Donnellson, IA (April 29, 2011) - The Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa finally got there 2011 season started, after two straight weeks of rain outs. For the fans the wait was well worth it, as 131 cars signed in to do battle for the points opener.
The first feature on the night was the 15 laps IMCA SportMods, with Austin Schulte and Dylan Book drawing the front row. Before the first lap could be scored the caution would appear, as Rod Staats spun in turn 1 to avoid a tire. On the restart Shannon Sample would spin in turn four and collect the machines of Jim Gillenwater, Nathan Murders, Chad Cannady, Steve Pumphrey and Phillip Cossel. Book would grab the lead on the restart over Jeff Mueller, who is driving the Fenton owned car driven by Jason Cook to the 2010 Championship in the SportMod class. But the field was again slowed after the completion of lap 1, as Brandon Ruffcorn spun in turn 4. On the restart Jacob Smith would spin in turn 4 and collected Ryan Fullenkamp and Jim Gillenwater to bring the caution light back on. Once again Book would move out into the lead on the restart, with Mueller close behind in second. The battle up front was slowed on lap 3, as Brandon Ruffcorn spun in turn 4 for his second solo to end his night. This caution would put an end to the time limit, with the next yellow or the checkered flag putting an end to the race. Book again grabbed the lead on the restart over Mueller, as the top two was pulling away. But the battle would end on lap 8, as Dustin Smith spun in turn 4 on lap 8 to bring an end to the race. Book held on for the win, Mueller was 2nd, Dean Kratzer came from 7th to finish in 3rd, Mike Shelton started 10th and came home in 4th, with Rick Barlow Jr. coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Mike Amenell and Bob Cowman led the field to the drop of the green in the 15 lap Hobby Stock feature, but it was 5th place starter Dan Wenig who would grab the lead on lap 1. The first of four yellows would come out on the completion of lap 1, as Nathan Anders spun in turn 4 with a flat. On the restart Kirk Puttmann would spin in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. Aaron Sperry and Puttman would collide on the restart in turn 2 to bring caution out once again. On the restart Wenig jumped out into the lead, with Dane Fenton, who started 7th, close behind in 2nd. While Wenig started to pull away, the battle for 2nd would heat up as Fenton, Rob Wilsey and Matt Gavin would go three wide for 2nd. But the 3 wide battle would come to an end on lap 7, as Wilsey and Gavin got together going into turn 1 with both spinning to bring out the final caution. Weing once again grabbed the lead on the restart and then pulled away over the final 8 laps to claim the win. Fenton settled for 2nd, Jim Lynch came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Nick Fenton was 4th, with Ray Raker coming from 12th to finish in fifth.
Up next was the 25 lap IMCA Late Model feature, with Mark Burgtof and Ray Guss Jr. drawing the front row for the event. Guss Jr. would take advantage of his front row draw to grab the lead on the drop of the green, with Burgtorf following behind in second. The two started to pull away from the field when they entered lapped traffic on lap 10, that would allow Jason Perry and Justin Reed to close in. Burgtorf would try to get under Guss Jr. over the next 10 laps, as they entered more lapped traffic, but Guss Jr. was able to hold Burgtorf back. Guss Jr. would lead all 25 laps, which went caution free, to pick up the $1,000 top prize. Burgtorf held on for 2nd, Perry was 3rd, Reed 4th, with Jeff Aikey coming from 8th to round out the top 5.
Ryan Cook and Kevin Goben led the field to the green in the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Goben grabbing the lead on lap 1. But the first caution of the race would come out on the completion of lap 1, as Dustin Crear, AJ Fike, Kirk Hopkins, Bill Roberts and Joe Beal collided off of turn 4. On the restart Goben jumped back out into the lead, with Cook working to hold back Josh Foster, who started 7th, for second. Foster worked the bottom of the speedway to perfection, as he grabbed the top spot away from Goben on lap 5. Foster then started to pull away from the field, when Hopkins spun in turn 2 on lap 10 to bring the yellow light on. Once again Foster moved out front on the restart, but now had Dennis LaVeine following close behind in second. LaVeine tried to get by Foster on the top side, but there battle would be slowed on lap 13 when Dustan Fenton spun in turn 2. Foster again grabbed the lead on the restart, with LaVeine trying the high side to get by Foster for the lead. But there battle was slowed on lap 15 when Roberts and Beal collided in turn 4 to bring the yellow out. At the same time Goben would clip a tire in turn 2 and broke his left front to spin to a stop, which ended his top 5 run. Once again Foster grabbed the lead on the restart, with LaVeine working to hold back Brandon Rothzen, who started 11th. The three car battle up front was slowed for the final time on lap 18, as Milo Veloz Jr. spun in turn 2. Foster again moved out front on the restart and held on over the final 2 laps to pick up the win. LaVeine held on for 2nd, Rothzen was 3rd, Tyler Cale came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Jim Roach coming home in fifth.
