Thursday night, July 1st, found several shows going on around the state. We chose to head to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour IMCA modifieds and the fourth and final leg of the IMCA stock car Shoot Out. We always enjoy this facility and appreciate the great view from their solid concrete grandstand. It was enjoyable despite the swarms of Mayflies that suddenly inhabited the area! These short-lived insects were everywhere and thankfully no more than just annoying. As the night ended, there would be a second-time HDT winner and a new stock car Shoot Out winner.
The hobby stock class was also on the program for the evening. When all was said and done for their feature, the #30 car Alex Buffington from Wapello would take the top honors. Burlington driver Jake Wenig would follow in the runner-up spot, third was Dean Kratzer from Ft. Madison, fourth went to Matt Tucker and fifth was Jim Lynch from Donnellson.
Twenty-five IMCA stock cars were checked into the pits--with numbers down considerably from the previous three nights of the Shoot Out. No doubt, this had much to do with the traveling during mid-week. Audubon driver Kenny Hansen, sat on the pole of the feature and would lead for the opening laps. I believe Hansen is one of the drivers who made all of the four nights of Shoot Out competition. With seven laps down of the 30-lap feature, it was Chris Webb from Biggsville, Illinois making the pass for the lead. Webb is a regular at the Lee County Speedway and showed his familiarity of the track. He would lead all of the remaining laps to capture his first IMCA Stock Car Shoot Out feature win. Another regular at the track, Jason Cook was runner-up as he passed Hansen who was scored in third. Fourth was Kyle Frederick from Wisconsin, who also made all four of the series races, and fifth would go to yet another track regular, that being Jim Redman from Lockridge, Iowa. The series winner was the Chelsea, Iowa driver, Damon Murty who garnered the most points during the four-night competition. Murty finished eleventh after having three third place finishes previously.
A nice turn out of 47 Hawkeye Dirt Tour modifieds filled the pits. Series director, Bucky Doren should have been pleased with the car count as well should have been the fans who watched them race. Two provisional drivers rounded out the 24-car starting field with Ron Pope taking the tour provision and Bill Roberts was awarded the track provision.
Rich Smith was the lucky winner of the pole-position draw and would lead the first few opening laps of the 30-lap race. Several yellows would fly thoughout the race allowing cars to bunch the field. Josh Foster who had started back in row five, made the swing by Smith to capture the lead along about lap six. He would then pull away from the rest of the field as he expertley ran the topside of the track. Smith would trail him in second as he consistently ran the bottom of the track, also putting much distance between himself and third place. Foster would take his second win of the HDT series as he had also won at Independence earlier. Rich Smith took the runner-up honors. Those two southeastern drivers were followed up by two drivers we see run in our area--Richie Gustin took third, and Vern Jackson came home in fourth. Fifth went to a more northern Iowa driver, Mark Elliott in his Harris Dandyland Farms ride.
The Positively Racing crew had a great representation on hand for the evening. Be sure and check out the Back Stretch, Tap Fan's Tours, In Staging, and Midwest Racing News which can all be found at www.positivelyracing.com. Some of us all had long drives home but the trip to the Lee County Speedway was well worth while. For full results, be sure and check www.leecountyspeedway.com. Until next time, happy racing!
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