Inside the Bullring: Deep dive into each of Adams County Speedway’s five classes

QUINCY — Dirt track racing guru Steve Eighinger offers his insight into each of the five classes which will be featured at the Adams County Speedway this season, beginning with this season’s lid-lifter Sunday night:

LATE MODELS

Defending champ: Denny Woodworth.

Best bet to dethrone the king: Tommy Elston.

Dark horse to watch: Darin Weisinger Jr.

High car count in 2022: 37, June 22

Leading money winner in 2022: Denny Woodworth $8,050

Note: The division will run as non-sanctioned, at least in the early part of the year. There is an ongoing disagreement between the two major sanctioning bodies for crate late models, UMP and IMCA, forcing Lieurance and the speedway to take a middle of the road approach to satisfy drivers/owners from both sides of fence.

MODIFIEDS

Defending champ: Austin Becerra.

Best bet to dethrone the king: Dave Wietholder, who had four straight track titles prior to being dethroned by Becerra.

Dark horse(s) to watch: Michael Long and Mark Burgtorf are expected to be on hand most Sunday nights, and if so this will quickly become The Group Of Death. Oh, and throw in former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace, who says he will be a Quincy the majority of race weekends.

High car count in 2022: 26, Sept. 16.

Leading money winner in 2022: $9,035.

Note: It will be interesting to see how often Chase Osterhoff visits the Bullring this season., He made four appearances in 2022, winning two features and finishing in the top five in the other two.

SPORT MODS

Defending champ: Adam Birck.

Best bets to dethrone the king: Tanner Klingele, Logan Cumby.

Dark horse(s) to watch: A.J. Tournear, who finished a strong fifth in points in 2022, and Reed Wolfmeyer.

High car count in 2022: 48, Sept,. 16.

Leading money winner in 2022: Adam Birck $5,810.

Note: Birck’s consistency was impressive a year ago and the key to his championship run. While only third in features won (3), Birck led the series in both top-five (13) and top-10 (16) finishes.

STOCK CARS

Defending champ: Rudy Zaragoza.

Best bet to dethrone the king: Jake Powers.

Dark horses to watch: If he returns to Quincy full time, watch for Beau Taylor to be an integral part of the title pursuit. And never underestimate Steve “The Track Daddy” Grotz.

High car count in 2022: 13, May 29.

Leading money winner in 2022: Rudy Zaragoza $5,325.

Note: Zaragoza cemented his hold on the points with four straight midseason victories. Interestingly, Zaragoza won just one feature over the final 2 1/2 months.

4-CYLINDERS

Defending champ: Jeffrey DeLonjay

Best bets to dethrone the king: Three-time series champ Kim Abbott and Jaden DeLonjay, younger brother of Jeffrey and the fifth-place points finisher in 2022.

Dark horse to watch: Michael Grossman, if he races enough. Same with Derrick DeFord.

High car count in 2022: 48, Sept. 16 and Sept. 17.

Leading money winner in 2022: Kim Abbott $7,280.

Note: DeLonjay won last year’s championship by one point over Jimmy Dutlinger, the closest finish in the 12-year history of this series. Barry Taft (2018) and Steven DeLonjay (2006) held the former record when they won their titles by two points.