A Pair of First Time Winners at Donnellson

Race night number 20 for me came Friday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Both the crowd and the car count were down a bit, no surprise given temperatures in the nineties. Seven classes of cars were on the card, but only two hobby stocks signed in, as promoter Mike VanGenderen tries to save the struggling class.
 The first feature of the night was for the IMCA sport compacts, with nine of the ten entrants taking the green. Josh Barnes charged to the lead on lap one, locked in a tight battle with Ron Kibbe. Kibbe took over the top spot on lap two and held on as the laps clicked off. Brad Chandler was back at LCS in the Barnes back up # 13X. He worked his way past Barnes and the Reu # 8 to the runner up spot by lap six, and one lap later took over the lead. From there he cruised to the win, with Kibbe hanging on for second. Barnes held off Kimberly Abbott for third.
 Next up was the 20 lap main event for the visiting 305 sprint cars. Eight of the nine cars checked in came to the grid, with Jared Schneiderman a scratch. Tanner Gebhardt led the first circuit, with the yellow waving as the pack crossed the line. Back to racing, row four starter John Schulz, who had rolled his # 27 in the heat, moved to the fourth spot on lap four. But Gebhardt was hitting his marks, and had opened a nice lead by the halfway point. As the race wound down, Dave Getchell began to gain ground on the leader, and as the 16th circuit was scored, he had caught the # 81.  Schultz retired to the infield on lap 18, and as the white flag waved, Getchell inched ahead at the flagstand. Gebhardt then had to contend with Harold Pohren, who edged past Gebhardt for second as the checkers flew. A jubilant Getchell said it was his first win in 22 years!
 Ten IMCA sport mods were up next for 18 laps. Austin Howes and Brandon Dale sat on row one, with Dale leading the first trip past the flagstand. Howes used the higher groove to lead lap two, while veteran Jim Gillenwater raced from the third row to the third position. Dale and Howes raced side by side on the fourth circuit, and again Howes nosed ahead on lap five. On the sixth trip around, Gillenwater eased around Dale for second. Now it was Gillenwater hugging the low groove as he usually does, with Howes running higher on the speedway. When the first caution flew on lap 13, the lead Howes had evaporated, and now Gillenwater had his chance. The veteran grabbed the lead on the restart, but stayed glued to the inside line, while Howes fought back on the top side. At the white flag, it was the 18 year old Howes back in the lead, and he held on for his first feature win. Dale came home third, while Joey Gower grabbed fourth.
 With only a pair of hobby stocks, three sport compacts were added in a bizarre attempt at a race which mercifully ended with only one of each class on the track
 A 25 lap feature for the eleven Lee County late models was next on the card. The redraw found Tyler Cale and two time winner Tommy Elston on row one. The second generation driver Cale led the pair of laps, as fifth starting Sam Halstead slipped past Todd Frank for third. Elston used a high line to take the lead on lap six, and it now became a three car battle. As lap seven was being scored, Cale found himself near the turn four guardrail, slipping back to fourth. As the pack entered turn one, another two time winner, Colby Springsteen looped his # 38, bringing out the only yellow of the race.
 Back under green, Halstead was scored first by a nose on lap nine, but quickly began to widen his lead. Meanwhile, Springsteen was fighting back, entering the top five on lap 13. On lap 14, seventh starting Jeff Guengerich took the third spot, and one lap later Springsteen climbed to fourth. Lap 18 saw Guengerich wheel the Lynn Richard owned # 15R to the runner up spot, and three circuits later, Springsteen worked around Elston for third. Halstead kept his foot on the gas, however, claiming his third feature win of the season. Guengerich, Springsteen, Elston, and Frank turned in top five runs. Cale finished sixth, followed by Derek Liles, Charles Vanzandt, Brandon Potts, Gunner Frank, and Laine Vanzandt, eleven starting and eleven taking the checkers.
  Although the night was still young, Saturday was a work day, so I headed for the car with the IMCA stock cars and IMCA modified features still to be run.
  With high temps still predicted for Sunday, Quincy Raceways plan to start one hour later than usual, with hot laps about 6:30 for UMP late models and modifieds along with IMCA stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts.
 No racing for me until then, but the skies look good on this Saturday, so get out and enjoy some racing!