Sunday, July 22, 2012

Cassat Gets Career First Win at Lee County

Donnellson, IA (Friday, July 20, 2012) - A busy Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa on Conn Communication and US Cellular Night, with many prizes given away including 9 pairs of tickets to the August 4th NASCAR Nationwide race at the Iowa Speedway. The on track action produced one first career first time winner and four repeat winners, as Tyler Cale (IMCA Modifieds), Jason Cook (IMCA Stock Cars), Jim Gillenwater (IMCA SportMods), Jake Wenig (LCS Hobby Stocks), and Anthony Cassat (IMCA Sport Compacts) visited victory lane.

The first feature up on the night was the 15 lap LCS Hobby Stocks, with Rob Wilsey and Jake Wenig drawing the front row for the event. Wenig would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Wilsey. The action was slowed for the first time on lap 3, as Dane Blozovich spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution. On the restart Wenig jumped back out front, with Wilsey and Brian Hoener close behind. Hoener's run up front would end on lap 4, as he slowed in turn 2 with a right front flat to bring out the second caution of the race. Wenig again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Dane Fenton, who started 9th, now challenging him for the top spot. But Wenig was able to pull away, until the third caution of the event came out on lap 11. This time Mike Kincaid would spin his machine in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Wenig again moved out into the lead, with Fenton and Victor Hastings, who came from the rear twice, battling for second. But the action was slowed for the final time on lap 13, to set up a 2 lap shootout, as debris on the backstretch brought out the final caution. Wenig once again grabbed the lead on the restart and then held on for the final 2 laps to win his fourth consecutive feature at the track. Fenton held on for 2nd, Hastings was 3rd, Kevin Cheney came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Kincaid recovering from his lap 11 spin to round out the top 5.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds feature, with Adam Birck and Ryan Cook on the front row. But disaster would strike Birck, as he spun in turn 2 on the drop of the green to brin out the first caution. That would move Brandon Savage up to the front row for the restart, which he took advantage of to lead lap 1 over Cook. Savage then started to pull away from the field, when the second caution of the race came out on lap 6. Bill Roberts, who was running 5th, came to a stop into the front stretch wall just under the flag stand to bring out the yellow. On the restart Savage once again jumped out into the lead, with Cook working to hold back Brandon Banks, who started 7th. Savage again started to put some distance on the battle for second, when another caution came out on lap 9 to bring the field back to his back bumper. This time Michael Browning slowed to a stop in turn 4 with right front damage to bring out the yellow. Once again Savage grabbed the lead on the restart, while Cook drifted to high in turn 2 and fell from 2nd to 8th. Disaster would strike Savage on lap 12, as he slowed with mechanical troubles to bring out the fourth caution of the race, which meant 1 lap was added to the number of laps completed. Josh Foster, who started 8th, would inherit the lead on the restart, with Tyler Cale, who started 6th, over taking Banks in the battle for second. The action up front was slowed for the final time on lap 16 as Kyle Hill spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow, which added another lap to the number of laps completed. Foster again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Cale close behind. Disaster would strike Foster coming to the white flag as he cut a left rear tire, allowing Cale to get by for the top spot. Cale then held off Banks on the final lap to pick up his third win of the season at the track. Banks settled for 2nd, Jeff Waterman came from 9th to finish in 3rd, Lonnie Heap was 4th, with Cook recovering from his lap 10 bobble to come back to finish in 5th.

Jeremy Pundt and Jim Lynch led the field to the drop of the green in the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Lynch grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Pundt. The action was slowed for the one and only caution of the event on lap 2, as Jakoby Hooper spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lynch moved back out front, with Jason Cook, who started 6th, moving into the second spot. Lynch then held on to the lead until lap 5, when Cook worked under him to take over the top spot. Cook then led the final 10 laps to pick up his second win in a row at the speedway, following his win last Wednesday during the fair race. Jeff Mueller came from 8th to finish in 2nd, Matt Greiner started 7th and finished in 3rd, Lynch held on for 4th, with Corey Strothman rounding out the top 5.

