Donnellson, IA (Friday, May 11, 2012) – Mother nature finally provided a great night for racing at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, as it was DOC360 / Pepsi Next night at the track. The fans were treated to some great racing action and to top the night off they were provided with a FREE can of DOC306, diet DOC360 or Pepsi Next on their way out the gate, thanks to Memphis (Memphis, MO) Bottling Company.
The first feature to take to the track was the 20 lap Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, with Rich Smith and Brandon Savage on the front row. Smith would take advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on the drop of the green flag. The first caution of the race would come out on lap 2, as Paul Nelson came to a stop in turn four with an engine fire. On the restart Smith again grabbed the lead, with Todd Hansen and Josh Foster, who started 7th, battling it out for second. But the battle up front was slowed on lap 3, when Brad Ford came to a stop in turn 4 to bring the yellow out. Smith again jumped back out front on the restart, with Foster getting around Hansen for second. The final caution of the race would appear on the track on lap 4, as Brandon Rothzen suddenly slowed in turn 1 which caused Kyle Hill and Derek Hamm to get together. On the restart Smith moved back out front, with Foster and Hansen following close behind. Foster tried on every lap for the next 9 laps to get around Smith, as Hansen followed in third ready to pounce when ether made a mistake. Foster would get the break he needed on lap 13, as Smith jumped the cushion in turn four to allow Foster to get under him going into turn 1. Foster would exit turn two with the lead on lap 14 and then held on to it over the final 6 laps to pick up the win. Smith settled for 2nd, Hansen was 3rd, Tyler Cale came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Jeff Waterman charging from his 16th place starting spot to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 15 lap Coor’s Light LCS Hobby Stock feature, with Dane Fenton and Brian Hoener drawing the front row. Fenton took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Hoener. As Fenton continued to lead the field, Victor Hastings, who started 6th, and Dan Wenig, who started 10th, were working the way to the front. Wenig would overtake Hastings for second on lap 9 and then went to work on Fenton for the lead. But disaster would strike Wenig on the completion of lap 10, as he spun his machine in turn 2 to bring out the only caution of the event. On the restart Fenton moved back out front, with Hastings and Hoener battling for second. Fenton would drift to high in turn two on lap 13, which allowed Hastings to get by for the lead, as Fenton slipped back to 4th. Hastings then led the final 3 laps to pick up the win. Luke McLaughlin came from 5th to finish in 2nd, Wenig recovered from his lap 10 spin to come back up to 3rd, Hoener settled for 4th, with Jeff DeLonjay coming home in 5th.
Matt Greiner and Cale Samberg led the field to the drop of the green in the 15 lap Donnellson Tire IMCA Stock Cars, with Greiner jumping out front to lead lap 1 over Jeff Mueller. Mueller tried to work under Greiner over the next five laps, only to have Greiner edge him at the line each time to hold the top spot. But disaster would strike Mueller on lap 6, as he slowed in turn 3 with a right rear flat to bring out the first caution. On the restart Greiner moved back out front, with Samberg and Jason Cook, who started 8th, battling it out for second. Greiner then had to work to hold back Samberg, who was under challenge from Cook and Jim Redmann, over the next 6 laps. When the final caution of the event came out on lap 12 for Travis Hartman, who lost a drive shaft down the front stretch. Greiner once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Cook moving into 2nd. Greiner then went on to lead the final 3 laps to claim the win. Cook finished in 2nd, Redmann was 3rd, Mueller recovered from his lap 6 flat to finish in 4th, with Jim Lynch rounding out the top 5.
Up next was the 12 lap Sunline Auto Parts IMCA Sport Compact feature, with C.J. Loring and Austen Becerra on the front row. Becerra would take advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Loring. The red flag would wave over the speedway on lap 2, as Mike Hornung Jr. got into Loring, which caused him to roll in turn 4. Loring would be ok as he fired his car and continued on, with Hornung Jr. going to the tail. On the restart Becerra jumped back out front, with Brandon Lambert, who started 8th, and Darin Smith close behind. The battle up front was slowed for the final time on lap 3, as Kyle Hamelton slowed to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Becerra once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Lambert and Smith battling for 2nd. The three car battle up front would become four on lap 10, as Seth Woodruff move in to set up a 2 lap dash to the finish. Becerra was able to hold back all challenges over the final laps to pick up the win. Smith edged out a 2nd place finish on the final lap, Lambert settled for 3rd, Woodruff was 4th, with Scott Smith coming home in 5th.
