Donnellson, IA (Saturday, June 23, 2018) - Mother nature played havoc with many tracks in the area on Friday night, as drenching rains most of the week forced tracks to cancel their Friday night shows. Including the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. But when 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa made the decision to cancel their Saturday night racing program on Friday, the officials at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway decided to move Friday nights program to Saturday night.
The move would pay off, as close to 100 cars packed the pit area and a very nice crowd was on hand to witness the action. Highlighting the night would be the Inaugural 305 Winged Nationals, being presented by Mohrfeld Electric and Hoenig Lawn Care. The 305 Sprint Cars would be chasing a top prize of $1,000, with the Steffes Late Models, Budweiser Modifieds, Donnellson Tire & Service Stock Cars, Discount Tire & Service SportMods, and Armstrong Tractor Sport Compacts also on the card.
After 14 heat races and a dash were completed to help set the feature line ups, it was time to go feature racing. The 16 lap Discount Tire & Service SportMods were up first, with Ron Kibbe and Adam Birck drawing the front row. Kibbe would take advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Levi Layman, who started 5th, and Birck. Kibbe then held the top spot until lap 4, when Layman slipped by to take the lead. Meanwhile, Daniel Fellows, who started 10th, was working his way towards the front. On lap 5 Fellows worked himself into second and then went to work on Layman for the lead. The action was slowed for the first time on lap 8, as debris in turn 1 brought out the yellow. On the restart Fellows used the top of the track to take over the top spot, leaving Layman to battle Kibbe, and Austen Becerra, who started 9th, in the battle for second. Just when it looked like Fellows would pull away to an easy win, the second and final caution of the race appeared on lap 14. Bob Cowman slowed to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the caution and set up a two lap dash to the finish. Fellows once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Becerra and Kibbe close behind. Despite a last lap challenge from Becerra, Fellows would hold on to claim his third win of the season at the track. Becerra settled for 2nd, Brandon Dale charged from 11th to finish 3rd, Kibbe was 4th, with Shaun Slaughter coming from 8th to finish in 5th.
Up next was the 16 lap Donnellson Tire & Service Stock Car feature, with David Brandies and Jeremy Pundt leading the field to green. Brandies took advantage of his draw to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Dean Kratzer and John Oliver Jr. Kratzer would work under Brandies to take over the top spot on lap 2, and then started to put some distance on the battle for second. But a few laps later he would loose his brakes, which allowed Oliver Jr. and Jason Cook, who started 8th, to close in on him. On lap 8 Oliver Jr. slipped under Kratzer to take over the lead, with Cook following him into second. Cook then tried to work under Oliver Jr. coming off the corners over the next 5 laps, with Oliver Jr. holding him off at the line each lap. Disaster would strike Kratzer on lap 13, as he slowed down the backstretch after loosing a motor to bring out the yellow. On the restart Oliver Jr. jumped back out front, with Cook and Brandies glued to his back bumper. Oliver Jr. would hold on over the final laps to score his second win of the season at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway. Cook was 2nd, Pundt was 3rd, Corey Strothman finished 4th after starting in 9th, with Jason See coming home in 5th.
Bruce Hanford and Jordan Walker drew the front row for the 18 lap Budweiser Modified feature, with Hanford jumping out into the lead on lap 1 over Jeff Waterman and Walker. Just after lap 1 was scored complete, Bill Roberts Jr. slowed down the backstretch to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hanford moved back out front, with Waterman and Mike Van Genderen, who started 8th, close behind. While Hanford worked to hold off Waterman, Steve Stewart, who started 7th, was quickly working his way into the battle. On lap 11 Stewart over took Van Genderen for third and then one lap later he made the pass of Waterman to move into second. But disaster would strike Stewart on lap 13, as he tried to work under Hanford coming off turn 4 and made contact with Hanford's left rear. Which resulted in Stewart spinning to bring out the yellow. Hanford once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Van Genderen and Dakota Simmons following. Van Genderen would close in on Hanford's back bumper on the final lap, but Hanford held on to pick up his first win of the season at the track. Van Genderen was 2nd, Simmons was 3rd, Mitch Boles was 4th, with Kelly Buckallew coming from 11th to finish in 5th.
