It was a beautiful day for a race as we turned our vehicle to the southeast and headed to the Lee Country Speedway in Donnellson last night. There were a lot of people ready for some racing by the appearance of the stands full of fans, and the 123 (by our count) cars and over 1100 people in the pits! The Hawkeye Dirt Tour for Modifieds was the headliner for the night and a new winner for the series showed how it's done on the fast 3/8 mile track. NASCAR driver Kenny Schrader joined the Modifieds on the Budweiser Open Wheel Night. The 360 Sprint Invaders, IMCA Northern SportMods, IMCA Stock Cars, and the IMCA Sport Compacts also took their turn on the speedway. The SportMods, and Sport Compacts were running for track points, but according to promoter Mike VanGenderen, not the Stock Cars as they ran for a previously rained out $500 to win special event.
We saw the most Sport Compacts we've ever seen last night as 21 of them raced for a win. Adam Gates had little trouble in claiming the win as he lead all laps. Chuck Fullencamp trailed him the entire way, taking the runner up position. Third was Josh Barnes, fourth went to Bill Whalen, Jr. and Austin Becerra was fifth.
The IMCA Stock Cars went 18-laps in their A main event. This class was added to the originally scheduled program as a make up from a cancellation as they ran for a $500 payday. John Oliver, Jr. and Jason Cook had all eyes on them as they ran upfront, locked in a tight battle for the point position. Oliver, the leader, preferred the top line, while Cook established himself low. After the halfway mark, Cook made the pass for the lead. The two broke away from the rest of the pack in the closing laps, Cook taking the win, Oliver having to settle for the runner up spot. Nathan Wood out fought Ryan Cook as they finished third and fourth, and Abe Huls came from starting mid-pack to finish in fifth.
The Sprint Invaders found 29 cars doing battle for the coveted 20-car starting field. After a B Main was run to establish the final four cars to tag the feature event, it was time for the $1,200 run for the glory. Jon Agan would dominate the race as he took the lead from the get go and led all laps of the 25-lap main. He was chased the whole distance by Russ Hall. Veteran racer Wayne Johnson, who has come back from nearly losing a foot in an accident a while back, took third after starting 18th. Randy Martin and Ryan Jamison were fourth and fifth.
The IMCA SportMods ran next in their 18-lap A main. The 20AB of Bobby Anders and the 3 of Tony Dunker went at it up front for much of the race as they wrestled for the lead. Carter VandenBerg, who had started well back in the pack, joined in the tussle and Phillip Cossel came along for the fun too. The closing laps of the race were rather hard to get completed as a yellow at 15 laps in, brought about a restart and bunching up the field. At that point, Anders held the lead with VandenBerg in second, Dunker third and Cossel in fourth. The run to the checkers from there on was thrown out the window...several times, as the yellow flew with a lap to go. After a false start again, another green-white-checkered finish was called for, this time the cars realigning for the restart in single file. Dunker was able to make the pass for the lead in the waning moments, and nabbed the win away from Anders, who finished as the runner up. Crossing in third was the #15 of Phillip Cossel, but a check of the offical results shows that he was disqualified...for unknown reasons to us, thus handing third over to Carter VandenBerg. Fourth went to Derek St. Clair and Brett Lowry, the point leader at the track, and who had severely damaged his race machine the previous night at Osky, finished in fifth.
The IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour for the Modifieds ended the night's entertainment in a 30-lap contest. Missouri driver Hunter Marriott and Burlington's Steve Stewart started on the front row. After a yellow at lap one, this one would go the rest of the distance caution free. Stewart established himself at the front of the pack and drove off from his competitors. Lap traffic was no bother to him and he easily took the win in comfortable fashion. Gilman, Iowa's Richie Gustin, who had started in row seven, wound through the traffic to take over second place by the half-way mark. There was no catching Stewart though, and Gustin would have to be content with second place. Hunter Marriott finished third ahead of Scott Dickey in fourth and it was the Angry Bird's car of Ronn Lauritzen coming from starting eleventh, to take fifth place. NASCAR's Kenny Schrader finished in sixth after starting back in row eight. Gustin, who was leading points going into the evening, padded his points lead by finishing in second.
There was a LOT of racing last night at the Lee County Speedway. The track was in great shape, making for excellent racing low, high and in between. Hats off to promoter Mike VanGenderen and crew for a great night of racing. The show was run in an efficient manner with no down moments and though it was a late night with the racing concluding about 11:25, we could see no way it could have been done any better.
As a note to anyone thinking of attending a night of racing at the Lee County Speedway as it is normally on Friday nights, they will be having a night off, tonight June 21.
Get out and find a race to attend somewhere in your area. We all have to support the sport we all love so much. Happy racing!
No comments:
Post a Comment