Up next was the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compacts feature, with Brandon Lambert and Austen Becerra leading the field to the green. Lambert would take advantage of his starting spot to edge out Becerra and Chuck Fullenkamp, who started 6th, to lead lap 1. The battle up front was slowed for the first time on lap 4, as Kyle Hamelton spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart Fullenkamp would get under Lambert to grab the lead on lap 5. Fullenkamp then held it until lap 9, when Rob Hammel, who started 9th, slipped past for the top spot. Fullenkamp's run up front would end on lap 10, as he slowed to a stop in turn 2 with mechanical troubles to bring out the caution. On the restart Hammel's car wouldn't come up to speed, which allowed Anthony Cassat to grab the lead on lap 11. Another caution on the completion of lap 11 would slow the action down, which set up a green-white-checkered overtime finish. As Rachael Reger spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Cassat again grabbed the lead on the restart, only to be slowed for the final time on lap 12. This time Darin Smith spun down the front stretch, after contact from Josh Barnes to bring out the caution. Barnes would be sent to the rear for being the cause of the caution, while Smith would have gotten his spot back but had to go to the pits to change a tire. Once again Cassat jumped out into the lead on the restart and then held off Kimberly Abbott to claim his first career feature win. Abbott settled for 2nd, Becerra was 3rd, Lambert was 4th, with Barnes recovering from the lap 12 caution to finish in 5th.

The final feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Charles VanZandt and Levi Smith on the front row. After four cautions before a lap was completed, the drivers would settle down to run laps 4-15 caution free. Smith would take advantage of his starting spot to jump out front on lap 1 over John Oliver Jr. Smith then held the lead until lap 6, when Jim Gillenwater, who came from the rear after being involved in a caution on the start, slipped under him to grab the top spot. Gillenwater then pulled away from the field to claim his fourth win of the season at the track. Smith held on for 2nd, Kevin Cale came from 19th to finish in 3rd, Tony Dunker also came from the rear after being involved in one of the early cautions to finish in 4th, with Brandon Ruffcorn coming from 17th to round out the top 5.

Notes from LCS: Victor Hastings was suppose to start the LCS Hobby Stock feature in 3rd, but had to go to tail for being pushed off of the staging area. He would work his way up to 5th by the lap 4 caution. But went to the pits with a right rear flat and returned to go to the tail for the restart. Hastings would work his way back to finish the feature in 3rd....Dane Blozovich came from 10th to finish in 6th, despite going to the rear after his lap 3 spin....Rob Wilsey was battling for the lead early in the event, before exciting on lap 12 with mechanical troubles to end his night in 7th....Dan Wenig lost an engine in his heat race and was a scratch from the feature......Derek Hamm came from 14th in the Modified feature and passed 8 cars to finish in 6th....Scott Boles made his first trip of the season to the Lee County Speedway and started the feature in 16th. He would pass 9 cars to finish in 7th....Kyle Hill came from 13th to finish in 8th....Paul Nelson started 15th and finished in 9th....Josh Foster limped to a 10th place finish after leading and having a flat on the white flag lap....A.J. Fike started 11th and had worked his way up to 7th by lap 12, before pulling off with troubles......John Oliver Jr. came from 11th in the Stock Car feature to finish in 8th......Josh Barnes, who started 10th in the Sport Compacts feature, came from the rear on his involvement in the lap 12 caution to finish in 5th....Rob Hammel, started 9th, and was leading on lap 10 when his car slowed on a restart. But Hammel was able to hold on to finish in 6th....Darin Smith came from the rear after pitting on the lap 12 caution with a flat to come back to finish in 8th....Rachael Reger, in her first visit of the season to the track, started the feature in 12th and spun on lap 11 to bring out a caution. She came back to finish in 9th....Kyle Hamelton, who started 13th, came from the rear after his lap 4 spin to come back to finish in 10th....William Michel had mechanical troubles after his heat and was a scratch from the feature....Nick Wilkerson lost an engine in his heat and also scratched from the feature......Tom Elsen came from 11th in the SportMod feature to finish in 6th....Jacob Smith was involved in the first caution of the feature and came from the rear to finish in 8th....Rick Barlow Jr. was another driver involved in one of the early cautions and went to the pits for repairs. He would come from the rear to finish in 9th....John Oliver Jr. was running 4th and slowed on the white flag lap to finish in 10th.

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