Donnellson, IA (July 2, 2009) - A another beautiful night for racing at the Lee County Speedway on Thursday Night, as it was the 2nd Annual Liberty Cup presented by Pepsi. Forty-four IMCA Modifieds, 34 IMCA Stock Cars and 10 IMCA Sport Mods showed up in hopes of taking home the big prize in all three divisions. The big winners of the night were Michael Long (IMCA Modifieds), Jeff Mueller (IMCA Stock Cars) and Jason Cook (IMCA Sport Mods).
The first feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA Sport Mods, with Jacob Smith and Rodger Dresden drawing the front row for the event. The one and only caution of the night would come out on the start, as Patrick Profeta and Jim Kuhlmeier would spin in turn two. On the restart Smith would jump out into the lead, as Dresden and Jason Cook battled for second. Cook would make his move into the lead on lap 5, as he passed Smith on the bottom of the speedway to grab the advantage. Cook would lead the final 10 laps to pick up his first career Sport Mod feature and the $500 top prize to go with it. Smith held on for second, Dresden was third, Paul Underwood was fourth, with Phillip Cossel driving Lonnie McCarty's machine to a fifth place finish.
Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Rick Girard and Cole Simmons taking the field to the drop of the green flag. Girard would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1, followed closely by Aaron Brocksick. Brocksick would slip by Girard on lap 3 to take over the top spot, with Jeff Mueller who started 8th following him into second. Brocksick would work the bottom of the speedway and tried to hold back Mueller, but Mueller would find an opening on lap 6 to take over the lead. The first of three yellows would come out on lap 10, when Matt Krieger spun in turn two. Mueller would jump out into the lead on the restart and was pulling away, when a late caution came out on lap 17 for a slowed Girard, who had a tire go down. On the restart, Kirk Kinsley would spin in turn four to bring the caution back out for the final time. Mueller once again grabbed the lead on the restart and pulled away over the final 3 laps to claim his third win in a row and fourth in the last five races at Lee County. The win was also worth $1,000 for Mueller. Mike Van Genderen would slip past Brocksick to finish in second, Abe Huls charged from 17th to finish in fourth, with Darin Thye rounding out the top five.
Shawn Fisher and Jeff Waterman drew the front row for the 25 lap IMCA Modified feature, but it was sixth place starter Wyatt Lantz edging into the lead on lap 1. Lantz would only hold the lead for one lap, as Troy Cordes slipped by for the top spot. A yellow as the lap was complete would come out for a spin by Brandon Savage in turn three. Cordes would jump into the lead on the restart, but another caution would come out on lap 4 when Tyler Cale spun Lantz in turn four. Lantz would retire to the pits, with Cale being sent to the rear. On the restart, Michael Long moved to the top of the speedway to take the lead from Cordes and then pulled away over the final 20 laps to claim his second win in a row and fourth overall at the track. Long's win was worth $1,500. Josh Foster charged from 17th to second, Dusty Kraklio came from 12th to finish in third, Cordes held on for third, with 16 year old Nate Caruth rounding out the top five.
The Lee County Speedway returns to action tonight (Friday, July 3) with the Pilot Grove Savings Bank / Ideal Ready Mix "Drive For Five" for IMCA Late Models back in action. Also racing will be the 305 Sprints, Hobby Stocks and Wild Things.
Notes from LCS: The defending Liberty Cup Stock Car winner, Abe Huls had a rough start to the night, as he was involved in a crash in the heat and had to run a B. Huls would recover to win the B and start 17th in the A-Main. Huls slowly worked his way to a fourth place finish at the end of the 20 lap event.... Jim Redmann started 18th in the feature and passed 11 cars to finish in 7th.... Doug Huls started 21st in the feature and passed 10 cars to take home a 11th place finish....Phil Holtz was the final driver to quailify in the first B, which put him 23rd on the starting grid. He would pass 11 cars to finish in 12th....Paul Lawson was running fifth in the Stock Car feature when he pulled into the pits on the lap 10 caution with mechanical problems......Foster amused the fans in the Modified feature, as he won the first B and had to start the feature in 17th. Foster would go low, high and three wide at times to make a nice run to second at the finish....Jacob Murray would started the A-Main in the 22nd starting spot and then passed 12 cars to take home a top ten finish......The longest pull award would have to be Robby Rosselli, who pulled his IMCA Stock Car to Donnellson from Minot, N.D. Rosselli who raced at Alta on Tuesday and then Independence on Thursday would make the A-Main and finished in 20th.
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