Donnellson, IA (June 26, 2009) - Friday night was the Pilot Grove Savings Bank Mid-Season Championship Night at the Lee County Speedway, with 116 cars signing in to due battle. Claiming feature wins in their respective classes were Jason Frankel (IMCA Late Models), Michael Long (IMCA Modifieds), Jeff Mueller (IMCA Stock Car), Rodger Dresden (IMCA Sport Mods), Derek St. Clair (Hobby Stocks) and Chris Loring Jr. (Wild Things).
The first feature of the night was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Jeff Schroyer and Brian Clark leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Schroyer would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1, but only held it for that lap, as Wyatt Lantz slipped by for the top spot on lap 2. Lantz would work the bottom of the speedway, as Michael Long, who started 9th, Rich Smith, who started 13th, Josh Foster, who started 12th, and Tyler Cale, who started 11th, were working there way to the front. Long would jump to the outside of Lantz on lap 14 to take over the lead, but a caution on lap 15 would bring the rest of the field to his back bumper. On the restart Long would grab the lead and then held on over the final 5 laps to claim his third win of 2009 at the speedway. Lantz held on for second, Smith edged Foster at the line in the battle for third, with Cale coming home in fifth.
Up next was the 30 lap IMCA Late Model "Topless 30", with Jason Frankel and Denny Woodworth on the front row for the event. Frankel would edge out Woodworth at the line to jump out into the lead on lap 1. Frankel would hold the top spot until the one and only caution of the event came out on lap 13, for a slowing Woodworth who was running 3rd. On the restart Frankel moved out into the lead and then led the final 17 laps to pick up his second win of 2009 at Lee County. Lonnie Bailey would finish second, Tommy Elston was third, Mark Burgtorf was fourth, with Tom Darbyshire coming from 10th to round out the top five.
Kimberly Abbott and Gabe Harrison started the 12 lap Wild Thing feature on the front row, with a red coming out on the start. Dan Ertzinger would take a nasty roll in turn two, but he would climb out ok. On the restart Rex Smart would spin on the backstretch to bring the caution back out. Harrison would grab the lead on lap 1 and then worked to hold off Chris Loring Jr. But Loring Jr. would get by Harrison on lap 4 to take over the top spot, with Harrison coming back on the top to take the lead back on lap 5. The second red of the event came out on lap 6 for a roll by Smart on the front stretch, he climbed out ok. On the restart Loring Jr. would get back by Harrison to grab the lead back, with Harrison pulling into the infield one lap later with problems. Loring Jr. would go on to lead the final 5 laps to claim his third win in a row at the speedway. Dakota Fenton came from 8th to finish in second, Jerry Ostby was third, Chuck Fullenkamp was fourth, with William Michel coming home in fifth.
The 15 lap IMCA Sport Mod feature was next, with Patrick Profeta, who was suppose to be on the pole but elected to go to the rear, giving Thad Gaylord and Jim Kulhmeier the front row. But it was fourth place starter Rod Staats grabbing the lead on the drop of the green flag. The first of two cautions came out on lap 3 for Lonnie McCarty who got spun in turn four. On the restart Staats would move out into the lead, with Rodger Dresden, who started 6th, now right behind him. Dresden would slip under Staats on lap 7 to grab the top spot and then held it until lap 10, when the last caution came out for Lonnie McCarty. Dresden would jump out into the lead on the restart and now had Paul Underwood, who started 7th, right behind him. Underwood would try several time to get by Dresden, as the two ran side-by-side over the final 5 laps. Dresden would hold back Underwood to claim his third win of 2009 at the track. Phillip Cossel would come from 9th to finish in third, Jason Cook came from 8th to finish in fourth, with Gaylord holding on for fifth.
The Hobby Stocks had some troubles getting there feature started, as Jeremy Pundt would spin in front of the field on the start to bring out the first caution. On the restart a three car tangle in two would bring the caution back out. The red would come out on the next restart for a roll by Brent Hartley coming out of turn four, he would climb out unhurt. The field was put single file on the start, with Bobby Files out front. Derek St. Clair would charge from 9th on the drop of the green flag to grab the lead on lap 1. He would then go on to win a time limited race for his third win of 2009 at Lee County. Doug Gorden would come from 11th to finish in second, Bob Lynch was third, Jim Oliver Jr. was fourth, with Dan Wenig charging from 15th on the green-white-checkered finish to come home fifth.
The final feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Cars, with Corey Strothman and Dennis Harwood, who scratched from the event, giving Aaron Brocksick the outside front row. Strothman would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 and then held it until lap 3, when Jeff Mueller charged from 8th to take over the top spot. Mueller looked to be pulling away from the field, when the only caution of the event came out on lap 10. On the restart Mueller would pull away to lead the final 5 laps to claim his fourth win in a row, two in a row at Donnellson and two in a row at Burlington. Abe Huls would finish in second, Brian Holmes had a great run in third, Doug Huls was fourth, with new comer Cole Simmons coming from 10th to round out the top five.
Coming up next week at the Lee County Speedway will be two nights of racing and fireworks. On Thursday, July 2 will be the Second Annual Liberty Cup, the IMCA Modifieds will be racing for $1,500 to win, $1,000 to win going to the IMCA Stock Cars and the IMCA Sport Mods racing for $500 to win. Then on Friday, July 3 the Pilot Gove Savings Bank / Ideal Ready Mix "Drive For Five" for the IMCA Late Models returns, along with the 305 Sprints, Hobby Stocks and Wild Things.
Notes from LCS: 27 Modifieds, 21 Hobby Stocks, 20 Late Models, 17 Stock Cars, 17 Wild Things and 15 Spot Mods made up the 116 cars in attendance......The IMCA Late Models drew for there heat race starting spots and then used passing points to determine the dash and feature line up. The top six in passing points were inverted for the dash, with the way they finished the dash is how they started the 30 lap feature....Colby Springsteen would claim the AEM (Automotive Engine & Machine) hard charger award after starting 18th and passing 7 cars to finish in 11th....The surprise absent of the night was Jeff Aikey, as he came into the night third in the IMCA Late Model points at Lee County......Michael Browning had a great run in the IMCA Modified feature, as he started the 20 lap event in the 24th starting spot. He would pass 16 cars to take home a 8th place finish......Rod Staats had a another great run going in the Sport Mod feature when he spun in turn two on lap 8, while running second after leading. But he kept the race under the green and fell back to 8th. He would pass two cars over the final 7 laps to finish the feature in 6th......Bill Faler made his first trip to Lee County to compete in the Hobby Stock division. He would start the feature in 19th and passed 13 cars to finish the event in 6th .... Jeremy Pundt recovered from his first lap spin and came from the rear to finish in 9th. Luke McLaughlin was DQ in the heat race and then started the feature shot gun on the field. He would pass 11 cars to take home a 10th place finish......Michael Larsen made his first visit to the Lee County Speedway for 2009 to compete in the IMCA Stock Car events. He would start the 15 lap feature 15th and would battle Darrin Ealy and John Oliver Jr. thru much of the feature to claim a 8th place finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment