Kenny Wallace will be racing Sunday night in Quincy.

Yeah, it will be hot Sunday night at Quincy Raceways, but make he effort to be there. It sounds like it will be more than worthwhile. I’ve tried to include all the news and changes, some of which you have probably seen before. Here’s a rundown:
• NASCAR driver/analyst Kenny Wallace contacted the track Saturday afternoon to let officials know that he will be racing his Federated Auto Parts UMP Modified on Sunday night. He was supposed to appear earlier this season, but the event was rained out.
• Don’t forget. The start time has been pushed back because of the heat to 7:30 p.m.
“It is hoped that the time change will allow some of the heat of the day to dissipate, easing the strain on both spectators and racers alike,” said co-owners Paul Holtschlag and Bob Rhinberger said
• The Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) sprint cars will be on hand, joining the weekly UMP modified, IMCA sport mod, Quincy hobby stock and IMCA sport compact weekly series. Late models and stock cars are sitting out this week.

MOWA sprint cars in action.

• There will be qualifying for the sprint cars, which will be the first item on the night’s schedule.
Jeremy Standridge, the president of MOWA, contacted track officials Saturday and told them his drivers will have an autograph session in the grandstand area starting at approximately 6:15. Most of the drivers will have hero cards available to sign and give out to the fans, plus “a huge amount of other merchandise” that the MOWA group will be handing out during the evening.
• The sport mods and sport compacts will not run heat races, but Dunker Concrete and Pat Dunker have kicked in an additional $100 to win for each of those classes. Sport mods are now running for $400 and the sport compacts for $200.
The sport compacts and sport mods will be lined up for their feature events by inverted point average for the first 10 positions, and by point standings for the remainder of the field, following consulation with IMCA headquarters in Vinton, Iowa.
“These changes will hopefully help with the extreme temperatures that are expected for Sunday and will allow both spectators and racers to still get home at a reasonable hour,” Holtschlag and Rhinberger said. “Quincy Raceways will do everything it can to make this special event a great one despite what Mother Nature has in store. It is hoped that everyone will be amenable for these changes.”

OUR WEEKLY FORECAST FOR A BULLRING WEEKEND

Late models
The ground-pounding behemoths are taking the week off.

Dave Wietholder

Modifieds
Pick to click: Dave Wietholder. It’s his week. Heck, it looks like it’s his year.
Best comeback bet: James Leffew is overdue. He’s been shut out of a top-10 finish for three straight weeks.
Noteworthy: Modified features have definitely placed a higher accent on excitement in recent weeks. There have been a combined 16 lead changes in 10 features this season — and nine of them have come in the last three weeks.

Sport mods
Pick to click: Vance Wilson wins his first feature of the season.
Best comeback bet: Tanner Klingele strung together back-to-back third-place finishes June 3-10, but has not cracked the top five since. That should end Sunday night.
Noteworthy: Tony Dunker leads the class in improvement points with 51, the number of positions he has improved in feature races this season. Klingele (19) is second.

Stock cars
Dave Moore’s favorite class is also idle this week.

Hobby stocks
Pick to click: Jake “The Snake” Powers returns with a vengeance after last week’s DQ.
Best comeback bet: Jeff DeLonjay, who rolled his car 13 laps into last Sunday’s main event.
Noteworthy: Justin Bevill (33) and Nathan Hayes (28) are the improvement points leaders in this division.

Sport compacts
Pick to click: Seth Woodruff has not collected a checkered flag since May 13. He’s way overdue.
Best comeback bet: Bryce “The Bullet” Baker, who had to bow out early last week, is a good bet to return to the top 10.
Noteworthy: Nine different drivers have won features, the most of any class. Chuck Fullenkamp is only sport compact driver with two victories.

PADUCAH. Ky. — Brian Birkhofer claimed the Chris Smith Memorial race Friday night at Paducah International Raceway, the 15th leg of the month-long UMP Summernationals “Hell Tour.” Birkhofer claimed $12,000 for the win, the richest winner’s payout on the 2012 edition of the Summer Nationals.

