2003 Track Reports
and Other News

Changes for 2004 management at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville Illinois are finalized... Bill Marietta and Bob Sargent have reached an agreement and will team to run the speedway. Since Bob Sargent is involved with other racing sanctions and many other speedways, Bill Marietta will be in charge of the overall operations at the speedway race nights and during the week.. Events already being planned are as follows:
At least one $10,000 to win Late Model show
UMP summernationals show
2 Northern All Stars shows
The 11th annual David Richardson Memorial for UMP modifieds.. $5000 to win
Labor Day UMP modified special which has paid $4000 to win
A large super street special
Kenny Schrader Nascar night
A sanctioned winged sprint car show (not on a sunday night)
Other notes that may be of interest :
A return to the admission of kids 12 and under free for the families
Also a banquet for 2003 and rules meeting will be announced in the near future
For any more information contact :
Bill Marietta 217-443-4111 (business) , 217-304-0429 (cell) , 217- 443-6923
Bob Sargent 217- 764-3200
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Sunday, August 3, 2003
 

Shannon Babb wins Illinois Speedweek Finale
By Jack Taylor

(August 3, 2003) Engine problems were not the issue Sunday night at Vermilion County Speedway for Shannon Babb as the popular young driver erased the memories of Friday and Saturday from his mind to notch the victory at VCS over 37 of his fellow competitors and pocket the $6,000.00 prize.

Photo by Shawn Crose

The VCS Sunday night affair was promoted as the rainout event for the UMP Summernationals which had a paycheck of  6 grand to the winner in the touring saga of a twenty-one day racing ledger. VCS officials, with an August 3 date already penned in on the schedule for the VCS night of the UMP Challenge and the third leg of Illinois Speedweek, saw a chance to provide fans with a great night of racing to replace the Summernational rainout. 47 cars were at VCS on that rainy Tuesday night and fans departed with a stunned feeling similar to losing a close friend as they left in haste to beat the storm which set upon the speedway.

But those fans were back Sunday night and so were 38 Late Model drivers. Some of the drivers traveled from the Saturday night LaSalle Speedway Xtreme show won by Dan Schlieper and others came from the Fairbury UMP Speedweek show of the previous night won by Kevin Weaver. And a few, like John Gill, had raced the night before at other sanctions and tracks. Added to this was the appearance of 61 UMP Modified drivers to participate in the WolfPack Challenge Series, paying $1,000.00 to the winner.

 And, of course, there was another late entrant to the show and her name, when mentioned, caused many to watch the skies as the evening progressed. She hung around most of the night, caused two program delays for track conditioning, provided as much or more entertainment skyward as the fireworks in the infield on the late model feature pace-lap, and promptly left before 11PM as the fans did. With 99 UMP cars and 30 Bombers and the raindrops, there was plenty of excitement for all.

   Don O'Neal started the night out by erasing Shannon Babb's July of 2002 track record which was 13.30. O'Neal's first  lap clocked 13.31, but the second run was 13.21 to establish a new goal for drivers in the future. The tacky track produced some great times for all who challenged it. Bob Pierce outran Billy Drake, Michael Bradley, and Shannon Babb for honors in the dash to set the front four for the  feature. Heat winners were Brian Shirley over Steve Hillard, Roger Long beating Rodney Melvin, and Reece O'Connor topping Richie Hedrick. Randy Korte and Jammie Wilson were winners in the two Semi's. 

Starter Rick Issacson threw the green for the 30 lap feature with Pierce and Drake rubbing early on and Babb and O'Neal deciding, "We can do that too." This lasted until the second lap when a caution came out. As the field got underway again, Drake edged out ahead and O'Neal and Babb applied their own pressure to make it a toss-up for a leader. As Pierce faded, Babb, on the bottom, and O'Neal on the top caught Drake. Babb stayed put down low and left the rubbing up to Drake and O'Neal as he eliminated lapped traffic  and headed for the checkers. Drake and O'Neal were fun to watch and so was Dennis Erb, who charged from the back of the pack to finish in fourth ahead of Kevin Weaver.

