2011.
Ryan Unzicker was the UMP national points champion. Both of these drivers
are possible entrants when the All Stars make their first stop at QR on
April 15.
Apologies for these mistakes, and we will see you at the car show!
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