Birkhofer moved past leader Shannon Babb on lap 18 and cruised to the victory. Early leader Billy Moyer Jr. finished second.

Current Summer National points leader Brian Shirley finished eighth after both he and closest competitor Babb both experienced tire issues. Babb held on for a 13th-place finish.

The tour returns to action Saturday night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., for a $10,000-to-win event.

Hell Tour results: 1. Brian Birkhofer, 2. Billy Moyer Jr., 3. Jason Feger, 4. Scott James, 5. Mike Spatola, 6. Ryan Unzicker, 7. Kevin Cole, 8. Brian Shirley, 9. Tim Brown 10. Greg Johnson, 11. Randy Sellars, 12. Bobby Pierce, 13. Shannon Babb, 14. Dennis Erb Jr., 15. Tanner English, 16. Klint Byars, 17. Jason Papich, 18. Terry English, 19. Jason Riggs, 20. Billy Moyer, 21. Jon Henry, 22. Brandon Sheppard.

Fast qualifiers (among 35 cars): Birkhofer, Sheppard, Babb, Moyer.
Heat race winners: Moyer Jr., Babb, James, Moyer.
B-main winner: Terry English.
Provisional starters: Unzicker, Henry, Riggs, Erb.

NASCAR driver/analyst Kenny Wallace contacted the track Saturday afternoon to let officials know that he will be racing his Federated Auto Parts UMP Modified on Sunday night.

“(Wallace) had been planning on racing at Lincoln Speedway Sunday night, but that event has been cancelled giving Kenny the opportunity to return to his one time home away from home, Quincy Raceways,” a track official told me about 2 p.m.

More coming Saturday evening …

ATWOOD, Tenn. — Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., worked his way to the lead on lap 16 and never looked back to win his first UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals  Hell Tour event of 2012 Thursday night at Clayhill Motorsports Park. Sheppard picked up $5,000 for the win.

Sheppard stretched his lead over the final 15 circuits, pulling away from second -finisher Klint Byars of Carrollton, Miss. Veteran Wendell Wallace of Batesville , Ark., drove from eighth to third over the course of the 40-lap main event. Polesitter Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., finished fourth and defending Summer Nationals Champion Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., rounded out the top five.

Current Summer National point leader Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., faded to finish sixth after leading the race.

The tour returns to action Friday night at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, Ky., with the tour’s highest paying winner’s purse of $12,000 on the line.

The Hell Tour comes to Quincy July 6.

Hell tour results: 1. Brandon Sheppard ($5,000), 2. Klint Byars, 3. Wendell Wallace, 4. Jason Feger, 5. Shannon Babb, 6. Brian Shirley, 7. Rodney Melvin, 8. Jason McBride, 9. Dennis Erb Jr., 10. Tanner English, 11. Randy Sellars, 12. Terry English, 13. Frank Heckenast Jr., 14. Jon Henry, 15. Bobby Pierce, 16. Mike Spatola, 17. Nick Bartels, 18. Billy Moyer Jr., 19. Dale Nelson, 20. Billy Moyer, 21. Caleb Ashby, 22. Ryan Unzicker.

Fast qualifiers (among 28 cars): Unzicker, Byars, Sheppard.
Heat race winners: Feger, Shirley, Erb Jr.
Consolation race winner:  Terry English.
Provisional starters: Henry, Spatola, Moyer Jr., Bartels.

Quincy Raceways officials have announced some changes to Sunday night’s schedule due to the extreme heat conditions that are expected to continue through the weekend:

– Starting time has been pushed back to 7:30 p.m. (Pit gates will still open at 3:30 p.m. Grandstands open at 6 p.m.)
“It is hoped that this change will allow some of the heat or the day to dissipate, easing the strain on both spectators and racers alike,” said co-owners Paul Holtschlag and Bob Rhinberger.
– Qualifying for the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA) sprints will be first on the schedule.
– Along with the sprints, modifieds, sport mods, hobby stocks and sport compacts will compete. Late models and stock cars are off this week.
– The sport mods and sport compacts will not run heat races.
The sport compacts and sport mods will be lined up for their feature events by inverted point average for the first 10 positions, and by point standings for the remainder of the field, following consulation with IMCA headquarters in Vinton, Iowa.
“These changes will hopefully help with the extreme temperatures that expected for Sunday and will allow both spectators and racers to still get home at a reasonable hour,” Holtschlag and Rhinberger said. “Quincy Raceways will do everything it can to make this special event a great one despite what Mother Nature has in store. It is hoped that everyone will be amenable for these changes.”

