Donnellson, IA (Friday, June 29, 2012) - Despite mother nature's attempts to spoil the MEGAtalk by I-Wireless Mid-Season Championship, the racing action on Friday at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA was able to be completed. Taking home feature wins on the night, with rains and lightning surrounding the track in all directions, was Lonnie Heap (IMCA Modifieds), Abe Huls (IMCA Stock Cars), Tony Dunker (IMCA SportMods), Jake Wenig (LCS Hobby Stocks) and Chuck Fullenkamp (IMCA Sport Compacts).
The first feature of the night was the 20 lap IMCA Modifieds, with Lonnie Heap and Tyler Cale leading the field to the drop of the green. Heap would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Cale and Josh Foster, who started 5th. While Heap continued to lead the field, Cale and Foster had a great battle going for second until lap 12. Foster would spin in turn 2 to bring out the first caution of the event. On the restart Heap again grabbed the top spot, with Cale close behind in second. Just when it looked like Cale might be able to get under Heap to grab the lead away, the caution waved on lap 13. This time Ryan Cook, who was running 7th, spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Once again Heap jumped back out front on the restart, with Cale still following close behind in second. The battle up front was slowed for the final time on lap 18 as Kyle Hill stopped in turn 1 to set up a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart Heap moved back out front, as Cale tried to get under him. Cale would make contact with Heap in turn 1, but Heap was able to keep the lead coming to the white flag. Cale would come out of turn 4 to take the white with a right front flat, which allowed Jeff Waterman, who started 8th, to move past to battle Heap for the lead. But Heap was able to hold on to claim his first win of the season. Waterman came home in 2nd, Cayden Carter came from 10th to finish in 3rd, Brandon Banks finished 4th after starting in 7th, with Bill Roberts Jr. rounding out the top 5.
Up next was the 15 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Matt Greiner and Abe Huls making up the front row. Greiner would take advantage of his front row start to move out front on lap 1 over Huls and Jeff Mueller. The action was slowed for the first time on lap 2, as Michael Larsen came to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Mueller was able to get under Greiner to take the top spot away on lap 3. After the completion of lap 3 the caution would appear on the speedway for the second time, as John Oliver Jr. spun in turn 4. Mueller would jump back out front on the restart, with Huls and Greiner battling it out for second. As Mueller started to pull away from the battle for 2nd, Huls was able to clear Greiner for that battle on lap 9 and then went to work to chase down Mueller. The one and only thing that Mueller didn't want to see happened on lap 13, when Matt Keller spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart Mueller moved back out front, with Huls following a close second. Mueller, who was running the bottom, and Huls, who was up top, took the white flag side-by-side, with Mueller getting credit for leading lap 14. Huls would grab the advantage coming of of turn 2 and then held on to claim his second win in a row at the track. Mueller settled for 2nd, Jason Cook came from 7th to finish in 3rd, Derek St. Clair finished 4th after starting in 10th, with Cale Samberg coming home in 5th.
Darin Smith and Austen Becerra, who was moved to the front row after Nick Wilkerson scratched from the event, led the field to the green in the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compacts feature. But it was 4th place starter Chuck Fullenkamp who grab the lead on lap 1 over Kimberly Abbott, who started 6th, and Smith. Fullenkamp then pulled away from the field to lead all 12 laps of caution free racing to pick up his fourth win of the season at the track. Abbott would finish in 2nd, Becerra settled for 3rd, Anthony Cassat came from 7th to finish in 4th, with Smith holding on for 5th.
The next feature to take to the track was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Tony Dunker and John Oliver Jr. on the front row. Dunker would take advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Oliver Jr. and Brandon Ruffcorn. The action was slowed for the first time on the completion of lap 2, as the yellow light came on for debris in turn 3. On the restart Bob Cowman spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow back out. The next restart saw Dunker move back out front, with Oliver Jr. working to hold back Ruffcorn and Jim Gillenwater, who started 7th. Another yellow on the completion on lap 3 would slow the action again. This time Cowman would come to a stop in turn 1, which was his second solo to end his night. Once again Dunker grabbed the lead on the restart over Oliver Jr., while Gillenwater was able to get past Ruffcorn for third when Ruffcorn went into turn 1 to hard and got into the guardrail. Another caution, for Levi Smith who stopped in turn 1, on the completion of lap 4 would slow the event once again, which meant for every caution moving forward would add 1 lap to the total laps ran up to that point. Dunker once again jumped out front on the restart, with Oliver Jr. holding back Gillenwater for second. But another yellow on lap 6 would slow the battle up front, as Jay Kirchner spun sideways under the flag stand on the front stretch to bring out the caution. On the final restart Dunker grabbed the lead once again, leaving Oliver Jr. and Gillenwater to battle for second. Dunker would lead all 15 laps to claim his third win of the season and second in a row at the speedway. Gillenwater was able to get past Oliver Jr. to finish in 2nd, Oliver Jr. settled for 3rd, Rick Barlow Jr. came from 11th to finish in 4th, with Chris Larson coming home in 5th.
The final event of the night was the 15 lap LCS Hobby Stock feature, with Jake Wenig and Dan Wenig on the front row. Just after the field took the green, TJ Sammons would come to a stop in turn 2 to bring the caution out. On the original restart Jake Wenig grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Dan Wenig and Brian Hoener. The final caution of the event would appear on the completion of 2, as Dane Fenton got into the back of Dugan Thye and sending Thye spinning in turn 4. Fenton was penalized for being the cause of the caution, while Thye was moved back up to his spot in 5th. Once again Jake Wenig moved back out front on the restart, with Hoener and Dan Wenig battling for second. Jake Wenig would hold on to lead all 15 laps to pick up his third win in a row and overall at the track. Hoener held on for 2nd, Dan Wenig was 3rd, Victor Hastings was 4th, with Thye holding on for 5th.
Notes from LCS: With it being Mid-Season the night borught out a different format to help determine the feature line-ups. The top 12 drivers, in points, signed in on the night would be inverted for the heat races with the remainder lined up behind them. Then how they finished there heats was how they started the feature. For instance the winner of heat 1 would start from the pole, while heat 2 winner would start 2nd, and so on....Derek Hamm came from 11th in the Modified feature to finish in 6th....Brandon Savage finished 9th after staring in 14th....Josh Foster would cross the line in 7th, after coming from the back from his lap 12 spin while running 3rd. But was scored a lap down to officially finish in 12th......Jeremy Pundt came from 11th in the Stock Car feature to finish in 8th....John Oliver Jr. recovered from his lap 3 spin to finish in 9th......The Sport Compacts went CAUTION FREE!!!....Scott Smith came from 9th to finish in 6th......Carter VanDenBerg came from 14th in the SportMod feature to finish in 7th....Levi Smith, who started 17th, brought out the caution on lap 4. He would recover to finish in 9th....Michael Joe Bliven came from 13th to finish in 10th....Jay Kirchner, who started 22nd, spun on lap 6 to bring out the final caution. He would recover to finish in 14th....Jimmie Fierge, who made his first visit of the season to LCS, started the feature in 20th and passed 5 cars to finish in 15th.
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