Abbott’s caution-to-the-wind approach pays major dividends with 4-Cylinder victory

QUINCY — Camp Point driver Kim Abbott knew her left rear tire was flat and that her car was overheating.

Oh, and she was also pretty sure that her rattling hood was about to fly off.

So what did Abbott do?

“Well, first I had some choice words,” she said.

And after that little inner-car verbal tirade?

She gunned it. She absolutely gunned it.

Abbott threw caution to the proverbial wind, and over the closing four laps of Saturday night’s 45-lap, 4-Cylinder feature, Abbott was able to run down rival Jimmy Dutlinger of Peoria by running a strong line up near the cushion. 

Abbott and Dutlinger had their own private Adams County Speedway duel in the dirt over each of those final four circuits. Abbott was eventually able to power ahead of Dutlinger by .023 of a second at the checkered flag in the epitome of a photo finish.

The crowd had to wait for longtime track announcer Doug Mealy to tell them who had officially won the race, which was the final event of the weekend-long Chad McCoy Memorial.

“This was the biggest win of my career,” Abbott said.

Not to mention the most profitable.

Saturday night’s win came on the heels of a strong runner-up finish in the previous week’s Boone Nationals in Boone, Iowa.

Abbott had no problem comparing the two finishes.

“Well, I won this one … and this also paid a lot better,” said the 28-year-old Abbott, who unsuccessfully tried to hold back her trademark ear-to-ear smile.

Abbott’s victory earned her a 4-Cylunder track record $4,545, about nine times what the runner-up finish at Boone paid. Dutlinger pocketed $2,000 for finishing second.

“This is probably our biggest win ever,” said Bob Abbott, Kim’s dad and longtime crew chief. “We’ve been doing this together for 14 years. The funny thing is we’ve probably beaten all of the other cars in the (32-car lineup), but never beat all of them on the same night.”

One of Abbott’s victims was John Benischek of Durant, Iowa. Benischek beat Abbott for the Boone Nationals title. He earned $1,000 for his third-place finish at Quincy.

Abbott’s familiar No. 71 hot rod seemed to find a new level of oomph around the midpoint of the feature, one that initially allowed her to get past Derrick DeFord, who had led 26 of the first 27 laps. 

“I had found I was just faster up top,” Abbott said.

After securing the lead from DeFord, Abbott remained in control of the finale until skirting the cushion on lap 41 near turn four and surrendering the lead to Dutlinger. That set up the those final, frantic laps.

Ironically, the feature win was Abbott’s first of the year at Quincy. She’s No. 2 all-time in 4-Cylinder feature wins at the track with 25, trailing only Austen Becerra (32), who now runs in the modified and sport mod series.

Other feature winners on the last day of what was termed the Quincy Nationals by some competitors were Becerra in the sport mods and Tyler Nicely in modifieds. 

Eleven states were represented during the two-day show, which drew 113 cars Saturday and 122 on Friday for a two-day total of 235 entries. The weekend purse was around $63,000.

Nicely also pocketed $4,545 dollars for his comeback win over Michael Long of Fowler, who collected $2,045 his runner-up finish. Shawn Deering ($1,045) of Quincy was third.

Nicely trailed Long the first 31 laps, but slipped past him on lap No. 32 and led the final 14 laps.

“I just tried to save my tires in the first half of the race,” said Nicely, who came from Owensboro, Ky., for the event. “I can’t say enough about Adams County Speedway. I’m looking forward to coming back next year.”

Nicely also won Friday night’s $1,100-to-win modified feature, earning him $5,645 for the weekend.

Becerra led the closing 25 laps in the sport mod feature, finishing ahead of Sean Wyett of Danville, Iowa, Dakota Girard of Moberly, Mo., Clint Young of Ava, Ill., and Colson Kirk of Urbana, Mo. Kirk had won Friday night’s sport mod feature.

Doing it in the dirt

So exactly what is the appeal of spending your life racing in the dirt?

“The challenge, the competition,” said Young, considered one of the top sport mod drivers on hand during the weekend.

Young said the both car and track are always a work in progress.

“They both change night to night,” said Young, who made the trip to Quincy from Ava, a four-hour journey from Carbondale area.

And, many times, either car or track — or both — will change during the night.

“They’re both tough to figure out,” Young said.

This weekend marks the second time Young has raced in Quincy. The first was during his 2016 rookie season.

‘Start with $2 million’

Darrin Burkemper of St. Peters, Mo., used to come to Quincy as a kid to watch the races with his parents.

“I’ve been a race fan my whole life,” said Burkemper, whose early days at the Bullring came when he was around 8 or 10 years old. He’s now 51.

Burkemper is owner and sometimes driver of a sport mod, and is not involved in racing to get rich. Admittedly, it’s the excitement that draws him.

“You know what they say about the best way to make a million dollars in racing, don’t you?” he asked. “Start with $2 million.”

Learning the ropes

T.J. Jackson of Kewanee, Ill., is part of the next generation of racing. Just 22, he’s in his third season in a sport mod and is already understanding the pitfalls of the sport when it comes to balancing a team’s checkbook.

“We’re from Kewanee, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Quincy, and to get here cost us about $100 in diesel fuel,” Jackson said. “It’s getting harder (to travel) since Covid and the rise in gas prices.”

Challenging? yes. Discouraging? Never.

“I’ve always been involved in racing, ever since I was little,” Jackson said.

‘Home’ track for HART?

The first-year HART (Heartland Auto Racing Tour) sport mod series made its third appearance at the speedway this weekend (and will make its fourth in the Sept. 25 season finale).

“This is kind of becoming our home track,” tour organizer and founder Dewain Hulett said.

The HART cars have put on entertaining shows in each of their visits to Quincy. That “home track” idea may be a good one.