Stevie Dirt (that would be me) and the human Twizzler, Rodney Hart, debate the pros and cons of racing.

BELLVILLE, Ill. — Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., captured his second consecutive UMP Summernationals Hell Tour win Wednesday night at Belle-Clair Speedway, pocketing $5,000 for his effort.

Feger took the lead on a lap 18 restart after then-leader Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., slowed to a stop and held of a last-ditch effort by defending tour champion Shannon Babb on the last lap to claim the win in the 40-lap main event. Babb finished second and cut into his deficit in the Hell Tour point standings,. Babb now trails Shirley by only 11 points. Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., finished third after starting fifth and running as high as second. Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., returned to Hell Tour action and claimed a fourth-place finish. Highland Speedway winner Rodney Melvin of Benton, Ill, rounded out the top five.

The tour returns to action Thursday night at Clayhill Motorsports Park in Atwood, Tenn., where Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., earned his most recent Hell Tour victory in 2011.

Hell Tour win: 1. Jason Feger ($5,000), 2. Shannon Babb, 3. Brandon Sheppard 4. Billy Moyer Jr., 5. Rodney Melvin, 6. Dennis Erb Jr., 7. Michael Kloos, 8. Frankie Martin, 9. Mike Schulte, 10. Ed Dixon, 11. Brian Shirley, 12. Mike Spatola, 13. Bobby Pierce, 14. Dewayne Kiefer, 15. Frank Heckenast Jr., 16. Ryan Unzicker, 17. Jon Henry 18. Jason McBride, 19. Jim Moon, 20. Kevin Weaver, 21. Mark Voigt, 22. Brent Kreke.

Fast qualifiers (among 34 cars): Sheppard, Shirley, Babb, Feger.
Heat race winners: Weaver, Shirley, Babb, Feger.
B-main winner: Henry.
Provisional starters: Pierce, Spatola, Kreke, McBride.

1. (2.) Tony Dunker: This might be the most impressive fact of the season to date: TEAM4BOSS has either won or finished second in nine of 10 features.
2. (3.) Abe Huls:If Terry Houston had not won the June 3 feature (Huls was second), Honest Abe would have set the modern-era track record for most consecutive feature wins last week. As it stands, he has “only” won six of the last seven.

Jared Schlipman

3. (4.) Steven DeLonjay: OK, so Steven might not be getting a Christmas card from a few of the drivers this December …
4. (1.) Dave Wietholder:Dave has two DNFs this season. In the other eight features, he has finished no lower than third.
5. (7.) Jason Perry: Who is the hottest late model hotshoe at the track, Jason or …
6. (14.) Justin Reed: … Justin?
7. (6.) Michael Long: Michael has registered the fastest feature lap four consecutive weeks.
8. (8.) Jared Schlipman: I need an official list for the chain of command with the Mendon Mafia.
9. (5.) Dustin Griffin: Dustin, you need to make the dash.
10. (12.) Tanner Klingele: Let’s start a debate here. Is Tanner the best “young” driver at the Bullring? There are some great young wheelmen at 8000 Broadway … who is your choice?

