springfieldraceway Archives

Springfield quick to resume racing Saturday night

By Ronnie Williams SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Quick-Quarter of the Springfield Raceway will be back in action Saturday night, Sept. 14 after taking off last weekend for the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The tight IMCA Modified point battle between James Thompson and Jody Tillman will resume. On Saturday, Sept. 21 during the Under The Lights Special Tribute race to the Ozarks Legends, the Bad Boy Mowers IMCA Modifieds will be racing for a $500 to win and $100 to start feature Look for three-wide action as the Quick Quarter never seems to disappoint especially in IMCA Modified action every Saturday Night.

High groove gets Thompson to victory lane

By Ronnie Williams SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Aug. 24) – Bad Boy Mower IMCA Modified point leader James Thompson shocked the field by moving in the high groove on lap 15 and pulled away to record his fifth feature win of the season at The Quick-Quarter of the Springfield Raceway. Thompson, who twice this season has pulled off late-race wins by using the bottom groove to his advantage, showed patience on the ultra-quick surface after the track was hit by heavy rain showers both Friday night and Saturday morning. After searching for a spot on the track to gain ground on the leaders, Thompson used two early cautions to get position as leader Bobby Pearish and last week’s winner Ryan Gilmore were waging an all-out war for the spot. Action went solid green after the lap three caution. Thompson the very quietly picked his spots very carefully. The lap 15 caution bunched the pack together as Thompson had moved to second and picked the outside lane for the double-file restart to most everyone’s surprise. He wheeled to the upper [Read More]

Gillmore gets first IMCA Modified win at Springfield

By Ronnie Williams SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Hometown driver Ryan Gillmore charged early from his sixth starting spot and drove with ease to his first-ever Bad Boys Mowers IMCA Modified win Saturday before the capacity crowd at The Quick Quarter Springfield Raceway. Gillmore, driving the Andrew Smith car that won on opening night, had made several changes to the car during the week after a seventh place finish last week. The youngster wasted no time in working through traffic early in the 20-lap feature and then kicked it in gear to capture the win in a strong run. “Last week was the first time since early in the season that we ran the car and we finished second that night. I knew the car was capable of getting into the winner’s circle and we found a few things and made several changes,” he said. “The car was on a rail. Jerry had the track in great shape and two-three wide racing all night in all classes.” Gillmore was happy the race went almost caution-free as friend and hard [Read More]

Tonoli shows quickest way to Springfield checkers

By Ronnie Williams SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Aug. 10) – Veteran Chris Tonoli took advantage of track position and left the filed behind Saturday in The Bad Boy Mower IMCA Modified feature At The Quick-Quarter of Springfield Raceway in collecting his IMCA win in the Show-Me State. The California transplant, always a frontrunner in Modified and Street Stock racing in the area, converted his number 71 to the IMCA division as Springfield announced in the off season the move to the sanction. “We just felt for our program, this made sense with the cost and changes. It has put the fun back into local racing for us,” he said. Tonoli has had some strong runs this season and had a late charge to third the previous Saturday. He took off like a rocket ship on the green and led all 20 laps of the Aug. 10 feature with ease. The real battle was for the runner-up spot between last week’s winner Bobby Pearish and Trevor Drake, as Drake ran Pearish down late to secure second. Pearish, James Thompson [Read More]

Pearish prevails at Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Aug. 3) – Oronogo’s Bobby Pearish thought he had it easy in The Bad Boy Mowers IMCA Modified main event Saturday at Springfield Raceway, until a lap 18 caution waved putting Arkansas hotshoe Shawn Walsh and Chris Tonoli right on his back bumper. A strong restart kept Pearish on point as he captured his second feature win of the season. Starting sixth on the grid, Pearish wasted no time in going to the front on the fast paced ¼-mile high-banked oval as a surprise Friday evening rain storm really had the track hooked up but still smooth. While Pearish was running through the middle groove, Walsh began his charge from the 10th starting spot and then Tonoli found a quick line three-fourth’s up the race track and was closing. E3 Spark Plugs Missouri State point leader Clay Hale was riding steady as James Thompson quietly started forward progress while Pearish was hooked-up solid until a lap 18 caution flew, allowing the field to close up. On the double-file restart, Walsh picked the low [Read More]

