Repeat Winner Dominate at Donnellson

 Friday night was another quick trio from work in Quincy to the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson,Iowa. Five regular classes plus the 305 sprint cars were on the docket, with the hobby stocks not in action. I know the hobbys have been struggling with car count, so I am not sure what their situation is at LCS.
 With the late arrival of a pair of IMCA stock cars, the entries sat at 84 on a cool, cloudy evening in front of a fair sized crowd. After a dozen heat races and a candy dash for the youngsters, it was feature time. With the scoreboard not in operation, and difficulty from my vantage point hearing if and when the announcer offers up the laps remaining, especially after a caution, I will apologize in advance if some of my numbers are incorrect.
 The first feature of the night was the IMCA sport compacts. Fifth row starter Josh Barnes charged to the lead at the end of lap one and looked to be in command. But Mike Reu kept Barnes in his sights, and slipped to the top spot in lapped traffic. Apparently having mechanical issues, Barnes began to fade, and Chuck Fullenkamp, in Barnes backup # 13 took up the chase. Once out front, however, Reu was not giving up the spot, powering his # 8 to the win ahead of Fullenkamp. Brandon Reu followed up his win Sunday at Quincy Raceways with a third place finish ahead of defending track champion Kimberly Abbott.
 Next it was 20 laps for the 305 sprints. all but one of the 17 entrants took the green flag. Front row starter Andy Krieger led the opening circuit, with the yellow waving on lap two. Two more cautions came on the next pair of laps, punctuated by a red flag on lap four, as Brandyn Martin flipped his ride over the guardrail just off turn two. By now, Shane Quam had taken over the lead, and back under green, the laps began to tick off. Harold Pohren grabbed the top spot on the ninth circuit, and John Schultz moved to the runner up spot one lap later. Pohren worked the low groove with Schultz pounding the cushion, and as the leaders worked lapped traffic, Pohren was able to stretch his lead. Just as the white flag waved, the final caution came out, setting up a green, white, checkers finish. As the white waved again, Schultz mad a low side pass out of turn four, but Pohren fought back, to notch the win. Quam and Dillan Roth followed the first two at the checkers.
  Again, all but one of the 15 IMCA sport mods came to the track for 18 laps, minus Troy Grotz, who watched from the bleachers after breaking a brake caliper in hot laps. Brandon Dale jumped to the lead from outside row one, and soon it was a two car battle between Dale and John Oliver Jr - a second generation driver dueling a third generation hot shoe! A lap eight caution brought them back to the pack, and on the restart, Tony Dunker slipped to third. Another caution one lap later and Dunker took advantage of the Delaware restart to move to second. Oliver then split the top two to grab the lead, with Dale dropping to third. Now if was Oliver running the high side and Dunker the bottom before a spinning Dale brought out a lap 14 caution. Back to action, it was now veteran Jim Gillenwater joining the chase, third on the restart, quickly to second, and to the lead on lap 16. Oliver fought back on the high side the final pair of laps, but it was Gillenwater taking the checkers. Oliver Jr., Dunker, and defending champ Joey Gower completed the top four.
 Next came the dozen IMCA modifieds. Levi Smith paced the first lap, and a mixup on the backstretch jumbled up the field, with Dennis Laveine able to move forward. By lap four, Laveine had moved to second, and he grabbed the lead one lap later. Bill Roberts Jr. took second on lap six, followed by a lap seven caution. As Laveine opened a big advantage, Jeff Waterman, who had gotten shuffled back on the first lap scrum, began to pick off cars. Waterman found his way around Roberts at the white, and the pair of # 71s took the top two spots, the second win of n2016 for Laveine at LCS. Roberts held on for third ahead of Tyler Groenendyk.
  15 IMCA stock cars took the green, with Andrew Hustead building a nice lead. A caution about lap six wiped out his advantage, with Jeremy Pundt moving to the lead on the restart. The leaders stayed bunched up in the always exciting stock car battle, with Greg Gill going from third to first on lap ten. A four wide duel for second saw Jeff Mueller take second, then first, on the 11th trip around the 3/8 mile oval. Gill mounted a challenge briefly, but Mueller, who started in row five, began to pull away,
capturing what I believe to be his fifth win of 2016 at LCS. Gill held second ahead of Nathan Wood and Abe Huls.
  The finale of the evening was the 20 lap feature for the LCS late models. A dozen cars came to the track, with veterans Tommy Elston and Colby Springsteen on the front row. Elston took the lead at the end of lap one, with two time winner Sam Halstead moving around Springsteen for second one lap later. The third trip past the flagstand had Colby back in second. Row three starter Todd Frank  grabbed third on lap five using the top side of the speedway, but on lap five he smacked the guardrail in turn one and two, retiring to the pits soon after. Springsteen continued to stalk Elston, taking the lead about the halfway point. He then opened a sizable lead in route to his second win of the year. Elston held the second spot, followed by Halstead, Jeff Guengerich, and Tyler Cale. Derek Liles led the second fiver ahead of Gunner Frank, Terry Gallaher, and the son and father team of Laine Vanzandt and Charles Vanzandt.
 Thanks to the LCS crew for a great track and a fun night of racing!