Tanner Klingele

11. (11.) Mark Burgtorf: Mark, the Blonde Girls would prefer you drive the Blonde No. 7. Personally, I have no preference, but you know testy they can get.
12. (10.) Denny Woodworth: Denny, maybe you need to go back to a red car to get that first feature win of the season.
13. (15.) Bobby Anders: Bobby, how does it feel to not to be the center of all the controversies? (We won’t bring up that one little incident earlier in the season.)
14. (19.) Jim Moon: Here’s to a long and fruitful relationship between the Moon Man and the Bullring. He’s been a dependable and classy addition to the weekly late model lineup.
15. (9.) Jake Powers: Man, that DQ hurt, Snake.
16. (17.) Robbie Reed: Robbie, you’ve been kind of quiet since the Florida trip. Maybe you need to apply the chrome horn to someone and live up lap one Sunday night. Just a guess, but I don’t think many will be watching your car. I think there are a couple of others who will be attracting most of the eyeballs.
17. (23.) Joe Bliven: Must be the new skin on that car, eh Joe? When you can hold off the Babe Ruth of the sport mods (that would be Dunker), you’re definitely doing something right.
18. 21.) Vance Wilson: Vance is pulling a Miley Cyrus, starting “The Climb” back up the rankings.
19. (13.) Jake Griffin: Jake gets the unofficial ZZ Top award for the best-looking hauler in the pits.
20. (16.) Terry Houston: Terry, my wife drives a Mercury Mariner. Is that close enough to a Ford?

21. (22.) Shawn Deering: Shawn, see if you can trade pit stalls with someone. Could bring some better luck.
22. (24.) Jerry Jansen: Congrats on that Sunday night run, Jerry. I think you needed one more lap.
23. (27.) Brian Hoener: He’s going to be a player from here to the end of the season in the hobbies. Mr. Hoener is definitely hooked up.
24. (25.) Clint Kirkham: It will be interesting to see how Clint stacks up in second-half points.
25. (18.) Matt Bailey: Hopefully, No. 52 will be back in the pits Sunday night.
26. (-) Seth Woodruff: A year ago, Seth went wild in the second half. We’re now in the second half. Let’s see what happens.
27. (-) Brad Holtmeyer: Welcome to The Dirty Thirty, Brad!

Special additions for this week: Since the blogosphere just about blew up in recent days, The Dirty Thirty panel decided to include these three contributors for providing us with some great entertainment:
28. Rizzle: Troy Grotz, way to stir things up! (Actually, Travis Grotz could share this position, but we’ll let the brothers figure that out.)
29. Ursa fan: We had never heard from this voice before, but … wow, what a last few days!
30. Dave Moore: Speedo and all, Dave can always be counted on to ruffle someone’s feathers.

PUTNAMVILLE, Ind. — Jason Feger used his high-side style Tuesday night, powering to a 40-lap victory worth $5,000 in the UMP DirtCAR Summnerationals Hell Tour stop at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind.

Feger, the 2010 tour champion from Bloomington, Ill., used his front-row starting to spot to get the jump on polesitter Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., and survived a last-lap charge by Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill. Shirley climbed from a sixth-place starting position in the feature to claim second. Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., started and finished third. Defending Summernationals champion Babb made a futile attempt to work the bottom of the race track before moving up to the top groove late in the race to hold on to a fourth-place finish. Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., rounded out the top five.

The tour returns to action Wednesday night at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., where Unzicker earned his lone Hell Tour victory in 2011. The tour stops in Quincy July 6.

Hell Tour results: 1. Jason Feger ($5,000), 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Shannon Babb, 5. Ryan Unzicker, 6. Dennis Erb Jr., 7. Nick Bartels, 8. Kevin Weaver, 9. Mike Spatola, 10. Bobby Pierce, 11. Jerry Lierly, 12. Mark Voigt, 13. Jason McBride, 14. Frank Heckenast Jr., 15. Greg Kendall, 16. Kellen Conover, 17. Rob Starkey, 18. Chad Stapleton, 19. Jon Henry, 20. Jeremy Hines, 21. Marty Cooper.

Fast qualifiers (among 21 cars): Heckenast, Unzicker, Shirley.
Heat race winners: Sheppard, Babb, Feger.

Chief steward Jake Croxton talks about the positive developments at the track this year and what could still use improvement, while modified feature winner Steve DeLonjay tells us about his Sunday night feature win and offers some thoughts about his season.