Donnellson, IA (Saturday, May 2, 2020) - The 2020 racing season at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa was set to kick off back on Friday, March 27th. But when the coronavirus pandemic started to spread throughout the United States in early March, the federal government put in a limit on the number of people that could gather to a maximum of 10. Then by the second week of April the Iowa Governor closed all race tracks. Which would put the 2020 season on hold until some of the restrictions were lifted.
On Monday, April 27th the Iowa Governor announced she was opening up 77 out of the 99 counties in the state, and Lee County just happened to be one of those. Even though the race track could open back up for racing, we were not allowed to have any fans in the grandstands. At the time of the governor's announcement Lee County Speedway promoters Brian and Marcie Gaylord only had some teams coming in on Saturday, May 2nd for a practice. That would change on Friday, May 1st, as the Darkside Promotions team of Timmy Current and Ryan Duhme called wanting to take over the fairgrounds to put on their Spring Fling event. And agreement was made between the two promotional groups, and the Spring Fling was announced to race on Saturday, May 2nd. In action on the night was the Modifieds, Stock Cars, and SportMods.
One-hundred and two cars in the three divisions signed in for action, which included 34 Modifieds, 20 Stock Cars, and 48 SportMods. Before the three feature races could begin, thirteen heats races and five B Mains had to be run to help set up the starting spots in those feature events.
The first feature to take to the track was the 20 lap Stock Cars, with Todd Reitzler and Jim Redmann drawing the front row for the event. Reitzler used his front row starting spot to his advantage by grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Jay Schmidt and Redmann. While Reitzler used the top of the track to extend his lead, John Oliver Jr., who started 7th, worked the bottom to try and get to the front. On lap 7 Oliver Jr. worked himself into the runner up spot, and then went to work on chasing down Reitzler for the top spot. Coming off turn 2 to complete lap 13, Oliver Jr. would slip under Reitzler to take over the lead. Three laps later, lap 16, the first and only caution of the race appeared, as Jordan Ross spun in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Oliver Jr. jumped back out front, with Reitzler and Cole Mather, who started 8th, close behind. Mather would clear Reitzler for the runner up spot on lap 17, and then tried to challenge Oliver Jr. for the top spot over the final few laps. But Oliver Jr., who is very familiar to the Pepsi Lee County Speedway victory lane, would hold him off to pick up his first win of the season. Mather settled for 2nd, Reitzler was 3rd, David Brandies came from 10th to finish 4th, with Schmidt rounding out the top 5.
Tyler Inman and Cody Thompson led the field to green in the 20 lap SportMod feature, with Inman jumping out front to lead lap 1 over Thompson and Brayton Carter, who started 5th.The lead for Inman lasted until lap 3, when Thompson got under him to take over the top spot. The field was slowed for the first and only time on lap 5, when a tire was clipped and thrown on the track in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Thompson jumped back out front, with Brayton Carter and Carter VanDenBerg close behind. Brayton Carter would try to keep pace with Thompson, as the two pulled away from the rest of the field that was battling two and even three wide behind them at times. The lead duo would enter lapped traffic late in the race, and ultimately it was lap traffic that would determine the finish of the race. Going into turn 3 on the final lap Thompson decided to follow a lap car and entered the corner low, which forced Brayton Carter to go high. With the lap car holding up Thompson, Brayton Carter used the momentum off the top of turn four to edge out Thompson at the line for the win. Logan Anderson came from 15th to finish 3rd, VanDenBerg was 4th, with Ben Chapman finishing 5th after starting in 18th.
The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 30 lap Modifieds, with Michael Long and Denny Eckrich leading the field to the green flag. Just as the green was waved the caution light would come on, as Spencer Diercks spun in turn 4 and collected Tyler Madigan and Cody Schroeder to bring out the yellow. On the original restart Long moved out front to lead lap 1 over Eckrich and Bryce Garnhart. Just as Long started to pull away, the second and final caution of the race appeared on lap 8. This time Chris Lawrence got into the guardrail in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. Long once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Eckrich and Garnhart still following. While Long pulled away, Chris Simpson, who started 9th, Cayden Carter, who started 11th, and Tom Berry Jr., who started 12th, were working their way towards the front. Simpson got to the runner up spot on lap 16, and then went to work on chopping into Long's straight-away lead. Despite Long getting into heavy lapped traffic there was no catching him, as he went on to claim the win. Simpson was 2nd, Carter was 3rd, Berry Jr. was 4th, with Eckrich holding on for 5th.
Notes from LCS: Of the 102 cars signed in seven states were represented, including Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota, Nevada, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Texas......Dallon Murty started the Stock Car feature in 14th and then passed 8 cars to come home in 6th....Erick Knutsen came from 20th to finish 13th....Rookie Stock Car driver Leah Wroten finished 14th after starting in 18th....Jordan Ross, who started 19th, recovered from his spin on lap 16 to finish in 15th......Gage Neal finished the SportMod feature in 7th after starting in 11th....Tony Olson came from 13th to finish in 9th....Shane Paris started 14th and finished 11th....Austin Kaplan came from 20th to finish 13th....Adam Birck passed 9 cars from his 23rd place starting spot to finish 14th....Vern Jackson finished 15th after starting in 19th....Ryan Walker passed 8 cars from his 24th place starting spot to come home in 16th....Jarrett Franzen finished 18th after starting in 22nd......Kollin Hibdon, who drove 24 hours from Pahrump, Nevada to get to the track, started the Modified feature in 15th. He would pass 8 cars to take home a 7th place finish....Austin Howes took home the hard charger award, by come from 19th to finish 9th.... Spencer Diercks recovered from his spin on the start to come back up to finish 9th....Ethan Braaksma came from 18th to finish 10th....Cody Schroeder also recovered from his involvement in the caution on the start to come back up to finish 11th....Tyler Madigan, who started 20th, was another driver who recovered from the opening lap caution to come back up to finish 13th....Rick Wages started 23rd and finished 15th....Chris Snyder came from 21st to finish 15th....Joel Rust, who was running 3rd, pulled off under the lap 8 caution with front end troubles.
It was GREAT to see two promotional teams work together to make this night happen. Let's hope this is a sign of things to come in the future!
My next adventure takes me back to the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa on Friday, May 8th and Saturday, May 9th. Friday will feature Modifieds, SportMods, and Sport Compacts. While the Late Models, 305 Sprints, and Stock Cars will be in action on Saturday. After that there are no set plans, as we go day to day on what racing events will be held in the weeks ahead. I only hope we can get back to having fans in the grandstands real soon!!!
