Sunday, August 8, 2010

Samberg and Wilkerson Get First Wins of the Season; While Smith, Cossel and Kratzer Claim Another Victory

Donnellson, IA (Friday, July 16, 2010) - The temperatures outside were hot and humid, as was the racing action on Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. When the nights action came to an end Cale Samberg and Nick Wilkerson picked up there first feature wins of the season at the speedway. While Rich Smith, Phillip Cossel and Dean Kratzer claimed repeat victories.

The first feature on the night was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Rob Kirchner and Brandon Savage on the front row. Kirchner would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. But Levi Smith would spin in turn 3 after the completion of lap 2 to bring out the first caution. On the restart Wyatt Lantz spun coming off of turn four with a right front flat. He would get it changed and returned to restart 15th. Kirchner would jumped out into the lead on the second restart, with Savage still following him in second. Kirchner started to pull away from the field when disaster struck in on lap 11. He would slow to a stop in turn two with motor troubles. Rich Smith, who started 9th, inherited the lead on the restart, with Jeff Waterman, who started 6th, and Josh Foster, who started 10th, battling it out for second. Smith held the top spot until the final caution of the event came out on lap 15, for Dustan Fenton who spun in turn 2 with a right rear flat. On the restart Smith again jumped back out front, with Foster now close behind in second. Smith would work the bottom of the speedway, while Foster worked the top over the next 2 laps. Foster would show his nose to Smith on lap 18, so Smith moved up to the top of the speedway for the final 2 laps to hold off Foster for his second win of the season at the speedway. Waterman held on for 3rd, Jeff Gerhardt had a great run in 4th, with Lantz recovering from his lap 2 flat to finish in 5th.

Up next was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Jim Redman and Cale Samberg leading the field to the drop of the green. Redman took advantage of his front row start to move out front on lap 1. But his lead would only last for 2 laps, as he pulled in on lap 3 with motor troubles. Samberg would inherit the lead and then pulled away over the final 12 laps to claim his first win of the season at the track. Matt Greiner came from 7th to finish in 2nd, Derek St. Clair continued his late season good runs by finishing in 3rd, Jeff Mueller came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Corey Strothman coming home in 5th.

Larry McConnell and Dean Kratzer led the field to the green in the 15 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Kratzer moving out front on lap 1. While Kratzer worked to hold off Matt Tucker for the lead, Jake Wenig, who started 10th, was working his way to the front. Wenig would get by Tucker for second on lap 13 and then went to work on Kratzer for the lead. Wenig would try get by Kratzer on the final lap, but Kratzer would hold him off to pick up his second win of the season at the speedway. Tucker held on for 3rd, Tanner Thomann came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Dan Wenig rounding out the top 5.

Up next was the 15 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Sarah Tweedy and Rodger Dresden making up the front row for the event. But it was fifth place starter Phillip Cossel who made a great move on the start to grab the lead on lap 1. The first caution of the race would come out on lap 4, when Nathan Murders spun in turn three. On the restart Cossel moved back out front, with Rod Staats close behind in second. Cossel would start to pull away from the field, when another caution came out on lap 7. Michael Bliven would spin in turn 2. Cossel again jumped back out into the top spot on the restart, with Staats trying to hold off Dresden for second. Just as Cossel was building up another lead, the caution would come out again. Brandon Dale would spin in turn 2 on lap 14. On the restart Cossel would pull away to claim his second win of the season. Jason Cook charged from 11th to finish in 2nd, Staats held on for 3rd, Dresden was 4th, with Mitch Hidgon coming from 9th to round out the top 5.

The final feature of the night was the 12 lap Wild Things, with Drake Fenton and Brandon Lambert on the front row. But it was third place starter Jerry Ostby who grabbed the lead on lap 1. The caution would come out after the completion of lap 1, as Mike Horning Jr. came to a stop on the front stretch. On the restart Ostby jumped back out into the lead, with Nick Wilkerson close behind in second. The caution would appear for the final time on lap 5, when Darin Lambert spun in turn 1 and collected Chuck Fullenkamp, who was running 5th. Ostby again grabbed the top spot on the restart, with Wilkerson putting pressure on him for the lead. Ostby and Wilkerson came up on some lapped traffic on the final lap coming out of two. Ostby would jumped to the bottom, while Wilkerson jumped to the top. The lapped cars would hold up Ostby enough to allow Wilkerson to get by coming out of four to claim his first win of the season at the track. Gabe Harrison came from 10th to finish in 3rd, Rex Smart was 4th, with William Michel coming from 11th to take home fifth.

Notes from LCS: Adam Birck was running 5th on lap 19 of the Modified feature, but got sideways in turn 3 and fell back to 8th....Bill Seyb started the feature in 14th and passed five cars to finish in 9th....Brandon Savage was running 4th in the feature, when he got sideways in turn 2 on lap and fell back to 10th.......The Stock Car feature went all 15 laps without a caution!!!......The Hobby Stock feature followed that up by going all 15 laps without a caution!!!....Victor Hastings started the Hobby Stock feature in 16th and passed 7 cars to finish in 9th......Drew Fish took the green in the SportMod feature in 12th. He would pass 6 cars to take home a 6th place finish....AJ Johnson started 15th and passed 5 cars to come home in 10th....Michael Bliven recovered from his lap 7 spin to come back to finish in 11th......Drake Fenton was running 2nd in the Wild Thing feature when he pulled off on lap 1 with troubles. He would return to restart 21st and then worked his way back up to finish 10th....Chuck Fullenkamp recovered from his lap 5 wreck to come back to finish in 11th.

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