Donnellson, IA (Friday, May 18, 2012) - Friday night at the Lee County Speedway turned out to be a picture perfect night, with mother nature providing the great weather and the drivers producing some great racing action. At the end of the nights action there was three new winners standing in victory lane, with two repeat winners.
The first feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Brandon Dale and Jacob Smith leading the field to the green. But it was fifth place starter John Oliver Jr. who jumped out into the lead on lap 1, followed by Dale and Chris Larson. Oliver Jr. started to pull away from the field, leaving Dale and Larson to battle it out for second. But the first caution of the event would come out on lap 7 to bring the field back to Oliver Jr.'s back bumper. Tony Dunker who spun his machine in turn 2, while running 6th, brought the first yellow out. Under that caution Oliver Jr. took his machine into the pits with oil pressure problems. Jim Gillenwater, who started 11th and worked his way into 2nd on lap 5, would inherit the lead for the restart. On the restart Kevin Cale would come to a stop in turn 2 to bring the caution back out. The next restart saw Gillenwater move out into the lead, while Dale and Larson continued there battle for second. Just like Oliver Jr., Gillenwater started to pull away from the field when he was slowed for the final time on lap 12. This time Jay Kirchner spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Once again Gillenwater grabbed the lead on the restart, while Larson worked to hold back Dunker, who came from the rear after his lap 7 spin. Gillenwater would hold on for the final 3 laps to pick up his second win in a row at the track. Larson crossed the line in 2nd but was disqualified for being light at the scales, Dunker was moved up to 2nd, Brandon Ruffcorn came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Rick Barlow Jr. was 4th, with Dale holding on for 5th.
Up next was the 15 lap LCS Hobby Stock feature, with Victor Hastings and Nathan Anders drawing the front row for the event. Hastings would take advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Anders and Dan Wenig. Hastings then held the top spot until lap 4, when Wenig got under him to grab the lead away. Wenig would go on to lead the final 11 laps to pick up his first of the season at the speedway. Hastings settled for 2nd, Anders was 3rd, Kevin Cheney was 4th, with Michael Wenke rounding out the top 5.
Adam Birck and Derek Hamm led the field to green in the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, but Tyler Cale would spin in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Cale and Wyatt Lantz collided in turn 1 to bring the caution back out. Birck jumped out front on the following restart, with Hamm and Brandon Savage close behind in second and third. Birck then held the top spot until lap 3, when Hamm jumped to his outside to take the lead on lap 3. Hamm would start to pull away from the battle for second, when the final caution of the event came out on lap 7. This time Todd Hansen, who started 8th and had worked his way to 4th, spun in turn 2 and collected Bill Roberts Jr. and Ryan Cook. On the restart Hamm moved back out front, but now had Rich Smith and Josh Foster, who came 11th, on his back bumper. Smith would work under Hamm on lap 9 to take over the top spot, with Jeff Waterman, who came from 10th following into 2nd. Foster, who had fallen back to 4th on lap 9, drove his machine hard into turn 3 and would come out of four into 2nd and then went to work on Smith for the lead. Smith would hold back Foster until lap 12, when Foster got under him coming out of four to take over the top spot. Foster then led the final 8 laps to claim his second win in a row at the track. Smith settled for 2nd, Waterman was 3rd, Brandon Banks came from 9th to finish in 4th, with new comer Hunter Marriott coming from 13th to take home 5th.
Up next to take to the speedway was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature event, with Cale Samberg and Corey Strothman leading the field to the drop of the green. Samberg would take advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Jim Lynch and Strothman. Samberg then held onto the top spot until lap 5, when Lynch slipped under him for the lead. While Lynch led the field, Jeff Mueller, Matt Greiner and Abe Huls battled behind him. Greiner would jump to the top of the track on lap 10 to take over second and then went to work on Lynch for the lead. Lynch and Greiner ran the final 4 laps side-by-side, while Mueller and Huls ran side-by-side for the battle for 3rd. Lynch was able to hold on by a half a car length in a caution free event to claim his first career Stock Car feature win at the track and second of the year. Greiner had to settle for 2nd, Mueller was 3rd, Huls was 4th, with Jason Cook coming from 10th to round out the top 5.
The final feature of the night was the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compacts, with C.J. Loring and Mike Hornung Jr. making up the front row. But it was third place starter Chuck Fullenkamp who grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Loring and Hornung Jr. As Fullenkamp continued to lead the field, Rob Hammel, who returned to racing after a few years off started 10th, was quickly working his way to the front. Hammel would try to get under Fullenkamp on laps 8-11, but Fullenkamp was able to hold him off each time. But coming out of turn four for the checkered flag Hammel was able to get under Fullenkamp to edge him out by inches to claim his first win of the season. Fullenkamp settled for 2nd, Darin Smith came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Kimberly Abbott was 4th, with Scott Smith coming home in 5th.
Notes from LCS: 18 Modifieds, 18 SportMods, 13 Sport Compacts, 10 Stock Cars and 8 LCS Hobby Stocks made up the 67 cars signed in for week 3.......Bradley Holtmeyer came from his 14th place starting spot to pass 7 cars to take home a 7th place finish in the SportMod feature....Charles VanZandt came from 13th to finish in 8th....Bob Cowman started 15th and took home a 9th place finish....Jay Kirchner, who started 16th, recovered from his lap 12 spin to come back up to finish in 11th....Jim Kuhlmeier came from 18th to finish in 12th....Kevin Cale was the replacement driver for the injuried Dean Kratzer in the 4k. He would stop in turn 2 with troubles on the lap 7 restart to end his night in 14th....Michael Joe Bliven was running 6th until the lap 7 caution, when he pulled off the track with motor troubles to end his night in 16th....Phillip Cossel had troubles in his heat to force him to scratch from the feature......Both Jake Wenig and Derek Kirkland had troubles in there LCS Hobby Stock heats, which forced them to scrath from the feature......Michael Browning started the Modified feature in 15th and passed 9 cars to finish 6th....Kyle Hill came from 17th to take home an 11th place finish....Todd Hansen, who started 8th and was running 4th, spun in turn 2 and collected Bill Roberts Jr, who was 7th, and Ryan Cook, who was 9th. The contact ended Hansen's run in 14th and Roberts Jr. in 15th....Tyler Cale and Wyatt Lantz collided in turn 1 on the second original restart, ending both there nights in 16th and 17th......The Stock Car feature might have only had 10 cars in the feature, but it turned out to be one of the best races of the night. There was two and even three car battles for first thru 6th the entire 15 laps of CAUTION FREE racing!.....Brandon Lambert came from 13th to finish the Sport Compact feature in 6th....The Sport Compacts ran there 12 lap feature CAUTION FREE!
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