The final feature of the night was the 15 lap Shottenkirk Parts Express IMCA SportMods, with Jacob Smith and Levi Smith leading the field to green. Levi Smith would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. Levi then held the lead until lap 3, when Brandon Ruffcorn slipped under him to take over the top spot. The action up front was slowed on the completion of lap 3, as Jay Kirchner spun his machine in turn four. On the restart Ruffcorn moved back out front, with Levi Smith working to hold back Bobby Anders for second. As Ruffcorn worked to hold back Levi and Anders, Jim Gillenwtaer, who started 7th, and Scott VanBuskirk, who started 10th, were working their way to the front. But the action was slowed for the second time on lap 7, as Jacob Smith spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Ruffcorn again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Anders and Gillenwater close behind. But another caution on the completion of lap would slow the action once again. This time Charles VanZandt spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow back on. On the restart Ruffcorn again moved back out front, with Anders holding back Gillenwater for 2nd. But another caution on the completion of lap 9 would slow the action. Kirchner would spin his machine in turn 4 for his second solo caution to end his night. Once again Ruffcorn jumped back out front on the restart, with Gillenwater getting by Anders for 2nd. Ruffcorn now had to work to hold back Gillenwater, when the final caution came out in lap 11. This time Brandon Dale spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Gillenwater was able to slip under Ruffcorn to take over the top spot on lap 13 and was able to hold it to claim the win. Ruffcorn settled for 2nd, VanBuskirk was able to edge out a 3rd, Anders held on for 4th, with Tony Dunker coming from 9th to round out the top 5.
Notes from LCS: A.J. Fike started the 21 car Modified feature in 17th and passed 6 cars to finish in 11th....Brandon Rothzen had troubles in his heat and had to start 19th in the feature. He would slow with troubles on lap 4 to end his night in 13th....Both Andy Krieger and Ryan Cook had mechanical troubles after there heats and scratched from the feature......After one week of IMCA Hobby Stocks on the card for the 2012 season, and no hopes up picking up any cars after only 4 showed up on opening night, the owners and promoter decided to make some changes to the rules for the remainder of the season. The rules would allow cars from 34 Raceway and Quincy Raceways to come and enjoy the racing action on Friday nights in Donnellson without making any changes to there cars. On the first night of the new rules 10 cars showed up, with hopes of some more to join in the coming weeks......Tanner Thomann made his debut in a Stock Car on Friday, after several seasons in a Hobby Stock. He would start the feature in 12th and worked his way up to a 9th place finish....Corey Strothman had troubles in his heat to force him to scratch from the feature event......William Michel had motor troubles in hot laps and was forced to scratch his Sport Compact from the nights events......Rick Barlow Jr. passed 7 cars from his 14th place starting spot in the SportMod feature to take home 7th....Phillip Cossel came from 12th to finish in 8th....Jacob Smith, who spun his machine in turn 4 on lap 7 to bring out a caution, came from the rear to finish in 10th....John Oliver Jr. came from 17th after troubles in his heat to take home an 11th place finish....Charles VanZandt started 16th and finished in 13th......A new rule change for the 2012 season at the Lee County Speedway that was witnessed for the first time was the elimination of the time limit for the features. Instead after the third caution of the event a lap would be added on every caution after that until the race is completed. The SportMod feature had the third caution come out on lap 8, so every caution after that a lap was added to the total laps run to the point of the caution. So the four caution came out on lap 9, which added 1 lap to make the restart on lap 10. The fifth and final caution came out on lap 11, so once again 1 lap was added to make the restart a green-white-checkered shootout.
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