Sunday, June 20, 2010

Lee County Speedway Almost Escapes Mother Nature

Donnellson, IA (Friday, June 18, 2010) - Mother nature has really played a big roll in the 2010 season when it comes to dirt track racing. Despite all the rain in the area on Friday afternoon the Lee County Speedway was able to escape them and was able to get there regular night started.

The first feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Cars, with Jim Redmann and Corey Strothman leading the field to the green flag. Strothman jumped out into the lead on lap 1, with Redmann close behind in second. The first of 3 cautions would come out on lap 2, when Jeff Mueller spun in turn 2. On the restart Strothman moved back out into the lead, with Redmann working to hold off Abe Huls for second. Strothman started to pull away from the battle for second, when the second caution came out on lap 11. Josh Robinson would spin in turn 4. Strothman again grabbed the lead on the restart, but was slowed on lap 12 when Devon Timmerman slowed in turn four with a right front flat. Once again Strothman jumped out into the lead on the restart, but now had Jason Cook, who started 8th, on his back bumper. Strothman, was working the top of the speedway, and Cook, was on the bottom, came off turn 2 on the last lap side-by-side. Cook drove hard into turn three on the bottom and drifted up in front of Strothman to come off four for the win. Redmann settled for 3rd, John Oliver Jr. came from 7th to finish in 4th, with Huls rounding out the top 5.

Up next was the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Rick Barlow Jr. and Rod Staats on the front row. Barlow Jr. took advantage of his front row start to jump into the lead on lap 1. He would only lead that lap, as Jim Gillenwater, who started 5th, slipped under Barlow Jr. on lap 2 to grab the top spot. Gillenwater then started to pull away from the rest of the field when the first of 2 cautions came out on lap 8. Sarah Tweedy was getting lapped and came off of turn 4 sideways and collected the cars of Michael Bliven and Phillip Cossel. On the restart Gillenwater moved back out into the lead, but now had Jason Cook, who started 10th, close behind in second. The final caution of the event came out on lap 9, when Cossel spun in turn 3. Once again Gillenwater grabbed the lead on the restart and then held off Cook over the final 6 laps to claim the win. Barlow Jr. held on for 3rd, Thad Gaylord was 4th, with AJ Johnson coming from 11th to round out the top 5.

Andy Krieger and James Leffew led the field to the drop of the green flag in the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Leffew jumping out front on lap 1. Leffew slowly started to pull away from the rest of the field, when he was slowed on lap 3. Dustin Crear, who was running 8th, spun in turn 4 to bring the first caution out. On the restart Leffew moved back out into the lead and again was slowly pulling away from the field. But he would get sideways coming off turn 2 on lap 7 and had to go through the infield grass. He would come back out on the backstretch with the lead, but had Josh Foster, who started 9th, right behind him. Foster would slip under Leffew on lap 8 to take over the top spot, with the caution coming out after the completion of the lap. Dean McGee would spin in turn 4. Foster grabbed the lead on the restart and then pulled away for his second win in a row at the track. Leffew held on for a season best 2nd at the speedway, Rich Smith came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Brandon Rothzen started 10th and passed 6 cars to come home in 4th, with Adam Birck coming home in 5th.

The 12 lap Wild Things feature took to the track next, with Rex Smart and Kimberly Abbott on the front row after Ethan Thompson, who was suppose to start on the pole but scratched from the event. On the drop of the green flag Don DeMint would spin in turn 2 to bring the caution out. Mother nature then moved in, with strong winds and then heavy rains to cancel the Wild Things and Hobby Stock features.

Notes from LCS: Kimberly Abbott won the Wild Thing Rookie Rally after all the heat races were completed. The Rookie Rally was for any driver who hasn't won a feature in 2010 at the speedway and wasn't in the top 5 in points. She would beat 14 other drivers to take the win......Jeff Mueller had some smoke come out from under the hood in his Stock Car heat. The crew changed motors for the feature, where he started 13th. Mueller would spin in turn 2 on lap 2 to bring the first caution out, but later retired to the pits with mechanical troubles to finish in 15th....Nathan Wood made the pull to LCS when CJ Raceway got rained out. He would have to start the heat in 8th, with no point average and got up to finish 5th. Wood then started the feature in 10th, where he finished in his first trip of 2010 to LCS......L.Z. Coleman started the SportMod feature in 14th and passed 5 cars to finish in 9th....Jason Doyle made the pull down from Cedar Rapids to run in the SportMod class. He would have to start 6th in the heat, with no points average, but managed to get up to 4th. Doyle then started the feature in 12th and passed 2 cars finish in 10th.....Rod Staats was running in the second spot, when he pitted on lap 9 with troubles. He would return to the back of the field and managed to get back up to finish in 12th....Cody Layman came down from Ainsworth and started 18th in the feature. He would pass 5 cars to take home a 13th place finish.......Dustin Crear spun on lap 3 while running 8th in the Modified feature. He would recover from the back of the field to finish in 9th....Jerry Pratt made the pull down from Bennett, after Davenport wasn't racing due to Sturgis By The River. He would start the feature in 18th and passed 7 cars to finish in 11th....Andrew Burk from Eldridge was another driver making the pull down after Davenport wasn't racing. He started the feature in 12th, where he finished....Jacob Waterman came down from Milan, IL after Davenport took a week off. He had the worst luck of the 3 drivers. He started 19th in the feature and had rear end troubles early in the race to give him a 18th place finish....A make-up date for the rained out Wild Things and Hobby Stock features haven't been set yet as of this writing.

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