Up next was he 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with rookie Jeremy Pundt and Jason Cook leading the field to the green. But it was 3rd place starter Jeff Mueller grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Jason Cook. Pundt's run up front would come to an end on the completion of lap 2, as he spun off turn 4 and collected John Oliver Jr. to bring out the first caution. On the restart Ryan Cook and Gabe Harrison collided in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. Mueller jumped back out into the lead on the restart, with Jason Cook getting sideways and falling from 3rd to 6th. Just as Mueller started to put some distance on the second place car, the caution would come out on the completion of lap 3. This time a tire was clipped and thrown out onto the track in turn 3. On the restart Derek St. Clair would get sideways off turn 4 and collected the cars of Corey Strothman, Aaron Brocksieck and Ryan Cook to bring the yellow back out. Mueller again jumped out front on the restart, with Kevin Tomlinson, who started 7th, and Jim Redmann, who started 8th, battling it out for second. Mueller would pull away from the field over the final 12 laps to claim the win. Redmann came home in 2nd, Jason Cook recovered to finish in 3rd, Matt Greiner started 10th and finished in 4th, with Cale Samberg coming home in fifth.
The final feature of the night was the 12 lap Wild Things, with Darin Smith and Chuck Fullenkamp drawing the front row. But it was 3rd place starter David Helenthal moving out into the lead on lap 1. Helenthal, Smith and Fullenkamp had a great three car battling going up front until the 1 and only caution of the event came out on lap 6. Debris in turn 4 would slow the field down and set up a lap 6 dash to the finish. On the restart Helenthal moved back out into the lead and then held it until lap 9, when Smith got by for the top spot. Smith then held on over the final 3 laps to claim the win. Helenthal crossed the line in 2nd but was disqualified in tech for miss matched tires. That would move Fullenkamp up to 2nd, Wayne Noble charged from 16th to finish in 3rd, Craig Bangert came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Kimberly Abbott rounding out the top 5.
Notes from LCS: 30 IMCA Modifieds, 24 IMCA Late Models, 23 IMCA SportMods, 21 Hobby Stocks, 17 IMCA Stock Cars and 16 Wild Things made up the 131 cars signed in on the first night of competition......AJ Johnson started 11th in the IMCA SportMod feature and worked his way up to finish in 7th....Patrick Profeta came from 12th to finish in 8th....Rodger Dresden started 15th and passed 6 cars to finish in 9th....Michael Joe Bliven passed 7 cars from his 17th place starting spot to take home 10th....Derek Coleman came from 19th and passed 8 cars to finish in 11th....Rod Staats recovered from his lap 1 spin to finish in 12th....Jacob Smith came from 21st and passed 8 cars to take home 13th....Phillip Cossel had a hard crash in his heat to end his night early, as he was a scratch from the feature......Nathan Anders who brought out the caution on lap 1 of the Hobby Stock feature and then pitted with a flat, restarted 17th. He would work his way to finish in 6th by the end of the 15 lap event....Tim Dawson made the pull up from Callao, Missouri pay off, as he started 15th and passed 8 cars to finish in 7th....Jim Oliver Jr. charged up from his 19th place starting spot to claim 8th....Josh Tripp came from 14th to take home 10th....Michael Wenke came from 17th to finish in 12th......Rob Toland started the IMCA Late Model feature in 12th and passed 5 cars to finish in 7th....Jason Frankel started 11th and came home in 8th....Boone McLaughlin came from 13th to finish in 9th....Colby Springsteen passed 6 cars from his 18th place starting spot to take home 12th....Nick Marolf started 17th and took home an 13th place finish....Jay Johnson came from 20th to finish in 15th......Jeff Waterman, who picked up the IMCA Modified B Main, started the feature in 21st. He would pass 15 cars to take home a 6th place finish....James Leffew came from 13th to finish in 7th....Mike Weikert Jr. also came from the B Main and started 22nd. He would pass 10 cars to take home an 12th place finish....Jim Lynch started 19th and passed 6 cars to finish in 13th....Dustan Fenton recovered from his lap 13 spin to come back to finish in 14th......Abe Huls took the green in the IMCA Stock Car feature in 11th and passed 5 cars to finish in 6th....Kevin Tomlinson was going for second on the final lap, when he and Redmann made contact in turn 2. Tomlinson would get into the guardrail, which cut the right front, to drop him back to 10th at the finish......C Jay Loring came from 15th to pass 9 cars for a 6th place finish in the Wild Things feature....Sierra Bueker started 13th and passed 6 cars to take home 7th....Mike Hornung Jr. came from 12th to finish in 8th.
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