Photos by Shawn Crose

UMP National points leader, Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, IL, took no prisoners and  notched another UMP win and banked the $1,000 using his signature high bank style of racing as he crossed the line ahead of Brian McDaniel.
Heats were won by John DeMoss, Rory Overmeyer, Brian McDaniel, Dan Hamstra, and Denny Schwartz. Semi's went to Jason Lakey and Jeff Leka.

Feature Summary

UMP Late Models
1-Shannon Babb
2-Billy Drake
3-Don O'Neal
4-Dennis Erb
5-Kevin Weaver
6-Rodney  MElvin
7-Eric Smith
8-Michael Bradley
9-Ryan Dauber
DNF
10-22-Justin Allgaier, Jason Feger, Marvin Burton, Reese O'Connor,
John Gill, Bob Pierce, Randy Korte, Brian Shirley, Steve Hillard, Roger Long,
Richie Hedrick, Chad Zobrist, Jammie Wilson

UMP Modified
1-Denny Schwartz
2-Brian McDaniel
3-Richie Hedrick
4-Danny Schwartz
5-Matt Bachman
6-Jeff Leka
7-Jason Lakey
8-Scott Bull
9-Chuck Haga
10-Aaron Ricketts

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Sunday, May 25:
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TENTH 
ANNUAL
DAVID RICHARDSON MEMORIAL
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UMP MODIFIED
STORY
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Sunday, May 18th:
ERB EQUALS EARLIER EXCELLENCE
By Jack Taylor
(5/18/03)Dennis Erb made Vermilion County Speedway the next notch in his belt Sunday night as the Carpentersville, IL Late Model driver completed a three-night swing of local tracks with a win at Kankakee Motor Speedway on Friday, a $3,000  to win victory at Kamp Motor Speedway on Saturday, and the final win Sunday night at VCS. The win tonight became the dirt pilot's sixth feature win of the early season and came over two of the most respected warriors of this era along with three rising stars of the future. Erb seemed to have complete control over the outcome of the feature event withstanding the challenges of local favorites Bob Pierce and Roger Long as well as youngsters Justin Algaier, Wes Steidinger, and Michael Bradley.

Photo by Shawn's Motorsport Photography
 Twenty-two cars took the green flag for the 25-lap event and Erb wasted no time leading the first charge to front. Algair and Steidinger kept pace and produced some exciting racing for the fans as they jockeyed for the second position behind Erb. Pierce and Long watched the kids play for a few laps before deciding to move on up to see what Erb was showing. Pierce hung low on the track and put both youngsters behind him and Long, in typical top side driving, held the top as he battled Pierce for second spot. On lap 15, Mark Anderson spun to create a ten-lap shoot-out, and although Erb had been in control from the start, he now had Pierce and Long on his tail with the kids now watching from fourth and fifth position.

On the restart, fans were shown a three-car battle which was quelled quickly as Erb moved on out with Pierce following and Long holding down third on top. Some looked for Pierce to make his move and Long to blast through on the top rim, but not tonight as Erb continued his strong early-season domination to take the checkers.

Michael Bradley of Paris set fast time of 13:219, just off the track record held by Shannon Babb set in 2002. The track was tacky to start and held several grooves through the evening. Over 90 cars competed for the Sunday night show with Dan Hamstra in his Ump Modified topping a field of 36 cars for the feature win and Rick Hufford taking the Super Street feature.

UMP Late Model heats were won by Justin Blackwell, Shannon Reid, and Mark Anderson. UMP Modified heats went to Chuck Haga, Don Kiger, Darrin Warner, and Dan Hamstra.
UMP LATE MODEL FEATURE
1-DENNIS ERB, 2-BOB PIERCE, 3-JUSTIN ALGAIER, 4-ROGER LONG, 5-MICHAEL BRADLEY, 6-RYAN DAUBER, 7-CODY HUPP, 8-DON HAMMER, 9-DAN WALDEN, 10-CHRIS DICK, 11-SHAWN GRANDERSON, 12-SHANNON REED, 13-JUAN GRINO, 14-JASON BEIER, 15-MARK ANDERSON, 16-WES STEIDINGER, 17-MARK STETLER, 18-BRAD BARROW, 19-TOM TREADWAY, 20MARVIN BURTON
UMP MODIFIED FEATURE
1-DAN HAMSTRA, 2-DON KIGER, 3-DENNY SCHWARTZ, 4-ROGER CARY, 5-GREG WRIGHT, 6-CHUCK HAGA, 7-TIM O'DONNELL, 8-BILLY VAUGHN, 9- JESSE CRAMER, 10-JOSH FERGUSON, 11-DANNY SCHWARTZ, 12-AL CRAWLEY, 13-ARBY BURTON, 14-CHARLIE CARROLL, 15-DAVE WHEATLEY, 16-KEVIN DAVIS, 17-JARROD WARNER, 18-ROB FUQUA, 19-TERRY DUNCAN, 20-RICHIE HEDRICK, 21-J.P. HUME, 22- JEFF LEKA