Pearish gets first IMCA Modified win at Springfield

By Ronnie Williams SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (June 22) – Oronogo’s Bobby Pearish grabbed the early lead and held back current point leader James Thompson in recording his first-ever Bad Boy Mowers IMCA Modified feature win Saturday at The “Quick-Quarter” of the Springfield Raceway. Pearish, who started third, wasted no time in moving to the extreme top groove on the racy surface and began to put some distance on the field. Taking full advantage on a restart as Shawn Duncan spun, Pearish went rim-riding while the race for second really heated up between Thompson and Jody Tillman. The top two in the track standings were door-to-door and began to gain on Pearish. Thompson took over the runner-up spot and with eight laps remaining was closing ground. Pearish, who later said the car was working strong, felt it slip a couple of laps and then realized he was pushing too hard. He got back into a smooth rhythm in becoming the eighth different winner in IMCA Modified action this season. Thompson proved the old saying going from a [Read More]

Norris is quickest to Springfield checkers

By Ronnie Williams SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (June 8) – Searcy, Ark., resident and current Batesville Motor Speedway IMCA Modified point leader Clay Norris made his first-ever visit to The “Quick-Quarter” of the Springfield Raceway Saturday night. The trip paid off as Norris pulled off a last-lap, last-turn pass from race and Bad Boy Mower IMCA Modified point leader James Thompson to become the fifth different feature winner out of seven features on Indigo Casino Raining Money Night at the races before the packed grandstands. An early restart found Thompson and points runner-up Jody Tillman bringing the pack to the green. Derek Watson was quick to join the top duo as Norris was searching to see where his car was working best. Thompson found the top groove to his liking as he started to pull away from Tillman and Watson while Norris was waiting in the shadows as the feature went caution-free the rest of the distance. Norris decided on lap 15 it was time to go as the Arkansas hard charger made quick work of both Watson [Read More]

Thompson is quickest around Springfield oval

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (April 27) – James Thompson took the early lead and then held back Jet Racing Central Region Point leader Steven Bowers Jr., Bobby Pearish and Bad Boy Mowers IMCA Modified track point leader Jody Tillman in becoming the third different in three events Saturday at the “Quick-Quarter” of the Springfield Raceway. Thompson, who started fourth, quickly went topside to open a large lead early in what proved to be a caution-free 20-lap feature. Pearish moved to the extreme high side in giving chase as Bowers was slicing his way to the front while battling with Tillman. Thompson used the tight races behind him to pull away but Pearish started to reel in the race leader just past halfway while Bowers was using every inch and every lane of the smooth, slick surface in gaining ground. On lap 15, Bowers caught Pearish and the duo gained on Thompson quickly. On lap 18, Bowers made a huge run on Pearish and made the slide job stick to grab second while Tillman was coming on strong. [Read More]

IMCA Modifieds new in 2019 at Springfield Raceway

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The “something different” Springfield Raceway owner and promoter Jerry Hoffman was looking for is the IMCA Modified division. The sanctioned class will be new to Saturday programs at the quarter-mile, high-banked clay oval in southwest Missouri in 2019. Opening night will be in March with first point races in April. “It was time for a change. Sometimes you have to wait ‘til the time is right to do something different,” Hoffman said. “Tracks in the area are down to single digit car counts and even the nights big money was added car count did not grow like you thought it would.” Hoffman and Doug Bland had purchased the track 12 years ago. “We had been the first track in the area to sanction both USRA Modifieds and ‘B’ mods,” said Hoffman, now the sole owner. “You can really run an IMCA Modified cheaper than you can a USRA ‘B’ mod.” Springfield Raceway will be part of IMCA’s Jet Racing Central Region. After the season-opening March Madness special, the IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly [Read More]