Monday, July 25, 2011

Webb and Fullenkamp Claim First Wins of the Season at Lee County

Donnellson, IA (Friday, July 22, 2011) - Friday night was another action packed night of racing at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. At the end of the night there were two new winners and three repeat winners in victory lane.

The first feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Jim Kuhlmeier and Jacob Smith leading the field to the green. But it was third place starter Dean Kratzer who edged out Rod Staats at the line to lead lap 1. Kratzer was able to hold back Staats over the next 2 laps, before Jeff Mueller, who started 8th, over took Staats for second. Mueller then went to work on Kratzer for the lead, until the first caution of the event slowed the action down on lap 8. Staats, who was running 3rd, spun to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Kuhlmeier came to a stop in turn 3 to bring the caution light back on. Kratzer grabbed the lead on the restart, with Mueller holding back Jim Gillenwater, who started 9th, for second. Gillenwater would jump to the bottom of the track coming out of turn four to grab the top spot on lap 10. Gillenwater then pulled away over the final 5 laps to claim his 5th win of the season at the track. Kratzer held on for 2nd, Mueller was 3rd, Rodger Dresden came home 4th, with Kevin Cale edging out 5th at the line by inches.

Up next was the 15 lap Hobby Stock feature, with Bob Cowman and Dugan Thye making up the front row. But just like the SportMod feature, third place starter Jake Wenig jumping out front on lap 1 over Dane Fenton. The first caution of the event would come out on the completion of lap 1, as Nathan Anders spun in turn 1. On the restart Wenig grabbed the lead, with Fenton holding off Dan Wenig, who started 7th, for second. Jake Wenig started to pull away from the battle for second, when the second caution of the event came out on lap 10. This time Michael Wenke spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow light. Once again Jake Wenig moved back out front, with Fenton challenging him for the top spot. Just as Fenton went under Jake Wenig to take over the top spot, Wenke would spin in turn 4 on lap 14 to bring out the final caution. This would set up a green-white-checkered overtime finish. On the restart Fenton slipped under Jake Wenig to grab the top spot away on lap 15. But Jake Wenig would come back on the top of the track coming out of turn 2 to take back the lead. Jake Wenig, was up top, Fenton, in the middle, and Dan Wenig, down low, would come off of turn four three wide for the win. But it was Jake Wenig who went on to claim his 6th win of the season at the track. Fenton held on for 2nd, Dan Wenig was 3rd, Jim Lynch was 4th, with Ray Raker rounding out the top 5.

Connie Justice and Sierra Bueker were suppose to lead the field to the green in the 12 lap Wild Things feature, but both would scratch from the event. That would move the second row of Craig Bangert and Kimborly Abbott up to the front row. Bangert would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Chuck Fullenkamp, who started 5th. Fullenkamp would slip under Bangert on lap 3 to take over the top spot, with Nick Wilkerson, who started 6th and David Helenthal, who started 7th, moving up to challenge. Wilkerson and Helenthal both tried the low side to get around Fullenmkap. But Fullenkamp would hold them back for the final 9 laps to claim his frist win of the season at the speedway. Wilkerson settled for 2nd, Helenthal was 3rd, Bangert held on for 4th, with Abbott coming home in 5th.

The 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature was up next, with Jeremy Pundt and Derek St. Clair on the front row for the event. Pundt would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Corey Strothman. But Pundt would only lead 1 lap, as Chris Webb, who started 5th, slipped under him to grab the top spot on lap 2. On the completion of the lap Ryan Cook would spin to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the first caution of the race. On the restart Webb moved back out front with Pundt working to hold back Strothman for 2nd. Just as Webb started to pull away, the final caution of the event would appear on lap 11. This time Pundt would come to a stop up against the guardrail in turn 3 to end his run up front. Webb once again jumped back out front on the restart, with Jason Cook, who started 7th, moving up to challenge him. Cook would make a last lap challenge on Webb coming off four, but Webb was able to hold him back to claim his first win of the season at the track. Matt Greiner came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Justin Temeyer started 12th and passed 8 cars to finish in 4th, with Jeff Mueller coming from 9th to round out the top 5.

The final feature on the night was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Bill Seyb and Rob Kirchner leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Kirchner would grab the lead on lap 1 over Dustin Crear and Adam Birck. Tyler Cale, who started 8th, quickly moved to the front to grab the top spot away from Kirchner on lap 5. Just as the lap was completed, Birck, who was running 3rd, spun to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the first caution. On the restart Cale jumped back out front, with Wyatt Lantz, who started 6th, moving in to challenge. The battle up front was slowed again on lap 9. Once again Birck would spin his machine in turn 2 to bring out his second solo spin to end his night. Lantz would jumped to the outside of Cale on the restart to grab the top spot on lap 10. Lantz then started to pull away from the battle for second between Cale, Jeff Waterman, who started 7th, and Josh Foster, who started 9th. The final caution of the event would come out on lap 15 to bring the field back to Lantz's back bumper. This time the yellow would be displayed for Bill Roberts who spun off of 4 and Chadwick Giberson who spun in turn 4. Once again Lantz moved back out front on the restart, with Cale holding back Waterman and Foster for 2nd. Foster would make his move into second on lap 18 and then went to work on Lantz for the lead. But Lantz had built up to big of a lead to hold on to claim his 2nd win of the season at the speedway. Foster settled for 2nd, Cale was 3rd, Waterman was 4th, with Kirchner holding on for a 5th place finish.

Notes from LCS: In 77 laps of feature racing, there were only 10 cautions on the night. With the Wild Things going caution FREE!!!......Patrick Profeta started the SportMod feature in 12th and passed 5 cars to finish in 7th....Rick Barlow Jr. also passed 5 cars from his 13th place starting spot to take home 8th....Rod Staats would recover from his lap 8 spin to come back to finish in 9th......Jake Wenig claim his 6th Hobby Stock feature in 11 started at the Lee County Speedway for 2011. Wenig's all 6 wins came in features he would finish, his other 5 starts were races he wasn't around at the finish....Bobby Anders drove Wesley Mayfield's Hobby Stock to a 6th place finish after starting 9th......Mike Fisher started the Wild Things feature in 9th and passed 3 cars to finish in 6th....Ben Reschke passed 9 cars from his 16th place starting spot to take home a 7th place finish....Bradley Stevenson came from 14th to take home 8th....Darin Smith, who was the points leader going into the night, started the feature in 8th and had worked his way to 3rd by lap 5. But a right front flat on lap 6 would end his run to the front to give him a 13th place finish......Ryan Cook recovered from his lap 2 spin in the Stock Car feature to come back up to finish in 6th....Cale Samberg was suppose to start 4th in the feature, but motor troubles after his heat would make him scratch from the event......Brandon Banks started the Modified feature in 13th and passed 7 cars to take home a 6th place finish....Derek Hamm came from 12th to finish in 7th....Dustin Crear was running 2, when he got off the track in turn 1 and fell back to 12th. He would recover to take home a 8th place run....Rayn Cook was suppose to start the feature in 10th, but elected to tag the tail. He would come up to claim 9th at the finish.

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