Eighinger: Diving into which drivers deserve spots on Mount Rushmore of Modifieds

QUINCY — When the boys who make the noise take to the dirt Friday night at Quincy Raceways, you might want to keep an eye on the modifieds and sport mods.

First of all, that was not a misprint in the first paragraph. Friday night is race night this week at 8000 Broadway. Track officials are taking a look at how a regularly scheduled night of action on a Friday compares to the usual Sunday night offering. If it proves successful, it would not be a surprise to see more Friday evenings on the 2026 schedule.

So, back to those modifieds …

I have spent much of the week updating the track’s all-time division rankings for the mods and sports mods, and sifting through those two classes brought back some great memories. We’ll be showcasing the other classes as the season unfolds, but this week belongs to the modifieds and sport mods.

These all-time rankings began in the early 2000s and have been updated periodically. The rankings have never been subjective, there has always been a formula involved. Drivers receive rankings points based on a 15-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale for their position in the final top 10 points standing for each season in each division. If a tie arises, it is broken by the number of championships won or simply left as a tie.

First of all, let’s examine the modifieds, which date to 1988. I will also include a second ranking for that division, starting in 2009 when the track began using UMP rules for the series.

Here’s how the all-time top 10 looks for the mofidieds:

All-time Modified Rankings 

(1988-2024)

1. Hank DeLonjay, 220 points, 10 titles.

2. Dave Wietholder, 175 points, 4 titles.

3. Michael Long, 137 points, 3 titles

4. Steven DeLonjay, 124 points, 3 titles.

5. Shawn Deering, 105 points.

6. Sam Burgtorf, 81 points, 3 titles.

7. Mike Karhoff, 55 points.

8. Jared Schlipman, 50 points, 1 title.

9. Vance Wilson, 46 points, 1 title.

10. Austen Becerra, 45 points, 3 titles.

UMP Modified Rankings

(2009-2024)

1. Dave Wietholder, 142 points, 4 titles.

2. Steven DeLonjay, 86 points, 4 titles.

3. Shawn Deering, 92 points.

4. Michael Long, 64 points, 1 title.

5. Jared Schlipman, 49 points, 1 title.

6. Austen Becerra, 45 points, 3 titles.

7. Frankie Wellman, 33 points.

8-tie. Josh Newman, 25 points.

8-tie. Russ Coultas, 25 points.

10. Spencer Havermale, 22 points.

I feel there are four names that stand out in the modifieds since the series came to life 37 years ago, a sort of Mount Rushmore of the Mods, if you will. Those drivers would be Hank DeLonjay, Dave Wietholder, Steven DeLonjay and Michael Long.

The DeLonjay family will forever be the face of this series. No driver ever wheeled a car — regardless of the series — around the track in the fashion “Hand the Crank” moved his No. 35 modified in, around and (if necessary) through a rival. He was the hardest driver I have seen in the 27 years I have been frequenting the Bullring.

Hank’s son, Steven, carved his own niche in track history. The youngest DeLonjay always seemed to employ a rather scientific method during his championship years. Steven could decimate an entire field of cars without banging a fender, and that was impressive.

Wietholder’s hard-charging style has always reminded me of Hank. Wietholder has never been timid about attacking a corner, and if he’s ahead late in a race, there’s very little chance of him surrendering that lead. 

Last Sunday night should not count against his reputation. That might have been the first time he ever let a feature win slip away with that bobble between turns three and four on the final lap. We’ll allow him to count it as a mulligan on his all-time resume.

Regarding Long, I’ve always wondered how many records he might have established if he had not opted to go after bigger honors on a regional level. Long has cemented his reputation as one of the finest modified drivers in the nation — just ask Kenny Wallace — with what he’s accomplished outside of Quincy, and more power to him in the coming years. My favorite achievement by Long will always be those 12 consecutive features he won back in late 2009 and early 2010. 

Sport Mods Rankings

(2011-2024)

1. Tanner Klingele, 93 points, 1 title.

2. Tony Dunker, 57 points, 3 titles.

3. Adam Birck, 56 points, 3 titles.

4. Brandon Lennox, 34 points, 1 title.

5. Joey Gower, 33 points, 1 title.

6. Logan Cumby, 30 points, 1 title.

7. Mike Goodwin, 26 points.

8. Reed Wolfmeyer, 25 points.

9. A.J. Tournear, 20 points.

10-Nathan Bringer, 19 points, 1 title.

10-Brad Holtmeyer, 19 points

Two names will always dominate the sport mod discussion at Quincy Raceways: Tony Dunker and Tanner Klingele.

Dunker was the dominant force in the series’ early years, completely overwhelming the competition week in, week out. How good was this guy? In no particular order, he won 52 races (including 28 features) in back-to-back years, set a sport mod mark of 196 feature laps led in 2012 that no one has ever even mildly challenged and topped the series in money won three straight years. 

The other top-tier driver is Klingele, who has been a star since debuting more than a decade ago. While Klingele has won just one track championship (2024), he has always been in the running, finishing second in points four different years in a series that has regularly possessed a minimum of four or five legitimate title threats. Ironically, the first time Klingele was a runner-up in the points pursuit was in 2013 — to Dunker.

Friday night details

Classes scheduled to compete Friday evening are the crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, 4-Cylinders and Crown Vics. The crate lates will be running for $1,000 to win.

Racing is scheduled to start around 6:30 p.m.