Improvements on agenda for 2023 as Adams County Speedway closes remarkable season in return to racing

QUINCY — The curtain had barely fallen late Sunday night on the 2022 dirt-track season at Adams County Speedway when talk began about what lies ahead in 2023.

“We have a busy offseason planned,” said Jim Lieurance, who along with his wife, Tammy, had just completed their first year of operating Adams County Speedway.

The track staff faces an ambitious offseason schedule that starts Tuesday and will include removing old barriers along the backstretch and replacing them with a 250-foot concrete wall, improving track lighting, finalizing sponsorship for a new scoreboard and getting the necessary legal OKs for gaming machines that will be open “six or seven days a week” to provide an additional revenue stream for the facility.

A number of improvements are also planned for the karting track that sits northeast of the principal .295-mile racing site, plus new restroom and concession facilities in the main pit area. Work on the track itself is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving, the date Lieurance wants to have the racing surface sealed for the winter.

“Mother Nature needs to be kind,” Lieurance said. 

Those in attendance Sunday night gave track workers and officials several ovations for not only reopening the site after a two-year shutdown, but for creating a quality facility that drew raves across the region.

“For the first year, we have been very pleased,” Lieurance said. “We had a few hiccups, but we worked through them.”

Lieurance said St. Louis resident Kenny Wallace, the former NASCAR driver and Fox TV analyst who ran more than half of the speedway’s 21 dates this season, has already informed him that Quincy will be his home track in 2023.

“We’re also hearing from a lot of potential new sponsors who want to be part of next season,” Lieurance said.

Lieurance said next season will feature the same five weekly classes, plus the planned addition of Super late models and the HART limited modified series once a month.

“We’re also looking at having more specials to go with the return of the UMP Summer Nationals Hell Tour, the MARS late model series and Sprint Invader sprint-car series,” Lieurance said.

Increased purses are planned in at least two weekly series, the modifieds and 4-Cylinder cars.

Lieurance said he expects increased numbers in all weekly series, but points to the crate late models and stock cars as two classes that could see major bumps.

“Judging by the number of cars being built, I think we’ll see between 15 and 20 crate lates a week,” he said. “The stock cars should climb to about 15.”

Lieurance said more specific details about next season should be available late this year, with the 2023 schedule finalized shortly after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

On the track Sunday evening, the year’s final feature winners were won by Braden Bilger in the crate lates, Austen Becerra in the HART series limited modifieds (sport mods), Robert Cottom in street stocks and Garet Williamson in the Sprint Invader 360 sprints.

Becerra led the final 17 laps to cement his standing as the winningest driver at the speedway this season.

Becerra, the reigning modified champ who was moonlighting in the HART series, finished the year with a track-best 17 overall wins. He tied Cottom for the most overall feature wins with eight.

The Carthage driver’s final checkered flag of the campaign saw him lead a talented cast across the finish line that included runner-up and reigning sport mod title-holder Adam Birck. Following Birck were Tanner Klingele, Dave Wietholder, A.J. Tournear and Dakota Girard.

“My forte is a slick track like this,” Becerra said. “I need to be on the bottom.”

And that’s exactly where he spent most of the race, especially after getting past early leader Tournear on lap four of the 20-circuit finale.

Bilger was easily the most excited of the feature winners.

“This is my first feature win ever,” the Jacksonville driver said. “This is a big deal for me!” 

Bilger overtook Mark Burgtorf on lap six and never surrendered the top spot over the remainder of the 20-lapper. Darin Weisinger was third and Denny Woodworth fourth.

Cottom, who lives in Galesburg, was never challenged in the stock car feature, leading comfortably for all 18 laps. Track champ Rudy Zaragoza was runner-up and Beau Taylor third.

Williamson, who made the haul from Columbia, Mo., collected the Sprint Invader feature. But it was 10th-place finisher Cody Wehrle of Burlington, Iowa, who was the big winner. Wehrle’s 10th-place finish provided enough points to wrap up his second series championship.