‘As word gets out, cars will come’: Deering, Wilson predicting grand future for refurbished Quincy track

QUINCY — Count veteran modified driver Shawn Deering as another fan of the “new” Quincy Raceways. From its reconfigured and regenerated racing surface, plus the addition of track walls and other amenities, Deering thinks Quincy is well on its way to becoming the racing hub of the tri-state area.

“As word gets out, I think you’ll see more and more cars coming,” he said. “There’s a sense of optimism, and I’m 100 percent behind what (new owners Jeff and Renee DeLonjay) are doing. I’m really excited about this year.”

Deering has been especially impressed with how well-kept the 28.5-acre site is. He says word about intangibles like that spreads quickly across the dirt-track world.

“As word gets out, the cars will come,” Deering assures.

Deering said he has already had an up-close-and-personal experience with the new wall that surrounds the .297-mile track.

“Yeah … I hit it once in practice,” he said. “It’s a little intimidating.”

Deering plans on venturing out to more tracks this season. He says it’s “necessary” to become more familiar with varying venues as much as possible to improve as a driver.

“It helps you keep up with the trends of today’s cars,” he said. “We’re making an effort to do more traveling. We started out the season by going to Florida to race (in the winter).”

Wilson’s a big fan, too

Count late model driver Jamie Wilson as another big fan of the new Quincy Raceways. Wilson won the series’ feature on opening night, but week two was not as successful. He was knocked out of the main event early via a nasty crash into the first-turn wall.

Like Deering, Wilson says the wall is intimidating and believes it will take time to learn the intricacies involved of running close to the concrete.

That aside, Wilson has been impressed with the first two crowds of the season and expects them to grow even larger as the year unfolds.

“Opening night opened everyone’s eyes,” he said. “The crowd was especially uplifting.”

Wilson is another competitor who looks for the number of cars in the pits to continue growing. He said he’s already had conversations with numerous out-of-town drivers who plan on working Quincy Raceways into their schedules.

Wilson returned to weekly competition in 2023 after sitting out for a decade. At times, he raced shifter karts to feed his competitive urge until he got back behind the wheel of a crate late model a couple of years ago.

“I was missing it,” said Wilson, who rarely ventures away from Quincy for competition, although he may occasionally stop in at Iowa tracks in Donnellson and West Burlington on occasion.

Stars of the week

Week two of the dirt-track season saw a second straight late model driver earn a 10-star award for his performance. 

Austen Becerra showed off his late model skills in a wildly entertaining feature win over Braden Bilger. Afterward he said he’d likely be driving his modified in week three. Could Becerra earn 10-star praise in two classes in as many weeks?

This week’s award winners:

• 10 stars: Austen Becerra, crate late models: That late-race pass of Bilger was probably impressive enough to earn this place in the starcade, but he also won the feature. Becerra follows fellow model driver Jamie Wilson as a 10-star driver to open the season.
• 9 stars: Dave Wietholder, modifieds: Boom! There was no doubt Wietholder had the top car in the modified pits last Sunday. In addition to his feature win (in dominant fashion), the four-time series champ capped off a triple-crown night that included a heat victory and fast qualifying time.
• 8 stars: Reed Wolfmeyer, sport mods: It’s next to impossible to pick a championship favorite among the sport mod drivers at this point in the season, but No. 2 looks mighty strong at this venture. Fittingly, the top five title favorites among the sport mods all finished at the top of last Sunday’s feature. Following Wolfmeyer were defending champ Tanner Klingele, Kyler Girard, A.J. Tournear and Logan Cumby.
• 7 stars: Braden Bilger, crate late models: This is his third year of running full-time at the Bullring, and Bilger has left no doubt he will be in the championship mix.
• 6 stars: Jackson Frankel, crate late models: He’s got back-to-back top-three feature finishes. It appears only a matter of time until he earns that initial checkered flag in a late model.
• 5 stars: Matthew Edler, Open “B” mods: There was no doubt who the top car was in the first Open “B” mod feature.
• 4 stars: Tanner Klingele, sport mods/Open “B” mods: “Special K” had a pair of third-place runs in two strong main events.
• 3 stars: Michael Grossman, 4-cylinders: I’ve always felt if Grossman ran a full schedule at Quincy, he’d be a bona fide title threat. This year’s no different for the driver from Keokuk, Iowa, who ran away from the rest of the field last Sunday in the 4-Cylinder feature. He also won a heat race.
• 2 stars: Darren Weisinger, crate late models: That new hot rod looks like it has some extra get-up-and-go. This guy could be a sleeper in the late model division. 
• 1 star: Jordan Zummalt, Crown Vics: He only led one feature lap last Sunday, but it was the most important one.

MARS cars coming to town

The season’s first major date at the track will be Friday, May 16, when the MARS late models and modifieds invade the Bullring.

MARS late model winners at Quincy have been Dennis Erb Jr., of Carpentersville in 2024, Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., in 2023 and Tommy Sheppard Jr. of New Berlin in 2022.

Also on the card that night will be “B” modifieds and Crown Vics.

This week’s lineup

Sunday’s Mother’s Day show will find crate late models, modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, 4-Cylinders and Crown Vics on the card. Pits open at 3 p.m., admission gates at 4 p.m., hot laps are scheduled for 6 p.m. and racing at 6:30 p.m.