Donnellson, IA (Thursday, June 21, 2012) - The Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA raced on Thursday night this week, instead of there normal Friday night, as it was Budweiser Night. On tap for the night was the 360 Sprint Invaders, IMCA Stock Cars and IMCA SportMods, with a great field of cars and fans on both sides of the speedway to help make it an exciting night.
After four Sprint Invader heat races, a dash and B-Main, plus two IMCA Stock Car heats and three IMCA SportMod heats, the features were set to take to the speedway.
The first feature of the night was the 15 lap Tire IMCA Stock Cars, with John Oliver Jr. and Abe Huls drawing the front row for the event. Huls would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1, leaving Oliver Jr., Jason Cook and Matt Greiner battling for second. While Huls was pulling away from the field and Oliver Jr., Cook and Greiner battling for second, Jeff Mueller, who started 8th, was working his way to the front. Mueller would over take Greiner for 4th on lap 3, then passed Oliver Jr. on lap 7 to move into third, and then passed Cook on lap 11 to move into second. But Huls had built up a straight-away lead by that point, leaving Mueller with alot of work to do to catch Huls in the final 4 laps. Disaster would strike Mueller on lap 14, as he approached the lapped car of Matt Keller. Keller was glued to the bottom of the speedway going into turn 1, with Mueller trying to work under him. But when Mueller realized he was able to get to the bottom he tried to move up top, but was blocked by Cook and Greiner who were battling side-by-side for third. Mueller then spun into the infield to avoid contact with Keller, ending his night. While all that was happening Huls went on to claim the win in a caution free event and the $400 to prize, thanks to Discount Tire Service and track announcer Ryan Clark who added $100 to the first place prize. Cook held on for 2nd, Greiner was 3rd, Oliver Jr. was 4th, with Tanner Thomann coming home in 5th.
Up next was the 20 lap Sprint Invaders feature, with Matt Sutton and Tony Shilling making up the front row as a result of there finish in the dash. But it was third place starter Tyler Blank who grabbed the advantage on the drop of the green, only to have the red come out before the lap was completed. As Matt Krieger clipped the tire going into turn 1 and took a light roll on his side to bring out the red. On the restart Sutton jumped out front to lead lap 1, with Blank and Shilling battling for second. Sutton would start to pull away from the field, when he was slowed on lap 6. Harold Pohren spun in turn 4 and collected Jordan Goldesberry to bring out the yellow. Once again Sutton grabbed the lead on the restart, while Blank tried to get around Sutton on the outside which allowed Shilling to slip by for second. Sutton again started to pull away from the field, even as he entered lapped traffic on lap 13. The only thing to slow Sutton down over the final laps was a late race caution on lap 17, when Travis Porter spun off turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Sutton grabbed the lead, while Blank was able to get under Shilling to take over second. Sutton was able to hold on over the final 3 laps to claim the win and the $1,200 top prize. Blank was 2nd, Shilling was 3rd, Russ Hall was 4th, with Justin Parrish rounding out the top 5.
The final feature of the night was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Tom Elsen and Tony Dunker drawing the front row. Elsen would take advantage of his front row start to move out front on the drop of the green, only to be slowed before the lap was complete for a caution. Chris Larson spun his machine in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the original restart Elsen again grabbed the lead on the drop of the green, but was slowed before the lap was complete for another caution. This time Levi Layman, who started 8th, slowed to a stop in turn 2 with left front troubles. Once again Elsen jumped out front on the next restart, with Dunker and Jim Gillenwater battling for second. Elsen then had to work to hold back Dunker and Gillenwater, when the final caution of the race appeared on the track on lap 5. Jacob Smith would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Dunker shot under Elsen to grab the top spot away on lap 6, leaving Elsen to hold back Vance Wilson, who started 6th, for second. While Dunker started to pull away from the field, a three car battle was going on for second. Elsen was working to hold back Wilson and John Oliver Jr., who started 4th and fell back to 7th by the lap 5 caution. Oliver Jr. would jump to the top of the track on the final restart on lap 6 and started to work his way back to the front. He would over take Wilson for 3rd on lap 7 and then went to work on Elsen for 2nd. Meanwhile Dunker pulled away over the final 9 laps to pick up the win and the $400 top prize, thanks to Dunker Concrete who added $100 to the first place prize. Elsen held off a last lap charge from Oliver Jr. to hold on for 2nd, Oliver Jr. settled for 3rd, Wilson was 4th, with Gillenwater holding on for 5th.
Notes from LCS: 29 Sprints, 22 SportMods and 16 Stock Cars made up the 67 cars signed in to due battle on the night......Carson McCarl drew the pole for heat 1 of the Sprints and was dominating, until he spun in turn 2 on the last lap to end his great run. He then had to start 13th in the B Main, which the top 4 moved into the A Main, and could only work his way up to 6th to end his night....John Schulz, driving the 14s owned by Byron Sebastain, started the B Main from the outside front row and was running 4th, the final transfer spot into the A Main. When disaster struck in midway thru the race, as he spun in turn 3 to bring out the caution. Schulz had to go to the rear and could only recover to finish in 8th to end his night....Jerrod Hull, driving the 41 owned by Dale Oaks, started the A Main in 10th and worked his way up to finish in 7th....Ben Wagoner started 13th and took home an 8th place finish....Bobby Mincer passed 8 cars from his 17th place starting spot to finish 9th and took home the hard charger award....Jimmy Davies came from 14th to finish in 11th....Jon Agan started 16th and finished in 12th....Josh Schneiderman took the final transfer spot in the B Main and started the A Main in 20th. He would pass 7 cars to take home a 13th place finish....Matt Krieger, despite taking an easy roll on lap 1 of the feature to bring out the red, would recover to finish in 15th....Randy Martin, who was running 10th, pulled off on the lap 17 caution with a right rear flat to end his night in 18th......The 15 lap Stock Car feature went CAUTION FREE!!!!....Michael Larsen started 10th and finished in 8th....Jim Lynch came from 12th to finish in 9th......After 3 cautions in the first 5 laps of the SportMod feature the drivers settled down to run the final 10 laps caution free.....Brandon Ruffcorn charged from 20th to finish 6th....Kevin Cale, who is still subbing in for Dean Kratzer in the 4k machine, started 12th and finished 7th....Carter VanDenBerg came from 11th to finish in 8th....Brandon Dale started 14th and finished in 10th....Ben Chapman came from 15th to finish in 12th....Sean Wyett came from 17th to finish in 13th....Phillip Cossel, who was driving the #5 machine usually driven by Jay Kirchner, came from 18th to finish in 14th....Chris Larson, who spun on the start of the feature to bring out the first caution, went to the back and would finish in 16th....Jacob Smith, who started 22nd, spun off turn 4 on lap 5 to bring out the final caution was able to finish in 17th....Tom Rawlins was running 8th when he pulled off under the lap 5 caution to end his night in 20th.
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