Racing notebook: With track championships decided, time to look into Speedway’s future

QUINCY — This year’s champions have been crowned, so let’s dissect the just-completed points portion of the season while starting to look toward 2023 at Adams County Speedway.

Sport Mods

Driver of the Year: Adam Birck. Consistency wins championships, and no driver in this or any other division illustrated that better than Birck. If he keeps to his word about retirement (or at least semi-retirement), his final full-time season will be one to treasure. Birck also won sport mod titles in 2019 and 2018, tying him with Tony Dunker for the most consecutive series championships with three. In addition, Birck’s 110-point difference over the runner-up driver in 2018 is a sport mod record.

Best-Looking Car: A.J. Tournear, with Quin Shelton a close second.

Most Improved Driver: A.J. Tournear is now a legitimate title threat. I’m anxious to watch that improvement continue in 2023. The same goes for Reed Wolfmeyer. A third driver who came on strong as the season progressed, especially down the stretch, was Austin Poage.

Most Impressive Item About This Class: There was never a repeat Sunday night feature winner, the only class at the track to claim that kind of balance.

Pick to Click for 2023: I feel like 28-year-old Tanner Klingele will finally reach that final step en route to his first track championship — after finishing runner-up this year, 2017, 2015 and 2013. Of course, in this division, it will be anything but easy. Logan Cumby, Dakota Girard, Tournear, Wolfmeyer and a handful of others will most certainly make this the most interesting points race of 2023. 

Modifieds

Driver of the Year: Austen Becerra has elevated his game to a completely new level this season, and it was shown in not only his on-track accomplishments (track title, six wins in a seven-week span), but his patience. He now has the whole package, and as fellow driver and former NASCAR regular Kenny Wallace said, “That dude can drive!”

Best-Looking Car: Kenny Wallace. The orange and yellow look, plus a snazzy font for the car number all helped make Wallace a ZZ Top Sharp-Dressed Man. 

Most Improved Driver: Becerra earns this tip o’ the hat, too. He now has his first mod title to go with those 2014 and 2013 spot compact championships.

Most Impressive Item About This Class: While Becerra and Dave Wietholder ruled this series from start to finish, it was nice to see Mark Burgtorf back at his home track, not only in this division but the crate late models, too. And when Burgtorf was on hand in a modified, the features were normally a three-car show instead of just two.

Pick to Click for 2023: Becerra is definitely the man to beat, but remember that Wietholder also knows a thing or two about winning championships. He won the 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 mod crowns, plus the 2001 bomber championship.

Crate Late Models

Driver of the Year: Track champ Denny Woodworth now possesses nine (8 late model, 1 one modified) titles at 8000 Broadway. Woodworth has owned the late model division since 2016 and has the opportunity to become the third driver in speedway history to reach double figures in overall titles. Only Mark Burgtorf (16) and Hank DeLonjay (13) have more championships.

Best-Looking Car: Denny Woodworth’s familiar No. 45. Woodworth’s rides are always classy with subtle color schemes that enhance the appearance of the car, rather than detracting.

Most Improved Driver: Darin Weisinger Jr.  The Weisingers might just be the No. 1 racing family at the track.

Most Impressive Item About This Class: Watching the way the class grew as the season progressed was especially rewarding. Race director Blake Dotson deserves a lot of the credit for recruiting many of the new cars that showed up for this series (plus most of the other classes, too). Dotson is usually on his cell phone until the wee hours of the night conversing with drivers all across the region. If Dotson were a college football recruiter, he’d be working at Ohio State or Alabama.  

Pick to Click for 2023: First of all, I think this will (continue to) be the most improved class numbers-wise come next spring. Quincy has been re-established as a late model destination and the weekly car count should be anywhere between 12 to 18 in 2023. That said, Woodworth will still be the man to beat, followed by Tommy Elston.

Street Stocks

Driver of the Year: Rudy Zaragoza. No opposing driver was close to him for most of the second half of the season 

Best-Looking Car: Steve Grotz. Love that orange look, and each Sunday night he took to the track it was obvious he had worked hard during the previous week preparing the No. 22 for another slam-bang evening at the synagogue of sod.

Most Improved Driver: Sage Martin. He finished sixth in points and should be a bona top-five car in 2023.

Most Impressive Item About This Class: Talk about a tale of two halves. Robert Cottom completely dominated the first two months of the season, then disappeared. Enter Zaragoza, who did likewise from mid-June through the end of August. At one point, Zaragoza won four straight features.

Pick to Click for 2023: If he races full-time in 2023, Beau Taylor, the 2019 champ and 2015 runner-up, is my pick. If Taylor is not a regular, Zaragoza will be the man to beat. A semi-darkhorse would be Jake Powers — “The Snake” was second only to Zaragoza in 2022 top-five finishes and knows what it takes to win the big iron. Powers was 2012 hobby stock track champ.

4-Cylinders

Driver of the Year: Jeffrey DeLonjay. On top of winning his first track championship, no other driver in this series could match DeLonjay’s ability to climb through the field.

Best-Looking Car: Jimmy Dutlinger. One of the sharpest-looking in all five divisions.

Most Improved Driver: Jaden DeLonjay. As the season progressed, the 18-year-old learned that patience can truly be a virtue.

Most Impressive Item About This Class: The way Jeffrey DeLonjay started — and finished. The 21-year-old hotshoe won the first three features of the season, then struggled during the middle part of the campaign. But he finished off his championship run by winning the final three main events, including the Aug. 28 showdown with Jimmy Dutlinger. The two entered the final Sunday night of the points season tied for first.

Pick to Click for 2023: With Jeffrey DeLonjay likely moving to the crate lates next season, this class looks like a three-horse race between his younger brother, Jaden DeLonjay, Kim Abbott and (if he returns) Dutlinger. Right now, I’m leading toward Abbott, who overcame a relatively slow start to 2022 to become the steadiest week-to-week threat much of the second half of the schedule. I think Abbott collects her fourth track title a year from now. She already owns the trophies from 2019, 2016 and 2015, plus runner-up finishes in 2014, 2013 and 2012.

What’s on tap Sunday

Sunday night finds the crate late models, modifieds, street stocks and 4-Cylinders on the docket for the first of three final shows that will wrap up the 2022 calendar.

Hot laps are set for about 5:15, with heat races beginning at 6-ish.