The 20 lap Inaugural 305 Winged Nationals Sprint Car feature was up next, with Harold Pohren and John Schulz leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Schulz used his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Pohren and Ryan Jamison. The lead for Schulz only lasted for 1 lap, as Jamison shot under him on lap 2 to take over the top spot. Debris in turn 1 on lap 4 would bring out the first caution of the race. On the restart Jamison jumped back out front, with Tanner Gebhardt and Schulz close behind. The fast pace that Jamison was setting would put him into lapped traffic on lap 9. But that wasn't enough to slow him down, as he built up a straight-away lead. The only thing that did slow Jamison down was the second and final caution of the race. As debris in turn 3 on lap 12 brought out the yellow. Jamison once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Gebhardt and Schulz following. Without another caution to slow the pace, Jamison would pull away to claim the win and the $1,000 check to go with it. Gebhardt was 2nd, Schulz was 3rd, Pohren was 4th, with Brayden Gaylord coming home in 5th.
Sam Halstead and Tim Simpson drew the front row for the 20 lap Steffes Late Model feature, with Halstead grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Todd Frank and Simpson. The action was slowed for the first and only time on lap 2, as debris under the flag stand brought out the yellow. On the restart Halstead moved back out front, with Tommy Elston, who started 4th, over taking Frank for second. One lap later, lap 4, Elston used the top of the track to take the top spot away from Halstead. While Halstead battled Jay Johnson, who started 5th, and Jeff Guengerich, who started 8th, for second, Elston would pull away to claim his second win of the season at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway. Johnson won the battle for 2nd, Guengerich was 3rd, Halstead was 4th, with Frank rounding out the top 5.
The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 14 lap Armstrong Tractor Sport Compacts, with Barry Taft and Mike Reu making up the front row. Taft took advantage of his draw to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Reu and Ryan Havel. While Taft set a fast pace out front, Reu, Havel, and Kimberly Abbott, who started 5th, battled for second. Just when it looked like Taft would cruise to an easy win, the red flag appeared on lap 11 to slow the action. Havel, who was running 3rd, caught fire in turn 4 and slowed to a stop under the flag stand to bring out the red. On the restart Taft moved back out front, with Abbott and Jake Dietrich, who charged from 20th, glued to Taft's back bumper. Coming off turn 4 to get the checkered flag, Abbott would get up beside Taft. But Taft would hold her off at the line to pick up his fifth win of the season at the track. Abbott settled for 2nd, Trent Orwig, who started 10th, over took Dietrich on the final lap to finish in 3rd, Dietrich was 4th, with William Michel finishing 5th after starting in 8th.
Notes from LCS: 21 Sport Compacts, 19 SportMods, 17 305 Sprints, 15 Modifieds, 13 Stock Cars, and 12 Late Models made up the 97 cars signed in for competition....Dakota Sapp started the SportMod feature in 16th and finished 11th....Cody Benjamin, who took over the driver's duties for the night in the #51 usually driven by Michael Benjamin, finished 12th after starting in 15th....Nick Aupperle started 17th and finished 14th....Colton Bowman was a scratch from the feature after having troubles in his heat race......Kevin Koontz started the Stock Car feature in 11th and finished 8th....David Brandies was running 3rd when he slowed to a stop in turn 3 on the final lap with something breaking in the left rear....Brandon Lambert had troubles in his heat race that forced him to scratch from the feature......Dean McGee, who was suppose to start the Modified feature in 9th, elected to go to the rear on the start. He would climb his way up to a 7th place finish....Chris Zogg, Dugan Thye, and Dustin Crear all had troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch from the feature......Matt Krieger would start the 305 Sprint Car feature in 16th, but would bring home a 9th place finish......Clint Kirkham started the Late Model feature in 11th and finished 8th......Jason Ash finished 8th in the Sport Compact feature, after starting in 13th....Billy Cain passed 8 cars from his 18th place starting spot to finish 10th....Aaron Berry started 14th and finished 11th....Wesley Talley finished 13th after starting in 17th....Brandon Reu, who was scheduled to start 11th, and Cody Bowman both had troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch from the feature.
Hats off to the Lee County Speedway track crew, as they worked most of the day and even as the night went along to produce the best racing surface possible to the driver's. Despite no sun all day to help dry things up the track had so much moisture in it that it had plenty of soft spots. Which is very unusual for this track. The driver's themselves did an outstanding job of putting on a show for the very nice crowd on hand. As only 9 cautions flew, four for debris, four for a stopped car, and one for a spin, in the 104 laps of feature racing.
No comments:
Post a Comment