Dirty Thirty: Tracking Adams County Speedway’s top drivers, stats and rising stars

QUINCY — Each week we’ll have 30 thoughts leading up to the ensuing Sunday’s duels in the dirt at Adams County Speedway — five for each of the five weekly classes, plus five miscellaneous thoughts.

That’s six times five for 30. Welcome to the first installment of the Dirty Thirty:

Crate Late Models

Top 3 Rankings

1. Denny Woodworth — Easily the most dominant car on opening night.

2. Braden Bilger — He got stronger as the night progressed.

3. Jason Perry — Welcome back. That No. 27 had certainly been missed on Sunday nights.

Most interesting stat: Woodworth led all 20 laps of Sunday’s season-opening feature, the only driver in any of the five classes to go flag-to-flag in a finale.

Best looking car: “Superman” Sam Halstead.

Most promising performance: Rookie Christian Miles’ solid fourth-place run was especially strong for a first-year driver. The local karting standout looks to have a bright future in the crates. 

Who struggled?: Veteran Tommy Elston was not a threat in his heat race and dropped out early in the feature. Elston was runner-up to Woodworth in last year’s points race and 2022’s second-leading money winner. I’m pretty sure whatever wasn’t working will be fixed by Sunday night.

Modifieds

Top 3 Rankings

1. Drake Stevenson — I know, he blew a tire with five laps remaining in the feature, but Stevenson was dominating up to that point. Plus, he led all eight laps of his heat race.

2. Jacob Rexing — Sunday night was his first feature victory at the Bullring. He was also the fastest qualifier (14.618).

3. Dave Wietholder — The Liberty driver led all modified drivers in feature laps led (69) a year ago, but was blanked on opening night. 

Most interesting stat: The father-son duo of Rick Stevenson (he’s the dad) and Drake Stevenson swept the modified heats.

Best looking car: Drake Stevenson.

Most promising performance: Mike Vanderiet Jr. ran a solid third behind feature winner Rexing and runner-up Wietholder. Looks like he’s ready to pick up where he left off in 2022 when he finished fourth in points, trailing only Austen Becerra, Wietholder and Kenny Wallace.

Who struggled?: Defending series champ Austen Becerra suffered much the same fate as Elston in the late models. And like Elston, I think it’s a safe bet Becerra will return with a vengeance Sunday night.

Sport Mods

Top 3 Rankings

1. Kyler Girard — He came. He saw. He conquered. Looks like we have another contender in an already loaded division.

2. Logan Cumby — No. 8 tied for the series lead a year ago with four feature victories.

3. Tanner Klingele — He looked like the car to beat in the opening laps of the season’s first feature, but wound up with the bronze medal. “I overdrove it a bit, and I paid for it,” Klingele said.

Most interesting stat: Josh Holtman, who finished 10th in points last season and had just four top-five feature finishes, opened 2023 with an impressive fifth-place showing in last Sunday’s finale.

Best looking car: Reed Wolfmeyer.

Most promising performance: Hands down, Kyler Girard, who had just one top-five finish in 2022.  He’s another reason most observers feel the sport mods are the strongest overall class at the track.

Who struggled?: Defending champ Adam Birck had to drop out of the feature due to a parts failure, settling for an 11th-place finish. Birck led all sport mod drivers with 16 top-10 finishes in 2022. He’ll have to wait for Week 2 to start building his 2023 total.

Stock Cars

Top 3 Rankings

1. Leremy Jackson — His feature win may have been the most unexpected on opening night.

2. Jake Powers — I think Jake the Snake will ultimately be the man to beat this summer.

3. Sage Martin — The Perry hotshoe may be your most improved stock car driver.

Most interesting stat: Jackson, who hails from Unionville, Iowa, is the first Hawkeye to win a stock car feature since the track reopened in 2022.

Best looking car: Jake Powers.

Most promising performance: Martin, who got stronger as 2022 unfolded, showed last season was no fluke with a third-place finish in the season-opening main event.

Who struggled?: Robert Cottom, who won eight features in 2022 and was the most dominant car the first half of 2022, was not a factor in his heat race and never came out for the feature.

4-Cylinders

Top 3 Rankings

1. Jeffrey DeLonjay — Looks like another season-long points battle with arch rival Jimmy Dutlinger.

2. Jimmy Dutlinger — He is one of at least a half dozen drivers with a legit shot at this year’s track championship.

3. Kim Abbott — Not a bad first night in that new car for the three-time track champ.

Most interesting stat: The four-bangers had the highest car count (21) on opening night, picking up where they left off in 2022 when the series averaged 22.2 cars per show.

Best looking car: (tie) Jeffrey DeLonjay and Jaden DeLonjay.

Most promising performance: Dyllan Bonk, who finished a distant 18th in points last season, ran a strong second behind feature winner Jeffrey DeLonjay.

Who struggled?: Barry Taft, who won the 2018 track title, looked like he was on his way to last Sunday’s feature victory before engine problems forced him to the sideline after six laps.

Miscellaneous 5 Thoughts

• Yes, the afternoon start on opening night (day?) was necessary because of the cool temperatures and breezy conditions, but second-year track promoters Jim and Tammy Lieurance said that was likely the last time. “No more afternoon starts,” Jim Lieurance said. “We’ll just have to bundle up and take (the cool temperatures).” Dirt-track racing is a night-time sport and last Sunday just had an awkward feel. The intentions were great, but let’s get back to racing under the lights. 

• There were a whopping 30 caution flags last Sunday. Last year’s high was 39 on July 24. The sport mods were guilty of the most with 13, which followed the pattern of 2022 when that series led all classes with an average of 7.1 each Sunday evening.

• Former track owner Bob Scott is recovering from back surgery. The Scott family operated the speedway from 1975-2007. 

• Only one defending series champ was not in the house last Sunday. Rudy Zaragoza, the reigning stock champ, was absent. Two of the other four — Denny Woodworth (late models) and Jeffrey DeLonjay (4-Cylinders) — won opening-night features. Austen Becerra (modifieds) and Adam Birck (sport mods) both bowed out of their main events with engine woes.

• Lee Ann Lambert provided a stirring national anthem that drew a well-deserved response from those in attendance Sunday. She is the older sister of late model driver Darin Weisinger Jr.