Family, Fun, & (of course) Racing

Its been pretty hectic around the Hines household and finding time to do the blog has been nearly impossible but with Bennett napping and Kyle playing with his cousins in the basement I figured I better take advantage of the opportunity.

Last Thursday, July 2nd, I took in my first UMP Summer National race of 2015 and it was at the LaSalle Speedway. The Izzo family did a wonderful job with the track, the program, and the fireworks.

After watching the UMP Modified feature that night and reading the UMP Modifieds results following Thursday night I think Mike Harrison is well on his way to a UMP Modified National Championship. Harrison started on the outside of the front row and immediately grabbed the lead and never looked back. Steven Brooks, Jacob Poel, Ray Bollinger, and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top 5.

I hitched a ride out to LaSalle with the famed announcer, Mike Sunken, and on the way there we were talking about some of the favorites to win and Chris Simpson's name came up. He tried to put Simpson's name into an online contest and replace his previous pick but he couldn't get it to work so he stayed with his original pick. Mike should of kept trying to change.

Simpson would battle with Jason Feger early on but couldn't quite get the momentum to get by Feger until the reached lapped traffic. Simpson used a lapped car to get by Feger and would set it on cruise control after that en route to his second career Summer National win. Shannon Babb would take third followed by Michael Kloos, and Ryan Unzicker.

After a lot of fun with family and friends on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon Kyle and myself found ourselves back at the Quad City Speedway on Sunday night.

A full grandstand and full pits set the stage for an entertaining night of racing. The Street Stocks were up first and Cary Brown looked to be the man to beat for a good majority of the race but Chad Coyne, in his IMCA Stock Car with a 4 barrel on it, had other ideas. Coyne would run Brown down and get by him with four laps to go. Dwayne Smith Jr. would take second followed by Brown, Jeremy Gustaf, and Rick Schriner.

An impressive field of 21 Mod Lites checked in Sunday night. More cars did not generate a new results though and Shon Sanders once again took the checkered flag for the win. Cory Sauerman finished second followed by Jared Miller, Mike Dominguez, and Erik Close.

It was a "long time no see" deal in the IMCA Sport Mods. Jake "The Snake" Waterman hopped in Jacob Beal's car to help figure out the handling issues he'd been having. I think he figured out the problem. It only took Waterman the first three laps to get to the front. Once he got the lead, he checked out. Jarett Franzen, in a borrowed ride, took second followed by Dave Engelkins, Phil Anderson, and Gary Weatherington Jr.

I think "The Shoe" Jim Sandusky is ready to defend his Ronnie Weedon Memorial crown in August. Sandusky dominated the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, leading it wire to wire. Doug Crampton had second place locked down has Jason Bahrs come from the back, on his first night out in 2015, to take third followed by Brandon Durbin and Craig Crawford.

In the IMCA Late Model it looked like Jonathan Brauns was going to pick up his frist career QCS victory but Matt Ryan had other plans. Brauns led early on but Ryan would chase down Brauns, make the pass, and then pull away from the pack for the win. Brauns would still finish a strong second followed by Mike Garland, Andy Nezworksi, and Brunson Behning.

It was again the Dahl and Dahl show in the 4-Cylinders. Brandon would stay on Zach's bumper until Brandon suffered a flat tire. Zach would go pretty much untouched the rest of the way with Dustin Forbes taking second followed by Cameron Poci, Eric Stogdell and Ken Stogdell.

Thank you as always to the Quad City Speedway and K&S Promotions for their continued hospitality. Visit www.qcspeedwayracing.com for everything regarding the Quad City Speedway.

In other news and notes the Inaugural One Night Stand at the LaSalle Speedway on Saturday, August 1st, featuring the IMCA Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, UMP Street Stocks, and UMP Hornets is progressing nicely. If you have any questions regarding the race please feel free to contact me at bradhines81@yahoo.com.

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I've also released the 10th Annual Ronnie Weedon Memorial t-shirts. They are $10 for size youth medium to adult XL, $12 for 2XL, $13 for 3XL, and $14 for 4XL. The deadline to pre-order money is July 15th. You can order them via PayPal at the top of this blog or make arrangements with me to pay before July 15th. There will be a limited selection of shirts available Sunday, July 27th, at the Quad City Speedway and Sunday, August 2nd, at the 10th Annual Ronnie Weedon Memorial night.

This week I will be at the Davenport Speedway Friday night and the Quad City Speedway with my side kick, Kyle. See you at the races!