Stevie Dirt

(STEVIE DIRT NOTE: The following ran in Saturday’s print edition of The Herald-Whig, chronicling the track’s all-decade (2000-09) team, plus a few other treats.)

They all had the right stuff when it came to turning left.

When the subject concerns the top drivers of the decade at Quincy Raceways, there are five names that immediately jump to the forefront.

Mark Burgtorf is the equivalent of a living legend at the Broadway Bullring, and he did nothing but enhance that image over the past 10 years.

And if not for Burgtorf, Lonnie Bailey might have been the name linked to late model dominance in the decade of the 2000s.

Among the modifieds, Hank DeLonjay and Michael Long stood the tallest between 2000-09.

In the hobby stocks — which were known as “bombers” for more than half of the decade — Eddie Dieker became the standard by what all other drivers were measured.

MARK BURGTORF

Burgtorf piloted that familiar No. 7 to six of his 14 track titles during the decade, including three in a row between 2005-07.

Almost as impressive as all of the victories Burgtorf stockpiles is his uncanny ability stay out of harm’s way. Not once during the past 10 years was he involved in any sort of major crash.

Lucky?

To a point, for sure, but Branch Rickey once said luck is the residue of design.

Burgtorf further cemented his No. 1 positions in The Herald-Whig’s all-time and IMCA era (since 1998) late model rankings, which are based on where a driver finishes each season in the final points standings.

Burgtorf’s signature season during the past 10 years came in 2006 when he accented a track championship with a decade-best 13 feature victories and 28 total wins.

LONNIE BAILEY

Bailey was the only late model driver outside of Burgtorf to win more than one track title between 2000-09, collecting championships in 2004 and 2009.

Bailey also finished runner-up in points four times. On three of those occasions he was second to Burgtorf. Bailey is No. 4 in the all-time rankings and No. 2 in the IMCA era.

The finest overall season of the decade for Bailey came in 2004 when he won a series-leading six features and 18 total races. He edged the late Brent Slocum for the title that summer, winning the crown by four points in what remains the closest title chase in series history. Ironically, two years earlier Slocum won his only track championship in Quincy when he outdueled Bailey.

HANK DeLONJAY

“Hank The Crank” will likely always be the model of success for local modified racers. DeLonjay retired after the 2007 season to serve as crew chief for his son, Steven, who took over the ride in the No. 35 modified in 2008.

Hank won four titles during the 2000-09 decade, all in succession between 2002-05. He also finished runner-up three other seasons, including his final two campaigns. That kind of repeated success is why DeLonjay has held the No. 1 posiiton in The Herald-Whig all-time modified rankings since their inception more than 10 years ago. 

DeLonjay led all modified drivers in feature and total wins four times during the decade.

MICHAEL LONG

Not even Burgtorf was able to put up individual season numbers like Long 
has in recent summers.

Long has been a contender from his first full-time season in 2000, but elevated his game to heights never seen before in any series at the Bullring in 2007-08. During those two years he won an unprecedented 31 features, 71 overall races and a pair of track championships.

Long, who also put together four other top-three seasons during the decade, won an incredible 150 races (including 53 features) between 2000-09. Those remarkable numbers would have been even higher, but he did not run at Quincy in 2006 and was only on hand for about half of the 2009 season.

EDDIE DIEKER

Dieker inadvertently created a James Dean-esque backdrop around his career. He was gone from racing way too early.

At the top of the bomber division in 2005, he opted to retire after winning a second straight championshop and his third in four years. The likable Plainville resident decided to drive off into the sunset to concentrate on raising a family.

Dieker, who also won a championship in 1999, still holds series records for most titles (4) and just about any other category related to the bombers and hobby stocks. Dieker’s halcyon days of 2003-05 saw him win a combined 49 races, the most ever during any three-year stretch in the division’s 23-year history.

Making Dieker’s accomplishments even more impressive is he managed his dominance at a time when the bombers were averaging 30 cars a week, almost double the average of recent seasons at the track.

5 MEMORABLE RACES

More than 200 late model feature races were run in the track’s marquee division between 2000-09. Here are five of the most memorable:

1. The first UMP Summernational late model event, 2006: After years of trying, the track finally landed a UMP Summernationals tour stop. The crowd, the buzz and the race all matched the hype. Randy “King Kong” Korte won the event, which saw Jeep Van Wormer spear Steve Sheppard Jr. on a caution lap on night when tempers grew shorter with each yellow flag.

2. Lonnie Bailey’s 2002 Deery Brothers Summer Series victory: Bailey, who went on to win the track championship that season, won the July Deery race, leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Quincy regulars. The late Brent Slocum and Burgtorf followed him across the finish line. The only other 1-2-3 finish by Quincy regulars came in the September 2007 race when Burgtorf, Jason Frankel and Kevin Tomlinson dominated.

3. That was close: Tom Goble, Justin Reed and Lonnie Bailey formed a near-blanket finish June 14, 2009, in the closest late model ending since the track adopted its electronic scoring system in late 2007. Goble was the winner by 0.116 of a second in a race that was talked about for weeks afterward.

4. The DQ: Mark Burgtorf was disqualified two days after “winning” the first 2007 Deery Brothers race at the track because of “unapproved alterations made to a spec cylinder head” that allegedly could have increased horsepower of the engine. Let’s just say the ruling was “questionable” and leave it at that.

5. $10,000 to win: The richest race in track history was held in July 2009, a UMP Summernationals event won by Shannon “The Moweaqua Missile” Babb, who pocketed $10,000 for the first-place finish.

5 BEST LOOKING CARS OF THE DECADE

1. Jamie Wilson, 2002 late model: Wilso always had a knack for preparing sharp looking cars and this was arguably his finest effort. A green, black and silver color scheme made it stand out in brilliant fashion.

2. Mark Burgtorf, 2000 late model: Burgtorf unveiled a blue “outlaw” car on occasion that season and it was dazzling. Burgtorf normally drove a red car (until bringing out a white ride in 2009), but the 2000 blue late model was one of the decade’s most spectacular from a cosmetic point of view.

3. Todd Reichert, 2005 hobby stock: Reichert combined a sleek silver body with a green No. 2 modeled after Rusty Wallace’s NASCAR hot rod.

4. Tony Dunker, 2009 modified: Dunker, who has won four Herald-Whig ZZ Top Sharp-Dressed Man awards in his career for the best-looking modifieds, may have showcased his best effort in 2009. Dunker’s jet black car was highlighted with green/white decals and numbers. The shamrocks were a nice touch, too.

5. Ryan Meyer, 2001 modified: Meyer’s cars have always been known for their flourescent colors, normally combining purple, green and orange in some sort of eye-catching sheet metal landscape. This was the car that set the tone for the rest of the decade.