Racing notebook: Projects to improve Adams County Speedway are already underway

QUINCY — Jim Lieurance does not have to look far down the road when talking about the future of Adams County Speedway.

“I think in another month no one will recognize the place,” Lieurance said. 

Lieurance says he’s ecstatic to be working with new track owners Jeff and Renee DeLonjay. Although the final paperwork involving the DeLonjays’ purchase of the 28.5-acre site from Paul Holtschlag is still a couple of weeks away from being completed, Lieurance and his wife, Tammy, were assured early in the process they would continue as track promoters. 

Lieurance said work is already underway involving several major projects at 8000 Broadway, with more scheduled to materialize once the race season has concluded in the fall.

“It’s a good feeling,” Lieurance said of what the immediate and long-range future should hold for the track, which opened in the spring of 1975. “There are some major (changes) coming. The whole goal is to put more butts in the seats.”

Lieurance noted:

• Truckloads of gravel have begun arriving to improve a number of sites, ranging from the parking lot to access areas.

• Concrete for new sidewalk/walking areas soon will be poured to better assist patrons in wheelchairs. Easier to access to preferred viewing areas for those with handicaps is also in the works.

• New safety fencing and light poles for the track are coming, a project that likely will not be concluded until the current season is finished.

• Improvements and seating additions to the existing grandstands are happening.

• On the track, another race lane will be added atop the track, along with a new racing surface for much of the .295-mile speedway. The idea is to create an entire new groove, according to Lieurance.

• Improving and modernizing the bathrooms is in the works.

• Extending the existing race tower to try to eliminate crowded conditions on some race nights is planned following the conclusion of the season. The same holds true for the VIP tower.

• The karting region outside the track, which takes up a large portion of what used to be a general parking area, will be moved to the infield of the dirt track. Lieurance said this concept will greatly help with parking in 2025.

• A new east-end entrance to the pits is also being examined.

“When people come this Sunday night, they will see the beginnings of some of these projects,” Lieurance said. “It’s an exciting time, because Jeff and Renee can take the track to the next level.”

The Lieurances are midway through their third season as promoters, having worked to re-open and re-energize the facility after it was closed for two years.

“We’re now able to do so many things because of Jeff and Renee, things we couldn’t afford to try and do before,” Lieurance said. “It really is exciting. There are many more things being planned for next season that we’ll be able to talk about later in the year.”    

MARS big stars should all be here Sunday

The popular MARS super late model series returns to the speedway Sunday night with a field of 24 cars expected.

“We’ll benefit because we’ll be one of the stops on a three-night MARS swing through this region,” Lieurance said. “Most of the big names will be in Quincy Sunday night.”

That means fans can look for Jason “The High Side Hustler” Feger of Bloomington, Ill., Allen Weisser of Peoria, Ill., Bob Gardner of Washington, Ill., Kye Blight of Australia, Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., Justin Duffy of Oregon and Frankie Heckenast Jr., of Frankfort, Ill.

Weisser is the current points leader.

This week will be Feger’s second stop in Quincy this season. He finished runner-up to Max McLaughlin of Mooresville, N.C., in the June 19 Hell Tour race at the Bullring.

This will be the third MARS date in Quincy. Unzicker (2023) and Tommy Sheppard Jr. (2022) are the past winners.

Also expected to be on hand Sunday night is hotshot youngster Trey Mills of Florida, who at 16 years old is one of the nation’s premier up-and-coming late model talents. Mills made his Quincy debut in June when he finished 16th in the Hell Tour feature.

Look for Michael Long, too

Accompanying the MARS late models will be its modified support series, led by Michael Long of Fowler, who is a three-time track champ in Quincy. Long is the current modified series points leader.

Long has raced twice in Quincy this season, winning the June 19 feature.

Other familiar modified names expected Sunday are Mike McKinney of Plainfield, Ill., Ray Bollinger of Kewanee, Ill., and Kyle Hammer of Clinton, Ill. Bollinger was a semi-regular in Quincy for several years prior to the track’s closing following the 2019 season.

Emphasis on late models will continue

Lieurance made it clear the track will continue to try to offer the highest quality of super open late model specials in the future, meaning fans can expect the 2025 return of the UMP Summers Nationals Hell Tour, MARS and MLRA touring organizations.

Lieurance did not rule out the possibility of a second Hell Tour date in 2025. A decision like that, however, is more in the hands of UMP than at the local level, but Lieurance noted governing organizations are now well aware of what is happening in Quincy as far as the speedway’s new ownership is concerned.