Late charge helps Birck get back to victory lane in sport mod class at Adams County Speedway

QUINCY — So long, frustration.

See ya later, winless streak.

Hello, checkered flag!

Adam Birck bid adieu to two months of sport mod exasperation Sunday night when he won his first feature since May 8 and did so in exclamation-point fashion.

Birck spent the first 17 circuits of the 20-lap main event in pursuit of leader Kyler Girard. Birck finally pulled even and passed Girard during a door-to-door struggle on lap 18, then gradually worked his way clear of the field to win the Mike Bowen Memorial IMCA Sport Mod Special at Adams County Speedway.

“I’ve been bustin’ my ass the last few weeks working on this car,” Birck said. “I even changed motors. I’m gonna enjoy this victory.”

Birck said he found what he needed with a mid-to-high line run to eventually run down Girard, who wound up crashing on the final lap and being credited with a 15th-place finish in a 23-car lineup.

Shane Paris, Tanner Klingele, Josh Holtman and Brandon Savage rounded out the top five.

“The car just kept getting better and better (as the race developed),” said Birck, who calls Canton, Mo., home. “It was exciting.”

Since he had last won a feature, Birck had notched six runner-up finishes, helping him maintain the sport mod points lead. Birck (419), Klingele (401), Logan Cumby (380), Dakota Girard (376) and A.J. Tournear (348) are the series pacesetters.

“I really think the sport mods are now the premier series at the track,” Birck said. “There are seven or eight drivers capable of winning each and every week.”

Along with the victory, Birck also earned a healthy paycheck. His $1,090 first-place reward boosted his season earnings to a series-best $3,915, overtaking Cumby ($3,800) in the process. Both drivers are on pace to break the sport mod money-earned record of $5,560 won by Tony Dunker in 2012.

The Mike Bowen Memorial was organized by family members to honor Bowen’s 1980-95 career at the track when it was known as Quincy Raceways. Bowen died late last year at age 73.

Other Sunday night winners were Austen Becerra in the modifieds, Mark Burgtorf in the crate late models, Rudy Zaragoza in street stocks and Derrick DeFord in the 4-Cylinder division.

Becerra led flag-to-flag for his fourth series victory of the season — and fourth in the last five weeks. Dave Wietholder and Kenny Wallace finished off the top three.

Becerra withstood a mid-race charge from Wallace, but was able to pull away over the final eight laps.

“I found some moisture in turns three and four that really helped,” Becerra said.

Becerra, who built his points lead over Wietholder to 27 (681-654), said the most enjoyable thing about the season to date is being able to race on his home track — again. The speedway was shut down for two years before reopening in April.

“I only live 20 minutes from the track (in Carthage), so this is all very cool,” Becerra said.

Burgtorf, a 16-time track champ in the old super open late model division, won his first crate late feature at the track. Burgtorf was driving for car owner Lynn Richard of Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

Burgtorf slipped past Timmy Dick on the 18th and final lap. 

Burgtorf, who charged past Dick (who had led the previous nine laps) on the high side, nosed to the front coming out of turn four and held on to the finish line.

“Tonight was my lucky night,” Burgtorf said. 

Denny Woodworth was third and Sam Halstead fourth.

“It was great to be racing again in Quincy,” said Burgtorf, whose appearances at 8000 Broadway have been few and far between after the track dropped the super open late models following the 2017 season.

“It was also great to see the crowd again,” Burgtorf said. “I notice a lot of the crowd has gotten a little older — just like me.”

Zaragoza won his fourth straight street stock feature, leading all 15 laps to turn back Beau Taylor, Jake Powers and Pete Stodgel. Zaragoza improved his series points lead to 382-340 over Robert Thompson.

DeFord’s 4-Cylinder victory was his fourth of the season and third in a row. Kim Abbott finished second, Jimmy Dutlinger third and Jeffrey DeLonjay fourth.

Dutlinger’s third-place showing allowed him to take over the series points lead 440-438 over DeLonjay. Abbott is also in the mix at 431.