Optimism abounds at annual Quincy Raceways show at Quincy Town Center

QUINCY – Spencer Havermale took a deep breath and slowly nodded his head in a positive fashion.  

“I think there’s a lot of hope,” he said. “There’s a lot of good vibes about the track and what they’re trying to do. I support them 110 percent.”

Havermale, 30, a second-year crate late model driver at Quincy Raceways, is excited about all the changes being made at the venerable dirt track at 8000 Broadway. He was on hand Saturday for the first of the annual two-day meet and greet at the Quincy Town Center, a track tradition that allows drivers and fans to mingle about a month before the start of the season. The chance for fans to get up close and personal with some of the drivers and cars concludes Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.  

Havermale’s reference to “they” pointed to new track owners Jeff and Renee DeLonjay, director of racing Chance Bailey and the rest of the first-year staff who are putting the finishing touches on what amounts to a complete makeover of the facility that dates to 1975.

“Right now, we’ve got done done about 75 percent of what we want to for this season,” Bailey said.

Opening night is scheduled for April 27, and Bailey admitted the facility overhaul may be a work in progress during the early part of the season. An entirely new racing surface and concrete wall surrounding the track headline the list of improvements, which will also include a revamped concession stand and an upgrade of other facilities on the site.

The new concrete wall has been a topic of much early season discussion, and was on Saturday, too. Since the track opened in the mid-1970s, the east and west ends had been open.

“I like the idea of the wall,” Havermale said. “It will help keep the dirt in the track. There will be a learning curve for the drivers, and it will all be 110 percent different. It will take a little time to get used to.”

Darin Weisinger, Jr., 25, said he’s “looking for packed grandstands again” at Quincy at some point this season.

“That’s one of the childhood memories I have of attending races with my parents at Quincy Raceways,” he said.

Weisinger, too, is anxious to get in his first laps at the new, walled speedway.

“At first, some will hate it, some will love it (until getting used to it),” he said

Weisinger was at the mall showcasing his late model with a new skin that pays tribute to the late Brent Slocum. Slocum was the late model driver who was killed in June 2005 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. Slocum won the 2002 Quincy Raceways late model track title, which ended a 10-year championship run of Quincy’s Mark Burgtorf. Slocum was 28 at the time of his death.

“It’s been 20 years since his death and we thought it would be a great thing to do in his honor,” Weisinger said. “I reached out to Brent’s sister, Jennifer, and she was fine with the idea.”

Bailey said the the support the new track owners has received has been borderline overwhelming.

“That’s probably been the biggest plus of everything,” he said. “From the equipment we have been able to use, to the money donated to (further the cause), it has all been just tremendous.

“People have been out to help us work on the track, and no one has complained about anything. They’ve just kept working. It takes a village.”