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Sunday, May 11th:
UMP Modified
1- Denny Schwartz 2- Dan Hamstra 3- Chad Kinder 4-Danny Schwartz 5- Kyle Logue
 Super Street
1- Butch Meeker 2- John Simmons 3- Jeff Link 4- Scott Hufford 5- Mike Roundtree 
 Bombers
1- Joe Buyno 2- Lee Hall 3- Bill Warner 4- Steve Nolan, Jr. 5- John Kilgore, Jr.
 Hornets
1- Scott Williams 2- Michael Hanner 3- Monte Reed 4- Greg Weise 5- Jay Schuler
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May 4, 03- UMP Late Model Special
Rained Out
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April 27, 03- RICHIE HEDRICK WINS

2002 defending VCS Modified Champion, Kyle Logue,  placed sixth
Sunday night- Photo by Duane Vogel

Quick And Dirty Vermilion County Speedway Feature Results- April 27
By Chris Nunn

(Starting Positions in Parenthesis)
1. Richie Hedrick (4) 2. Jeff Leka (1) 3. Chad Kinder (10) 4. Danny Schwartz (2) 5. Don Kiger (9) 6. Kyle Logue (11) 7. Denny Schwartz (19) 8. Gary Burton (6) 9. Jason Lakey (5) 10. Tim O'Donnell (17)
11. Bub Patrick (3) 12. Arby Burton (22) 13. Terry Duncan (14)
14. Chuck Haga (20) 15. Greg Wright (12) 16. Gabe Menser (13)
17. Brian Clendenen (18) 18. R.J. Gall (16) 19. Curt Rhoades (8)
20. Steven Ott (15) 21. Jim Henson (21)22. Marvin Burton (7)

SUPER STREET
1-Chuck Haga
2- Butch Meeker
3- Dave Tellier
4- Jeremy Zaayer
5- David Meadows
BOMBERS
1-Jonah Buyno
2- Steve Nolen, Jr.
3- Bill Warner
4- Lee Hall
5- Rodney Richards
HORNETS
1- Monte Reed
2- Chris Lutz
3- Danny Cope
4- Michael Hanner
5- Donovan Stark


April 20, 03-Cancelled
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April 13, 03- Shane Cottle Takes Opening night

Looks like the VCS Mods renewed the duals they were having at Florida during 2003 Speedweek 
with Shane Cottle-00 and Dan Hamstra-23 squaring off. This pic was taken in Florida by Duane Vogel,
 but both cars finished 1-2 at VCS on opening night.
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sorry the results were not available to me and without the complete official finishes I don't feel that I can do the report justice... maybe I can work something out with Jamie to get copies in the future... hope so cause I do enjoy it-Namgalf


Top Five-Opening Night (100 plus cars)
Mod Feature
Five former UMP track champions make feature- Cottle, Hamstra, Logue, Schwartz, O'Donnell
1-Shane Cottle, 2-Dan Hamstra, 3-Kyle Logue, 4-Richie Hedrick, 5-Denny Schwartz
Super Street Feature
1- Rick Hufford, 2-Matt Davis, 3-Butch Meeker, 4-Dave Tellier, 5-Jesse Simmons
Bomber Feature
1-Lee J. Hall, 2-Joe Buyno, 3-Bill Warner, 4- Jerrad Krick, 5- Rodney Richards
Hornet Feature
1-Scott Williams, 2-Dan Cothern, 3-Monte Reid, 4-Greg Hanner, 5-Brian Weyh