The Show Must Go On

  If we are finally seeing some rain, it must be fair time, and the Lee County Fairgrounds in Donnellson got their share and then some on Thursday morning. But we are talking about a top notch crew and a superior racing surface, and by the time I made my way to the track after work, it was obvious we would have a good night of racing. I decided to take the bus ride around the track and through the pits to check things out, and while the track was still a bit greasy, the pits showed how much rain had fallen.
 Still the races started less than ten minutes after the advertised start time, and before the 13 heat races were complete, their was an excellent crowd of regulars and fairgoers in the grandstands.
  The IMCA sport mod feature ran first, 15 cars for 18 laps. Of all the tracks we attend, no place do the sport mods put on a better show than at Donnellson, and tonight did not disappoint. Tony Dunker took the lead from the outside pole, with Jim Gillenwater coming from row two to second position. When the caution waved on lap four for a Tanner Klingele spin, Dunker had fashioned a nice lead, and Brett Lowry was now in second. The yellow waved again one lap later, with Gillenwater again in the runnerup spot. On this restart, Jim shot to the lead using a low line, and Dunker powered off the turn one cushion to regain the spot the next circuit. Again the two veterans swapped the lead before Dunker began to pull away. Meanwhile, a solid three car battle was going on behind them. In the closing laps, Gillenwater began to work his magic on the bottom of the 3/8 mile, and on the final lap in turn two, where Dunker had been so dominate, Gillenwater found a bite on the low side and took the lead. Dunker tried to fight back, but had to settle for second. Joey Gower came home third ahead of Lowry.
 The 16 305 sprint cars were up next for 20 laps. Dave Getchell took the early lead, but Ben Wagner, who had dominated in his heat race, took over when Getchell bobbled slightly on lap seven. One lap later, lapped traffic came into play, but Wagner was up to the task. By the 15th circuit, the # 84 had a straightaway lead, but the caution waved, erasing his margin. One lap later, the final caution of the race came out, but Wagner was in control, taking the win ahead of Getchell, Dustin Clark, and Harold Pohren.
  The IMCA sport compacts were next, with 18 starters. Brandon Reu paced the opening trip past the flagstand, but Josh Barnes took over on lap two. Barry Taft in his sharp red #57 was running as well as I have seen him, and he moved to third on lap three. Following a caution on lap six, Taft was shuffled back, with Kimberly Abbott charging to second. Five laps later, Taft had recovered to regain the runner up position, but Barnes stayed in control to take the win. Taft, Abbott, and Reu completed the top four.
  Scott Dickey made a rare appearance at LCS on his ninth wedding anniversary, drawing a front row slot for the 20 lap finale for the IMCA modifieds. Bill Roberts Jr began to apply pressure, as Dennis Laveine charged to third following a duel with Jeff Waterman. Dickey began to pull away before a pair of yellows on laps 12 and 13. On lap 18, Waterman retook third from Laveine, with the top four crossing the checkers in that order.
  Night number three of the IMCA stock car shootout became night two after a rain out in Oskaloosa and all but two of the 21 entrants took the green flag in the $1,000 to win event. New Papa Brandon Savage and West Liberty regular David Brandies sat on row one, with Savage leading the first lap. Modified ace Kyle Brown was wheeling a Damon Murty # 99 machine, and he took the lead on the second go around, followed by Brandies, Murty, and Savage. During a lap four caution, Savage retired to the pits, and two laps later, Brown pulled to the infield following a puff of smoke. It was now Brandies in charge followed by Murty, and an attention grabbing battle for third between Jeremy Pundt, John Oliver Jr, six time feature winner Jeff Mueller, and visiting Johnny Spaw. 14 laps in, Oliver took third from Pundt, with  a final caution one circuit later. On the restart, Brandies began to stretch his lead, while the battle behind now included second through seventh. Two laps from the end of the 20 lapper, Murty bobbled, falling out of the top five, and there was Mueller, now in second. But this night belonged to Brandies, with Mueller, Pundt, Oliver, and Spaw in tow.
  The Lee County late model 25 lap finale also paid $1,000 to the winner, and 14 cars signed in to take the challenge, including first time 2016 visitor Jay Johnson. Only Russ Schoonover failed to make the feature call. Jay grabbed the heat one win by a good margin, then drew the pole start for the feature with three time winner Sam Halstead alongside. Johnson paced lap one ahead of Halstead and third starting Tommy Elston. The second trip around saw Elston move to second, and on lap four, he slipped past Johnson for the lead. Lap six saw sixth starting Jeff Guengerich advance to third.. The first caution came with six laps down as Brandon Potts stopped in turn two. Back under green, Guengerich took the runner up slot, but it was Elston with a straightaway lead by lap 13. Gunner Frank looped his ride to bring out a caution on a lap15, and back to racing, Guengerich slipped to fifth, as Johnson regained second and Colby Springsteen climbed to third. Colby claimed second on lap 18, and with Elston again in command, the final yellow came with four to go. Although Springsteen had this final chance, he could not overtake Elston, who amazingly said he won his first ever Lee County fair race. Springsteen took second ahead of Guengerich, Johnson, and Derek Liles, who made a late move to enter the top five. Halstead finished sixth, with Tom Darbyshire and the father son duo of Charles and Laine Vanzandt the only other cars taking the checkers.
  The Thursday night race replaced the usual Friday night fare this week, and there will also be no races next Friday at Donnellson, with the show moving to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo. during the fair there.
  My next show will likely be the annual visit by the UMP Summernational late models and UMP Summit modifieds this Sunday at Quincy Raceways. Finally, the forecast sounds promising for Quincy.